Category Archives for General.
Twenty-two Buddhist monks were arrested at the airport in Sri Lanka after customs officials say they found 242 pounds of weed hidden in false luggage walls. Also: Fiji Airways drops Dallas, British Airways bans filming crew without consent, United offers delayed passengers a snack bin instead of meal vouchers, and Amex has a Hilton transfer bonus that is still not especially good.
United says there’s room for only two premium airlines, but one passenger says he spent a flight getting soaked by cabin condensation and handed paper towels. Also: an American Airlines jet had lavatory liquid running down the aisle, JFK Terminal 8 gets a refresh with broken outlets, and a sniffer dog finds 100 Thai 7-Eleven sandwiches in a passenger’s bag.
American Airlines unveiled its America250 commemorative aircraft to honor the nation’s spirit, innovation, and independence. The only catch: the first plane it chose is a Brazilian-built Embraer regional jet, which is either a subtle celebration of global aviation supply chains or the funniest possible aircraft selection meeting where nobody raised their hand.
United Flight 1980 was landing in San Diego when the crew reported striking a “red, shiny” drone around 3,000 feet — far above where recreational drones are normally allowed to operate near airports. There is no reported damage yet, but a drone in the arrival path at that altitude is exactly the kind of thing aviation safety rules are supposed to prevent.
A bride gets kicked out of Four Seasons Miami while trying to tour it as a wedding venue, plus Ikea’s hotel, an Ohio hotel robber who politely thanked the clerk, Southwest charging for window seats but they don’t have windows, and more.
Southwest Airlines came to Washington to unveil a patriotic “America 250” jet with Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy. But behind the celebration was the administration’s more urgent airline problem: Spirit needs a rescuer, and Southwest was apparently asked whether it would be the buyer.
A top Marriott Bonvoy elite says he was jailed after reporting a threat against his wife at the Ritz-Carlton Doha, plus a woman caught bringing pot into Indonesia launching a GoFundMe and Cosplay Kid Rock and the most Frontier Airlines gate agent ever on Denver’s A concourse.
A viral flight meltdown video exposed a man’s secret mistress, plus Denver airport chaos, a tattooed plea for an American Airlines upgrade, shocking casino ATM fees, the case against a Spirit bailout, and more.
Hertz keeps taking reservations it apparently cannot fill, leaving even its best customers waiting hours for cars, plus why LAX is hemmed in by an endangered butterfly, Aman’s new Texas Hill Country resort, Delta’s uniforms, and more.
News and notes from around the interweb: A single temperature sensor at Paris Charles de Gaulle airport was being used for Polymarket bets on Paris temperatures so someone stuck a hair dryer next to it and made $34,000 this month. Charges have been filed. polymarket was settling Paris temperature bets on a single Météo France sensor sitting near the Charles de Gaulle runway perimeter – basically unguarded – the guy bought the long-shot outcome (like “22°C” when everyone expected 18°C) for pennies, since nobody thought it’d hit – then he walked up to the probe and briefly heated the air around it with a portable heat source, spiking the reading just long enough to register as the daily max This makes plenty of sense to me: Tim Cook’s compensation was about $75 million in each…
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 »
