Top tips from a flight attendant to avoid the worst of summer’s travel headaches

For nearly as long as commercial air travel has been possible, flight attendants have pushed back on policies surrounding their appearance and what they have to wear. It used to be about miniskirts and hot pants; today it’s about tattoos, comfort, and gender-neutral clothing. No matter the specifics, the shifts in airline uniforms reflect shifts in culture, and if you look to the skies, you can see that change happening yet again. In recent years—and even this past month—airlines worldwide have increasingly been loosening once-strict appearance guidelines and dress code policies to become more inclusive.

While Southwest just announced changes to its seating program (gone are the days of seat free-for-alls), one thing that hasn’t changed is its beverage program. The jostle of the cart, the “what would you like?” and the “ice or no ice?” But while you wait for your drink, you might be interested to know that the service starts in certain rows, and those rows are well-known before a flight. So yes, you can get your drink first. 

As we were preparing to land at Orlando International Airport (MCO) during a recent Delta Air Lines flight, a friendly attendant handed me and a few other passengers a card with a handwritten thank-you note on the back. I had never received such a note, nor had I known they existed. I immediately texted my trusted co-worker and fellow frequent flyer Clint Henderson for some insight.

Most frequent fliers—especially flight attendants—are all too familiar with feeling bloated, sniffly, and fatigued after a long-haul flight. It comes at no surprise that traveling at 37,000 feet at 575 miles per hour inside a pressurized bullet filled with dozens of other people can take a toll on our bodies and immune system. To help you feel at-least semi-refreshed upon landing, here are tips and tricks on how to stay healthy while traveling, according to flight attendants (including yours truly).

This summer, MARTINI is bringing the spice to Sicily with Emmy-nominated actress and fashion muse, Simona Tabasco. Following her captivating performance in hit TV show ‘The White Lotus’, Simona is returning to the island that stole the world’s heart, and she’s bringing MARTINI along to celebrate the unmatched charm of an Italian summer.

The sweltering summer heat has caused an unexpected problem for flight attendants: exploding soda cans.

My husband and I recently traveled to Dubai with our two kids and his mother on our first international trip together as a family.

American Airlines struck a tentative deal with its flight attendants union, ending years of contentious negotiations. 

A global IT outage on Friday canceled thousands of flights and forced several airlines to request ground stops, throwing travel into chaos.

Visitors to the upcoming Paris Olympics will soon have an easy way to save money on transportation. Uber, the popular rideshare app, will be offering an automatic 10 percent discount on rides for passengers from Paris airports between July 22 through Sept. 8. The discount applies to arrivals from both Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport (CDG) and Orly Airport Aéroport de Paris (ORY). Passengers can also save 30 percent if they use UberX Share within the city, as long as they are matched with another rider during the trip. 

Next time you think about getting a gift card from the display rack as a last-minute gift, you might want to think again. According to the Federal Trade Commission, gift card scams accounted for $217 million of the more than $10 billion U.S. consumers lost to financial scams in 2023.

Alaska Airlines has unveiled its next slate of destinations worldwide that can be booked at a significant discount with frequent flier miles.