View from the Wing Archives.
A new Point.me survey names Delta’s Starbucks the best airline coffee and Amex Centurion the best lounge network. But popularity isn’t quality: Alaska and United serve better coffee, Chase offers stronger lounge design, Capital One has better food—and British Airways has no business ranking among the best inflight meals.
American Airlines now labels West Palm Beach “Pres DJT” on gate screens, departing from its usual practice of naming airports only when distinguishing between multiple airports serving one city. Clinton and Ford airports receive no such treatment.
American Airlines says its first class meal rule has no exception markets, yet Chicago–Denver still gets meals despite being under 900 miles. The reason: American still measures Denver using Stapleton, the airport that closed in 1995.
Air Canada picked Anko van der Werff as CEO, and his French appears more than good enough to satisfy Quebec’s language establishment. But the fight that helped push out Michael Rousseau was never really about fluency—it was about politics, power, and timing.
July 2026 brings a new best-ever credit card offers, with several new bonuses added and others already gone. Here’s the up-to-date list of the most lucrative deals still available.
The biggest rewards credit cards are easier to understand when you strip them down to what they actually do best. Sapphire Reserve, Amex Platinum, Venture X, Citi Strata Elite, Bilt Palladium, Bilt Blue, United Explorer, and Citi AAdvantage Business all have real strengths, but each one also has limits. The key is knowing whether a card is worth getting for a bonus, keeping for benefits, or actually using for spend.
The fastest way to earn a large pile of miles is still a new-card bonus, and several current offers can jump-start a trip with 100,000 points or more. But a great initial bonus is not the same thing as a great long-term card: take the upfront value when the math works, then shift spending to the cards that actually reward you best after the bonus is gone.
Delta is adding Newark–Los Angeles flights, taking a run at one of United’s most lucrative routes and a market where United has hubs on both ends. But Delta will start with just two daily A321neo flights and no lie-flat seats, making this less a Newark offensive than another piece of its broader push to win Los Angeles.
The FAA is letting airlines keep New York airport slots through 2027 even if they do not operate the flights, preserving incumbent control at JFK, LaGuardia, and Newark. The waivers are justified by air traffic control staffing problems, but they also block competition, limit passenger choice, and keep valuable government-granted flight rights in the hands of airlines that may not use them.
Chase is set to win a 13,793-square-foot Sapphire Lounge in Miami’s E Concourse after a bid projected to generate nearly $94 million for the airport over 15 years. The deal appears to beat a likely Capital One partner and shows how premium card lounge awards are increasingly won: design matters, but money to the airport matters most.
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 »
