Carnival and Barclays Launch New Rewards Mastercard for Cruise Travelers
Carnival Cruise Line and Barclays US Consumer Bank have launched the new no-annual-fee Carnival Rewards Mastercard, designed to turn everyday spending into rewards for future cruises while accelerating progress through Carnival’s recently launched loyalty program. Cardmembers can earn up to 6X points on eligible Carnival purchases when card and Carnival Rewards earnings are combined, 2X points at eligible restaurants and grocery stores, and 1X points on other purchases, while also accumulating Status Qualifying Stars toward higher loyalty tiers. New cardmembers can earn 50,000 bonus points after spending $1,000 in the first 90 days, while other benefits include real-time redemptions on eligible Carnival purchases, points for cruise upgrades, a 2,500-point anniversary bonus after meeting the spending requirement, and six months of promotional 0% APR on Carnival cruise booking purchases, subject to terms.
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United Unveils Its Largest-Ever International Expansion with 10 New Destinations
United is planning its largest international network expansion to date, adding 10 new cities and several new routes across Europe and Asia beginning in March 2027 while introducing its new “Born to Explore” Airbus A321XLR. The expansion includes new service from Newark to Luxembourg City, Ljubljana, Ibiza, Valencia, Marseille, Terceira, Olbia, and Catania, along with San Francisco–Okinawa and Washington Dulles–Toulouse flights, with eight of the destinations receiving the only nonstop U.S. service from a U.S. airline. United is also adding Los Angeles–Osaka, Washington Dulles–Milan and Denver–Paris service and restarting San Francisco–Tel Aviv. Several new European routes will be operated by the A321XLR, which features 20 United Polaris suites with privacy doors, 12 United Premium Plus seats, free Starlink Wi-Fi for MileagePlus members, and upgraded inflight entertainment as United continues expanding a global network that now reaches more than 160 international destinations.
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Delta Adds New Flexibility and Account Support for Top Business Loyalty Customers
Delta Air Lines is expanding the benefits available to SkyMiles for Business Elite members, its highest loyalty tier for small and midsize businesses, as BTN reports. Elite accounts will now receive annual reviews with their dedicated Delta account teams, giving companies an opportunity to evaluate how they’re earning and redeeming rewards and whether they’re making full use of available benefits. Looking ahead to early 2027, Delta also plans to introduce unlimited paid name changes on eligible travel, giving businesses greater flexibility to reassign trips when plans or travelers change. Elite customers will also receive their own allocation of new “service points,” which can be used for benefits such as name-change fee waivers, advance-purchase waivers and certain overbooking requests, building on other recent enhancements to Delta’s business loyalty offering, according to BTN.
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