Travel Week in Review – April 14th, 2023

Sayonara, winter. See ya next year, spring. Summer travel is almost here. After slowly climbing back to normal, summer 2023 is poised to be the biggest season of travel we’ve seen in years – maybe ever. Americans are coming out of the woodwork, dead-set on going somewhere fun and maybe even far away this summer. But what will travel look and feel like? How long will the lines at the airport be? And will airlines test travelers’ patience yet again with more delays and cancellations? Read More…

Packing for a trip can be a daunting experience. You want to streamline your stuff so as to travel light, but you also don’t want to be so bare-bones that you wind up shopping for the essentials you forgot when you should be enjoying your trip. Maximizing your carry-on baggage allowance is a great way to ensure you’re packing light, but you’ll want to ensure you’re packing items that won’t get you held up at the TSA security checkpoint. Read More…

With more air travel demand and staffing shortages at safety facilities, the FAA is allowing airlines to be flexible with their slots at impacted airports in New York and Washington. In order to ensure flights take off on time and to reduce the impact of natural weather events on air operations – such as what happened to Southwest in Winter 2023 – The FAA is encouraging airlines to use bigger aircraft with fewer take-offs and landings. Read More…

Southwest Airlines recently conducted a series of tests designed to speed up flight boarding, and you could see some changes to the boarding process in the near future. A spokesperson for Southwest said that the tests were conducted over the past several weeks at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport. Families and passengers that need extra time are generally always the first group to board airplanes. Southwest is considering adding a color-coded area that designates where those priority flyers should stand. Read More…

The FBI is reminding travelers to beware of free, public charging stations that offer a seemingly convenient solution to a dead phone battery or device. “Avoid using free charging stations in airports, hotels, or shopping centers. Bad actors have figured out ways to use public USB ports to introduce malware and monitoring software onto devices,” the FBI Denver office shared on social media. Read More…