Category Archives for General.
A Delta flight from St. Thomas to New York saw a pre-takeoff argument that ended with everyone involved kicked off the plane. Also: GHA Discovery offers paid elite status through 2027, Southwest blows up its succession plan, Alaska opens its new Portland lounge while cutting basic economy mileage earning,
A Cathay Pacific passenger needed real help after a canceled flight, but the chat response exposed how airline customer service increasingly uses AI to manufacture empathy while failing to solve the real problem. The agent pasted the prompt instead of the reply, the instructions to acknowledge feelings, sound positive, and validate the customer.
Israeli travelers trying to book a hotel in Bavaria say they received a reply that should be unthinkable in Germany: “Sorry, there are no Jews allowed in our hotel.” The hotel later acknowledged an employee sent the message, apologized, and claimed it was responding to suspected fake bookings — as though “No Jews allowed” were a normal anti-fraud policy rather than exactly what it sounds like.
A Delta regional pilot was killed on his wedding day after the helicopter carrying him and his new wife toward their honeymoon crashed in bad weather. Also: American gives a passenger a taped-shut tray table on a 10-hour flight, boarding times that don’t match aircraft reality, Bilt credit limits jump as high as $250,000, El Al returns to San Francisco, and Amex offers a Marriott transfer bonus you can probably ignore.
Aspen Airport will close for roughly seven and a half months in 2027, with no commercial flights, no private jets, and no terminal access while the runway is rebuilt and shifted west. Also: a NetJets runway incursion at SFO, Bilt’s non-card business heading toward $1 billion in revenue, a 50% Rove transfer bonus to Turkish, and why parents should think about upgrade lists before naming children.
United passengers are seeing a flight map ‘glitch’ where the airplane icon is replaced by the spiked stiletto from *The Devil Wears Prada*. Also: Bilt cardholders report surprise $50,000 credit limits, Chase Sapphire Lounge DFW appears closer to opening, American basic economy bag fees get worse, and oneworld Ruby members get new Iberia seat-selection benefits.
Hyatt’s CEO says members have reacted positively to the new award chart, which is an interesting way to describe top hotels costing up to 67% more points. Hyatt may still have a fixed chart, but when one night that used to require $45,000 of card spend now takes $75,000, calling that a member-friendly change requires a truly elite-tier ability to suspend disbelief.
American Express is suing the mayor of London over $713,851 in unpaid Business Gold card debt — London, Kentucky, that is. Also: Hawaiian ends free coach meals to Hawaii, Japan Airlines bans flight attendants from drinking on layovers, and JAL offers lunar transport that frequent flyer programs arguably beat decades ago.
Italy’s top court says a five-star hotel can refuse free tap water and offer $8 bottled water instead. Also: American blocks close-in partner saver awards, Amadeus gets fined over traveler profiling, Qantas adds Philippine Airlines, and Bilt adds Mindbody fitness bookings.
American Airlines banned some AAdvantage members seven years ago, and now it appears “lifetime” really means forever as recreated accounts are being shut down too. Also: Penn Station renderings show Trump’s name with the presidential seal, Delta waits on Amazon Wi-Fi while rivals move to Starlink, and Marriott points can apparently now buy robots.
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 »
