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One of the many irritants of travel-rewards programs is expiring miles. Typically, miles or points expire if there’s no account activity during a two- or three-year period. It’s a policy that’s irrelevant to high-frequency travelers, because they’re constantly on the go, pushing the expiration date forward with every trip. But for the great majority of travelers, who fly infrequently, the danger of allowing hard-earned miles to disappear is clear and present.

There’s an ongoing debate among travel junkies concerning what’s commonly referred to as premium economy. Specifically: When does an airline’s coach product legitimately deserve to be called premium economy? Is a couple of extra inches of legroom enough to qualify for the “premium” designation? An upgraded inflight entertainment system? Better meals? Priority boarding? More frequent-flyer miles?

Google Flights, the airfare search tool from everyone’s favorite omniscient internet entity, has received two significant upgrades, both of which could prove popular with travelers and irk some airlines.

Hilton’s current systemwide promotion – double points for stays at all HHonors hotels – isn’t a game-changer for most. But since there are few really compelling hotel offers for fall stays, double points may be just enough to keep Hilton loyalists from defecting to other brands. However, it won’t be enough to change the booking behavior of travelers whose allegiance lies elsewhere or who base their purchase decisions solely on value.

There was considerable hand-wringing in the run-up to the Thanksgiving holiday that travelers would be facing something just this side of hell on earth. Packed planes. Overflowing overhead bins. Overcrowded gate areas. Endless check-in lines. And even longer lines to clear security checkpoints.

Tired of slow inflight Wi-Fi, or worse, no Wi-Fi at all? Southwest has you covered. Or will have you covered, when its newly announced upgrade program is in place.

For at least the second time this summer, Amtrak is offering a rare flash sale for fares on Northeast Regional train travel for as low as $19. Sample one-way fares range from $19 between Richmond and Washington, to $49 from New Haven to Washington.

New York Senator Chuck Schumer has looked into United’s Basic Economy fares, set to launch early next year, and he doesn’t like what he sees. He’s particularly outraged that the new ultra-low-priced fares will restrict customers to a single small carry-on, leaving the overhead bins for the exclusive use of those paying higher fares.

Yesterday, Delta’s lowest-priced business-class award ticket for travel between the U.S. and India was 70,000 miles each way. Today, it’s 97,500 miles. That’s an increase of 39 percent. Talk about inflation! And, adding insult to injury, the price increase was made with no notice to SkyMiles members.

American Express sent a chill across the travel hacker community this week with a warning that it planned to take steps to curtail credit-card churning, a technique used by travel hackers to snag generous travel rewards at little or no cost.

When an airline knows its core customers are anything but frequent flyers, is there any point in hosting a loyalty program? Probably not. Which explains why Allegiant, the low-cost leisure-focused carrier based in Las Vegas, never rolled out a full-fledged frequent-flyer scheme. There’s just no return-on-investment when your customers are by definition infrequent flyers.

Hilton’s next points promotion is an extension of its current promotion, which was highly rated for simplicity but offered mediocre value.

Cyber Monday can be overwhelming, especially when your social media feeds and inbox look like the equivalent of a Walmart on Black Friday. But don’t despair! This year, we’re cutting through the mediocre deals and will be Tweeting out only the best discounts on everything travel related.

Earlier this summer, two of the world’s most financially and operationally sound airlines, Delta and Southwest, were forced to delay and cancel thousands of flights due to problems with their respective software systems.

Love ’em or hate ’em, most travelers would agree that kids on a plane can make for a stressful flight experience.

Airline pricing transparency: Who’s for it, and who’s against it?

Following in Delta’s footsteps, American announced a new baggage tracking service that lets travelers know when their baggage arrives (or fails to arrive) at the airport.

It’s generally a good rule of thumb that you shouldn’t travel with valuables. Still, people do. Maybe you bring some fancy jewelry to wear for a special occasion. Maybe you buy an antique lamp and opt not to ship it home.

Rejoice, Netflix watchers. The streaming service has finally added a download option to take advantage of before those times you’ll be without reliable or free Internet, i.e. traveling. So if you’ve ever put your show-binging habit on hold for a flight, fear no more—Netflix has listened.

There’s nothing mysterious about a solar eclipse. The moon blots out the sun for a few minutes, completely, in a spot about 80 miles in diameter. Places within that totality spot experience total darkness—just like a moonless midnight—for more than two and a half minutes near the center, a bit less than a minute at the edges. Areas hundreds of miles on either side of the totality spot will experience partial darkness.

Award-price adjustments are a fact of life for participants in hotel loyalty programs. And the annual announcements of such changes are rarely good news. Inevitably, it seems, more award prices increase than decrease, resulting in a net devaluation of program members’ points.