American flight attendants raise concerns about ICE agents and deportees onboard, some experts argue airports should privatize screening to avoid TSA shutdown meltdowns, and a United business class meal draws brutal reactions online.
United flight attendants have reached a deal that would finally push the top of the pay scale above $100 an hour after going 5.5 years without a raise. The tentative agreement also adds long-sought sit pay and other improvements, giving members a much richer package after they overwhelmingly rejected the last contract.
American Airlines keeps talking about premium travel, but some first class passengers are still being served shelf-stable instant pasta that appears to cost about a dollar a serving. On a nearly 2,000-mile flight from Salt Lake City to Philadelphia, that kind of catering is not just cheap — it undercuts the entire premium story the airline is trying to sell.
A drunk driver crashed through a locked gate at Daytona Beach International Airport, got onto the airfield, nearly hit a training aircraft, and then tried more than once to climb into planes before finally being stopped.
United Airlines is quietly routing its top customers around Houston’s four hour TSA lines through a hidden checkpoint, even as the airport tells passengers there is no screening in Terminal C. The lane is normally used for disabled passengers and special assistance.
Bilt’s April 1 Rent Day headline offer is a transfer bonus of up to 125%. The catch is that the bonus is to Wyndham Rewards, which can be useful in narrow cases but still is not where most people will get the best value from their Bilt points.
ICE agents deployed to airports during the government shutdown are now expected to get access behind checkpoints without the SIDA badges normally required for unescorted entry into secure areas. That means bypassing the fingerprinting, background checks, and training airport workers usually need — a move that could weaken the challenge-and-report culture airports rely on to keep secure areas secure.
Marriott somehow wound up apologizing for causing incontinence with your credit card. Also an easy $50 Rakuten play before the referral offer ends, Delta’s plan to retrofit older cabins, and a temporary Admirals Club closure in Orlando after a pipe burst.
An Ariana Afghan Airlines Boeing 737-400 veered off the runway while landing in Kabul, forcing an evacuation by slides and leaving the aircraft stopped in the grass with apparent wing damage. No one was hurt, but the airline drew attention for an astonishing response: it tried to brush off the incident by pointing to Air Canada’s recent fatal crash at LaGuardia.
President Trump has rejected Elon Musk’s offer to cover TSA screener pay during the partial government shutdown, even after the administration reportedly considered the idea. That leaves travelers facing the same worsening airport security lines, with no outside fix coming as absenteeism and political leverage keep the pressure on.
Gary Leff is one of the foremost experts in the field of miles, points, and frequent business travel -- a topic he has covered since 2002.
Co-founder of frequent flyer community InsideFlyer.com, emcee of the Freddie Awards, and named one of the "World's Top Travel Experts" by Conde' Nast Traveler (2010-Present) Gary has been a guest on most major news media, profiled in several top print publications, and published broadly on the topic of consumer loyalty. More About Gary »
