Today we're covering a budget airline's spectacular backtrack, a worrying signal from Marriott's late checkout policy, and an urgent Airbus software fix affecting thousands of flights. Plus: American miles just hit their best price of the year at 50% off.

Ryanair is shutting down its Prime loyalty program after barely eight months, claiming it was 'too generous' to its 55,000 members. The €91 annual subscription promised priority boarding, free seat selection, and flight discounts—but apparently customers actually used these benefits.

The real story? Weak demand and terrible unit economics. Ryanair's entire business model depends on charging for ancillaries—the very things Prime gave away for free. With only 55,000 subscribers across Ryanair's massive network, the math clearly didn't work. The airline couldn't sustain giving away what it normally forces passengers to pay for, especially when so few travelers signed up in the first place.

This is a masterclass in loyalty program failure. Rather than admit the bundle was poorly designed or marketed, Ryanair blamed customers for actually extracting value. If you're one of those 55,000 members, expect refunds shortly—though knowing Ryanair, don't hold your breath for compensation beyond the prorated subscription cost.

Marriott's Japanese website and customer service agents are now saying Platinum elites only get 2 p.m. late checkout instead of the long-promised 4 p.m. The English-language terms still show 4 p.m., creating a confusing discrepancy that Marriott claims is just a translation error.

Translation error or trial balloon? Either way, this highlights how vulnerable the 4 p.m. benefit is to future cuts. Marriott has been slowly chipping away at elite perks for years, and late checkout is one of the most valuable remaining benefits for Platinum and higher tiers. The fact that it's already showing up as 2 p.m. in one market—even if accidentally—suggests the program team has at least discussed reducing it.

If you're sitting on Marriott points and counting on that 4 p.m. checkout for upcoming trips, you might want to book sooner rather than later. Once these devaluations become official, there's rarely any grandfathering. For more on navigating Marriott's evolving program, check out our complete Marriott coverage.

Airbus announced yesterday that thousands of A320-family aircraft require immediate software updates after investigators linked a JetBlue incident to a faulty ELAC flight computer. The aircraft entered an uncommanded descent—pilot-speak for the plane decided to dive on its own.

Aviation insiders expect an airworthiness directive requiring updates across the global A320 fleet. The good news: any grounding should be brief and staggered, with airlines updating systems plane-by-plane to avoid mass cancellations. Still, expect some schedule disruptions over the next few weeks as carriers work through their fleets.

The A320 family is everywhere—it's one of the world's most common aircraft types. If you're flying in the next month, build in extra buffer time for connections, and consider booking refundable fares on airlines that operate large A320 fleets like JetBlue, American, Delta, and United.

For years, American ran consistent monthly promotions on purchased AAdvantage miles. Then in 2022, they jacked up base prices and basically stopped discounting beyond 35-40%. But right now, American is offering 50% off purchased miles—the best deal we've seen all year.

At this price, you're looking at roughly 1.5 cents per mile for top-ups. That's not cheap enough to speculatively buy 100,000 miles, but it absolutely makes sense if you're a few thousand miles short of a premium cabin redemption. American has solid availability to Europe in business class next summer, and their partnerships with Qatar and Etihad open up fantastic premium redemptions to Asia and the Middle East.

The math works especially well for business class to Europe (57,500 miles one-way) or Asia (85,000-95,000 miles). If you need to bridge a gap to a specific award, this is your chance. For more strategies on maximizing American AAdvantage miles, we've covered plenty of sweet spots worth exploring.

Here's a habit that could save you thousands of points: periodically repricing your existing Marriott award bookings. With dynamic award pricing, rates fluctuate constantly. A stay you booked six months ago at 50,000 points per night might now cost 35,000—but Marriott won't automatically refund the difference.

The fix is simple: every few weeks, search for your same dates and see if the points price dropped. If it did, cancel your original booking (most Marriott awards are fully refundable) and rebook at the lower rate. I've seen readers save 100,000+ points on week-long stays just by checking a few times before their trip.

This isn't just a Marriott thing—Hyatt, IHG, and Hilton all use dynamic pricing too. But Marriott's prices seem to fluctuate the most aggressively, making periodic repricing especially valuable. Set a calendar reminder for 30 days before your trip, then again at 14 days, and finally at 5 days out.

Cathay Pacific launched its stunning new Aria Suite business class in late 2024, and it's genuinely one of the best business class products in the world. The challenge? Figuring out which flights actually have it, since the rollout is painfully slow.

Currently, only 10 aircraft feature the Aria Suite, serving about five routes from Hong Kong. The product appears on select flights to London, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Tokyo, and Singapore—but not consistently. Your best bet is using tools like Flight Seatmap to verify the specific aircraft and configuration before booking.

If you're sitting on American, Alaska, or Asia Miles, Cathay awards can offer incredible value—especially now with this new hard product. Just make sure you're actually getting the Aria Suite and not the older regional business class, which is far less impressive. The difference is night and day.

Rove Miles is offering up to 5,000 bonus miles on hotel bookings made today only, stacking on top of Black Friday portal bonuses. This is one of the program's richest single-day opportunities, especially since you still earn full hotel loyalty benefits when booking through Rove.

The portal is showing elevated earning on hotels, flights, gift cards, and major retailers. If you were planning to book a hotel stay anyway, routing it through Rove today could net you thousands of extra miles without sacrificing elite night credits or points in your hotel program. That's the key differentiator—most portals make you choose between loyalty benefits and portal earnings.

Rove Miles transfer to multiple airline partners including Finnair (currently at a +20% bonus). Sign up using this referral link to get started, but move fast—this bonus ends at midnight tonight.

From Ryanair's loyalty program disaster to Marriott's benefit erosion signals, today's news reminds us that programs can change fast—and not always for the better. The 50% off American miles offer is legitimately the best we'll see this year, and if you've got award travel planned, it's worth grabbing a few thousand to top off your account.

Stay flexible with your A320 flights over the next few weeks, and don't forget to periodically reprice those Marriott stays. Sometimes the best deals come from bookings you've already made—you just need to check if the price improved.

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: