There's enough doom and gloom in travel to make you want to cover your eyes and ears and just stay home this year. But that's only the case if you choose to ignore all the exciting things happening, like new planes, routes, and the points-and-miles availability that always seems to follow.
Sure, airfare is up this summer. But there's also new nonstop routes from the U.S. to Rome (FCO), Hong Kong (HKG), Malta (MLA), Budapest (BUD), and more that you can book for less using points (even in business class, too!)
And yeah, Spirit Airlines went under, Sun Country and Allegiant merged, and low-cost carriers are facing issues all over the country. But there are also exciting, new planes and seats flying for American, United, Air Canada, and Lufthansa over to Europe this year.
You may have also seen that airlines are making it harder to redeem points or worsening their redemption rates, but every time it gets harder to use points with one program it seems to get easier with others … like being able to book an intriguing Asian airline that was formerly unavailable to American travelers.
So let's get rosy, travelers. I'm done with the doom and gloom. Here's what I'm excited about in air travel this year.
All the New Routes (Alaska Goes to Europe, Delta Picks Hong Kong & Malta, and more)
New routes are the best. Yeah, I'm a bit of a nerd about this stuff – but there's just something exciting about it, and I'm always fascinated by the behind-the-scenes decision-making that goes into new air service.
Plus, new routes – as I've written about dozens of times before – are ripe for great flight deals. Ultimately, when new flights are loaded, the seat maps are empty, which usually triggers some of the lowest fares you'll see on a route. So it always pays to stay up on new route news (or let me do it for you!)
In 2026, we're getting a fascinating slew of new routes – almost all of which have meant corresponding flight deals for our Thrifty Traveler Premium flight deal alert subscribers.
Sometimes these are big, splashy routes like Minneapolis (MSP) to Maui (OGG) or Los Angeles (LAX) to Hong Kong (HKG) on Delta. But other times, it's an airline you've never heard of flying to a place you didn't even know existed.
That, my friends, is Cabo Verde Airlines. This month, Cabo Verde Airlines launched service from Sal (SID) and Praia (RAI), Cape Verde, to Providence, Rhode Island (PVD). This shocking, nonstop flight to the African islands of Cape Verde is one of the most unique routes I can ever remember covering. As you can see in the screenshot above, the new service launched with seriously low introductory pricing.
Those flights between Rhode Island and Africa (I can't believe I just wrote that …) are slightly shorter than this next exciting, new route … that doesn't leave the United States. That would be Minneapolis (MSP) to Maui (OGG) – a route announced and discontinued years ago after the devastating fires on Maui, but it will make its triumphant return later this year.
As soon as Delta put Maui back on the map for MSP travelers, fares went on sale. And all those empty seats meant that – if you book with Delta's partner Air France/KLM Flying Blue – you could snag your seats onboard for just 25,500 miles each way … in main cabin, no less!
It was just the first of a flurry of new Delta routes that are turning heads and emptying points accounts this year. How about New York (JFK) to Malta (MLA) – an exciting new route that came as a result of a SkyMiles member vote last year. The Mediterranean Island's new New York service would probably be a tough ticket … or so we thought.
Delta launched a secret Delta One SkyMiles Flash Sale after the flights went on sale – offering up MLA flights in lie-flat business class for just 84,300 SkyMiles each way!
It was a similar pattern to what we saw take hold for Delta's new Hong Kong (HKG) service, too. Just a few weeks after tickets went on sale, Delta slashed Delta One Suites SkyMiles rates on those flights starting at 85,000 SkyMiles each way.
But the best savings were in the economy cabin, where you could secure your ride to Southeast Asia for as low as 25,000 Delta SkyMiles roundtrip! Here's a look at the Thrifty Traveler Premium flight deal alert we sent for those fares, including a sneak peak at just a few of the nearly 100 cities that could benefit from fares below 40,000 SkyMiles roundtrip.
Delta's SkyMiles Flash Sales often lead to hearty discounts on new routes, but it's not the only airline where award space closely follows new route announcements.
Take Royal Air Maroc, for instance. The airline from Casablanca, Morocco (CMN) is no first-timer to the North American market with flights to Montreal (YUL), New York (JFK), Toronto (YYZ), and Washington, D.C. (IAD). But their newest route that just launched this year connects Los Angeles (LAX) to CMN, too.
Shortly after those flights went on sale, points and miles availability through Royal Air Maroc's partners of Finnair and Japan Airlines (both transfer partners of several U.S. banks) was made available for just 51,000 or 60,000 miles each way!
Royal Air Maroc's OneWorld Alliance partner American Airlines also launched some fun, new routes to Europe in 2026 – giving travelers a direct line from its Philadelphia (PHL) hub to Budapest (BUD). If you use American's partner Alaska Airlines to book business class seats on that flight, it will only cost you 55,000 points each way!
Some of these fun, new routes haven't quite given us the satisfaction of an amazing flight deal yet. The new Alaska route from Seattle (SEA) to Rome (FCO) and another to Barcelona (BCN) haven't yielded the kind of business class award space we so desire, but I promise, we're checking every day!
All the New Seats (American's Suites, Lufthansa's A380, and more)
The premium travel arms race has reached a fever pitch. Airlines all over the world are leveling up their first, business, and premium economy cabins in the hopes of appealing to more and more (wealthy) customers. But you don't have to be rich to find yourself in one of these new, fancy business class seats: You just need to have the right points and know where to look.
American Airlines debuted its new business class suites on the Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner a few months ago, and the early returns are positive – as our Editor Jackson Newman can attest to first-hand.
You can find that seat flying between New York (JFK) and Los Angeles (LAX) and London (LHR) right now for as few as 45,000 miles each way from JFK and 60,000 each way from LAX.
You won't find these next seats flying to London – you'll find them flying a little further into Europe on Lufthansa's refurbished, double-decker A380 airplanes. Flying to Munich (MUC) from Boston (BOS), Washington, D.C.-Dulles (IAD), and San Francisco (SFO), you can find these updated seats, replacing the old 2-2-2 layout, which was severely lacking.
Best of all, you can book them from the East Coast for just 60,000 Air Canada miles (transferable from most U.S. banks) and from the West Coast for 90,000 Air Canada miles, too.
Here's a new business class seat that was not on my radar for 2026: EgyptAir's new A350 business class.
The airline that connects Cairo (CAI) to the world has new and expanded service to Chicago (ORD) and Los Angeles (LAX) featuring these new A350 business class seats. Plus, you could connect on to South Africa (JNB) for the same price if you book with EgyptAir partners ANA, Aeroplan, or LifeMiles, too!
All the New Planes (A321s & United's Business-Heavy 787s)
Don't you love that new plane smell? Luckily, United, American, and Air Canada are all rolling exciting new planes off the assembly line and flying them around the world this year. If you want to be one of the first people to fly on these new birds, we've got plenty of Thrifty Traveler Premium flight deals to get you there.
Let's start with United and its new Boeing 787-9s, which feature a whopping 64 United Polaris Business Class Suites. For those keeping score at home, that's 17 rows of business class! The economy seats don't even start until after the wing on these premium-heavy planes.
Last month, we found availability flying these swanky planes from San Francisco (SFO) to London (LHR) for just 80,000 United miles each way for co-branded United Cardholders and 115,000 miles each way for everyone else.
Not all of these new planes need to be jumbo jets to fly you in style, though. In fact, these other two examples are single-aisle, relatively small aircraft that still have the range to fly over the ocean.
Check out this American Airlines fare on the long, transcontinental flight between New York (JFK) and Los Angeles (LAX). You can book a premium economy recliner for just 26,500 American miles each way!
This is most intriguing because it's onboard American's brand new A321XLR aircraft with business class suites in the front instead of a regular first class recliner. The premium economy seats are also new, updated recliners that are more than enough for your journey across the country … plus, they are priced more like an economy seat!
Then there's Air Canada's A321XLRs, which the airline is deploying across the Atlantic instead of across the continent. Air Canada will use these planes to connect Montreal (YUL) to smaller French outposts like Nantes (NTE) and Toulouse (TLS) this summer …. all for just 50,000 ANA miles each way or 65,000 Air Canada miles each way in lie-flat business class seats.
Having flown the single-aisle business class product on Iberia's A321XLR, I can tell you it's a terrific experience. Service is quick and easy, and the whole process feels stress-free. My colleague Kyle also flew JetBlue's version of this, which he similarly enjoyed.
A New OneWorld Member (Hello, Philippine Airlines!)
How about some more good news, but this time to Asia?
I don't blame you if Philippine Airlines hasn't taken up too much brain space for you over the past few years, because booking Philippine Airlines flights with points and miles has been next to impossible for most travelers here in North America. That's changing this year.
Over the past few months, Philippine Airlines flights have become bookable with Qatar Avios, Japan Airlines miles, and most recently, Qantas Frequent Flyer points. This means travelers with Bilt points, Capital One miles, and more now have access to Philippine Airlines. But it gets better.
The airline announced this week it was joining the Oneworld Alliance, which should open up even more booking opportunities on airlines like American, Alaska, British Airways, Cathay Pacific, and more!
When Qatar and Philippines linked up initially, we found some great availability flying nonstop to Manila (MNL) from the U.S. for these rates, for example. When PAL officially joins the Oneworld alliance, we could see rates that are much lower than this, too.
JetBlue's New Lounges at Boston and JFK
JetBlue is in the lounge game – opening a new location at JFK and planning to open another in Boston (BOS) this summer.
They're called BlueHouses, and while we haven't been (yet), they look really nice!
You can get in for free with JetBlue's highest status (Mosaic 4), its JetBlue Premier Card, or by purchasing a transatlantic JetBlue Mint ticket.
While a JetBlue-specific lounge may not be headline news for most travelers, another lounge space at these two Northeast hubs is good news for travelers.
Bottom Line
Fares may be up, airlines may be struggling to get you where you're going (on time), and you may just want to stay home to avoid all the bad headlines out there – but don't forget about all the exciting things coming in air travel this year.
New routes, planes, seats, lounges, and booking options are putting a silver lining on a year of (mostly) bad travel news.
