Hello from Newark!

Not exactly the most fun place in the world — especially when it’s pouring rain outside, and the winds are supposed to hit 40 miles/hour — but hey, we’re hopping on the winter break express down to South Florida, so no complaints.

I can’t believe this is already my 10th newsletter since launching just over three weeks ago. For those new here, the newsletter website contains an archive of all my past mailings, so take a look there if you want to catch up on what you missed.

Speaking of missing things, it seems like no one I work with got the memo that this is the time of year to start winding things down.

Not sure about you, but this was one of my busiest weeks — and I hadn’t even set foot into an airport until today.

Fortunately, you don’t need to look elsewhere to catch up on all things travel. I’ve got you covered below.

If you were hoping to fly in one of United’s spiffy new Polaris pods soon, you’re going to need to wait a little longer. (Don’t worry, I’m bummed too.)

Initially, United planned to take delivery of its first “Elevated” Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner by the end of the year.

But this is aircraft manufacturing, so I’m not surprised to report (exclusively) that the first jet is delayed until early next year.

For those who don’t speak catchy buzzwords, the “Elevated” 787 will feature a whopping 99 premium seats, 64 of which are new Polaris and Polaris Studio pods, and 35 of which are new Premium Plus recliners.

This jet will have a small cabin of 123 economy seats.

What else will this jet feature? A walk-up snack bar — a first for a twin-aisle plane on United.

I receive a lot of questions. (And for the record, I’m happy to help. Replying to this email goes directly to my inbox.)

One question I get asked repeatedly is “What’s the best way to book flights?”

Well, here’s an answer you probably didn’t expect: Bilt Travel.

While I generally recommend against using third-party travel booking portals, Bilt just introduced a new “direct book” option with United (that’s coming soon to other airline partners as well).

When you buy a “direct book” ticket via Bilt, you get:

This is a rare win-win in the points-and-miles travel world. If you don’t have a Bilt Rewards account yet, you’re missing out.

It’s free and takes just a few minutes to sign up. Plus, you’ll earn free bonus points when you spend at restaurants and after linking your Lyft account.

This week, I received two back-to-back emails from Thrifty Traveler Premium, my go-to flight deal alert service.

Thrifty Traveler found Delta One award seats starting at 97,000 SkyMiles to Europe, South Korea, and Taiwan.

There are still a few discount award seats out there, but if you don’t want to miss the next drop, you should probably subscribe to Thrifty Traveler.

Here’s my link for $20 off your first year (down to $79.99). Honestly, it could even make for a fun holiday gift.

Spirit Airlines is still around. And it just stole the holidays with this new special livery, featuring an A320 wrapped in a cozy holiday sweater.

Spirit tells me that the special-edition livery was sponsored by an external partner (I think it's iHeartRadio).

Nevertheless, some sources are suggesting Spirit should instead focus its resources elsewhere.

What side are you on?

Now’s your final chance to double-dip on your online shopping trips with Rakuten.

If you sign up using my referral link, you’ll receive a $50 bonus after spending $50+ at any of Rakuten’s 3,500 brands. (They’ve got all the major ones you can think of.)

This promo expires on Dec. 31, so act now.

Rakuten is an online cash-back portal that gives you a rebate on top of whatever deal or promo you get with the merchant itself. It doesn’t interfere with your credit card points.

All you need to do is start your shopping journey on Rakuten.

Plus, if you listened to my advice above and signed up for a free Bilt Rewards account, you can even link Bilt and Rakuten and convert your cash back into (more) valuable travel points.

ICYMI, my free United upgrade giveaway is underway.

Here are the latest stats:

I’m prioritizing long-haul flights with travelers flying on pricier economy or premium economy tickets. I’ll work down the list as much as I can over the next few days, so be on the lookout.

And if you’re a United Premier with expiring PlusPoints, please tell me how many you’re willing to donate. (I have more than 200 outstanding requests, though most people submitted ineligible flights.)

If you haven’t submitted your upgrade request yet, I linked the request form below.

It’s Friday, which means you’ll hopefully have some downtime over the weekend. Aka the perfect time to take stock of the credit card benefits you haven’t used yet.

They’re usually use-them-or-lose-them, so if you’re a maximizer like me, you’re going to want to bookmark my end-of-year credit card perks and elite status checklist.