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.
Readers are reporting surprisingly easy approvals for Citi new premium credit card. The Strata Elite currently offers an initial bonus and credits I value at $2,300 total in the first cardmember year, making it one of the most lucrative new card launches in years.
A blind passenger boarded a Delta flight with a seeing-eye dog, only to face complaints from another couple claiming their own dog was a service animal and could not sit nearby. What followed was a familiar modern airline mess: a real working dog, a likely fake one, and a dispute not just over where the animals should sit, but over who got to use the blind passenger’s underseat space.
Passengers flying Frontier from Orlando say they arrived on time, spent about 90 minutes stuck in a long, understaffed check-in line, and still missed their flight because they did not reach the counter before the airline’s one-hour cutoff. Instead of rebooking them or offering compensation, Frontier reportedly treated them as no-shows, demanded a $99 flight change fee, and then called police when the confrontation escalated.
Southwest had open seats on a lightly loaded flight, but one passenger says the airline still made her stay crammed into a full row and called her rude for asking to move. Plus Delta snack shrinkflation, American’s scuffed cabin ceilings, and Amex dropping Uber VIP.
A passenger who tried to recline her seat says the traveler behind her kept shoving it forward again and again, turning a routine flight into one of the most familiar battles in air travel. Whatever you think about recline etiquette, physically forcing someone else’s seat upright is not how this gets settled.
American Airlines tells elites and even some credit card customers that priority boarding means they can skip the general line and board at any time through the priority lane. But one gate agent at Miami reportedly shut that lane down after Zone 4, turning a benefit meant to preserve overhead bin space and save time into the exact opposite.
Premium cards have turned into coupon books, and the fatigue is real—especially when you’re doing math and chasing tiny monthly credits to justify a huge annual fee. The trick is to treat Amex Platinum and Sapphire Reserve differently: cover the fee with credits you’d use anyway, value the lounge network you’ll actually visit, and put spend where the earn rates make sense so the “extras” feel like upside instead of homework.
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 »
