News and notes from around the interweb:
- A claim that slots at the Las Vegas airport are among the only ones to pay out at the legal minimum, so you’re much better off gambling elsewhere:
If you’re at CES, avoid the slot machines at the Las Vegas Airport (LAS).
The worst slot odds in the city.
Here’s why: Nevada requires a minimum payout of 75% on slots ($0.75 for every $1.00). But most of the devices in Las Vegas casinos will actually do 90%+ payouts to keep… pic.twitter.com/tSRVu3k3oL
— Trung Phan (@TrungTPhan) January 7, 2026
- I go on the TravelStories podcast
- Credit where due, the Admiral’s Club honey sesame chicken with bok choy and carrots really is not bad.
- Clean. Your. Planes.
Need to do a better job cleaning your aircraft @AmericanAir. This is disgusting and not the half of it. pic.twitter.com/NQwxzA3DP6
— D Smith (@DrifterInASuit) January 7, 2026
- ‘It’s first class, where’s the screen?’ United still has way too many old interiors for an airline branding itself so heavily on seat back screens (and better these can be monetized through targeted advertising). But this woman should be introduced to American Airlines which proactively removed screens they already had installed.
@travelwbella @United Airlines 737 so outdated! This was EWR to SKB united first class review no seat back monitor, wifi paid, food was decent and flight attendants lovely but the seats are SO OLD #unitedairlines #unitedfirstclass ♬ original sound – Travel with Bella ✈️ - “Get this card to come into the lounge. Also, then we won’t let you into the lounge.”
- These are the premium clubs that Hilton’s new Diamond Reserve members will have access to. There are only 11 worldwide, but they’ll certainly be nice.
It has always been said that if heaven forbid the slot machines at the airport somehow come up with 2 cherries they immediately shut it down and send in a repairman to find out what went wrong.
Avoid the slot machines? How about avoiding the entire city?
Instead of gambling on the slot machines at the Las Vegas airport, I bet on getting a reliable internet connection when I fly on American Airlines. It is good to know that American Airlines is now offering complimentary high-speed, but unreliable Wi-Fi to its valued AAdvantage members on many of its flights, starting in January 2026.
“Avoid… Las Vegas.” FTFY.
As the sign says, instant club access with the Delta skymiles reserve card…just not this instant, and not this club.
I preferred the video version of that TravelStories podcast because you can see Gary’s collection of KLM delft blue houses in the background! Nice!
Such a good reminder of this gem, too!
https://youtu.be/WCqm4H3m3Ew?si=J4yGIIB6zBNmFkXk
“I am a Diamond…”
It seems that the same story about the slots was on X on 10:56 AM Jan 13, 2024 1.5M Views.
Fitting for an airport named after Harry Reid.
Looking forward watching the podcast later, Gary.
@1990 — Bah, classic! 15 years later, still on point.
@Ken A — Haha, you might have better odds with the slot machines!
@L737 — Good observation, you are correct. You wrote: “Haha, you might have better odds with the slot machines!” As reported in VFTW, the “slots at the Las Vegas airport are among the only ones to pay out at the legal minimum, so you’re much better off gambling elsewhere…Nevada requires a minimum payout of 75% on slots ($0.75 for every $1.00).” However, when I use the internet on my American Airlines flights across the United States, I get reliable service about 50% of the time, which is a significantly lower odds than the Las Vegas airport slot machines. Hopefully, the odds of a successful high-speed internet connection on American Airlines flights will improve to 75% this year with the new free internet benefit.
” Admiral’s Club honey sesame chicken with bok choy and carrots really is not bad.”
Damned by faint praise. Then again you did marry a chef.
I feel like Delta has some work to do on outdated interiors as well. Some of the D1 seats on the A332/A333 and B763/764 aircraft are long past their prime. I get that the elevated D1 experience is primarily focused on the new planes and the Asia routes, but ot really fragments the product.
@Refereemn77 — Don’t forget the 717! (Don’t worry, they’re retiring it.)
@Ken A – May fortune be on your side!
@Refereemn77 I’ve been flying Delta in F, now D1, for years. Each summer TATL. Never, ever, have they had a 339 or 350 on my route options, except once. And, the 339 was switched to a 333 after booking. This year, I’ve got an a J ticket, AF 350 DL code share. But, since it’s BOS as the connecting city, no D1 lounge for me.
I am told, but have no personal experience, that the worst odds are trusting a hooker. Leaving Las Vegas is just a movie.
@This comes to mind — You probably already know this, but you must not be based at or be routing through any of Delta’s existing a350 bases (currently, only ATL, DTW, LAX, SEA). Sometimes MSP gets a random a350, too.
JFK, BOS, SLC are left out for now; so, best you’ll get from there currently is newer 764/339 for TATL; otherwise, it’s just older 763 and 330ceos for long-haul, which are not anyone’s favorites, unless you enjoy using RUC/GUC for Main to D1, without having to purchase Premium Select to do so.
In an ideal world, Delta would have 175-E2, A220, a321neo/XLR, 339 and 350s, all with consistent seats, IFE, reliable, free WiFi, delicious meals, more D1 lounges (especially at every hub, like ATL, c’mon), and updated SkyClubs at any airport domestically that they have more than a gates at. (Oh, and an FA’s union). @Tim Dunn, what would be your perfect Delta? (Or, is it already ‘prefect’…)
@This comes to mind — Naw, that’s a simple, honest transaction, so I am told.
I liver near Vegas and always heard that about airport slots, yet there have been two Megabucks jackpots hit there in recent years.
So, let’s assume you hit Megabucks at the airport on arrival or on departure: Do you then leave on your flight immediately or go back into the city?
For anyone interested, holds have increased over time, and can now be adjusted without changing the chip in the slot. It used to be that a copy of the chip had to be in gaming’s possession. I dunno now:
https://gaming.library.unlv.edu/reports/nv_slot_hold.pdf