TSA staffing is breaking down at some of the country’s biggest airports, with callouts reportedly topping 50% in at least one location and surging well above normal nationwide during the DHS shutdown. For travelers, that means brutal security lines and real risk of missed flights — but there are still a handful of ways to beat the worst of the chaos, from PreCheck and CLEAR to priority lanes, touchless screening, and knowing which shortcuts still work.
Paying thousands of dollars a year in credit card annual fees sounds irrational. But by stacking the right premium cards — and actually using the benefits — it’s possible to come out far ahead.
Capital One has built its travel app to make the things cardholders actually care about easier to handle in one place: lounge access, rebooking, flight updates, and using points at checkout. The changes will not turn every traveler into a portal loyalist, but they do make the app much more useful for people already booking through Capital One Travel or trying to navigate delays and crowded lounges on the road.
The new Bilt Palladium Card earns more valuable points faster than any other card I carry, and for everyday spend it is not even a close call. That is exactly why its messy rollout and a handful of frustrating design choices matter so much: this could be the best spend card on the market by far, and Bilt still managed to get several important pieces wrong.
Chase has a huge bonus on the IHG One Rewards Premier Card: 175,000 points after $5,000 in spend in three months. The $99 card is also a long-term keeper thanks to the annual free night (with top-off), 4th night free on award stays and Platinum status.
The FAA has now stepped in to stop the summer flight buildup at Chicago O’Hare, proposing a cap of 2,608 daily operations after airlines had scheduled roughly 3,038. Because United was trying to grow far more aggressively than American, a government freeze near 2025 levels would hit United hardest and effectively stop the carrier’s bid to overwhelm its rival in Chicago.
Austin may finally be on the verge of landing its first nonstop flight to Asia, with Delta, Korean Air, and Samsung reportedly discussing service to Seoul. Also, newly released Delta deportation footage, Spirit’s branding problem, Lufthansa’s basic business fares.
On a flight where a flight attendant left full cans of soda behind for first class passengers, it occurred to me how much I don’t like that practice. And it’s even worse in coach but for different reasons.
American Airlines says it will now start telling passengers, in plain English, what is actually causing their delay instead of burying the explanation in codes or vague updates. The new feature is rolling out across the airline’s app, website, and notifications, giving travelers a clearer read on whether a disruption is tied to weather, maintenance, staffing, or something else entirely.
The debate over kids in business class misses the point. The real issue is not age, it is behavior: a quiet, well-parented child is far less disruptive than the loud, drunk, seat-kicking, aisle-blocking adult passengers airlines tolerate every day in premium cabins.
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 »
