The Extra Mile, Oct. 8: AA’s Wi-Fi Upgrade, Amex’s Lounge Blitz + Spring Break Deals

☀️ To Get the Best Deal, It’s Already Time to Book Spring Break

Booking trips around the academic calendar is a challenge in a normal year … but with flight prices as high as they are, spring break 2027 will be anything but normal.

In fact, new data from Google Flights showed that the best window to get the lowest price on spring break flights is earlier this year than last, and I’m here to tell you that it might be right now.

Don’t know where to start? Here is our tried-and-true spring break flight booking strategy:

📆 Book Earlier: If you haven’t started looking and booking yet, fear not, you’re not S.O.L., but it is time to get going! There are only so many low fares, so beating your fellow parents, teachers, and everyone else to the best fares is crucial.

🧘 Book Flexible Fares: As you hurry to book airfare, make sure you’re buying flexibly – either in Main Cabin or above, or using your points and miles. Why? Because if the price of your flight drops, you can re-book for the better deal. Or if a deal to a better destination comes around, you can swap trips without penalty. If you book basic economy, though, you might be stuck paying a change or cancellation fee.

⏰ Book the Right Days/Times: Adjusting your travel days by a day or two here and there (or even your departure time by a few hours) can save you hundreds, if not thousands, on spring break flights. Everyone wants to fly out on Friday and return the next Sunday, but if you adjust your trip to depart on Monday and return on Monday, you’ll likely save big. The savings are even bigger for Tuesday or Wednesday flights.

✈️ Set up FareTracker: How can you know when the price of your flights drops to get a better deal, though? I’m so glad you asked! We just launched a new (free) tool called FareTracker that does exactly that. You’ll get a notification if your flight price drops by $20 or more, so you can re-book the better deal and get an ecredit for the difference!

🔍 Keep Looking for Better Deals: No matter whether you booked a year in advance or just a few weeks ago, spring break deals pop up all the time. You don’t have to settle for the trip you’ve already booked if something better comes along. That’s why you booked flexibly in the first place!

Check out our full spring break flight booking breakdown, including some of the best spring break deals we’ve found so far!

– Gunnar Olson, flight deal analyst, travel reporter, and host of the Thrifty Traveler Podcast

🎙️ New Pod Alert: A Big News Roundup

🔧 A New Tool to Save on Flights, Pricey Airports, Hyatt’s Continued Slide & More

🗞️ This week, the guys break down all the travel news that’s fit to podcast … and there’s a lot of it. That includes a brand-new (and free) tool to save on flights when fares drop, new big card bonus offers, 11 (!) transfer bonuses, and a deep dive on what the heck has happened with World of Hyatt.

Watch it now on YouTube, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. And stay tuned for the next installment next week!

🤝 Deal of the Day: Your Colorado Ski Trip from 7K Points RT!

Heat scale (out of 3): 🔥🔥🔥

Why we love it: There’s one day left in this awesome Southwest Rapid Rewards sale to Denver (DEN) with peak season availability!

Flying this January and February from dozens of U.S. cities under 19,000 Southwest points roundtrip. Transfer your Chase or Bilt points to Southwest to book.

Sign up now to get all the details on this deal & don’t miss the next flight deal alert.

Already a member? Log in to see all your deals.

– Gunnar Olson, Thrifty Traveler Premium deal analyst

🥂 Amex Lines Up 3 Expansions & Another New Centurion Lounge

As nice as they are to unwind before a flight, there’s one big problem with airport lounges these days: They’re simply never big enough. New restrictions to get inside aren’t really moving the needle, either.

And Amex Centurion Lounges are the absolute poster child of overcrowded lounges. Long lines to get in and circling the space to find a seat is the norm in Amex’s flagship lounges for Platinum cardholders.

After confirming a new lounge was heading up to Boston (BOS) and expanding a pair of notoriously overcrowded lounges, the bank just unveiled four more projects in the works.

Amex calls it the “largest Centurion Lounge Network expansion to date.” Here’s a quick glance at what’s on tap.

🗽 Upcoming Newark Lounge Will Double in Size

Before it even opens, Amex’s Centurion Lounge in Newark (EWR) is getting a massive upgrade.

Amex first put a Newark lounge on the map more than three years ago, with plans for an 18,000-square-foot space. But as more and more travelers have picked up the Platinum Card and piled into lounges, Amex clearly decided that wasn’t big enough.

That lounge will now clock in at more than 30,000 square feet, spread across two levels. The Newark lounge will feature not one, not two, but three separate bars: One with craft cocktails and wine, another as an homage to New York’s diner culture, and an Italian-infused bar featuring gelato, pastries, and specialty cocktails.

Yes, a gelato bar. Sign me up.

The Newark lounge is now expected to open sometime in 2027.

❤️ Philadelphia Lounge Will Double, Too

One of the oldest and smallest Centurion Lounges is set for a glow-up.

Amex says it’s doubling its footprint in Philadelphia (PHL), from its current 6,000-square-foot size to 12,000 square feet. Real talk: That’s a much-needed expansion … and likely still nowhere near big enough.

With more space, the lounge will add a new “Blue Roast” coffee and wellness bar. Just check out all those digitally generated human figures enjoying their coffee and wellness! I want that!

The downside? The Philly lounge will temporarily close altogether next week on Oct. 16 – though it’s unclear for how long. The entire project is expected to wrap up by late 2027.

🤠 & Houston Will Triple!

Amex’s lounge at Houston InterContinental Bush (IAH) is getting an even bigger facelift.

A massive expansion will take it from 8,000 square feet to more than 23,000 square feet total. The renovated and expanded space will feature a dedicated dining area with special plated meals, one of those “Blue Roast” coffee & wellness bars for taking care of yourself, and a second cocktail bar for … a different kind of self-care.

The whole project is set to last through the end of next year.

💂🏼‍♀️ A Second Lounge for London-Heathrow

The Centurion Lounge in London-Heathrow (LHR) was Amex’s first foray across the pond. Amex is doubling down in London.

That’s right: The bank will open a second location at Heathrow – this time, in Terminal 5. That’ll be a win for travelers flying British Airways or Iberia who can’t otherwise get lounge access. Amex’s existing lounge is over in Terminal 3.

At 9,000 square feet, this new space will be on the small side. Amex promises “refined food and beverage offerings,” dedicated work spaces, and even a “VIP area.”

All these digitally generated human figures look like VIPs to me!

Bigger is always better when it comes to lounges. Is all of this big enough?

Honestly, I doubt it. But kudos to Amex for constantly looking for ways to up its lounge game.

– Kyle Potter, executive editor

🛜 AA is Going All In on Starlink for In-Flight Wi-Fi

After proudly announcing it would outfit less than half its fleet with blazing-fast Starlink Wi-Fi, American Airlines is going much further.

The Fort Worth-based carrier confirmed Thursday it’s outfitting its entire mainline fleet – Airbus and Boeing narrowbodies as well as all 130-some widebody jets flying across oceans – with Starlink Wi-Fi onboard. That’s a major expansion: Previously, American was only planning to install the technology on its Airbus domestic fleet.

That decision will leave only American’s regional jets – the smaller planes emblazoned with “American Eagle” – without Starlink. Installations are set to begin early next year, with no clear timeline for when all 1,000-plus AA mainline jets will be online.

American joins United, going all-in with Starlink for onboard Wi-Fi. And the timing here is no coincidence.

Delta has been taking it in the digital teeth for the last week and change for shunning Starlink … and allegedly bashing its owner, Elon Musk. We unpacked this so-called “Starlink scuttlebutt” on our latest podcast if you want all the juicy drama.

All of this begs the question: Is high-speed Wi-Fi the be-all, and end-all for airlines in 2026 and beyond? That depends on who you ask.

To the techbros constantly chiming in on Twitter (yes, I know that’s not what it’s called anymore), this is existential. Important grain mountain of salt: The man who owns Starlink also owns said social media platform. It’s juuuuust a bit of an echo chamber over there.

But the airlines not named Delta sure seem to think so, too. These are big and likely expensive moves. Both American and United are out with targeted status matches, trying to poach Delta flyers unhappy with supposedly subpar internet.

Personally, I’m torn.

Faster Wi-Fi is always welcome, and my few flights with Starlink were undeniably speedy. Yet with just a few exceptions, the free Wi-Fi on my Delta flights has been up to snuff for years. It’ll take another few years, but Delta’s partnership with Amazon should only improve things.

And there’s a part of me that yearns for the days of disconnecting when traveling. Isn’t it enough to hurtle through the sky in a metal tube at 600 miles per hour? Do we really need gigabit-speed Wi-Fi everywhere?

But maybe I’m alone there. And I’m certainly not the airlines’ most important customer.

– Kyle Potter, executive editor

💸 Use-It-or-Lose-It: The Bilt Cash Dilemma

Bilt Cash is easily the most confusing part of Bilt’s trio of new cards. It’s also one of the most rewarding … and for many cardholders, a chunk of it is about to vanish.

All three Bilt cards earn 4% back in Bilt Cash on everyday spending, on top of Bilt points. The catch? Only $100 of it rolls over into 2027. Anything above that on Dec. 31 is gone for good.

That leaves many cardholders with a year-end puzzle: How to burn through a balance without wasting time (or money) doing it. Your best bet is still unlocking points on your rent or mortgage – $30 in Bilt Cash gets you 1,000 points.

But that’s capped by your monthly housing payment, so here are a few easy ways to spend the rest:

• Monthly credits with Walgreens, Grubhub, and Lyft ($10 each), plus up to $40 a month on fitness classes
• Bigger Rent Day transfer bonuses on Nov. 1 and Dec. 1. If you see a transfer bonus you like in the coming months, consider “buying up” to the next status tier for an even bigger bonus
• Hotel stays through Bilt Travel, at up to $100 a month for Gold and Platinum members
• BLADE helicopter transfers in New York City, at up to $350 per seat on two seats a year
• A Point Accelerator, which allows you to earn an extra 1x point per dollar, and costs $200. This boost expires at the end of the year, so only activate it if you’ll actually spend $5,000 before then.

This isn’t an all-encompassing list – check out the full story for even more ways to use Bilt Cash – but these are some of the easy(ish) options for using up your remaining balance, before it’s too late.

Just don’t go overboard: Spending $40 at Walgreens to use a $10 credit isn’t saving money.

And the *Bilt Palladium* (See Rates and Fees) gets a fresh $200 in Bilt Cash every year, so between that and the $100 rollover, you should start 2027 with enough to cover a couple of months of housing payments before you get your balance Bilt built back up.

Check out our story for the full breakdown!

– Jackson Newman, senior editor

✈️ Other Travel Tidbits

• 🇫🇷 Air France is adding new routes from Paris (CDG) to Nashville (BNA) and San Diego (SAN), each flying three times a week starting in summer 2027 on the Airbus A350-900. (Ishrion Aviation via X)
• 📶 KLM will offer free Starlink Wi-Fi on intercontinental flights starting in mid-2027, for Flying Blue members in all cabins. (KLM)
• ⚡ TSA plans to roll out upgraded PreCheck lanes at seven airports over the next six weeks, aiming to double the number of travelers each lane can screen. (Federal News Network)
• 🇹🇭 Thailand is weighing a 1,000-baht (about $30) departure tax on nearly every passenger flying out of the country, regardless of nationality. (The Nation Thailand)

Centurion Lounge images courtesy of American Express