Greetings from Austin! The ATX crew is spending one last weekend at home before we kick off a wild week of travel for the Thanksgiving holiday. The news this week was dominated by announcements from the Dubai Air Show as well as a major shakeup to the Hilton Honors program. All of that, and more, in the ATX Jetsetter weekly recap for the week ending November 22, 2025.
Hilton Unveils Major Changes to Honors Elite Status
Hilton has announced some significant changes to its Hilton Honors loyalty program, including the addition of a new loyalty tier. While the changes are a bit of a mixed bag, I think that the align with the current hotel loyalty landscape and, honestly, it could have been worse.
Emirates and FlyDubai are Adding Starlink Wi-Fi Fleetwide
Emirates and FlyDubai both announced that they are adding fast, free, Starlink Wi-Fi across their fleets. Emirates expects to have all of its aircraft outfitted with the service by mid-2027 while FlyDubai will have its fleet outfitted with the service by the end of 2026.
The Best Tools for Tracking Flights
Many college football teams are currently in the hunt for a new head coach. A major part of the college football coaching carousel is the tracking of private jet flights that may (or in most cases may not) be tied to those openings. Not all tracking tools are created equal but, thankfully, there is an app or website that meets everyone’s needs.
Air Canada is Making Significant Fleet Upgrades Across Its Brands
Air Canada and Air Canada Rouge are swapping fleets. Air Canada Rouge will receive all of Air Canada’s Boeing 737s while Air Canada will absorb Air Canada Rouge’s Airbus A320 family aircraft into its fleet. These changes represent a win for the passenger experience on both carriers and the full change over is expected to occur in 2026.
Review: Japan Airlines Airbus A350-1000 Business Class (DFW-HND)
Overall, we had an amazing trip on Japan Airlines’ flagship A350-1000 in Business Class between Dallas and Tokyo. I found the seat to be extremely comfortable and spacious, the suite doors made everything feel very private, and the crew was extremely attentive.
Since this was my first transpacific flight I didn’t know what to expect and, as someone who doesn’t sleep well on planes, I was impressed with how well rested I felt upon arrival.
The only downside of this flight was the less than stellar Wi-Fi, it was virtually unusable for more than half of the flight, and the fact that Mrs. ATX’s IFE screen needed to be rebooted multiple times. She eventually moved over to an open seat across the aisle and the crew was extremely apologetic.
If given the opportunity, I would happily fly with Japan Airlines again. Hopefully one of these days I’ll get to experience the carrier’s amazing looking First Class product as well.
Summary
Emirates and FlyDubai made major waves at the Dubai Air Show this week while Hilton decided to make a massive, but overdue, change to its Honors loyalty program. As always, thank you for checking out the weekly recap for the week ended November 22, 2025!