I got into the Capital One Lounge at DFW quickly, but the experience felt noticeably different: the grab n go area was closed and items were only available “on request,” while the hot food lineup was weaker than what I remember from early visits. The company says a temporary maintenance issue is to blame, but the overall drift—less selection and less polish—has been showing up more than once.
JetBlue’s long-promised domestic first class (the so-called “Mini Mint”) finally has a credible timeline: a prototype install is targeted for June 2026, with fleet installs beginning that August. The catch is how they’re making room—by squeezing coach and giving up the roomy economy pitch that used to be part of JetBlue’s core identity.
On December 8, a passenger parked their car at Buffalo airport short-term parking. she was only expecting it to be there overnight, for her quick trip to New York and back. The next day she boarded her JetBlue flight home from New York JFK, stowed his backpack in the overhead bin, kept Her purse as her underseat personal item, and then fell asleep before takeoff. A flight attendant removed the backpack from the overhead bin while trying to manage bin space, asks the cabin whom it belonged to, and — getting no response — assumeed it was left-behind item from the previous flight on that aircraft. So the flight attendant had the backpack taken off the aircraft. It seems odd to me that a flight attendant would think a backpack in the overhead bin was…
American replaced the surprisingly good turkey wrap on JFK–Austin with a turkey, brie, and cranberry sandwich on brioche — and the brie is literally a thick chunk, not spread. It’s not terrible, but it’s a step back in execution (and still miles better than the sweaty $16 steak sandwich from this summer).
A man bragged online that he was flying first class “because of Trump” and posted a photo of his boarding pass—complete with the details anyone needs to pull up a trip in many airline “Manage My Booking” tools. By the time he reached the airport, someone had already canceled his reservation, turning a political flex into an instant lesson in why you never share a boarding pass online.
For some families, the holidays aren’t about reunion—they’re about racing the clock. Give A Mile uses donated United miles to fly people to a loved one’s bedside in end‑of‑life situations. One balance can become one last hug.
Bodycam footage shows a United flight attendant arrested at Tampa International Airport after a dispute on the crew bus escalated into a battery allegation over a shoulder tap. Florida law treats intentional, unwanted touching as battery—turning a petty argument over a loud phone call into a court-date arrest.
CBP detained a school superintendant for hours at Houston’s airport after a trip to Nicaragua, and he says agents told him he had no Fourth Amendment rights while pressuring him for passwords and devices. Now the U.S. citizen is suing DHS to curb border phone searches and challenge the government’s suspicionless device search rules.
JetBlue Flight 1112 from Curaçao to New York JFK had a close call off Venezuela when pilots reported a U.S. Air Force tanker crossing directly in front of them at roughly their altitude. In ATC audio, they say it was “within 5 miles — maybe 2 or 3 miles” ahead, forcing them to halt their climb to avoid a collision.
The crew said the tanker wasn’t transmitting, and controllers told them they couldn’t see it on radar, later estimating the military aircraft around 34,000 feet. JetBlue says it reported the incident to federal authorities.
The NTSB’s report on Southwest flight 3278 describes a near-miss at Orlando where the crew began a takeoff roll on a taxiway, apparently believing it was the runway. ADS-B data shows the 737-800 accelerating to roughly 70 knots before the takeoff was rejected, with air traffic control canceling the clearance mid-roll and ordering the aircraft to stop.
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 »
