Category Archives for Airlines.
American Airlines has introduced a new AAdvantage Pass bundle that packages 100,000 miles, Gold status, and 15,000 Loyalty Points — and then slaps a $5,000 price tag on it. The idea of selling bundled status and miles makes sense, but this execution doesn’t:
JetBlue founder and Breeze CEO David Neeleman says Spirit and Frontier will merge in 2026, arguing the U.S. market can only sustain a single ultra-low-cost carrier. He pointed to Spirit’s restructuring and the need for scale and synergies, echoing his view that U.S. ULCCs have struggled because they compete too directly with major airlines instead of following Europe’s model.
Bilt has upgraded its travel portal to clearly show when an airfare booking is truly made directly with the airline. That means you can earn an extra Bilt point per dollar on the ticket, still put the charge on any card you choose, and—crucially—handle changes or rebooking with the airline instead of a third-party site. For anyone who values both rewards and control over their reservation, this is a real advantage.
Turkish Airlines just wiped out the last meaningful value in its Miles & Smiles program. After raising United domestic awards last year, Turkish has hit them again: mainland–Hawaii business class jumps to 40,000 miles each way when two years ago it was 12,500.
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.
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.
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 social media pile-on claims Alaska Airlines is “obstructing justice” because a poster tells employees not to hand passenger data to law enforcement on demand. In reality, it instructs staff to call a supervisor and insist on proper legal process — exactly what privacy laws, corporate policy, and rule of law require.
An urgent software problem with Airbus A320 flight computers forced thousands of jets worldwide into maintenance this weekend, but most airlines handled the fix with barely a ripple in their operations. JetBlue, by contrast, has been cancelling a huge chunk of its schedule while it scrambles to source replacement computers and catch up.
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 »
