More Southwest Drama, United’s Bold Move & More Big News

About this episode

The episode covers recent travel news including airline updates and listener interactions.

This week, we round up all the recent travel news that’s fit to podcast! That includes Kyle’s experience with CLEAR’s (honestly amazing) new e-gates, what United’s up to with its credit card moves, a shocking-but-welcome move to require headphones onboard, Southwest’s carry-on bag problems literally everyone should have seen coming, hot and cold news from Avios, and much more! Plus, we help a listener get a refund and Gunnar declares whether he’ll ever fly Southwest again.

People in this episode

Hosts: Kyle, Gunnar

Topics covered

• travel news
• airlines
• credit cards
• refunds
• travel experiences

Keywords

• Southwest
• United
• CLEAR
• travel news
• refund

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: CLEAR, United, Southwest, Avios

More episodes of The Thrifty Traveler Podcast

• Airline Alliances: The Key to Booking Flights for Fewer Points · June 11, 2026 · 1h 4m
• Surprise: Chase Souped Up the Sapphire Preferred Card! · June 10, 2026 · 27 min
• Booking 5-Star Hotels in Italy, Airline Upgrade Scams & More News · June 4, 2026 · 1h 4m
• The Biggest Winners & Losers from Hyatt’s Massive Changes · May 28, 2026 · 55 min
• Roasting YOUR Worst Travel Mistakes · May 26, 2026 · 50 min
• Cheap Flights Are Still Out There: How to Find Them · May 21, 2026 · 50 min