United won’t hike the elite thresholds again for 2026, but it is quietly clawing back value by moving PlusPoints to dynamic pricing and tightening access to business-class saver awards for anyone without status or the co-brand card.
Chase’s new Sapphire Lounge in Las Vegas has just 87 seats, a wait list at the door, and still managed to be the best place in the concourse to have breakfast. I tried it during regular operations, sampled the food, found the good champagne, and came away thinking it’s worth the surprisingly short wait I experienced.
American Airlines has finally sent its first Boeing 777-300ER to Hong Kong to start the long-delayed Project Olympus retrofit, trading Flagship First for all-new business suites with doors and much bigger premium cabins.
American Airlines is paying $30 million to buy two Spirit Airlines gates at Chicago O’Hare—G8 and G10—in a previously undisclosed deal revealed through bankruptcy court filings. This comes after American recently lost four gates to United in a controversial airport reallocation.
DOT made headlines bragging about a “record” $140 million penalty against Southwest for its Christmas 2022 meltdown, but the airline was never really on the hook for that number. Now that the agency has quietly waived the final $11 million, and surprisingly that was the right move.
A roundup of the most important stories of the day. I keep you up to date on the most interesting writings I find on other sites – the latest news and tips.
Four premium cards dominate the space right now: Amex Platinum, Chase Sapphire Reserve, Capital One Venture X, and Citi Strata Elite. Let’s break down lounges, credits, earn rates, and transfer partners—then show which card (or pair) actually makes sense for how you travel and spend.
A United Airlines passenger says a girl traveling with a so-called “service dog” at SFO hit and dragged her black lab after it peed on the carpet at the gate. Fellow flyers took the case to Reddit and airport police, and Denver officers met United flight UA297 after landing to check on the dog and confront the handler.
Eight Dulles airport police officers are out after internal and criminal investigations into alleged payoffs from limo and ride-share drivers so they could illegally solicit rides inside the terminal. It’s just the latest scandal for the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority, which has already been hammered for weak controls, nepotism, and shady contracting that now puts it among the most corrupt airport authorities in the U.S.
Delta used to be the airline you picked when you were willing to give up miles value for a better inflight experience and rock-solid reliability. Now cabins, wifi, lounges and even upgrades have been cut back enough that United’s hard product and elite treatment often look better by comparison.
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 »
