Welcome to the Miles and Points Daily Podcast! I'm your host, Lucas, and today we've got a packed episode — miles being stolen, lawsuits over MileagePlus points, a tempting credit card offer, and the kind of airline drama that makes you feel better about your own travel day. Let's get into it!

But first, a quick word about our travel tools. Before your next trip, make sure you're using AwardTravelFinder.com — it's your go-to for searching award flight and hotel availability across programs like Qatar Airways, British Airways, Japan Airlines, Cathay Pacific, Virgin Atlantic, and more. You can also find high-value hotel redemptions and status match opportunities there. And if you want to be notified the moment a points deal drops on flights or hotels, head over to alerts.AwardTravelFinder.com to set up your alerts. Planning to fly somewhere and wondering what the security queue looks like? Check FlightQueue.com before you leave the house — it shows estimated wait times at security and passport control so you can time your arrival perfectly. Links to all eight of our travel tools, including FridayFlightDeals.com, FlightSeatMap.com, SeatWifi.com, ImmigrationQueue.com, and EESQueue.com, are in the show notes.

Okay, now let's talk miles and points news.

First up — and this one is genuinely alarming — someone is stealing frequent flyer miles by creating fake accounts in real passengers' names. Cathay Pacific passengers have been finding that mileage credit from flights they actually flew has been diverted into fraudulent partner accounts set up using their identities. And it's not just Cathay Pacific. Reports are surfacing involving American Airlines, Qantas, Finnair, British Airways, and Qatar Airways. The pattern suggests someone with access to booking records is systematically harvesting premium-cabin miles at scale. Our tip here: log into all your frequent flyer accounts right now and check your recent activity. Make sure every credit that should be there is there. If you see anything suspicious — an account you didn't open, or miles from a flight that aren't showing up — contact the airline immediately. Enable two-factor authentication wherever it's available. This is a serious one.

Next, United Airlines is in a legal fight with its cyber insurer over losses from the CrowdStrike outage last year — and this one hits close to home for MileagePlus members. United is trying to get reimbursed for customer vouchers and MileagePlus miles it handed out during the disruption. The insurer, however, is pushing back, saying United already recovered money directly from CrowdStrike and can't use those same losses to trigger excess insurance coverage. The tip here: this case is a useful reminder that when airlines hand out miles as compensation, those aren't just goodwill gestures — they have real financial value that airlines track carefully. Keep an eye on this case, as it could set precedent for how airlines handle compensation programs after future tech outages.

Now for some genuinely good news on the credit card front. The Air France-KLM Visa Signature Card — issued by Bank of America in the United States — has just launched a limited-time welcome bonus of 70,000 Flying Blue miles plus 100 Experience Points, after spending 3,000 dollars or more in the first 90 days. The annual fee is 89 dollars. Those 100 XPs — which is the metric used for Flying Blue elite status — are enough to get you to Silver status right from the sign-up bonus alone. The card also earns 3 miles per dollar on Air France, KLM, and SkyTeam flights, 3 miles per dollar on dining, and one and a half miles per dollar on everything else. If you're chasing Flying Blue status, this card can also help year-round with up to 180 XPs through spending — enough for Gold status on its own. Flying Blue is a transfer partner with Amex Membership Rewards, Chase Ultimate Rewards, Capital One, Citi ThankYou, and Bilt, so it plays well with a lot of wallets. If this sounds like your kind of card, click the link in the show notes to apply.

Also worth flagging on the credit card side — the Chase Sapphire Preferred is currently running its highest-ever welcome offer of 100,000 Ultimate Rewards points after spending 5,000 dollars in the first three months. That's worth around 2,050 dollars according to current valuations. The angle here is interesting: if you already have the Chase Sapphire Reserve, adding the Sapphire Preferred to your household — whether in your own wallet or a partner's — lets you earn 3 points per dollar on online groceries, streaming, vacation rentals, and gas, categories the Reserve doesn't cover as well. Chase allows points pooling between household members, so all those points can flow into one account for redemption. The offer is reportedly ending soon, so move quickly if this is on your radar. Link is in the show notes.

Now for a story that has the internet divided. An American Airlines passenger posted a video claiming he was tricked into swapping business class seats with another passenger, only to discover the other seat was broken and wouldn't recline. In the video, he confronts the woman sitting in his original seat and films her — which is against American's policy. Here's the twist though: in a follow-up, he revealed that a flight attendant had actually given him an ultimatum — swap seats, get downgraded, or leave the flight. Why? Because the woman had paid for her seat, and he was there on a complimentary upgrade. Standard airline protocol says the last person to be upgraded is the first to lose the seat if there's an issue. So the flight attendant was following the rules — and this passenger just bulldozed his way back into business class on camera. Our take: if you're on an upgrade, just be aware that your seat is always more precarious than a purchased one. It's frustrating, but it's the policy.

Sticking with American for a moment — the airline has started grading flight attendants using a mix of customer scores, attendance records, delays, internal reporting, and even Teams usage data. The flight attendants' union is pushing back, citing California privacy law. However, it looks like federal labor law may well preempt that argument. Worth watching, but no immediate action needed from travelers on this one.

Over at United, the airline is cracking down hard on flight attendants who have been selling their trips to junior colleagues for profit. Senior flight attendants were bidding on lucrative long-haul trips with no intention of flying them, then essentially selling those trips to junior staff. United strictly prohibits this, unlike some other carriers. The union is fighting back on every termination. No direct impact on your points, but it's a reminder that the inner workings of airline scheduling are more complex — and contentious — than most passengers realize.

And finally — for anyone wondering whether their miles are safe in one loyalty program or another — make sure you're regularly logging in to check your balances, set up any available alerts, and keep your account information updated. The fake account fraud story we mentioned earlier is a wake-up call for all of us.

That's a wrap on today's episode of the Miles and Points Daily Podcast. Thanks so much for listening — if you found this useful, please subscribe on your favourite podcast platform, and visit us at milesandpointsdaily.com for daily updates. Until next time, keep earning, keep redeeming, and travel smart!