✈️ American’s rewards revamp

Airline elite status… just got harder to score. Yesterday, American Airlines rolled out big changes coming to its loyalty program next year that include upping the cost of elite status. Notably, American says its loyalty program, AAdvantage, is the largest in the industry. In addition to the price bump, American plans to cut some lower-end rewards:

• Wave goodbye: American’s ditching its MileSAAver and AAnytime programs, which let passengers swap miles for tickets at a discounted rate. Instead, American said it would offer “web specials."
• Say hello: In March, fliers will need 40K loyalty points to qualify for gold status, up from 30K. Gold fliers are the bottom rung of the AAdvantage status ladder, getting perks like seat changes and priority check-in.

Free pinot in the lounge… better get in line. Loyalty programs were a buoy for airlines during the pandemic as companies lowered status requirements to lure customers. But as travel demand takes off again (and airfare hits record levels), more fliers are turning to travel cards for cushiony perks like lounge access. For some airlines, those perks have proved a little too popular:

• Last month, Delta said its SkyMiles members must have elite status to buy airport-lounge memberships as its clubs fill up. Meanwhile, next year its highest-tier Diamond members will have to spend 33% more to keep status.
• Alaska Airlines will start limiting lounge access for first-class passengers based on how far they’re traveling.

• 🧐 Privacy… Coinbase said law-enforcement requests for user data spiked nearly 70% from last year. The exchange said most of the requests, which came both from US and global officials, involved criminal investigations.
• 📜 Policy… Sen. Elizabeth Warren introduced bipartisan legislation targeting non-custodial wallets. The bill drew intense pushback, with advocacy group Coin Center, which is funded by crypto companies and investors, calling it "unconstitutional."
• 🤖 Techy… Microsoft said it's banning crypto mining on its cloud service (at least without explicit approval first). The tech behemoth follows Google and Amazon in saying customers can't use their online services for mining.

• Tik: The Senate passed a bill to ban federal employees from using TikTok on govt devices. A growing # of states have enacted similar laws, as officials express data-privacy concerns over the mega-popular Chinese app.
• Grow: MycoWorks, a biotech, said a new factory it’s opening would let it produce 1M+ square feet of a mushroom-derived leather alt annually by the end of next year. Leather goods is a $400B biz (think: clothes, car seats).
• Blox: Gaming platform Roblox said it's seeing slowing growth and declining per-user revenue. The broader gaming market is dragging, with big players like Apple blaming macro-economic conditions.
• Boost: Omicron subvariants are faring better against existing vaccines, leading experts to warn of a possible winter Covid surge. Meanwhile, the White House said it would resume mailing free rapid tests.
• Chip: Yesterday President Biden announced restrictions on 36 Chinese companies. The goal: slow China’s development of semiconductors. Earlier this year Congress approved $52B to boost domestic chip production.

• "Quadruple witching"
• Earnings expected from Accenture and Darden Restaurants

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