American Cuts Upgrades, Delta Adds More First Class, and Bilt Cash Takes Flight

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Ed and Richard are back home after another exhausting stretch of travel, and Richard has survived Virtuoso Travel Week in Las Vegas—barely. Before getting into the airline news, they recap the Vegas experience, including $25 asparagus, $34 cocktails, increasingly unfriendly casino odds, Bellagio's surprising food problem, and why "free parking" has somehow become a legitimate Las Vegas selling point.

There's also some fresh Bilt news. Bilt has relaunched its partnership with Blade, allowing members to redeem Bilt Cash for up to two airport helicopter seats per year, along with the ability to use Bilt Points toward Blade flights. Ed also celebrates another year of Accor Platinum status through Bilt's returning status match.

Then it's time to talk airlines. After some decidedly unimpressive United flights, Ed and Richard discuss American Airlines ending complimentary upgrades into premium economy on select three-cabin domestic routes. Is this actually a meaningful loss for elites—or just another acknowledgement that complimentary upgrades are already disappearing?

Delta, meanwhile, is moving hard in the opposite direction when it comes to premium cabin capacity. Some A330-900neos will feature a whopping 56 Delta One suites, while new domestic aircraft will also feature substantially larger first-class cabins. But Richard raises an important question: if airlines add all those premium seats without adding crew, lavatories and galley capacity, will the experience actually feel premium?

Plus, Ed recaps his first D23 experience, they revisit last week's Amanvari controversy after new details emerged, Richard questions what's happening with Delta's operational reliability, and Uber One announces an "improvement" that involves… giving members less.

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