A few of the biggest airlines are making big changes to their frequent-flier programs, actually opening up availability and cutting the number of miles needed for tickets to places people really want to go.
The annual IdeaWorks survey of award availability shows that while overall ability to find flights at basic “saver” levels was about the same as last year at 25 airlines, American Airlines significantly relaxed its grip on award seats, especially to Hawaii and Europe. American had availability on 80% of the possible trips...