Alaska has updated its lap infant handling as it becomes a true long-haul airline, including charging only international taxes for lap infants on its own long-haul award flights. American can now price and ticket lap infants on eligible Alaska international revenue itineraries too, but partner award redemptions still do not support lap infant tickets.
From migrant shelter to Marriott – the hotel brand that was once known for standards and consistency when Bill Marriott served as CEO, the company’s unofficial motto under CEO Tony Capuano is that his tombstone will have “net rooms growth” on it. More rooms at more hotels they can earn fees from is the success metric That means not alienating owners by enforcing guest treatment And it means welcoming a long-shuttered Days Inn, that’s been serving as a migrant shelter, into the fold. The former Days Inn on Route 9 in Shrewsbury, Massachusetts has been unoccupied since March 2025 when it ceased being used as a migrant shelter. It will be converted to a Marriott City Express. The City Express line is among the budget-friendly hotel brands in the Marriott family, offering “functional lodging focused…
United’s ski-country network and Chicago growth show that Scott Kirby’s decade-old strategy worked: add useful flights, use bigger planes, rebuild schedule relevance, and loyalty follows. But the data cuts against a simpler brand-love story — passengers may be choosing United less because they love the airline and more because United built the flights, seats, and schedules they actually need.
A Southwest captain pled guilty after exposing himself and watching porn in the cockpit during a flight to Orlando while his first officer continued flying the plane. Now, years into the first officer’s lawsuit claiming Southwest and its pilots union retaliated against her for reporting the incident, the union is asking a court to sanction her and make her pay its legal fees.
I have about 26 credit cards in a drawer, but only seven are actually in my wallet. The key is separating cards you get for a bonus, cards you keep for perks, and cards that deserve real spending. Here are the cards I actually use for lounge access, everyday spend, Hyatt stays, airfare, dining, groceries, and travel rewards.
Capital One, Chase, and American Express have turned premium card airport lounges into a real competitive battleground, and the best ones now rival or beat many airline lounges. Capital One leads on food — especially at LaGuardia, Washington National, and JFK — while Chase has some of the best-designed large spaces, and Amex still wins on overall footprint.
A new lawsuit makes has a family of seven passengers the only ones claiming injuries from a low speed Seattle airport collision between two planes that was officially classified as injury-free. The legal paradox here is that Delta may face liability as the airline they were flying, even though the Japan Airlines plane caused the accident.
American Airlines is banning large human- and animal-like robots from its flights starting Monday, joining Southwest, Delta, and United with a policy aimed at size, stowage, and lithium-ion battery risks. The problem is that this shape-based ban may not age well as AI robots become more common, battery technology improves, and future robotic guide, mobility, or assistive devices collide with airline rules and federal disability protections.
Last week I wrote about one of the worst hotels in Las Vegas – Oyo, the former Hooters – advertising itself as three different hotels, two of which do not exist, using fake AI photos with nonexistent signs. There’s no such thing as Palette or Collection O Las Vegas. But they were found on various booking sites, including Expedia and Travelocity.
Air France reportedly closed the sauna in its Paris business class lounge after passengers got a little too comfortable using it. Also Ted Cruz forgetting Austin already has Europe flights, an American Airlines captain showing how communication calms passengers, a flight attendant rescuing Starbucks drinks at LAX, and Delta celebrating a million-mile milestone.
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 »
