British Airways will raise the cost of award travel on December 15, increasing both the Avios required and the surcharges you’ll pay — but the airline won’t publish the new prices in advance. The limited examples they’ve shared point to roughly 10% higher points and surcharges rising anywhere from a few percent to potentially doubling on some routes. The full extent of the devaluation won’t be known until it’s already live.
President Trump announced a sweeping overhaul of Washington Dulles — including a plan to replace the airport’s aging mobile lounges — but the airport authority wasn’t told about any of it in advance. The Department of Transportation now plans to take bids for the project even as Dulles continues operating out of 1980s “temporary” concourses and 1960s people movers that were never modernized.
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The Citi Strata Elite got a major boost — a 100,000-point welcome offer after $6,000 spend in three months, plus earning rates up to 12X and the only transferable link to American AAdvantage. Add credits that can be double dipped in the first cardmember year, Admirals Club passes, and full travel protections, and Citi’s new flagship card is suddenly a must-watch player in the premium rewards space.
Flight attendants are sharing the funniest, cringiest, and most inappropriate pickup lines passengers actually try on them. A few of the lines surprisingly worked — but many crossed the line into awkward, gross, or outright harassment.
A Southwest Airlines customer service agent at Chicago Midway discovered he could print LUV vouchers even when no passenger was owed compensation — and teamed up with a Chicago teacher to sell them for cash. Now the teacher has been sentenced to federal prison for buying them.
Mesa has become the first program to support transfers to Omni Hotels, allowing members to redeem 30,000 points for a free night at any Omni property and granting automatic Champion elite status on early transfers. It’s a niche but potentially high-value addition, especially at Omni’s more expensive locations.
Delta isn’t raising SkyMiles status requirements for 2026, but it is reshuffling the Choice Benefits that Platinum and Diamond members can select. Three options improve, while the American Express statement credit quietly drops in value — a detail Delta doesn’t call out in its announcement.
A WestJet passenger tried to record an agent’s explanation for why his family was suddenly bumped to a later flight. Instead, the agent grabbed his phone, tore up their boarding passes, and struck the passenger’s 73-year-old father hard enough to leave him with a swollen eye.
A year ago the DEA was ordered to stop seizing passengers’ cash at airports without evidence or charges. But cash seizures never stopped—they’ve just shifted hands. Homeland Security agents are using drug-sniffing dogs to target travelers, confiscating large sums even when no drugs are found and no charges are filed. Here’s what’s happening, and how they’re getting away with it.
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 »
