Airports Are Spending Big on Tech Upgrades

There was a time in the not so distant past when airlines would slap on “fuel surcharges” any time the price of jet fuel spiked. What was worse, those unpopular levies often lingered even after the cost of oil dropped. The term fell out of favor a little more than 10 years ago after U.S. regulators said that carriers had to explain how they arrived at the specific fee for fuel surcharges, or any other fee that wasn’t directly imposed by the government. Most airlines simply chose to drop the label.

Priority Pass is a network of over 1,600 lounges, restaurants and experiences at 600-plus airports in more than 150 countries. Memberships are available for purchase, but several credit cards, including The Platinum Card® from American Express, the Chase Sapphire Reserve® and the Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card, include a Priority Pass Select membership (enrollment required) as a perk of card ownership.

Good morning from Skift. It’s Friday, August 30, and here’s what you need to know about the business of travel today.

Passing through airport security can be a tedious part of the air travel process but some European airports had managed to speed it up thanks to the installation of state-of-the-art scanners, which allow passengers to carry electronic devices and cosmetics of any quantity in their luggage without having to take them out. 

Flying through the night can be ideal for those trying to save time while traveling long distances — assuming you can sleep and arrive feeling refreshed, Gilbert Ott told Business Insider.

When Los Angeles–based designer Clare Vivier began decorating the 19th-century house she'd bought in her husband's hometown of Saint-Calais, in France's Loire Valley, she had a particular aesthetic in mind. “I love color and patterns but wanted something peaceful, so the intention was to create a dialogue between those two things,” she says. She wanted the house to have a blend of contemporary pieces, antiques, and textiles from heritage maisons to create a space that, much like her namesake handbag and fashion label, channeled both California fun and French sophistication. She also knew that she wanted her longtime friend Kate Berry, a designer and creative director, to help her make it happen.

Hundreds of charter and personal planes touched down on the same tarmac this weekend — and it wasn't in the Hamptons, Lake Tahoe, or any other particularly bougie hot spot. It was a pop-up airport called 88NV in the middle of the Nevada desert.

Exciting news, Carnival Cruise Line fans: A visit to a massively revamped private island is in your future.

When my husband and I got stranded in Paris during the global Crowdstrike meltdown last month, we decided to make it a lemonade out of lemons event. We were on our way home, flying with Delta Air Lines from Istanbul to Albuquerque, New Mexico, with a connection through Paris following a two-week Mediterranean cruise.

No one wants to wake up before the sun comes up to get to the airport, but taking the first flight out has its perks, says Gilbert Ott, a travel expert who flies roughly 200,000 miles a year.

This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation and emails with Nadia Said, a 25-year-old IT project manager at a major tech company where she started working full-time in 2020.

Tensions are growing between two of Europe's top budget airlines after the Ryanair CEO called Wizz Air's unlimited flights pass a "marketing scam."