Hurricane Lowell. At least two people are dead in Hawaii after Hurricane Lowell hit, and there has been significant damage, especially on the island of Kauai.
Amazon cargo plane crashes in Miami. Five people died and five more were injured when an Amazon cargo plane overshot the runway in Miami on September 6th and collided with several vehicles.
Taxi scams in Lisbon. Cops have cracked down on taxi drivers cheating tourists in Lisbon. Be careful and perhaps look into booking a prepaid car service from the airport instead.
New Alaska Airlines routes. Starting next May, Alaska Airlines will fly to Paris and Athens from Seattle airport.
U.N. votes to change world map. Although the U.S. voted against it, the United Nations General Assembly voted to correct world maps so that Africa and other regions will be reflected by their proper size proportionate to other parts of the world. The vote doesn’t mean that anyone is required to change their map, but it’s strongly encouraged. It’s about time!
TSA Gateside program. TSA in the U.S. now offers a program called “Gateside” that allows people to clear security without a plane ticket and meet someone at their gate when they arrive (like the pre-9/11 days). Currently, it’s available in Columbus, Dallas, Detroit, Indianapolis, Las Vegas, Little Rock, Los Angeles, Mesa, Oklahoma City, Omaha, Salt Lake City, San Diego, and Wichita. More airports will be added soon. You have to already have PreCheck. Then, you can put in a request for a particular day on login.gov.
Worst week of the year to travel. Apparently, the last week of September is the worst week of the year to travel by air because it falls at the height of hurricane season. So it seems to consistently have the most flight cancellations.
Southwest Airlines enters the lounge game. Southwest will partner with Chase for four lounges to open in late 2027 in Austin, Baltimore/Washington, Honolulu, and Nashville. Access requires getting a new Southwest branded credit card from Chase (of course). Airlines are not so much in the flying business anymore as they are in the credit card business.
United Airlines flight delay service. United is launching a service on its mobile app that allows you to place yourself on standby for three earlier flights than the one you have booked IF you experience a delay or cancellation. Supposedly, you won’t lose your original flight unless you nab a standby seat on one of the other flights.
United Airlines pre-order service. Speaking of United, they’re testing out a new service in Newark that allows you to order food and other items on the app and pick them up at the gate. We’ll see how this goes and if they decide to roll it out elsewhere.
Royal Caribbean cruise cancellation. Passengers had boarded in Vancouver on August 30th, but maintenance problems caused Royal Caribbean to ask them all to disembark, as their cruise to Alaska had to be cancelled.
Delta Air Lines fumes. Two Delta flights experienced “fumes” while in the air last week and had to get back on the ground as soon as possible. No one was injured, but it’s concerning.
Dolly Parton Hotel and Museum. Dolly Parton was building a museum and hotel at the time of her death, and luckily, they were so close to completion that they will both still open on September 29th in Nashville. The hotel, called SongTeller, has 245 rooms, while the museum is called “Life of Many Colors.”
Water bottles through airport security? Well, TSA in the U.S. is considering it for TSA Pre-Check members in a few airports that have the technology for it. We shall see… I was astonished in Madrid a few years ago when they were able to take a water bottle I’d forgotten about, test it, and return it to me.
Melanie Votaw is the Publisher and Executive Travel Writer of LuxuryWeb Magazine. She has visited more than 50 countries on 6 continents and written for such magazines as Executive Travel, Just Luxe, Business Insider, South China Morning Post, Travel Mindset, and more. She is a member of the International Food, Wine & Travel Writers Association, New York Travel Writers Association, and International Travel Writers Alliance. Melanie's photography has won awards, and she has also written 43 nonfiction books as either the author or ghostwriter.
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