Airlines love handing out tiny “courtesy” vouchers when your bag goes missing, but that is not the end of what they may owe. If your luggage is delayed, lost, or damaged, you can claim reasonable documented expenses, get checked bag fees refunded when delivery is significantly late, and on U.S. domestic flights pursue claims for lost bags up to the $4,700 liability cap — as long as you know which kind of compensation you are actually asking for.
American Airlines flight attendants are suing for overtime pay under Illinois law, arguing that time at the airport should count as work even though their union contract pays under a very different system. It is part of a growing wave of lawsuits trying to use state wage laws to punch through airline labor contracts.
A shared passenger blacklist sounds like a tough answer to bad behavior in the cabin, but it is the wrong tool for a rare and messy problem. Reported incidents are up, but much of the real fix happens before the aircraft door closes: better gate staffing to keep impaired or unstable passengers from boarding, and better crew de-escalation training so ordinary conflicts do not become onboard flashpoints.
A British Airways flight attendant has been suspended after reportedly getting drunk at a hotel in Belfast during a layover and offering a sexual proposition to an employee in exchange for wine after the bar closed. And given cabin crew layover culture at the airline, this is the most British Airways story ever.
A 24-year old Orthodox Jewish traveler from New York, in London for a friend’s wedding, filmed the TV in his room at the Travelodge London Manor House showing a welcome screen that included “Free Palestine.” A second visibly Jewish guest, staying in another room, reported the same message and that front desk staff was hostile at check-in.
A Houston man allegedly got through TSA with a fake boarding pass, slipped past a distracted United gate agent, and boarded a full flight to Los Angeles without a ticket. He might have made it farther if every seat hadn’t already been taken.
The Marriott Bonvoy Boundless Card has a new limited-time offer that is unusually strong for a $95 hotel card: up to 125,000 points, a free night worth up to 50,000 points, and up to $100 back on airline purchases. It is a card worth getting for the bonus—and, because of the annual free night and elite night credits, one many travelers should keep.
Southwest Airlines passenger Carolina Rodriguez says an airline employee came up to her in the bathroom before she boarded her Oakland – San Diego flight and told her to cover herself because children would be on the plane. So she asks the internet, was her attire “too much?” Her sweatpants and low cut top were meant to be “comfy” and besides “where else am I gonna put my big girls?
Avelo’s CEO wants the Ryanair model pushed even further: not just low airport costs, and cities paying his airline to fly there — but future airport deals giving Avelo part ownership of the airport itself. That turns ordinary route incentives into public airports handing over a stake to a fragile private airline while taxpayers absorb the risk.
Most points advice assumes you’re saving for long haul business class awards. But if your travel is mostly domestic, the best credit card strategy looks very different: earn the most flexible points you can, carry airline cards for benefits rather than spending, and choose lounge access based on the airports you actually use.
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 »
