SFO has approved private bedrooms, showers and a speakeasy-style lounge for Terminal 1 and Terminal 3. The lease reveals a much smaller, room-centered lounge than headlines suggest—and a $44.6 million five-year revenue bet after Hotelzo beat Plaza Premium’s Aerotel.
American now denies 24-hour cash refunds for tickets booked less than seven days out. Here’s what changed, and the safer way to book a rescue flight when travel goes awry.
Marriott’s new reservation stack can merchandise room attributes, paid upgrades, dining, spa and golf the way airlines sell seats and extras. Guests may get more control, but every newly priced attribute adds friction—and every suite sold is one less available to honor elite status.
A passenger checked stolen cannonballs in his luggage, and TSA found them before the bag made it any farther. That leads this roundup, along with Allegiant adding first class, a filthy United Dreamliner seat, American’s refusal to invest in RFID bag tags, and an easyJet bachelor party groom helping collect trash in a gimp suit.
The best time to fix a travel meltdown is before the airline officially admits you’re in one. I was caught in a weather mess compounded by an airline computer failure. Here’s how I played the odds at each stage of the trip.
Hilton has reduced what many hotel owners pay into Hilton Honors, including cuts of up to 32% at some brands. That helps explain why award nights keep requiring so many more points: if less money flows into the loyalty program, Hilton has to spend less too, and guests feel that through higher redemption prices.
American Airlines is preparing to borrow $1.325 billion against new aircraft deliveries and older jets, and the financing filing reveals more than just debt. It shows a fleet strategy built around more Airbus A321XLRs, premium-heavy widebody retrofits, dual-class regional jets, and keeping existing Airbus A321s flying well into the 2030s and even the 2040s.
Delta is finally launching its DraftKings partnership with free inflight sports prediction contests rather than betting, avoiding the federal ban on gambling aboard U.S. aircraft. But the strategy is clear: use Delta flights to sign up travelers for DraftKings accounts, then monetize them later when they are back on the ground.
TSA’s Secure Flight system was built to identify aviation security threats, not to help ICE locate ordinary civil immigration targets at check-in counters, gates, and baggage claim. Using passenger manifests this way turns airports into ambush points and shows exactly how a narrow post-9/11 security tool can become a general surveillance system.
President Trump is expected to announce a $22.5 billion reconstruction of Washington Dulles, a plan he personally helped shape to preserve the Saarinen terminal while replacing much of the airport behind it. The project could finally end regular mobile lounge use and fix the train system, but without massive federal funding, the debt math could make Dulles too expensive for airlines to operate.
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 »
