American Upgrading Transcon Service The carrier is outfitting 767-200s with new First and Business Class seats and adding one more seat in First Class. That doesn’t sound like much but it amounts to 11,000 more First Class seats annually. The airline will also add a second Admirals Club and a new Flagship Lounge at JFK. The latter, usually reserved for international passengers, will be open to First Class transcon passengers. Improvements begin next summer. American is not releasing seat specifications at this time—I hope that’s not a bad sign.

Delta Introduces More Flexible Awards As of Dec. 14, 2006, you can mix and match SkySaver, SkyChoice, First, Business, and coach award levels. This isn’t altruism. Delta has jacked up the rate of so many SkyChoice Business Class awards—Europe skyrocketed from 180,000 to 250,000 miles—that it couldn’t get away with charging such a high price for Business Class only one way. Air France, Continental, KLM and Northwest also allow you to mix and match award levels.

AAdvantage Elite Status Purchase Offer Extend your AAdvantage Platinum or Gold membership through Feb. 29, 2008, for a one-time fee of $499 for Platinum members who flew 40,000 miles or more in 2006, and $599 for those who flew fewer. Gold is $299 for those who flew more than 20,000 miles in 2006, and $399 for those who flew fewer. Offer valid at aa.com from Jan. 25 through April 30, 2007. Not open to AAdvantage members who took advantage of it in 2006.

Diners-Delta Transfer Bonus Transfer points now through April 30, 2007, and receive the following bonuses: 10% on transfers of 20,000-39,999 points, and 25% on 40,000 or more points. Transfer charge: $0.95 per 1,000 points. Allow 3 to 6 weeks for miles to post.

Continental Gets Stingy with Starwood Starpoints Continental is cutting the exchange rate for Starpoints by 50%. It will now take 2 Starpoints for 1 Continental mile. That makes Amex Membership Rewards the best credit card loyalty program for Continental flyers.

Eos Fans, Take Note The carrier is in expansion mode. Plans call for new routes from New York to Paris and Zurich, as well as flights to London from other US cities. EOS currently offers all-Business Class service on 48-seat 757s from New York/JFK to London/Stansted. Reservations: (800) 598-2169.

Just In… BAD NEWS: Effective March 1, 2007, the co-payment that American applies to upgrade awards between North America and Asia, Europe, India, and deep South America will increase to $300—up from $250 each way.

IT GETS WORSE: The airline will also begin charging $150—each way—to claim an upgrade award for travel on most fares between the US, Canada, Mexico, the Caribbean and Hawaii. More analysis coming soon.