The briefing in brief: Southwest overhauls Rapid Rewards with three tiers of elite status. Air France adds San Diego and Nashville flights. American Airlines adds a third destination in Venezuela. Hollywood Burbank Airport gets a new terminal. United jacks points requirement for some elite status. American promises to stop bumping flyers. Lufthansa wins the bidding for TAP Air Portugal. British Airways is overhauling its Airbus A380 fleet and almost half of the doubled-decked aircraft will be premium seats. And more.

SOUTHWEST REJIGGERS RAPID REWARDS
Southwest Airlines' conversion from industry disruptor to run-of-the-mill carrier is nearly complete. The latest remix: the Rapid Rewards frequency plan. Starting January 1, here's some of what's changing. There's a surprising amount to unpack, so surf here for the granular details.
        Three-Tier Elite Status The airline is junking its old A-List branding and renaming elite levels a more mundane Silver, Gold and Platinum. Silver tier, which will require 25 one-way flights or 35,000 points, is essentially the old A-List. Gold (50 flights/65,000 points), is roughly comparable to the old A-List Plus. The top-level Platinum Status will require 100 flights or 140,000 points and offer an unlimited Companion Pass. Below silver is a 15-flight/20,000-point "milestone" level with some benefits. Below platinum is a 75-flight/95,000-point milestone granting three Companion Pass flights.
        Fewer Points for Higher Fares The points-earning system is also being overhauled. Basic fares continue to earn two points per dollar spent and Choice fares still earn six points. But Choice Preferred Fares will earn eight points per dollar instead of ten. Choice Extra fares will earn ten points instead of 14.
        Companion Pass changes The dedicated points-earning system for a Companion Pass is being scrapped. Effective January 1, the same points system used for elite qualification will apply to earning a Companion Pass. Also eliminated: earning companion pass points for some kinds of credit card spend and partner travel activities.

ROUTE MAP EXPANDS TO MORE NONSTOP PLACES
If nothing else good can be said about the post-pandemic travel frenzy, at least we can say the airlines are expanding their nonstop route maps to some truly interesting places. Air France, for example, is adding two new U.S. gateways: San Diego and Nashville. Beginning on May 3, there'll be three weekly Airbus A350 summer flights to Paris/CDG. On May 14, three weekly A350 nonstops begin to Nashville. That brings Air France to 20 U.S. gateways. Meanwhile, Icelandair is launching four weekly nonstops to St. Louis starting May 14. The airline will use its Boeing 737 MAX aircraft on the run. Icelandair is a partner of Southwest Airlines, which controls almost two-thirds of the traffic at STL. Finally, Zipair, the discount arm of Japan Airlines is pushing further east. Although the carrier has been mum, Toronto/Pearson officials say Zipair will begin flying three times weekly to YYZ from Tokyo/Narita using its Boeing 787s. Zipair offers a pay-for-perks approach to fares, but does offer the cheapest lie-flat beds across the Pacific.
        American Airlines is adding a third pin to its Venezuela map on January 15. Besides service to Caracas and Maracaibo, American begins three weekly roundtrips to Barcelona (BLA) from its Miami hub using Embraer E-175 jets. Tickets go on sale tomorrow (October 19).

BURBANK GETS LONG-OVERDUE NEW TERMINAL
It took a decade of negotiation, nearly three years of construction and $1.3 billion in spending, but Hollywood Burbank now has its new terminal. At 335,000 square feet, the sparkling new terminal is around twice the size of the 1930s era building and offers a centralized baggage claim area and eight TSA lines. But the number of gates (14) and runways (two) remains the same. That's the result of the long negotiations about capacity and the locals' desire to keep the LAX alternative smaller and comparatively unobtrusive. Other improvements are out of sight: The new terminal meets modern seismic standards as well as FAA design standards, two shortcomings of the old facility.
        Palermo, the second-busiest airport in Sicily, now has an airside club. The 4,300-square-foot Prima Vista Lounge offers showers, workstations and even sea views. The lounge is accessible with your Priority Pass card.
        Muscle Shoals (Northwest Alabama Regional) now has a second destination. Contour Airlines, which already operates daily MSL-Charlotte service, adds five weekly flights to Dallas/Fort Worth on November 12. CRJ-200s configured with 30 seats will be used on the approximately two-hour flight.

AMERICAN PROMISES TO STOP BUMPING FLYERS
Government figures show that American Airlines alone accounted for more than half of all the involuntary bumps nationwide last year. Now the carrier says new technology--tech in use at other airlines for years, it must be noted--will help it avoid involuntary bumping. Gary Leff of the View From the Wing blog got his hands on an internal memo that claims " 'no invols' is no longer a goal--it is a company requirement." The memo says it will pay more to get volunteers and allow staffers to guarantee passengers who voluntarily accept a bump passage on the next flight.

UNITED JACKS UP POINTS NEEDED FOR ELITE STATUS
United Airlines continues to devalue the MileagePlus program while jacking up the requirements for elite status. The latest change: more Premier Qualifying Points needed to hit some elite levels. Starting in 2027, reaching silver status jumps to 6,000 points from 5,000 points. And reaching 1K status in 2027 will require 32,000 points, up from 28,000 points.
        American AAdvantage now permits cash and miles booking. How much are your AA miles worth in a combined booking? American doesn't say. In other words, if you want to combine cash and miles in a single booking, you'll have to plow through the booking engine and do calculations for each itinerary. More details are here.

TRAVEL NEWS YOU NEED TO KNOW
Lufthansa has won the bidding for TAP Air Portugal. It will take a 49.9% stake in the Portuguese airline and pay about $1.35 billion. The Portuguese government remains the majority shareholder with a 51.1% stake, but it says a second round of privatization may come in 2028 and reduce its holdings even further. The Lufthansa Group already controls the flag carriers of Belgium (Brussels Airlines), Switzerland (Swiss International) and Austria (Austrian Airlines). It also recently added a 41% stake in ITA Airways, the successor carrier to Alitalia.
        WestJet says it will switch to a custom blend of Tim Hortons coffee beginning November 30. The so-called Flight Roast is the first step in an alliance between the Calgary-based carrier and the iconic Canadian food chain. Starting next year, WestJet travelers will be able to link their WestJet Rewards and Tims Rewards programs.
        British Airways is overhauling its fleet of Airbus A380s and it will be a startling change. The aircraft will offer 12 first class pods, two fewer than the current configuration. Business class will jump to 106 seats from the current 97. Premium economy gets a huge boost, up to 84 seats from the current 55. The new premium seating will reduce coach cabins to 215 seats from the current 303. Overall, that reduces the double-decked aircraft to 417 seats from 469. It also means around half of the reconfigured A380's seats will be dedicated to premium cabins.