A single scene from the forgotten 1984 film Over the Brooklyn Bridge shaped how I think about negotiation, arbitrage, and frequent flyer miles. It’s a reminder that small efforts, when the stakes are right, can yield the biggest rewards — and that sometimes, the squeeze really is worth the juice.
A man was arrested at Orlando International after mentioning a “pipe bomb” at a TSA checkpoint—then claimed he was talking about a toy for his kids. Plus: a fresh Bilt 2.0 rumor says one card could let you choose 3x on dining or groceries (and switch the category each year), along with a $250 Capital One checking bonus, REAL ID skepticism, and Biscoff’s global push.
Southwest is going to add first class, and it’s basically unavoidable once the airline is selling basic economy and bag fees like everyone else. The problem is they aren’t built to deliver a true premium product—no seatback screens, limited power, and a cabin and galley setup that would need real investment for hot service—but without a top rung, their new fare strategy has nothing meaningful to upsell.
A viral video from Kansas City International shows a Southwest gate confrontation escalating fast—until other passengers step in to separate people and escort the man away from the counter – weirdly dependent on bystanders instead of security.
A cascading delay into Los Angeles was about to keep travelers from reaching the funeral of the Sydney rabbi killed in the Bondi Beach attacks. United wouldn’t hold its flight—but American Airlines did something airlines almost never do: it moved gates to eliminate the terminal scramble, held its own Sydney departure, and then comped a new ticket entirely. What followed was a behind-the-scenes relay from cockpit to operations to the gate that turned an impossible connection into a just-in-time arrival for the funeral.
One creative flight attendant – on what looks like Spirit Airlines – found a way to make passengers help out cleaning the cabin, as captured in a viral video. This flight attendant made an announcement, leading passengers in a stretching exercise.
A passenger at Salt Lake City International ran onto the runway, climbed into the engine of a taxiing Delta A220, and died. Now his family is suing the city for $300,000—arguing the airport failed at multiple points, from monitoring emergency exits to communicating quickly enough with responders and pilots. But at what point does personal responsibility overwhelm systems failure?
Here’s why having a lot of authorized users, and why making mid-cycle payments to a card, can look like fraud. And behaviors undertaken by bad actors look suspicious when they’re legitimately undertaken by the rest of us.
Airlines pushed passengers into a bring-your-own-screen world—then cut back the built-in hardware that makes watching comfortable. With laptops barely usable in many seats, travelers are inventing their own ergonomics: seat pockets, airsickness bags, Ziplocs, even hats turned into phone mounts. Here are the best (and worst) DIY setups—and what they say about economy flying today.
News and notes from around the interweb: Latvians arrested in Texas in $14 million gift card fraud. If you ever wondered why the cards you buy and load somehow have no value when you go to use them…? The thieves would then take the items to another location and carefully remove the packaging almost surgically. “The card is removed, and then the material on the back that covers up the numbers to transfer anything or activate the card is then removed so that they can see it,” said Colby. “The numbers that are on the card are then programmed into another program that the criminals are using, which will now monitor that card.” From there, the cards are reassembled to appear new, without scratches, and placed back onto store shelves for someone to buy. ”As…
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 »
