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Sometimes things just work out for a reason.

I was originally supposed to fly home from Singapore today on United's first Elevated Polaris Dreamliner.

Well, that flight ended up being an eastbound long-haul inaugural to nowhere. United Flight 2 had a gateside send-off, hit a mechanical issue after takeoff, returned safely to Singapore, and was eventually canceled.

Let's hope I have better luck next week, because I'm headed out on a long-awaited inaugural that once had a standby waitlist of more than 1,500 travelers.

In the meantime, here's everything you probably missed in this crazy industry.

Have a nice weekend!

📋 In this edition

Does Spirit deserve our tax dollars?

That’s the question on my mind as reports suggest that the government is preparing to rescue Spirit Airlines.

President Trump is reportedly ready to loan Spirit as much as $500 million in exchange for the government taking a large stake in the carrier.

Look, you and I should really want Spirit to survive. The airline helps keep fares on other carriers in check, and I genuinely love the Big Front Seat. (I also have a lot of friends who work there.)

But $500 million in taxpayer dollars? That's a very different calculus.

If Spirit could prove its business model can actually turn a profit, that'd be one thing. But the airline has been through two bankruptcies and still hasn't done it.

I don't need my MBA to tell me this looks like a bad idea — and one that could set a troubling precedent.

Let me know what you think by clicking your choice below.

Should Sprit Airlines get a $500 million bailout from the government?

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A hidden Amex perk

Most premium credit cards come with perks that barely anyone talks about. (Here’s a great example that saved me $3,000 last year.)

Here’s another: Amex has quietly rebranded its longtime International Airline Program as Platinum Member Airfares.

If you have the American Express Platinum Card®, you can unlock discounted fares on select flights operated by partner airlines, including Delta, Alaska, Air Canada, Lufthansa, Qantas, and more.

The program has been around for more than 20 years, but it's just been refreshed with more eligible fares. Some domestic economy flights are even discounted.

All you have to do is search and book through the Amex Travel portal.

Admittedly, this is still a niche perk, but it can absolutely save you money. Just read the fare rules carefully. Some of these tickets won't let you change to a cheaper flight down the road and still get a credit.

The closest thing to an Apple event

Last month, I attended United's Elevated media event in Los Angeles.

The airline unveiled three new planes, a bunch of new products, and even surprised us all with the Relax Row couch-style setup in economy.

I remarked to anyone who would listen that this was the closest thing in the travel space to an Apple event.

Well, Bloomberg just ran a feature on United CEO Scott Kirby and the bets the airline is making — and yours truly finally got that quote to stick.

Zach Griff, of From the Tray Table, says he’d never seen a product rollout in the airline industry like this one: “I turned to one of my colleagues and said, ‘This is the closest thing I’ve been to in my decades in this space to an Apple event.’”

Amtrak's NextGen roadblock

As if we haven't waited long enough for the NextGen Acela, it now looks like we may be waiting even longer. (Why can't our trains be like those in Japan or Europe?!)

Amtrak just took the MTA’s Metro-North to federal court, accusing it of blocking Amtrak's non-revenue trains — the test runs, safety inspections, and equipment moves that keep passenger service running.

There's a long paper trail behind the dispute, but here's the part you'll probably care most about: Amtrak has 16 NextGen Acela trainsets sitting idle, waiting to be commissioned.

That can't happen without running them on Metro-North's New Haven Line. And Metro-North keeps saying no.

Amtrak says it may be forced to slow, delay, or cancel trains if this drags on. Wonderful.

A wild week of airline rumors

It's been a wild few days in the airline rumor mill.

I've already given Spirit plenty of ink, but several other developments are worth watching.

First, there's a rumored revenue-sharing agreement between American and Alaska on long-haul flights. Details are still limited, but as long as Alaska's Atmos loyalty program stays intact, this feels like a win-win for both airlines — and probably for customers too.

Then there's Kirby, who refused to comment on his reported pitch to President Trump about a merger with American.

He did, however, have no problem saying that United has already pushed through five fare increases this year — on top of higher bag fees — and that he expects higher fares to stick around even if fuel prices come back down.

Finally, JetBlue CEO Joanna Geraghty told employees the airline is not considering a bankruptcy filing this year.

Why can’t we have free Wi-Fi?

If you’re wondering why we still have to pay for Wi-Fi on airlines like United, the CEO just said the quiet part out loud: because the experience would suck.

The existing tech and satellite providers just can’t handle everyone in a given airspace trying to connect at once.

That's why United — and plenty of other airlines — are turning to Starlink and Amazon Leo. Low-Earth-orbit satellites can deliver a living-room-like connection to a planeload of passengers without a major performance hit.

It’s also why American’s and Delta’s free Viasat Wi-Fi is increasingly feeling outdated.

When a full plane is trying to use Viasat at once — while a bunch of other aircraft in the same airspace are doing the same — performance can really suffer.

I recently took my first United flight with Starlink. Stay tuned to find out why it's such a massive upgrade and worth the wait.

💡 Tray Table Tip

Most airline credits expire within a year of being issued. And if you aren't reading this section closely, you'll probably take that at face value.

But here's how to actually extend them for free.

For one, you can often apply the credit to flights far in the future. And if you want to stretch it even longer, just book a non-basic fare with the credit, wait 24 hours, and then cancel or change it.

That should reset the one-year expiration clock because the credit will now be stored with a new ticket.

(If you cancel within the first 24 hours, the value of the ticket will usually go back to the original form of payment with the original expiration date.)

🗞️ News you can use

  • May 20 is nearly here: Hyatt’s revamped award charts with five price levels are officially launching on May 20. Lock in your stays now before they get more expensive. Remember, Bilt and Chase points transfer instantly 1:1 to Hyatt.

  • London calling: Lyft is acquiring Gett’s UK business. That’s a big deal because, if you’re like me, you probably default to Uber when traveling abroad. I’m always happy to see more rideshare competition — just look at my viral Empower story — and more access to rides overseas is a big win for Lyft.

  • Lufthansa’s long-awaited upgrade: Lufthansa is finally bringing direct aisle access business class to its Airbus A380s (and no, this isn't the perennially delayed Allegris product). The first double-decker with 1-2-1 forward-facing pods is already flying, and the remaining seven A380s should get the product by mid-2027. Hallelujah.

From the Tray Table is part of an affiliate sales network and receives compensation for sending traffic to partner sites. This compensation may impact how and where links appear. Not all financial companies or all available offers are included. The opinions expressed are mine alone. Content is not reviewed or endorsed by an entity.

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