Grant Martin

New qualification standards for elite status at American and Delta seem to be working as intended: Business travelers are looking forward to better exclusivity while budget travelers are giving up.

Those who fly on American, British, and a dozen other worldwide carriers will soon get better access to Africa with a new partner joining the Oneworld alliance in 2020.

Frequent flyers on American, British Airways, or one of the other 13 members of the Oneworld alliance will soon have another member to look forward to for codeshare flights and frequent flyer points. The new member will also extend the alliance's reach into Africa.

In the midst of ironing out the kinks in its newly merged loyalty program, Marriott was hit with news of a massive data breach last week. Revealed on Friday, the breach affects over 500 million former Starwood Preferred Guest loyalty members.

Loyalty members don't seem to be too bothered by Marriott's recent breach of more than 500 million users' personal data. Part of that could be low expectations for Marriott, or because this isn't the first data breach rodeo for many.

Delta frequent flyers are about to lose a SkyTeam partner in China, which means fewer miles and codeshare benefits. Those who fly American Airlines and other Oneworld partners, however, may soon gain one.

Ridesharing and homesharing services have been long overdue for loyalty program launches. Now, both Lyft and Uber are offering at least limited options.

Most Marriott Rewards and Starwood Preferred Guest members enjoyed a seamless integration earlier this year when the two programs merged. For some, however, latent issues are still hampering the experience. We asked five Starwood members about their journeys.

A new tool coming from Capital One will make its travel credit cards more competitive with American Express and Chase. Only seasoned travel pros, however, may find it useful.

For many, it may no longer be worth it to earn top-tier elite status on American, United, or Delta next year. Between recent changes to credit card earning structures and airlines constantly moving the goal posts for status qualification, it's just too hard for many to keep up.