Germán Ceballos

I always love flying with KLM; after many years, it remains one of my favorite airlines: the service, the friendliness of the staff, the soft and hard product, plus the Delft Houses. For me, it’s the complete package. I’m often told it’s hard to compete with Asian or Middle Eastern airlines when it comes to service. That’s definitely true on certain routes, but when considering European airlines and destinations that not many carriers serve (like deep South America), KLM is hard to beat. I was truly looking forward to this flight. The last time I flew KLM was on a short fifth-freedom flight from Buenos Aires to Santiago, sadly too short.

On my last visit to Sweden I found an interesting combination with my EuroBonus points: inbound with Aerolíneas Argentinas + SAS (via Madrid) in Economy Class, and the return with KLM in Business Class via Amsterdam. Ever since I completed my SAS EuroBonus Millionaire challenge and got my 1 million points, it has been increasingly hard to find good awards. Since I usually travel from South America to Europe or the United States, there are not very many airlines one can pick other than AF/KL, AR, and Delta. In addition, I usually travel with companions, which makes it harder when finding multiple seats.

United Airlines announced a handful of routes and products in May 2026 that round out the airline’s summer push. The biggest news for travelers in the Americas is the return of nonstop Houston-Caracas service in August, after nearly nine years of suspension. On the product side, a dedicated Peacock channel joins the inflight entertainment lineup across 800+ aircraft. And the European summer routes United announced last October (Split, Bari, Glasgow, Santiago de Compostela) all started flying within the past three weeks.

United Airlines just dropped two new Japan routes for winter 2026. Daily year-round service between Chicago O’Hare and Tokyo-Narita starts October 24, 2026, on a Boeing 787-8. Starting December 11, United will fly San Francisco to Sapporo (CTS) three times a week through March on a Boeing 787-9, the first nonstop between the continental US and Sapporo by any airline.

Delta and Airbnb quietly expanded their loyalty partnership at the start of May 2026, and Delta refreshed the announcement on its news hub on May 13. SkyMiles members can now link their Airbnb account at deltaairbnb.com and earn 1 mile per $1 on qualifying Airbnb Homes plus 3 miles per $1 on Airbnb Experiences and Services. There’s one catch worth understanding before you book: linking your accounts only opens a 10-day earning window, and you have to re-link to start a new one.

The United-JetBlue Blue Sky partnership moved into its elite-benefits phase on May 14, 2026. United Premier members (all four levels) now get Mosaic-style perks when flying JetBlue, and JetBlue Mosaic members (all four levels) get Premier-style perks when flying United. This is phase three of the rollout, after the October 2025 partnership launch and the February 2026 cash bookings update.