United Airlines’ latest update to flight attendants makes the trade explicit: the union’s new pay proposal is “too expensive,” and anything better than the rejected deal will require offsets. United hints it can move on ground-time pay and shorter reserve windows—but only if flight attendants accept “algorithm scheduling” and reserve pay changes.
American is testing route-specific First Class catering: starting February 11, Dallas–New York flights will offer Texas barbecue as a preorder option, It’s the same move Delta used to kick off what became its own catering upgrade—so this could be the start of something bigger.
A travel agent is accused of taking $53,000 for a Royal Caribbean cruise, a destination wedding, and a big family birthday trip—then leaving clients to discover the bookings didn’t exist or were never paid. In one case, a group showed up at the port and was told their cruise tickets were fraudulent. And it’s another reminder of how often travel payments rely on trust that isn’t always deserved.
A passenger on a Southwest flight from Dallas Love Field to New York notices a young soldier in uniform looking anxious. The solder tells a flight attendant he’s deploying for the first time. The attendant makes an announcement inviting passengers to write him encouraging notes and pass them forward. And the story goes viral. The plane spontaneously participates using napkins, receipts, and torn pages, until the soldier has a thick stack of messages. He tears up, carefully packs away every note, and thanks the flight attendant. The passenger sharing the story ends with a “freedom isn’t abstract once you meet the kid defending it” moral. And people absolutely love this story: I was flying Southwest from Dallas to New York. Three rows ahead of me, there was a young soldier in uniform. He looked barely…
A Fifth Circuit judge openly laughed when the TSA argued it isn’t set up to refund millions of passengers—while defending a $48 million penalty against Southwest for allegedly failing to return the same security fees. The case tests whether an airline has to cut cash refunds for government fees when travel credits expire unused.
A passenger handed a flight attendant a sealed airsickness bag mid-flight and said, “This is for you”—so she assumed it was trash and set it aside. Later she opened it and found it was packed with cash: $208 that passengers had quietly pooled as a collective tip.
I’ve seen some truly absurd travel add-ons, but this one might be the strangest: airport rental cars in Jacksonville tack on a mandatory $3 “security fee.” It’s an airport pass-through that’s separate from the rest of the required surcharges—another example of how rental car pricing gets sliced into junk line items that can quietly add 50% or more to the real cost.
American’s 2026 AAdvantage changes are now live, and the most meaningful shift isn’t elite qualification—it’s the quiet devaluation of partner earning bonuses, now reduced and capped. Combined with basic economy earning zero miles, it points to a broader strategy change: AAdvantage is no longer being treated as the primary reason to choose American, as the airline pours money into premium seats, clubs, and service instead.
Capital One has signed a lease for a new lounge at Charlotte, and at roughly 14,000 square feet it would be the biggest Capital One Lounge yet. The space will sit on the mezzanine of the Concourse A expansion with tarmac views, locally inspired food, a full-service coffee bar, and work areas—though with only a concessions agreement in place, an opening likely isn’t soon.
A warning is making the rounds that the slot machines at Las Vegas airport are among the worst bets in town—possibly paying out near the legal minimum—so you’re better off waiting until you hit the Strip. Plus a United first class passenger stunned there’s no screen, Hilton’s new Diamond Reserve premium clubs, a surprisingly decent Admirals Club entree, and a very dirty cabin photo that should embarrass an airline.
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 »
