Henry Harteveldt travel tips

Southwest Airlines just announced a monumental shift in its passenger experience. The Dallas-based carrier said on July 25 that it plans to soon introduce seat assignments, as well as premium extra-legroom areas on board its fleet of narrow-body aircraft.

Budget airlines are upending many their original business plans as increased costs wreak havoc on their bottom lines.

JetBlue set off a firestorm earlier this year when the airline announced it would begin dynamically pricing baggage fees. A first checked bag costs $45 for "off-peak" flights and $50 during "peak" days and times. For a second checked bag, the fee can jump to as much as $70, and prices are even higher if you book within 24 hours of a flight. Plus, JetBlue has already raised the cost of checked bags a few times this year.

Making money in the airline industry has never been easy.

Activist firm Elliott Investment Management has taken a $1.9 billion stake in Southwest Airlines and has proposed big changes — including a new CEO — to shore up the company's stock price and fix what it's called mismanagement.

Norse Atlantic Airways is cutting a route it launched with much fanfare back in December. The Norway-based airline confirmed to TPG that it will no longer operate its seasonal route from Miami to Paris.

It's going to be a busy travel summer.

Third time's the charm, says the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, which, despite a five-year delay, says it is one year out from implementing the Real ID requirement for domestic air travel.

"And the sexiest new nonstop route of the year is ... "

Corporate travel could get complicated: Expedia Group has a big stake in Amex Global Business Travel. Booking.com is partners with CWT. What happens to those relationships if the merger between Amex GBT and CWT goes through? Amex GBT CEO Paul Abbott specifically noted CWT’s ties to Booking.com for Business as an upside to the deal as it tries to reach more small businesses customers.

Alaska Airlines just launched an unusual new subscription service that is going to require a $5-per-month payment to get early access to Alaska fare sales and a bit more. The Seattle-based airline is calling it "Alaska Access" and is saying it gives advanced alerts to some of its biggest sales of the year.

Customers may soon feel the impact of the Boeing 737 Max blowout as airlines face uncertainty about their future fleets.

It's a giant banking merger that would create the nation's sixth-largest bank and have potentially significant implications for your credit cards. Capital One this week said it would purchase Discover Financial Services in an all-stock deal that would be worth some $35 billion. It would create the new largest credit card issuer in the world.

Window or aisle? It's an age-old frequent flyer debate that's as divisive as walking into a room and declaring that "Toy Story 3" is mediocre (I'll die on this hill) or that Beyonce is, in fact, way better than Taylor Swift (Queen Bey for the win).

Spirit Airlines is adding 10 new flights out of Boston-Logan, which can be looked at in two ways. It's a step back toward profitability for the airline, which many thought might go bankrupt in the wake of the ruling by the federal judge that blocked a merger with JetBlue Airways.

On a recent Thursday morning in Queens, travelers streamed through the exterior doors of La Guardia Airport’s Terminal C. Some were bleary-eyed — most hefted briefcases — as they checked bags and made their way to the security screening lines.

Spirit Airlines was once a golden child of the airline industry. But now that a judge has blocked its proposed merger with JetBlue, Spirit is on its own to deal with declining revenues and rising operating costs. 

The recent news that Dutch carrier Corendon Airlines has started offering adult-only areas on its flights garnered widespread media attention around the world.  Rightly so, as it seems that passengers have long been crying out for this service according to an article published in the Spectator that was based on a survey from PhotoAID.

This is a developing story and will be updated with more information.

Reaching status with an airline loyalty program may feel more difficult in 2024, as airlines opt to incentivize passengers willing to spend more.

It was a year that was to mark the post-pandemic recovery of travel, bringing economic relief to local communities that had been hit hard by the prolonged loss of tourism revenue. Borders fully reopened, pandemic restrictions were lifted and traveler bookings surged, sparking a social media trend called “revenge travel.” But even as demand in 2023 reached near 2019 levels — with an estimated 975 million tourists traveling internationally between January and September, according to the World Tourism Organization — a series of disasters, upheavals and unparalleled weather events devastated destinations across the globe.