Monthly Archives for December 2023.
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.
On Thursday afternoon, Southwest Airlines delayed flight 19, the 1:35 p.m. departure from Houston Hobby airport to Las Vegas. They told passengers on board that 20 connecting passengers were inbound on other flights to Houston, and they wanted those passengers to make their connections. The airline originally announced a 20 to 25 minute hold. It became longer.
Do you have elite status with an airline – or even a hotel chain? Or even a cruise line? You might even have this just from having a credit card. Frontier Airlines wants to match your status and depending on your current elite level will even give you top tier in their program.
With temperatures falling to less than 50 degrees below zero at cruising altitude, and lack of oxygen, conditions are excruciating. There are 132 people known to have stowed away in aircraft wheel wells between 1947 and 2021, and they have a mortality rate of 77%.
The key to getting the most out of miles and points is having some flexibility. If you can only take a certain flight on a specific day, you’ll take or leave what’s available. But if you can shift your plans and take advantage of the awards that are available, when they come up, you can get orders of magnitude greater value – business and first class for the same price as coach, international long haul for the same price as domestic.
The man crowned national champion of Chinese chess had his title stripped after being granted another honorific: world’s worst hotel guest, including “defecating in a hotel bathtub.”
Yan Chenglong “overdid celebrations” after his victory, and is now also under investigation for cheating… with anal beads?
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.
Supporters of Palestinians – and in some cases of Hamas – have been taking over roads leading to airports, blocking access at places including Chicago O’Hare, New York JFK, and Los Angeles and elsewhere.
This has been a huge inconvenience to travelers that are missing flights, and probably doesn’t gain any sympathy from them. Still, it’s probably better to protest at airports than the planned and since-cancelled protest at the Holocaust Museum. But what are they trying to accomplish exactly?
Here’s a scam that savvy travelers need to watch out for. The internet, and especially Facebook Marketplace, has exploded with deals offering to sell unclaimed luggage and all of its contents at a deep discount – think $10. Sometimes they say it’s for charity, other times the $10 even includes shipping, but it’s too good to be true and these offers are not real.
Delta Air Lines is giving $1,000 to employees to help them get started with savings, keyed off of a finding that half of Americans don’t have $1,000 in emergency cash.
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 »
