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Even the most seasoned award traveler can make mistakes when using airline points and miles. This can lead to a less comfortable flight, extra fees or even an inability to travel. Fortunately, the most common mistakes when booking airline award travel are easy to avoid. We’ll explain the most common errors and how to ensure your future award redemptions go as planned. Chase Sapphire Reserve®: Earn 100,000 bonus points plus a $500 Chase Travel℠ credit after spending $5,000 on purchases in the first three months from account opening (see rates and fees). Limiting your rewards and not earning transferable points and miles ZACH GRIFF/THE POINTS GUY Though earning a generous welcome bonus on a credit card is an easy way to boost your rewards balance to secure your next dream redemption, devaluations are an unfortunate reality of the points and miles industry. For example, you could have 60,000 miles saved up, close to the 63,000 miles needed to book a flight to Europe, when the program suddenly increases the rates to 70,000 miles without notice. Suddenly, you’re further away from taking that trip. As we have seen, programs can (and do) increase redemption rates without notice to their members. So,

American Airlines is bringing its widebody Boeing 777 back to transcontinental flights out of New York. This fall, the carrier will launch 777-200ER service on one of its most premium routes, between John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK) and Los Angeles International Airport (LAX), the airline told TPG Friday. Among other things, that means you’ll be able to book its premium economy cabin on these domestic, cross-country flights. Bargain hunting: When is the best time to book flights for the cheapest airfare? Tickets will go on sale July 28, with the JFK-LAX 777 service set to launch Oct. 5. The nose of an American Airlines Boeing 777-200ER in Athens, Greece. The 777 returns to JFK for domestic service For American, it’s a bit of an unusual move. The Fort Worth-based carrier has a very limited schedule of widebody jets on domestic routes, typically reserving its larger planes for long-haul international (and Hawaii) service. It currently has no regularly-scheduled transcontinental service on twin-aisle planes out of JFK. That will change in October, with the arrival of its three-cabin 777 on the route. What’s behind the shift? It’s a little complicated, but the short answer is that it’ll temporarily replace the popular

Sure, Southwest Airlines isn’t planning to “hard launch” extra-legroom seats until January 2026. But the soft launch is well underway. About a quarter of Southwest’s airplanes have now been configured with the new extra-space rows, executives shared Thursday. That means, if you’re flying with the carrier, you have roughly a one in four chance of being on a jet that has the new rows with more legroom. And, because open seating hasn’t ended yet, you don’t (technically) have to pay extra to score one of those seats. Why extra-legroom seats are available early Southwest will officially start selling extra-legroom seats on July 29, when assigned seating goes live in its booking channels. That’ll apply for flights taking off about six months from now, starting Jan. 27, 2026. To prepare, though, the Dallas-based carrier started retrofitting its fleet of around 800 Boeing 737s in early May, setting up cabins with the new, more premium rows. Southwest Airlines’ all-new cabin interior. SEAN CUDAHY/THE POINTS GUY Clearly, Southwest can’t just keep its planes out of service until January. So, once crews finish reconfiguring a cabin, the aircraft returns to service. As of Thursday, roughly 200 of those planes were flying with the new

Marriott Bonvoy is one of the largest hotel loyalty programs, both in its member count and number of participating properties. Numerous travelers strive for Marriott elite status due to its benefits and the convenience of having at least one Marriott Bonvoy property in most destinations. Many TPG staffers also strive for Marriott elite status, and their pathways range from simply holding a credit card or having lifetime Marriott status to racking up elite night credits, stay by stay. So, here’s a look at how eight TPG staffers are earning Marriott status this year, including their progress midway through the year. Andrea Rotondo Director of Content Operations Andrea Rotondo is deprioritizing Marriott elite status this year while still ensuring she makes progress toward higher tiers of lifetime Marriott status. “While I’m keeping my two Marriott credit cards (the Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant® American Express® Card and the Marriott Bonvoy Business® American Express® Card) to continue building nights toward lifetime status (I’m lifetime Silver Elite now), I’m not putting more effort into Marriott,” she told me. “Instead, I plan to requalify for World of Hyatt Globalist and American Airlines AAdvantage Executive Platinum, and I’m doing a United Airlines status match to attain Premier