The TSA has had employees roaming the airports watching passengers, using their spidey senses to figure out who might be a terrorist. Four years ago the Department of Homeland Security‘s Inspector General concluded that the TSA‘s behavior detection efforts didn‘t work and racially profiled. I‘ve argued that TSA literally has no science in its files to support its efforts. Now the government agrees. Continue reading Ne

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. Continue reading Best Economy for Cross Country Flights and Amex in Hand-to-Hand Combat With Chase...

This is the latest premium card, with a big signup bonus and strong points-earning. It‘s a 95 annual fee card, not a 450 annual fee card. And many of you can get a business card in fact you probably should. Continue reading This Is The Single Best Credit Card Signup Bonus Out There...

The Trump administration is expected to announce a ban on citizens traveling to North Korea next week. The ban would go into effect 30 days later. Continue reading US Expected to Ban Travel to North Korea Next Week...

Feeding the old meme that on Delta Don‘t Expect Luggage To Arrive (or ‘Diverts Errant Luggage to Atlanta‘), a man whose luggage was lost enroute to his dream destination wedding in Iceland is letting the world know he doesn‘t believe Delta can be relied on when it counts. And he created a special wedding photo to get the message out. Continue reading Special Wedding Photos Attack Delta For Losing Luggage...

Delta has found a new way to price dynamically. Already they‘ve practiced journey control. You might find saver award space on multiple flights, but they won‘t allow you to combine those flights into a saver award. Two connecting flights on an otherwise legal routing might price out as more miles. Now though non-stop saver awards may price out more expensively depending on route. Continue reading Another Devaluation Delta Award Pr

The most crucial thing to know about this lounge is that it‘s much less crowded than it used to be -- precisely because the Flagship Lounge is open and so many more people now have access there. Everyone flying international business class, American‘s mid-tier elites flying international economy, and oneworld partner mid-tier elites used to all crowd into the Admirals Club. Now they‘re granted access to the Flagship Lounge an

IdeaWorks has put out a new study on airline ancillary fees (.pdf). They rank the airlines earning the most in ancillary fees, and explain where the money comes from. I‘m not going to focus on the ultra low cost carriers around the world although the data there is interesting. Instead my interest is piqued looking at the major US airlines and the contribution of their frequent flyer programs to ‘other income‘ at each. Continue r

I frequently offer appraisals of the very best cards, and the very best signup bonuses, but in doing so only offer one or two cards per bank. That means I don‘t get down further -- what card should you get next, or if you aren‘t going to get the one I prefer for whatever reason? And the ‘best‘ Chase cards have changed over the past several months since I last looked at their new products and limited-time signup bonuses.

All the major hotel chains are working hard to get you to ‘book direct‘ with them. It‘s not really working overall, since they don‘t appear to be eating into the share of reservations of Expedia, Priceline, etc. These efforts aren‘t new. But Hyatt‘s new reward for finding a lower price on a competing site is. Continue reading Hyatt Revamps Its Best Rate Guarantee As It Prepares For War With Expedia...

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. Continue reading American Crew Successfully Brings Bullets Through Security and Why You‘re Wrong About Milan...

On Monday evening 46 year old Aussie Gregory Butler reportedly pounded on the cockpit door of an AirAsia flight AK371 at 9:20pm from Bali to Kuala Lumpur claiming that someone was trying to kill him - causing the pilot to return to the gate. Curiously, the man wasn‘t taken into custody or apparently even questioned. The flight was cancelled, the man left the aircraft, and thus began a ‘freak out‘ and 90 minute standoff.. Continu

Barron‘scarries a piece recommending investment in major US airlines. The argument is that interest rate hikes mean that the economy will be strong and airlines will benefit, and record high stock prices in the sector somehow mean those prices will rise further. Continue reading Airline Industry Lobbying Group‘s Newspeak Whitewashes Existence of Delta...

Airlines earnings calls are often fascinating. You‘d expect airlines to say as little as possible in public, even in respoinse to analyst and journalist questions, but I still love to listen because executives will drop wisdom and share how they‘re thinking broadly. Scott Kirby has always been one of the best (and most infuriating as a customer) to listen to. United‘s 2nd quarter earnings call this morning was no exception. Co

Small business credit cards often have bigger and better offers than personal cards. That‘s because small businesses spend more than individual people do on average. Acquiring a business as a customer means more spend, which means a card company can invest more marketing to obtain the customer. Right now there are some fantastic offers worth looking at. Continue reading The 6 Best Small Business Cards...

Offloading everyone -- not just the passengers an airline wants to kick off -- causes more of a delay. It‘s more of an inconvenience for other passengers and more costly to the airline. But when everyone‘s getting off, the passengers you want to offload generally do to. And they do without physical violence. Continue reading JetBlue Uses Post-David Dao Trick‘ To Kick Family Off Flight...

As a general matter announcing you‘ve broken the law on social media, and providing photographic evidence, is inadvisable. Returning to the scene of the crime afterward? Even less so. Continue reading Man Flies Drone Inside Airport, Gets Arrested After Returning From Trip...

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. Continue reading When Pilots Fight and Big Compensation for Delay Transferring Points...

Brand new planes -- Boeing 787s and Boeing 737s -- are expensive. Ramping up quickly; attracting, hiring, training new crew; setting up new stations and new hubs even; generating consumer awareness are all expensive. So it‘s not surprising to see the Wall Street Journal covering challenges at Norwegian "You Can‘t Build a Low Cost Airline Without Low Costs. Continue reading Are Norwegian‘s Cheap Flights Sustainable In the Face o

Here are the number of each family of planes that Boeing is building each month, their order backlog, and the average retail price of each plane type... and what those retail prices actually mean. Continue reading Here‘s How Many Boeing Planes Are On Order and the Average Price of Each...

Regular readers are familiar with my recommendation that if there‘s one rewards card you should get, it‘s the Chase Sapphire Preferred Card. It‘s got a great signup bonus, strong points-earning of valuable points, and good benefits as well. Many readers are familiar with the benefits but it‘s the core ones that get talked about the most. Those are worth repeating, but I also want to get further down the list in case there&

Delta moved Ann Coulter out of the seat she selected and paid for on a Delta flight from New York to Florida. Coulter went on a tweetstorm. I‘ve never been a fan of Ann Coulter. She was disserviced. She was less than charitable in suffering that. Still relative outrage belongs focused on Delta, and it would be if Ann Coulter wasn‘t otherwise such a polarizing figure offensive to many. Continue reading The Daily Show Skewers Ann Co

Qatar hosts a major US military installation, but has also been accused of supporting terrorism. Saudi Arabia, of course, fits that same description. Tensions between Qatar and other regional powers especially Saudi Arabia are hardly new. While Shia Islam is a minority in Qatar, it‘s hardly an oppressed minority. Saudi Arabia was emboldened after the U.S. President‘s visit there in May. Continue reading Crisis in Qatar Disrupting F

American Airlines Chairman and CEO Doug Parker needs to get the memo that Delta is not his friend and that American‘s interests aren‘t the same as Delta‘s. In going along with Delta‘s interests, copying Delta‘s strategies, Parker is being played for the Greater Fool. But not the good kind Olivia Munn talks about. Continue reading Jet Airways Severs Ties With 4 Star Alliance Airlines While Delta Plays American for