A seven-months-pregnant passenger unexpectedly gave birth on ITA Airways flight 855 from Dakar to Rome, the airline’s first baby born onboard. Also: a New Orleans traveler holds up TSA with more than a dozen bottles of seasoning, Robinhood admits its new platinum card is too coupon-y, and passengers keep finding window seats with no windows.
The IHG Premier Card has a limited-time offer worth up to 185,000 points, which is more than I’ve seen before on this $99 hotel card. The upfront bonus is the reason to get it now, but the annual free night, fourth-night-free award benefit, Platinum status, and 4th night free on redemptions are why it can make sense to keep.
American Airlines has had to remind agents that not everything passengers call a medical device qualifies for free checked-bag treatment, because people are apparently showing up with items like hospital beds, massage tables, wagons, and even soap. The update is useful not just for what it says about baggage policy, but for what it reveals about the inventiveness of travelers trying to turn oversized or oddball items into fee-free luggage.
A “people-owned” rescue effort for Spirit Airlines has gone viral, claiming $22 million in pledges from would-be founding patrons. It has no cash, no actual bid, and no business plan to fix an airline that was losing money before it shut down.
With Spirit Airlines ceasing operations, other low cost airlines are doubling down on their request for a government bailout.
Delta passengers were stuck at the gate with no obvious help during the airline’s meltdown, so one of them grabbed the PA handset and started making announcements himself: “Delta, is anybody working?” It was a dumb move, but passengers do desperate things when an airline disappears on them.
A passenger on United Airlines flight 1837 from Puerto Plata, Dominican Republic to Newark “attacked a flight attendant” on Saturday, according to the captain, and “tried to open the forward main cabin door, trying to gain access to the flight deck.”
Delta Air Lines has canceled hundreds of flights while American, United and Southwest are barely canceling at all. Weather does not explain it. A tech outage does not explain it. And sickout rumors do not hold up — leaving internal Delta “crew restrictions” as the clearest clue to a meltdown at an airline once known for reliability.
A 21-year-old Chinese planespotter and aeronautical engineering student was arrested after photographing the E-4B “Doomsday Plane” and other military aircraft near Offutt Air Force Base, even though there is no espionage charge and no allegation that he trespassed.
United’s economy seats are tight enough that some tray tables now have cutouts for passenger bellies — which is either bleak or oddly pragmatic. Also: American admits broken seats mean passengers aren’t getting the product they paid for, the 50-day London-to-Calcutta bus makes Landline look easy, and the Philadelphia Centurion Lounge wine list gets more interesting.
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 »
