LAX wants to make rideshares even more expensive—after building one of the worst pickup systems in the country.
Also Southwest crews win stricter jumpseat access that hurts employee commuting, Hilton quietly devalues Honors again without changing the published cap, Hyatt Regency Hill Country finishes a $100 million renovation, and IndiGo CEO Pieter Elbers resigns amid operational chaos.
A White House deputy chief of staff tweeted a complaint about American Airlines, and it instantly turned into something bigger than one bad trip: a cue for other Trump-world figures to echo, quote-tweet, and pile on. The airline may even deserve the criticism in a given case, but the complaints have become a public signal of proximity, alignment, and tribe membership, not just customer service feedback.
Southwest passengers are claiming the airline’s inflight Wi-Fi won’t load competitor airline sites or freezes on booking pages, and Southwest still hasn’t explained whether this is intentional blocking or just bad connectivity.
Toronto’s Billy Bishop jet expansion fight gets nastier, Austin’s South Terminal shuts down March 31, Emirates quietly improves partner award pricing, American shows off some creative speed tape.
Southwest’s Companion Pass is still the best domestic perk: your companion flies for just taxes (from $5.60 each way), even on award tickets, as long as there’s an open seat. Last week my family used two passes on one trip. And right now you can get Companion Pass through Feb. 2027 via a credit card initial bonus.
American Airlines just announced plans for a new 12,000+ square foot Admirals Club at Austin-Bergstrom, and it’s not just bigger — it will be the carrier’s first lounge with an outdoor terrace. The club will sit on the west side of the terminal, right where American’s gates are concentrated, and the airline says it will offer elevated design, full kitchen facilities, and views of downtown Austin and the airfield.
American’s Heathrow catering meltdown forced the airline into bare-minimum meals flown in from the U.S., but the pendulum may be swinging back fast in premium cabins. DO & CO is stepping in on London routes—an upgrade that could leave American’s long-haul meal service meaningfully better than what passengers were getting before the blowup.
Thrifty Traveler says it’s raising prices on March 14, but anyone who subscribes before then locks in the current annual rate for life as long as the membership stays active. If you’ve ever wanted a steady stream of premium-cabin award alerts and mistake-fare texts without monitoring deals all day, this is where the economics shift.
United didn’t just cut MileagePlus flight earnings by as much as 40% for customers without a co-branded credit card — it’s now spending ad dollars to underline the message that cardholders matter more. The new ad makes the “no card, fewer miles” reality explicit, even though a huge share of United’s most valuable customers can’t or won’t get a Chase-issued card.
American Airlines has extended its Middle East suspensions again, pushing Philadelphia–Doha out to May 7 and delaying New York JFK–Tel Aviv until April 23, as Iran’s attacks keep much of the region’s airspace largely unusable.
United spent the Biden years leaning hard into the corporate-left script — pronouns, DEI signaling, and even vaccine mandates — and now Scott Kirby is adopting the Trump-era posture with public defenses of tariffs and other priorities that track the new power center. The pivot is so obvious that the MAGA right is calling him a hypocrite, and the receipts they are circulating say more about modern corporate governance than about any one airline CEO.
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 »
