SkyNest Could Beat Business Class, Virgin Gets Worse & Spirit Is In Trouble

Get $200 back after your first payment of $500 with Melio (affiliate) - Higher award fees, less lounge access, and one pretty wild new way to sleep on a plane. In this episode of MTM Travel, Shawn and Mark talk through Air New Zealand's new SkyNest bunk beds, Virgin Atlantic's uglier award surcharges, American cutting more basic economy benefits, Spirit's possible liquidation, and United tightening access to Polaris lounges. What we cover: Shawn's Minneapolis meetup recap and Hyatt Centric stay The Fairmont Bermuda / Accor points reimbursement follow-up Air New Zealand's SkyNest bunk beds and whether they beat business class for sleep Virgin Atlantic's higher award fees and why the value keeps slipping American removing more elite perks from basic economy Spirit's possible liquidation and what it could mean for fares United restricting Polaris lounge access for many Star Alliance partners Links: Free newsletter Track your travel credit cards for free with Travel Freely Miles to Memories Facebook group Diamond Patreon and Gold Membership MTM Travel podcast Miles to Memories website Fairmont follow up - Skynest - Virgin hikes - AA basic economy changes - United Polaris access changes - Episode Guide 0:00 Welcome to MTM Travel 4:54 Fairmont Bermuda and the Accor points refund mess 8:47 Air New Zealand's SkyNest bunk beds 13:30 Virgin Atlantic award fees jump again 16:59 Using Virgin points for AMC popcorn and drinks 18:46 American removes more basic economy elite perks 20:04 Spirit may liquidate and fares could get worse 23:04 United restricts Polaris lounge access for partner flyers What do you think about Air New Zealand's bunk-bed idea? Would you pay extra for four hours of real sleep, or would you still rather have a traditional business class seat? Advertiser Disclosure: This site/channel is part of an affiliate sales network and receives compensation for sending traffic to partner sites. This compensation may impact how and where products appear on this site/channel (including, for example, the order in which they appear). This site does not include all financial companies or all available financial offers.

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SkyNest Could Beat Business Class, Virgin Gets Worse & Spirit Is In Trouble is an episode from Miles to Memories - Fun Side of Miles, Points & Travel by Shawn Coomer.

This episode is 26:39 long.

This episode was published on Apr 21, 2026.

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