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Flying ultra-low-cost airlines like Spirit and Frontier means a bare-bones experience in many ways, not all of them expected. While most customers know they’ll be shoehorned into no-legroom seats in exchange for rock-bottom ticket prices, they are often surprised to discover a less-publicized tradeoff: Neither Spirit nor Frontier participates in the TSA’s PreCheck program for trusted travelers.

Premium economy—upgraded coach service, typically featuring more legroom, priority airport services, and more amenities—is hot. And for good reason: At least in theory, it’s a win-win.

Airport horror stories are as much a staple of Thanksgiving dinner as turkey and stuffing. With the whole country rushing home for the holidays, airports—especially the major airports—are at their busiest. Is your home airport on the list of worst airports for Thanksgiving flights? It’s not too late to consider an alternative.

For the first time in more than 50 years, U.S. airlines have received federal approval to operate scheduled flight services to Cuba.

When it comes to traveling abroad, there’s a lot more to it than just buying a plane ticket. You need to do your research. This means finding out if you need a visa, what the weather will be like, what kind of currency they use, etc. For more popular abroad destinations, this might mean a series of quick Google searches, but when you’re traveling somewhere off the beaten path, the information you need is not always readily available.

Kentucky has way more to offer than just fried chicken! Beautiful scenic parks, horse country, and historical points of interest are all waiting to be discovered. Horses Kentucky Ho

Got a smartphone and T-Mobile service? Traveling on a Gogo-equipped airline flight? If so, you’ll be entitled to a free hour of inflight WiFi, on every flight, beginning on June 13. In addition, T-Mobile customers will enjoy unlimited texting, picture messaging, and access to Visual Voicemail on Gogo-equipped flights.

With Delta and United’s transition to spend-based loyalty programs last year, and American’s upcoming later this year, there’s no longer room for debate as to the industry standard. Travelers should now expect to be rewarded according to their spend, not according to the number of miles they fly.

As travel times between major metro areas go, the flying time between Los Angeles and San Francisco is about as short as it gets: less than an hour in the air, and a bit longer gate-to-gate. Getting to the airport probably takes longer than the flight itself.

A new report from the House Homeland Security subcommittee reveals concerns over “inconsistent screening of airport employees,” according to CNN, along with “insufficient TSA access to intelligence information used to vet individuals and inadequate control of access to sensitive areas of airports.”

UPDATE – Spirit apparently had second thoughts about the new size restrictions, and has elected to forego the changes reported in our article. According to a Spirit representative: “We had been preparing for a potential change in personal item sizes, however we decided a few weeks ago not to implement the change. While we always like to encourage passengers to carry less, we will continue to offer the largest personal size item of any ultra-low cost carrier.”

The Christmas travel season is upon us. While perhaps not as narrow and intense as the Thanksgiving holiday, Christmas is nevertheless an extremely busy time of year at airports across the country. In addition to an influx of travelers, late December is infamous for throwing weather curveballs that can further snarl already maxed-out airline operations.

On Monday, April 2, SmarterTravel’s Editor-at-Large and longtime frequent flyer guru, Tim Winship, passed away after a battle with cancer. We wish to express our deepest sympathy to Tim’s many friends, family, colleagues, and loyal readers who are grieving his loss.

This week, the U.S. House of Representatives passed a bill extending authorization of the Federal Aviation Administration, which would otherwise expire on July 15. The bill is expected to be approved by the Senate as well.

Planning a trip to Europe or beyond? If you’re looking to tack on an extra destination to your itinerary, it’s easier than you might think. Portuguese carrier TAP is adding flight stopovers in Lisbon and Porto to all of its transatlantic routes, with added freebies like hotel discounts and free wine from their partners if you do choose to stop in either locale.

Things seemed to be looking up for United. The company’s CEO, Oscar Munoz, had announced his imminent return to the job, less than three months after a heart transplant. In a news release announcing Munoz’s return, a United board member gushed thusly:

Enter the PureWow “2016 London Trip” sweepstakes by May 14, 2016, for a chance to win the grand prize: a three-night trip for two to London, including business-class air on La Compagnie, hotel, breakfast, and afternoon tea.

Since its unannounced implementation on a Friday evening last February—strategically timed to avoid public notice and minimize media scrutiny—Delta’s policy of not publishing award charts has been a source of consumer frustration and outrage.

Emirates has announced it will reduce service between Dubai and almost half its destinations in the U.S. Flights to Boston, Seattle, and Los Angeles will be reduced from two per day to one, and daily flights to Orlando and Ft. Lauderdale will be reduced to five per week each. The total number of weekly flights cut comes to 25.

Effective today, one of the world’s largest airlines is making a surprising change to its booking policy. According to a confirmation email received this morning:

Paris Hilton hasn’t been much in the limelight lately, and now we know why. The 35-year-old socialite and media magnet has been busy developing a new line of luxury hotels to open in Dubai, New York, and Las Vegas.