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Tier qualifications also change. Today Silver is 35k TQPs or 20 segments. That goes to 25 segments next year. Gold is 70k/40 and switches to 65k/50. Platinum goes from 135k/100 to 140k/100. The first milestone reward is 2000 points or 2 preferred seat coupons.

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Changes coming to Rapid Rewards in 2027, including a shift to the "standard" Silver/Gold/Platinum naming for elite tiers. Also new "milestone" benefits between tiers, including an option with 3 companion pass trips between Gold and Plat. #paxex $LUV #loyalty

New blue/silver/gold/platinum tier cards from Southwest.

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Ten seconds out the window of 200km/h+ in Northern Portugal.

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JetBlue's new BlueFirst cabin is now on sale. The first reconfigured plane is planned to enter service on 8 December between Boston and Fort Lauderdale (B6 769 southbound, 2270 northbound). Notably, the inaugural flight southbound is blocked from sale. #PaxEx $JBLU

Fare matrix showing the BlueFirst seats for sale.

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That's a wrap for me on #AviationFest, with a few more stories yet to be written. But, first, a weekend getaway with @linneaharts.bsky.social, starting from the Calatrava-designed Oriente Station. Fun how the angle of light changes the view.

Slightly silhouetted steel and glass train station covering.

Same train station, but without the shadows.

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Trade shows are great for giveaways. Some companies here are raffling Lego airplane kit and other fun stuff. One group decided pervert glasses were the correct choice. 🤔

Advert from six companies offering a chance to win Meta/Ray-Ban glasses.

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Took a walk through the #AviationFest show floor this morning, actually looking at the booth graphics. There are more mentions of "Agentic" or "AI" than I could fit in the video. 🤯 And I probably didn't get them all.

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When I re-select it I'm warned that "we may change your seat due to operational reasons. In such cases, we will do our best to assign you a seat in the same zone." The same warning is applied for anything row 16 or forward. Rows in the back don't have it.

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This afternoon I got an alert my seat assignment on an upcoming Air France flight (5 days away) had been changed from 16A to 17A "due to operational reasons." Seat 16A is still available to assign, and even marked as "preferred" in the cabin. 🤔 #PaxEx

Seat map showing my assigned 17A and 16A still available, even though I got moved out of it for operational reasons.

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Shift from the Chairman to the CEO, and still dancing around the privatization convo: What difference would it make who is announced? It doesn't make any difference. What lies ahead is not so much on whether the choice is A or B, but how to execute whatever is defined by that partner?

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Kicking off Day 2 of #AviationFest in Lisbon with the Chairman of TAP very much not discussing the expected announcement later today of his airline's new owner/investor.

Man standing on stage at a trade conference.

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Accelya rep on stage this morning, "We don't have people writing interfaces anymore; that skill is gone." // He is pitching that as a good thing, though. Also, these slides have that AI slop feel in a creepy way.

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Malaysia Airlines suspended all flights to Jeddah (JED) and Madinah (MED) until 17 October. Attacks in Saudi impacting more than just Riyadh. #avgeek

Malaysia Airlines Cancels Flights to/from Jeddah and Madinah Until 17 October 2026 as a Precautionary Measure

Following recent attacks on airports in Saudi Arabia, Malaysia Airlines has cancelled all flights connecting Kuala Lumpur (KUL) and Johor Bahru (JHB) with Jeddah (JED) and Madinah (MED) from 12 until 17 October 2026 as a precautionary measure.

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Keynote session starting at #AviationFest, with so many empty seats, thanks to the security situation. I feel badly for the speakers talking to an empty room.

Hundreds of people in line to enter the event.

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Seth Miller @wandrme.paxex.aero · 12/10/2026

A beautiful morning for #AviationFest, and also absurd security lines. Whole lot of unhappy exhibitors, sponsors, and guests to start the day.

Giant banners on the front of a convention center

Large crowd of people in line to enter the facility.

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How many cities/countries are there where cars drive on the right and trains drive on the left?? This question brought to you by the Lisbon Metro system.

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Seth Miller @wandrme.paxex.aero · 12/10/2026

Settling in nicely, including a large nap juice to attack the jetlag. Though with the daytime flight I managed to sleep ~7 hours last night. Plus a gym session this morning. Almost like normal. Maybe??

Four small sandwiches and a 500mL beer for lunch in an outdoor cafe.

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Landing just before 10p local and doing my best to force my body to the new time zone, so straight to dinner, even before the hotel. Just the mall food court, but it is a solid option, reasonably priced (€12 for meat, sides, and a beer) and open late. Views from the patio are great, too.

Dinner plate and a small beer overlooking the waterfront in the distance, but it is night so you can't really see it.

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Did the kiosk thing. Waited in line. Had to do the fingerprint and photo again. No one enforcing the kiosk part of the flow. I just don't understand the whole thing happening here. What are the actual rules?!? But through in under 20 and now on the Metro, so taking the win.

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And that's that. Wheels down in Portugal, about 20 minutes early. Now to see how bad EES and the immigration lines are.

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I shouldn't let airline catering surprise me, but here we are. WestJet serves a second meal for the eastbound Atlantic crossing. It is breakfast, despite this being a daytime flight to Europe. It is 1630 in YHZ and 2030 in LIS and they put a (soggy) croissant and fruit bowl on the tray.

"Snack" of a croissant and five pieces of fruit.

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Sunset over the Atlantic. Always glorious to see that out a plane window.

Golden light in a WestJet winglet, flying above the clouds.

Orange sunset on the horizon, with a silhouetted plane wing.

Tiny bit of sun dropping behind the clouds for sunset.

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Inflight meal, with interesting timing. Served about 90 minutes into the flight, which is a late lunch for departure and an early dinner for arrival (4 hour time zone shift). All of it was fine. Nothing surprising or outstanding.

Snacks and a ginger ale on a tray table.

Pierogi, salad, bread roll, mini-bite of cake on an airplane meal tray.

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Gorgeous leaf peeping as we climbed out of Halifax this afternoon. And a "glory" rainbow tracking us for a bit as we turned east for the Atlantic crossing. Very colorful start to the trip.

Multi-colored leaves on the trees next to the airport as we depart.

Looking down on forest and lakes. The tree leaves are switching from green to reds and yellows.

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The FAA absolutely issues safety warnings or limits operations in areas it seems unsafe, prohibiting US-registered planes or licensed pilots operating, even if local authorities do not. Happens all the time.

List of safety NOTAMs in foreign countries issued by the FAA.

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Welcome aboard WestJet flight WS32 with service to Lisbon. I splurged for the Premium seat today (not too much more than Y with an assigned seat and carry on bag), with plenty of legroom. Premium cabin is 100% full. I believe the FAs just said Y is only 50%, which I guess is OK for end of season.

"premium" seat on board. Basically domestic F, with an adjustable headrest.

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Concessions options are limited, but I've got a 20-pack of timbits and a great view of the active runway (for what little activity there is), holding me over until departure.

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Anywho, back to the travel experience... The terminal is lovely and pretty quiet overall. Well more capacity than demand, at least for a sleepy Sunday in mid-October. The local library has kiosks (one inside, one outside security). They sell socks in beer cans. And lots of other local merch.

Library book kiosk in an airport terminal.

Beer cans, but with socks inside rather than beverages.

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The flight times are eastbound OK if you're a local. I had to overnight coming from the US to make it work. Westbound it leaves VERY early from Portugal, but you can be home before noon, depending on where in Nova Scotia you live.

Nose on shot of a 737 with Starlink antennae on top.

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WestJet runs a mini-European gateway from Halifax in the summer. Relatively short flights so the MAX 8 fleet doesn't have range issues getting there. Unlike many hubs, however, this one doesn't have much in the way of connecting flow. I believe only one inbound flight can help fill YHZ-LIS.

Map with seven TATL destinations from YHZ.

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Some #AirportArchitecture action this morning in Halifax. I'm here to take advantage of one of my favorite travel options: a daytime flight to Europe. This one is a bit wonky, the WestJet service from Halifax to Lisbon. #avgeek #paxex

Landside airport terminal with murals emulating stained glass on the facade.

Airport terminal interior with a large model plane hanging in the atrium.

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Easy flight. Easy immigration process. Short wait for the hotel shuttle. All wins for a short 15 hour stay in Canada.

Terribly pixelated picture of me on an immigration paper.

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Making a Dash for Halifax. Taking a DASH to Halifax. New to me route and airline, though not sure if I count PAL Airlines in this context since it is a regional operator, booked as Air Canada. #avgeek

Bit of knee-room, but narrow and very firm seats.

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Down one of the least used hallways at BOS, to the AC gates. Excellent sunset view over a pair of Chesters while awaiting my slightly delayed hop to Canada.

Wispy clouds and sunset over an airport.

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Boop! Someone swapped a nose on that JetBlue A321. Not quite as silly as the Spirit ones when the bright yellow was mismatched, but trying.

Mostly blue plane with a white nose cone.

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