Happy Friday! Today's packed with head-scratchers and genuine opportunities: American Airlines just launched a status bundle with pricing that makes zero sense, Turkish Airlines killed the last reason to use their program, and Capital One quietly brought back their best bonus in months. Let's dig in.

American Airlines yesterday launched AAdvantage Pass—a new bundle that packages 100,000 miles, Gold status, and 15,000 Loyalty Points for $5,000. I love the concept of selling bundled perks, but this execution is genuinely puzzling.

Here's the problem: you can buy 100,000 AAdvantage miles for around $2,950 during regular promotions. Gold status—the lowest elite tier—offers limited real value unless you're regularly flying American domestically. And 15,000 Loyalty Points gets you only partway to Platinum status anyway. For the same $5,000, you could book a round-trip business class ticket to Europe and earn more miles and Loyalty Points naturally.

The idea itself makes sense—selling status and miles together could work brilliantly at the right price point. But at $5,000, American seems to have priced this for corporate expense accounts rather than actual travelers trying to maximize value. Unless you desperately need Gold status for an upcoming trip and already planned to buy miles, this bundle is a hard pass.

If you've been holding Turkish Airlines Miles & Smiles for booking United flights, I have bad news. Turkish just implemented another devastating devaluation that wipes out the last meaningful sweet spots in their program.

The damage is severe: mainland-to-Hawaii business class awards that cost 12,500 miles each way just two years ago now require 40,000 miles. That's a 220% increase. United domestic awards already took a hit last year, and this second round finishes the job.

Turkish Miles & Smiles earned a loyal following precisely because it offered incredible value for United awards when United's own MileagePlus program became expensive. Now that advantage has evaporated. If you're sitting on Turkish miles, consider using them for Turkish's own flights or transferring your points elsewhere before the value erodes further.

Speaking of good news, Capital One's Venture X card just relaunched its 100,000-mile welcome bonus—worth $1,000 in travel through Capital One's portal or potentially more when transferred to partners. This is easily one of the strongest card offers available right now, especially considering the premium perks that come with it.

You get six months to earn the bonus, which is generous. The card includes Priority Pass lounge access (increasingly valuable as airline lounges restrict entry), a $300 annual travel credit, and those miles transfer to partners including Turkish (ironically), Air France-KLM, and Singapore Airlines. The $395 annual fee is high, but between the travel credit and anniversary bonus miles, it effectively pays for itself in year one.

However, there's a catch—Capital One just devalued the Emirates Skywards transfer ratio from 1:1 to 4:3 (meaning it now takes 4 Capital One miles to get 3 Emirates miles). This follows similar moves by Amex and Citi earlier this year. If Emirates is your target, transfer before the change takes effect, or consider this card for other partner programs instead.

JetBlue founder David Neeleman dropped a prediction yesterday that sent ripples through the aviation world: Spirit and Frontier will merge in 2026. His reasoning? The U.S. market can only sustain one ultra-low-cost carrier, not two competing for the same price-sensitive customers.

Neeleman pointed to Spirit's ongoing restructuring and argued that both airlines need scale and synergies to survive. He believes U.S. ULCCs struggle because they compete too directly with major carriers instead of following Europe's Ryanair model. If this merger happens, it would create a dominant budget carrier with significant market power—and likely fewer rock-bottom fares for travelers as competition decreases.

Here's a genuinely useful innovation: Bilt upgraded its travel portal to clearly show when airfare is booked directly with the airline. This solves one of travel portals' biggest problems—knowing whether you'll actually deal with the airline or a third-party middleman when something goes wrong.

When you book direct through Bilt's portal, you earn an extra Bilt point per dollar, you can still charge it to whichever card you choose (including one that earns travel bonus categories), and crucially—you can handle changes or rebooking directly with the airline. No calling a third-party site, no confusion about who owns your reservation. For travelers who value both rewards and control, this transparency is game-changing.

JetBlue revealed the first renderings of its long-awaited JFK lounge at the Skift Aviation Forum yesterday, and it's... cozy. The 8,000-square-foot space features a Grand Central-inspired ceiling and residential design aesthetic—plus a photo booth in the back (though it may not be active at opening).

Here's the thing about 8,000 square feet: it's tiny for an airport lounge. For context, Chase Sapphire Lounges run 10,000+ square feet, and Delta Sky Clubs often exceed 20,000. The JetBlue lounge opens this month, and Fort Lauderdale could follow. If you're a Mint passenger or high-tier TrueBlue member, this adds a nice perk to your JFK experience—just don't expect sprawling space or solitude during peak travel times.

Today's theme? Airlines are experimenting with new revenue streams—some brilliant, some baffling. American's $5,000 status bundle needs serious repricing to make sense. Turkish Airlines just destroyed its program's remaining value. But Capital One brought back a genuinely strong 100k bonus, and Bilt solved a real problem with booking transparency.

If you're considering Turkish miles, cash them out quickly. If you want the Venture X bonus, act before this limited-time offer disappears. And if you value having control over your airline reservations, Bilt's direct booking feature deserves attention.

Safe travels, The Miles & Points Daily Team

Before we wrap up, I wanted to share some timely opportunities I've been tracking (courtesy of our friends at AwardTravelFinder). These deals won't last long, so let's dive in.

Active transfer bonuses worth considering:

Airline programs:

Hotel programs: