Spirit Airlines Improving & IHG Finally Allows You To Protect Your Points

NowBoarding, your daily travel news in 7 minutes or less. This is your host, Ed Pizza, bringing you the latest travel deals and travel news you need to know Monday through Friday. Tune in daily so you don’t miss any of the best deals!

Look for links to all of today’s stories in the show notes on whatever podcast platform you’re listening. And, please share the show with a friend!

We’ve got 6 stories to cover in today’s news, so let’s get started.

First up isn’t a focus on travel but it might put some money in your pocket. Miles to Memories has compiled a list of unclaimed property links for all 50 states. I searched for my wife and I and found at least one claim worth over $50. The state website doesn’t tell me exactly how much, but I’m likely to end up with a nice bit of cash for 15 minutes of work. It probably takes less than 5 minutes to search for your information and determine if you need to fill out a form to claim money that’s rightfully yours.

2020 looks like the year that Spirit Airlines grows up a little. The airline is poised to add Wi-Fi to their fleet (though that project is running behind). And, there are pictures of Spirit’s new interior they unveiled. It looks great, but we all know looks can be deceiving. The positive attributes we can confirm are larger tray tables and a wider middle seat. The Big Front Seat, one of the best values in travel, also gets added comfort. It might almost become cool to fly Spirit. Check out the show notes for a link to the images of their new cabin.

Seattle-Tacoma International Airport is the latest domestic US airport to open up secure areas to folks without a valid airline ticket. Seattle joins Detroit, Pittsburg and Tampa who already let people through security without a ticket to fly. Seattle will limit this to 100 individuals per day and you’ll need to register to do so. However, you can register same-day as long as a slot is available.

A handful of times a year I end up meeting my family at the airport on an incoming flight. Our frequent trips to Disney World have had me meet them at Orlando airport a number of times. Being able to meet my family at the gate is great, especially when I haven’t seen them in a few days. And, I wanted to take my son to see the Star Wars United Airlines plane at Dulles recently. I love seeing airports opening up just a bit.

IHG has finally decided to exit the 19th century when it announced recently that it would be doing away with 4-digit pins to protect your loyalty account. In today’s age of hacking, it wouldn’t take long at all for an experienced hacker to brute force your password if they knew your e-mail address. And, while travel programs are generally pretty good about putting back your points if they’re stolen, I wouldn’t want to test the theory.

You airline and hotel miles and points are money, pure and simple. If you’re protecting them with a 4-digit pin, you’re putting the balance at risk. You wouldn’t protect your bank account with a 4-digit pin, don’t do it with your points.

Monkey Miles details a valuable benefit of the American Express Platinum cardif you happen to be in the Los Angeles area. Sports fans have access to a private lounge where they can watch sporting events. You’ll still need a ticket to the event, but if you buy a cheap seat the AMEX Centurion lounge could be a nice upgrade along with some free snacks. Benefits like these, when applicable, help justify carrying a card in your wallet and paying the sometimes hefty annual fees.

We finish up today with news that London-Heathrow’s airport will be waiting a long time for their 3rd runway. That an airport as big as Heathrow still only has 2 runways always blows my mind. There are massive political fights on both sides of a 3rd runway at Heathrow. The folks in favor of a new runway aren’t winning the current battle amidst new reports that it will probably be another decade before a new runway opens at Heathrow. That likely means growth at other airports in the area like Gatwick. And, if air travel continues to grow, it may also mean you might want to avoid Heathrow in the future, choosing to connect somewhere else if London isn’t your final destination.

That’s a full wrap on today’s travel news. If you’ve got a piece of travel news that you think I should feature on NowBoarding, you can e-mail me at ed@pizzainmotion.com, or find me on social media, Twitter, Facebookand Instagram. And, you can find me blogging daily at pizzainmotion.com.

Lastly, I need your help, for just a minute. Reviews and ratings are a huge part of what helps us reach a larger audience. So take a minute and help us out, leaving us a review and a rating wherever you get your podcasts. And, please tell a friend. That’s your travel news in 7 minutes or less. I hope you’ll join us again on a future flight!