TSA PreCheck Lanes Could Soon (Finally) Be for PreCheck Members Only

This morning’s non-binding letter of intent by Wheels Up Experience to sell its aircraft management business to Airshare could serve both parties well, say industry insiders.

Breeze Airways is looking ahead to colder weather with one-way fall and winter flights starting at just $39.

With their chic cities, dramatic landscapes and high quality of life, the countries of Scandinavia remain objects of worldwide fascination. Yet if you’re looking to dip your toe into Nordic waters, where do you begin?

To the list of hotels that offer discounted rates to members of their loyalty programs—Starwood, Hilton, Hyatt, Marriott, InterContinental, Choice—can now be added the Carlson Rezidor Hotel Group (Quorvus Collection, Radisson Blu, Radisson, Radisson RED, Park Plaza, Park Inn, Country Inns & Suites).

It’s a basic premise of savvy loyalty-program participation that the best return-on-investment is to be had by redeeming points for the program host’s own services. Airline miles are best redeemed for flights, and hotel points are best redeemed for free room nights. Sure, all major programs offer alternative award opportunities—consumer electronics, clothing, event tickets, and on and on—but when you do the math, it inevitably turns out that such options offer very poor value.

In the world of hotel marketing, offering special rates for loyalty-program members who book direct with the hotels is the tactic du jour. Since Starwood deployed its members-only rates late last year, Hilton, Hyatt, and Marriott have followed suit. To that list can now be added InterContinental Hotels Group.

Give thanks! Just in time for the busy holiday travel season, American and United have launched automated security screening lanes at Chicago’s O’Hare airport. Two of American’s 18 lanes have been converted, and United has added three automated lanes of its own.

There’s nothing new about discounted hotel rates available only to members of the hotel’s loyalty program who book direct. Of the major chains, Starwood was the first to offer member-only rates, beginning last year. And Hilton, Hyatt, Marriott, and InterContinental have since followed suit.

On Friday evening—traditional timing for bad-news announcements that companies hope will go unnoticed by the public and unreported by the media—American published the new mileage-earning rates, effective from August 1, for travel on AAdvantage partner airlines.

With the airport-security fiasco seemingly ever-present in the news, much has been made of the benefits to be had from enrolling in the TSA’s PreCheck trusted-traveler program. Even for occasional flyers, the savings in time and aggravation can be well worth the $85 fee for five years of relatively speedy security clearance.

The Transportation Security Administration today announced the addition of five new airlines to its TSA PreCheck trusted-traveler program. They are Air France, Brussels Airlines, KLM Royal Dutch Airlines, Philippine Airlines, and World Atlantic.

In news that might signal a win for fast-moving New Yorkers, the city that’s home to Times Square has paved colored lanes within the headache-inducing Midtown tourist drag, separating street performers and their audiences from pedestrians who are in a hurry.