United Airlines is preparing to reveal another batch of new international routes on Tuesday, with the announcement scheduled for 07:00 ET and new services expected to begin in 2027. This announcement is particularly significant because United has begun receiving its Airbus A321XLRs. It has 50 on firm order, with 26 contractually scheduled for delivery in 2027, and United says that after initially replacing Boeing 757s on existing international services, the type will open new destinations in Europe and South America.

Rather than revealing those destinations, United has released a 94-second reality-TV-style teaser called The Cabin: Destination Decoded. The airline’s own social team told Reddit users that clues to its new summer routes are hidden throughout, prompting an extensive online decoding effort. With the important caveat that none of the routes below are confirmed, our current reading points toward seven new routes: five using the A321XLR and two likely operated by Boeing 787s.

United Wants Passengers To Crack The Code

Credit: Shutterstock

Puzzle-style route announcements have become something of a United tradition. In March 2024, the airline uploaded a teaser telling viewers to return the following morning to discover its next destinations. It went considerably further in October 2025 with Crack the Code to Our New Routes, a Morse-code-themed teaser preceding its Summer 2026 reveal. That announcement ultimately included Newark flights to Split, Bari, Glasgow and Santiago de Compostela, Washington Dulles-Reykjavik and Newark-Seoul.

Those routes demonstrated how willing United has become to experiment beyond the obvious European capitals. Split and Bari started flying this spring, while United’s recent additions have included places such as Nuuk, Palermo, Bilbao, Madeira and Faro. Now we have the clues to the next round of routes in The Cabin: Destination Decoded. Take a look, and see if anything jumps out at you:

We see two immediate clues around which our prediction is built. First, a sequence involving the cards appears to emphasize the number seven, which we are taking to mean seven new routes. More intriguingly, another shot displays “5XL.” Read as “five XLR,” it would neatly tell viewers that five of those seven routes will use United’s newest aircraft. That interpretation has independently been picked up by other viewers, although United has naturally not confirmed either assumption.

If that interpretation is right, the puzzle suddenly has structure: seven routes minus five XLR routes leaves two other long-haul additions. Several other clues appear to point separately toward Denver, Paris and Amsterdam, which is why our working prediction is five new XLR routes from Newark Liberty International Airport (EWR) followed by two Boeing 787 routes from Denver International Airport (DEN). However, the individual clues for the new destinations are decidedly not all equal, so let’s dig in and see what we make of them.

Are These United’s First 5 New XLR Routes?

Credit: United Airlines

If our reading of “5XL” as five XLR routes is correct, the next task is identifying which of the video’s cryptic clues point to destinations suited to United’s new long-range narrowbody. Several fit the aircraft remarkably well, particularly smaller European markets that would be difficult to sustain with a 767 or 787.

Luxembourg-Findel International Airport (LUX) is our strongest prediction. At one point, the video uses the conspicuously odd phrase “a luxe reward break,” putting LUX almost in plain sight. The real-world circumstances reinforce it: Luxembourg media reported in July that discussions were underway over restoring a direct New York connection, which has been absent since 1999, with the US ambassador describing nonstop service as a priority. An affluent European capital that could struggle to support a 250-seat widebody is almost a textbook XLR market.

Copenhagen Airport (CPH) is similarly compelling. One contestant is named Dan M., allowing a wonderfully tortured but very United-like Dan M. → Dan-mark → Denmark → Copenhagen decode. The route also makes strategic sense independent of the puzzle. SAS currently flies Newark-Copenhagen, but its 2024 departure from Star Alliance means United no longer enjoys the same alliance relationship at the Danish hub. CPH has also repeatedly appeared in independent Reddit and FlyerTalk predictions, including discussion that Scandinavia from Newark is likely to feature in the announcement.

Ibiza (IBZ) is more playful, but arguably exactly the sort of route United’s network planners enjoy. A contestant is deliberately identified as a DJ, and there are few destinations more synonymous with international club DJs than Ibiza. There also appears to be separate wordplay pointing toward EWR. Newark—Ibiza has no nonstop service today, and a highly seasonal leisure destination that might struggle to fill a widebody is precisely where 150 XLR seats could alter the economics. United’s recent success with unconventional seasonal markets gives the theory some credibility.

Skopje (SKP) requires the deepest decode. The video prominently displays 9/8/26. In US date format, September 8 is North Macedonia’s Independence Day, commemorating the country’s 1991 referendum. If the date is a clue, the logical airline destination is Skopje. There is no nonstop New York-Skopje service, making it another classic “long and thin” XLR opportunity. However, this prediction is binary: if September 8 was inserted intentionally, Skopje becomes very interesting; if it is merely a random date, the whole theory disappears.

Our fifth route is the biggest gamble, but we favor Terceira (TER). One interpretation of the teaser’s map-like or wood-grain imagery is that it resembles the Azores. United already serves Ponta Delgada from Newark, so if the imagery does indeed represent the archipelago and is intended to signal a new destination, Terceira becomes the obvious candidate. There is currently no nonstop New York-Terceira flight, although Terceira already supports year-round Boston service and seasonal San Francisco flying, showing that transatlantic demand to the island exists.

Terceira should nevertheless be treated as a placeholder rather than a firm call. Bordeaux, Bologna, Marseille, Prague, Stockholm and potentially a northeastern Brazilian destination all make sense as XLR markets, and several have appeared repeatedly in community predictions. The fundamental point is stronger than the fifth-city guess: United says the XLR will eventually open destinations in Europe and South America, and its 150-seat configuration gives the airline an aircraft specifically designed to experiment in markets that previously could not justify a 767 or 787.

Could Two Boeing 787 Routes Be Coming From Denver?

Credit: Denver International Airport

That still leaves two routes unaccounted for, and several other clues appear to point away from Newark and toward Denver. Our best guess is that United will use Boeing 787s for new nonstop flights from DEN to Paris and Amsterdam, although this is also where alternative interpretations of the teaser become much more plausible.

Paris Charles De Gaulle Airport (CDG) is the stronger of our two widebody calls. Viewers have interpreted one card sequence as pointing toward CDG, while Denver has been repeatedly mentioned in pre-announcement discussions; one well-followed FlyerTalk contributor stated simply that “there will be a Denver route.” The commercial case is strong too. Paris was Denver’s second-largest European market in 2025, with nearly 250 passengers per day, while Air France is the only nonstop operator, flying three to five times weekly seasonally with a Boeing 777-200ER.

Amsterdam Schiphol Airport (AMS) is less certain, but it fills an obvious hole. A stroopwafel is a conspicuously Dutch clue, albeit one complicated by United’s own long association with serving the snack onboard. Unlike Paris, Denver-Amsterdam currently has no nonstop operator, making it attractive for United’s enormous connecting network. Denver itself is also an increasingly logical place for more widebody flying: United calls it its “fastest-growing hub”, operated an average of 570 daily departures there this summer to more than 200 destinations, and has invested nearly $1 billion at DEN since 2021.

However, this is where we would hedge our bets. Multiple community discussions say the August 25 announcement will also include Los Angeles International Airport (LAX), with one FlyerTalk report from a United event specifically saying that the announcement “definitely includes something from LAX.” Reddit discussion has floated everything from LAX-Singapore and LAX-Seoul to Manila, while another possible teaser interpretation — repeated Juliet/Juliana references — could point toward Princess Juliana International Airport (SXM) and a new St. Maarten route from Denver or San Francisco. Either possibility could easily displace DEN-AMS from our seven.

So our final prediction remains EWR-LUX, EWR-CPH, EWR-IBZ, EWR-SKP and EWR-TER with the A321XLR, plus DEN-CDG and DEN-AMS with the 787, but with the last XLR destination and second widebody route written firmly in pencil. An LAX long-haul addition, an SXM route, or even another surprise of the sort United has become famous for would not be shocking. Fortunately, the speculation expires shortly: United is due to reveal the routes at 07:00 ET on Tuesday, August 25. Follow Simple Flying for confirmation and analysis tomorrow; United’s official release should also appear in its newsroom once the announcement goes live.