Spirit Brings Back Fees, WestJet Overhauls Loyalty, and Other Airline News This Week

Every week, we look at airline industry stories that did not get an individual article in the past 7 days. This week, we’ve seen interesting news from airlines in the U.S., Canada, and elsewhere.

Let’s have a look.

Spirit Reintroduces Change Fees

Spirit Airlines is taking another step toward behaving more like a traditional airline as it gets ready to exit bankruptcy. The ultra-low-cost carrier has reintroduced change fees on its lowest fares, the equivalent of a legacy airline’s basic economy, after scrapping them last year.

Spirit offers 4 fare types: Go, Go Savvy, Go Comfy, and Go Big. Go fares now will incur change fees, just like basic economy on American, Delta, and United, The Bulkhead Seat reported. The fees are as follows:

• 0-6 days before departure: $99
• 7-30 days before departure: $79
• 31-59 days before departure: $59
• More than 60 days before departure: $0
• Cancellation fee at any time: $99

Alaska Mixed-Partner Awards To Be Priced Like Single-Partner

In a piece of good news from the world of points and miles earlier this year, Alaska Airlines began allowing mixed-partner award redemptions.

However, one of the limitations of this new feature was that award prices for mixed-partner itineraries could be higher than single-partner bookings on the exact same route. Now, in an update shared with Frequent Miler, Alaska has said it intends to price those awards the same as single-partner ones, which are based on cumulative distance.

“Depending on the connection, sometimes multi-partner does end up being more expensive than a single partner connect,” Alaska said. But, overall, this is great news for travelers redeeming Alaska Mileage Plan miles.

WestJet Changes Its Loyalty Program

On April 30, Canada’s second-biggest airline and Delta partner WestJet will roll out an extensive overhaul of its loyalty program, WestJet Rewards.

WestJet dollars will be phased out in favor of points. For each WestJet dollar in their account, members will receive 100 points. Redemptions will not be more expensive, as 100 points will be worth CA$1 toward flight bookings — and toward anything else that can be purchased with WestJet Rewards.

WestJet points also will never expire, unlike current WestJet dollars, AwardWallet reported.

After April 30, members will also earn points on carrier surcharges, seat selection, checked bags, and cabin upgrades, unlike before. Members also will be able to use points to pay for all of those things, plus taxes and fees and even vacation packages.

Like many other airlines, WestJet is also raising the spending thresholds to earn elite status. Silver status goes from $3,000 (in Canadian dollars) to $4,000 in tier-qualifying spend; Gold from $5,000 to $6,000; and Platinum from $8,000 to $10,000. To sweeten the change, more expenses will count toward status. Spending on seat selection, checked bags, cabin upgrades, and carrier surcharges will qualify.

U.S.-based flyers who fly WestJet with any frequency may be better off crediting WestJet flights to Delta SkyMiles, though.

Lufthansa and ITA Airways Get Even Closer

Lufthansa Group said that it has rolled out mutual codesharing between ITA Airways and other network airlines in the group, including Lufthansa, Swiss, Austrian Airlines, Brussels Airlines, and Air Dolomiti.

This means flights on ITA and other Lufthansa Group airlines can be combined seamlessly in a single booking. This applies to more than 100 codeshare connections, starting with the summer 2025 schedule, which begins in late March.

Members of the Miles & More or Volare loyalty programs will also be able to collect and redeem miles or points on codeshare flights.

Earlier this year, Lufthansa finalized the acquisition of 41% of ITA from the Italian state, with an option to buy the remaining 59%. ITA joined the Lufthansa Group and is shifting its loyalty program to the Miles & More ecosystem.

Delta Cuts Its Longest Domestic Flight

Delta Air Lines is ending its longest domestic flight, between Boston (BOS) and Honolulu (HNL), after starting it in November of last year. After April 30, flights DL438 from Boston and DL962 from Honolulu are ending, as reported by Ishrion Aviation.

Delta competes with Hawaiian Airlines on the route, which clearly does not have enough demand to support 2 carriers. The flight from New York-JFK to Honolulu will inherit the title of longest domestic Delta flight.

Qatar Airways Installing Free Starlink Faster Than Scheduled

Last year, Qatar Airways began installing fast, free Starlink Wi-Fi on its Boeing 777s. Now, the Gulf Times reported, installation is complete on more than 50% of the 777 fleet, ahead of schedule.

All of the airline’s 777s will have Starlink installed by the second quarter of 2025. The Airbus A350 fleet will begin Starlink installation in the summer. This matters to U.S. flyers because all of Qatar’s destinations in the country are served with either a 777 or A350.

Qatar Airways is also moving its Premium Lounge at the Bangkok-Suvarnabhumi (BKK) airport to a new location at the “midfield satellite” terminal. The new lounge will open by the end of the year, Executive Traveller reported.

The lounge is an excellent choice for passengers in business class not only on Qatar but on other airlines in the Oneworld alliance serving BKK. With its relocation to a satellite terminal, this option will go away, which is an unwelcome development for Oneworld flyers.

Cathay Offers Pre-Booking for Its Hong Kong Spa

Some passengers flying out of Hong Kong (HKG) on Cathay Pacific can now pre-book treatments at The Pier First lounge’s spa. This matters because the spa is in high demand and often hard to get into.

Advance reservations are now available for the spa after online check-in or through the Manage My Booking screen on the Cathay site. The advance reservation perk is exclusive to passengers in Cathay Pacific’s coveted first class and Cathay Diamond frequent flyers, Executive Traveller reported.

Final Thoughts

With change fees returning to some fares on Spirit, WestJet making big changes to its loyalty program, and Qatar Airways speeding up the installation of fast, free Wi-Fi, it’s been a week of interesting news in air travel. Check back in 7 days for our next recap of airline news.