There’s nothing relaxing about a lounge where you can barely find a seat, and you’re dodging other passengers, how is this better than the terminal or more to the point better than spending $25 for a burger, camping out at a sit down restaurant that has power outlets?
The single most basic amenity of a lounge is peace and quiet. Beyond that, airline lounges range from opulent and decadent to basic. Here are the bare minimums for a decent airport lounge
Delta, United, American, Spirit and Frontier together generated $12.4 billion between 2018 and 2023 in seat fees alone and that this can be more than checked bag fees – citing United earning $1.3 billion in seat fees vs. $1.2 billion in bag fees last year. The total number is artificially low – fees were down during the pandemic when travel was off.
British Airways has unveiled its new first class seat for the Airbus A380, to debut in ‘early’ 2026. The seat is based off of the Collins Aerospace RTX.
One of my readers ran into trouble checking into a hotel, and the hotel wouldn’t give him a refund either, so he took a guerilla approach and won. He calls the tactic “Protester-style.”
A roundup of the most important stories of the day. I keep you up to date on the most interesting writings I find on other sites – the latest news and tips.
The plane crashed into a two-story residential building about 0.9 nautical miles from the runway. It skidded several hundred meters before impact, bursting into flames upon collision. The building was set on fire, along with nearby smaller structures and a car. Emergency services successfully evacuated all 12 residents from the building without injuries.
If this happened on a flight I was on, I’d have flagged down a flight attendant and said something. Surely this is not appropriate. It’s fine when you’re the only passenger in the cabin, or when you’re traveling in a seat with enough enclosed space to do this privately (like the new Emirates first class, or Singapore Suites). It’s not fine in Emirates business, where it detracts from the overall experience. What would you have done?
Humans are strange creatures. We create elaborate rituals out of the most mundane actions, and impart those rituals with great significance. One I’m trying to make sense of is seasoned travelers and first-timers alike tapping planes as they board. Why do people do this?
Here’s an American Airlines first class passenger with their own idea about what the purpose of a hot towel is. Normally passengers get one. This passenger asked for two and went to town with them.
The hotel keeps guest vehicle keys in a safe, but it seems to be one of those cheap consumer-style safes you might buy from an office supply store, because it runs on a battery and the battery died. It likely also has a master key, but that wasn’t available. As a result, no guest could get their vehicle.
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 »
