The Extra Mile, Nov. 12: United’s Misguided AI Crackdown, Domestic Lie-Flat Deal & More!

🥸 United’s Misguided Crackdown on AI Bots

Like it or not, right or wrong, AI is here to stay. Or, to butcher a quote from my favorite British sitcom: “AI is going to be massive, I keep telling you.”

But United missed the memo, I guess. Yesterday, the Chicago-based carrier announced it would ban AI agents – the personal AI assistants with names like Muse and Grok Bot – from booking flights.

It’s a big, bold move: United is the first major airline (that I know of) to lay down the law with chatbots. Others, including Delta, have done the opposite.

And it’s a questionable move at best that will have drastic negative consequences. And I say that as someone deeply skeptical of most uses of AI.

United says it’s protecting consumers against the exposure of sensitive information and “unintended purchases, account changes, or use of MileagePlus miles” by these AI assistants.

But if you ask me, there’s a lot more to it. As with virtually everything in life, two – and sometimes even three! – things can be true at once.

• Data privacy and fraud are very real concerns. Does that require shutting out AI assistants altogether? I’m not sure.
• I’m no lawyer (don’t remind my mom!), but there’s definitely a legal question here, too: What happens if my Muse bot books a flight for me … but screws up? My bot is the one signing a contract with the airline, not me. So could I sue United? That’s the fear.
• But let’s be honest here: It’s all about the bottom line with airlines. And while these AI bots are neither perfect nor in widespread use today, they’re arguably the most powerful weapon to date to help everyday travelers find cheaper flights: an automated tool that can check fares around the clock, book when prices fall, and rebook if they drop again.

I think United sees AI assistants as a threat to its mission of filling planes at the highest fares possible … and therefore its profitability.

The biggest tell of all is how broadly United defined “AI agents” in its terms and conditions. It’s not just Grok Bot and Muse or other autonomous actors but also “semi-autonomous” agents that can book or make changes on United, “whether or not Passenger or another individual supervises or approves its actions, to discover, search for, book, purchase, ticket, service or manage any product.”

The way that’s written, I can’t help but suspect it wouldn’t just shut out autonomous AI agents. It would surely affect the growing number of sites, services, and subscriptions like Autopilot, Junova, and others that will automatically rebook flights if prices drop.

Our FareTracker tool is in the clear – and it’s completely free to use!

Airline pricing is a black box: a completely frustrating, constantly changing mystery to 99.9% of travelers … and that’s by design. Honestly, it’s part of airlines’ edge over their customers.

I’ve spent the better part of the last decade mastering, explaining, and exploiting changes in airfare. In a matter of months since launching publicly, these AI assistants can already do more in an hour than I’ll ever be able to do in a lifetime.

The biggest question now isn’t just whether other airlines will follow United’s lead here – it’s whether United can put a stop to this at all. Can United realistically block Muse from booking flights for you? Or are these just empty words?

Part of me suspects it’s the latter. The cat is out of the bottle with AI, the genie is out of the bag. I think I got that right…

Bigger picture, there’s something hilariously ironic with this entire situation. Airlines have been racing to use AI to fine-tune their scheduling systems, replace customer service, and even set airfare to begin with.

But the minute everyday consumers have a tool they can use to make dealing with the airlines A) cheaper and B) less annoying, all of the sudden it’s: “Whoa whoa whoa, slow down with this AI stuff!”

That’s rich.

Read our full story here!

– Kyle Potter, executive editor

🎙️ New Pod Alert: Points & Miles For the Whole Family

👪 How to Do Points for the Whole Family (with the Points Talk Squad!)

📗 Earning points and miles for the whole family requires a lot of strategy – a strategy the women at the Points Talk Squad are steeped in. This week, Alex and Pam come by the show to talk about the highs and lows of family travel.

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: JetBlue Mint Biz Class from $930 Roundtrip!

Heat scale (out of 3): 🔥🔥

Why we love it: Here’s your chance to fly lie-flat business class to California, Las Vegas, and Bozeman this winter!

Look for availability all the way through fall 2027 from several cities. This is the best value to fly lie-flat in the country!

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

⏰ ‘When Should I Leave For the Airport?’ Answered

Flighty – my favorite travel app – wants to answer one of the age-old questions of travel: What time do I need to leave for the airport?

In a new update of the Flighty Pro app Wednesday, a new feature called “When to Leave” uses Apple Maps data along with a customizable airport itinerary to let you know exactly when it’s time to leave for the airport with the accompanying push alerts, of course.

It’s a brilliant update to the already powerful app – removing the tedious effort of counting backwards to figure out when to leave by taking into account every aspect of the travel experience.

That’s the beauty of this update: It’s fully customizable. Say I need to budget time to return my rental car, check a bag, go through security, and even get some time in at the lounge.

Before my flight, I can go in, check those items on the list, and Flighty will automatically adjust my timing. I can even budget more or less time for any of those items, which plays into my “Time to Leave” calculation, too.

Along with the “Time to Leave” feature, Flighty also rolled out the ability to search for previous flights in your “Passport” – your history of flights in the app – as well as the ability to share your Passport with your friends on the app.

Sorry Android users. The Flighty app is still only available on the Apple iOS ecosystem.

Check out a full breakdown of the update!

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

🔨 Bilt Makes Home Improvement More Rewarding

Bilt keeps finding new places for you to earn points. The latest? Your local national big box hardware store: Lowe’s.

Link your MyLowe’s Rewards account to Bilt and you’ll earn 1x Bilt point per dollar at Lowe’s, both in stores and on lowes.com. The best part (at least for some) is that you don’t have to pay with a Bilt card to earn the points, and the Bilt points are in addition to rewards from your credit card, shopping portal, or card-linked offer.

So swipe a card that earns bonus points at home improvement stores, and you’ll stack 1x Bilt points on top of that.

There are a few things to know.

• For online purchases, you must be logged into your Lowe’s account when you place the order.
• In store, provide the phone number on your MyLowe’s Rewards account or scan your member ID.
• Points are calculated on net spend after returns, credits, and discounts, and they should post to your Bilt account within 5-7 days.

With this new partnership, Bilt is also letting you use Bilt Cash to cover a full year of Lowe’s HomeCare+. With this service, you get two in-home visits by trained Lowe’s associates each year for up to seven essential home maintenance services.

Before you get too excited, those “essential home maintenance services” include things like changing a light bulb and replacing your smoke detector batteries – not exactly something that requires a ton of expertise. Having said that, other services require a little more know-how like dryer vent cleaning, electric water heater flushing, garage door lubrication, and more.

Bilt Cash can cover the full $99/year cost (subject to auto-renewal), so if you have more Bilt Cash than you know what to do with, this might not be a bad option. Just know HomeCare+ is only available in select ZIP codes.

For homeowners, this new partnership is a pretty easy win. Link your accounts once, and every Lowe’s run earns Bilt points from then on.

– Jackson Newman, senior editor

🤯 How I Booked a Week in Mexico for $535

My wife and I decided to celebrate our five-year anniversary at the property where we got married: Secrets Maroma Riviera Cancun in Mexico. Being able to use points and miles to cover most of the trip made it even more fun.

Here’s a quick look at how we booked a week in Mexico that would normally cost $4,980 … for just $535 instead.

The Hotel:

First, let’s start with the hotel, which is our favorite property in the world: Secrets Maroma Beach Riviera Cancun. Because it’s part of the Hyatt Inclusive Collection, we decided to use our Hyatt points rather than cash.

It came out to 35k points a night for two people, with no taxes or fees. Five nights came out to 175k points. That’s not bad for an all-inclusive for two, especially when the cash price would have been $3,630!

After Hyatt’s brutal devaluation earlier this year, you can still book this property for 35,000 points per night during off-peak times … but many nights now go for 45,000 points (or more) a night.

The Flights:

Booking the flights was a little more complicated. I usually try to book most of my Delta flights through partners Air France or Virgin, but because the outbound date never showed availability with partners, I ended up using 16k SkyMiles each (32k total) to book a one-way Main Cabin flight from Minneapolis to Cancun. Taxes and fees came out to $120 total for two.

The return flight cost 18k Flying Blue miles each, or 36k for two passengers, which I transferred from Capital One. Taxes were $210 total for two people.

So, all in for flights, we were at $330 out of pocket. Prices for these exact flights would have been $1,350 total for two Main Cabin fares if we had booked directly through Delta.

Other Things We Paid For:

I’ve had a lot of success using America Transfers for transportation in Cancun. We decided to splurge a bit and spend $205 (vs. $100) on a private transfer in a newer Tahoe SUV. We had an awesome driver who surprised us with free beers and a bottle of sparkling wine!

Thrifty Tips:

• By using TSA facial recognition, I had no line to check my luggage and no line at security.
• Heading to the Delta Sky Club at MSP’s G gates is always a treat. That’s how I use my $200 Amex Platinum credit every year to bring my wife in as a guest ($50 per visit).
• I used my Delta SkyMiles Platinum Card for free Dot’s Pretzels (RIP), and got 4 free drink vouchers from the TT Premium Facebook community.
• The Amex Platinum loads $15 a month in Uber credits, which almost completely covered my ride from my house to MSP.

The Final Tally:

• 175k Hyatt points (transferred from Chase Ultimate Rewards)
• 32k SkyMiles (transferred from Amex Membership Rewards)
• 36k Flying Blue miles (transferred from Capital One)

Cash out of pocket was $535 for a week in Mexico!

– Jon Shallbetter, chief flight deal analyst

✈️ Other Travel Tidbits

• 📶 United now has Starlink internet on more than half its daily flights, just in time for Thanksgiving. It expects nearly 64% of flights to be equipped by year-end and every installation finished by the end of 2027. (United)
• 🎨 Singapore Airlines’ CEO now says the airline will “look at” the colors on its new business class seat after days of defending them. Seats are ordered years ahead, though, so don’t expect a quick fix. (One Mile at a Time)
• 🏨 IHG’s annual Global Cyber Sale runs Tuesday, Nov. 17 through Dec. 3. IHG One Rewards members get up to 30% off (non-members up to 20%) for stays Nov. 21 through April 30, 2027. (LoyaltyLobby)
• 🇰🇷 Korean Air is coming back to Newark (EWR) for the first time since 2001, flying daily to Seoul-Incheon (ICN) on a Boeing 777-300ER starting May 22, 2027. (AeroRoutes)