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.

American Airlines stacked four announcements in mid-May that, taken together, paint a clear picture of what the airline is leaning into for the rest of 2026: the biggest summer schedule in its history, the World Cup year of football travel, and another quiet upgrade to the Flagship onboard experience. Most of it is operational, but a few items genuinely move the needle for AAdvantage members. Here’s what’s worth paying attention to.

Every major transferable points currency (Chase Ultimate Rewards, Amex Membership Rewards, Capital One Miles) lives behind a credit card application. Rove doesn’t. Launched in 2025, it lets you earn miles from hotel bookings, flights, and online shopping without a credit card, then transfer them to 19 airline and hotel loyalty programs across all three major alliances (1:1 for airlines, 1:1.5 for Accor). The newest addition is Frontier Miles (July 2026), Rove’s first US airline partner.

Bill Kill has just rolled out a major new version of the app in both Norway and Sweden. The update brings AI invoice scanning, a redesigned card vault, a travel goal tracker, and a full reward program called the Zen Path. Alongside the launch, the AwardFares perks have been refreshed: more free months of Bill Kill Master for AwardFares users, and a new set of codes for the +Biz program.

Lotusmiles elite status has always been a flying-only achievement. You earned Titanium, Gold, or Platinum by piling up Qualifying Miles and Sectors, end of story. But that’s no longer true: Vietnam Airlines now runs four separate products with Loyalty Status Co. (company behind StatusMatch.com) that let you skip the work. One matches your status from another program. Another multiplies the miles you earn flying. A third sells you temporary status outright. The fourth lets you gift status to someone else.

April has been a busy month for Delta. The airline stacked three announcements that matter for SkyMiles members: a $1 billion fleet upgrade putting Delta One Suites on the incoming A350-1000 and retrofitting the entire A330-200/300 fleet, a long-term deal with Amazon Leo for next-generation satellite Wi-Fi across the fleet, and a new Delta Sync partnership adding The New York Times (news, games, cooking, The Athletic, Wirecutter, audio) onboard for free for logged-in members.

For nearly two years, the SkyTeam Premium Economy chart existed on paper but you couldn’t actually book those seats online with EuroBonus points. That appears to have quietly changed this week. Now, Premium Economy award bookings on SkyTeam partners are live, starting with three carriers (SAS, Virgin Atlantic, and Delta). SAS has not yet issued an official confirmation, but we’ve been watching the availability show up on AwardFares for days, and there’s enough here to call out some genuine sweet spots worth chasing before more members notice.

Etihad Guest has just launched one of the more straightforward status fast-tracks we’ve seen in a while. One round trip to Abu Dhabi from a long list of Asian and Middle Eastern cities is all it takes: economy gets you Silver, business class gets you Gold. No existing elite status required. Book by April 30, 2026 and fly before July 15.