Happy Hump Day!

Southwest Airlines' (SWA) meltdown continues to wreak havoc ... and not just for Southwest customers. In fact, my flight today was impacted by their issues -- and I was flying American Airlines! I'll share those details in tomorrow's Daily Travel Tip, including a great travel hack.
I've done a number of interviews this week, including one at 6am this morning for Newsy's Morning Rush. Yesterday, I was on NewsNationLive and both anchors asked me what Southwest passengers can do to deal with the madness.
For those who don't have time to watch a long interview, scroll down to Today's Travel Tip for 10 tips including how to get a hold of Southwest agents quicker and how to get reimbursed. Check out all the other news stories, tips and interviews I've done regarding the Southwest debacle here.
FYI: TSA officers screened 2,163,901 people at airport checkpoints nationwide yesterday, December 27. Three years ago on the same day (pre-pandemic): 2,009,880.

In this issue:

✈️ Today's Travel Outlook

As of 12:40pm PT, there have been 2,862 canceled flights to/from or within the United States and 3,179 delayed. Southwest Airlines is responsible for 2,509 of the canceled flights. Is that insane or what? You can see the FAA's National Airspace System map above. Here's a link to the up-to-date stats and here's what to do during weather delays and flight cancellations.

✅ Today's Travel Tip

10 Tips for Southwest Airlines Passengers Caught Up in the Meltdown
When pilots and flight attendants can’t get through to their own airline’s operations team and have to sleep on an airport floor or pay for a hotel room themselves, then you know things are bad. It’s going to be days, if not weeks, before the airline resumes normal operations. And for this mayhem to happen over the holidays and when there are so many viruses around, it just doesn’t look good on the part of the executive team. But I’m not here to point fingers, I’m just here to try and help stranded passengers get home to their families or jobs. Here are my 10 quick tips for Southwest Airlines passengers.

✅ Currency Exchange ✅ Calendar Countdown

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📺 Travel Video of the Week

TRAVEL TWEET OF THE DAY

🌎 12 Things to Know in Travel Today

1 Southwest chaos is told-you-so moment after warnings on old tech
2 Southwest Airlines spent $5.6B on shareholder gifts ahead of mass cancellation crisis
3 Woman arrested in South Carolina airport after attacking husband over 'indecent' photos on his phone: police
4 California couple forced to take 8-hour Amtrak train ride back home after Southwest cancels flight
5 Four strangers do 20-hour road trip after canceled flight
6 1,000 Southwest flyers sleep overnight at Denver airport amid 'nightmare' flight cancellations
7 Pilot adopts puppy whose owner abandoned him at California airport
8 Travel insurance claim denied? Here’s how to turn a “no” into a “yes”
9 An airport security makeover is long overdue
10 Rare holiday hotel room vacancies brings Kamaaina deals
11 Seattle Museum Month returns
12 Yesterday's TSA checkpoint numbers

🎁 Boxing Week Shopping

✈️ Miles & Points

✅ Travel Tips Last Week

MONDAY