There's a window open right now that I think most people are going to miss - and it's one of the best domestic travel perks in the entire miles and points world. More on that in a moment.

But first, Lufthansa managed to do something that made headlines for all the wrong reasons this weekend. And Las Vegas hotels decided that subtlety is overrated. Let's get into it.

Southwest's Companion Pass lets your designated companion fly for just taxes - but how much is the one-way tax on a companion ticket?

The answer is waiting near the bottom of today's newsletter... keep scrolling. 👇

Here's the scenario: your partner or best friend flies free on every single trip you take - even award trips - for over a year. No blackout dates, no fare class restrictions, just taxes from $5.60 each way. That's exactly what the Southwest Companion Pass delivers.

Right now, a current Southwest credit card sign-up bonus can get you the Companion Pass all the way through February 2027 - meaning you earn it via the welcome offer, and then it's valid for the rest of this year and all of next year. That's an extraordinary runway for a perk of this caliber.

To put this in real terms: one writer used two Companion Passes on a single family trip last week. Picture booking four flights and only paying for two of them - that's the kind of math that makes this perk legendary among frequent travelers.

The pass works on award tickets too, which is the part people often overlook. Book a Rapid Rewards award seat, designate your companion, and they fly for taxes only. If you fly Southwest at least a few times a year with someone else, the value here is easily $1,000+ over the pass period.

For all our Southwest coverage and companion pass strategies, check out our dedicated Southwest page.

This one is genuinely hard to believe. On February 19, Lufthansa flight LH2446 - a short hop from Munich to Copenhagen - was canceled after the aircraft was already boarded. Normal enough. What happened next was anything but.

Munich airport had closed for the night by the time the cancellation was confirmed. Rather than find an alternative solution, Lufthansa kept all passengers locked on the aircraft until the airport reopened the following morning. No hotels. No buses. No real communication. Just... the plane.

What makes this particularly baffling is that Munich is Lufthansa's hub. If any airline has the resources and ground infrastructure to handle a canceled flight with some dignity, it's Lufthansa at MUC. Passengers spent the night on a grounded aircraft with no clear explanation for why debarkation wasn't possible.

The story is a useful reminder of your rights when flights go sideways - especially in Europe, where EC 261 protections are among the strongest in the world. If you're ever in a situation like this, document everything. For more on flight disruption coverage, our

If you want to check security wait times before your next Lufthansa or European connection, FlightQueue is worth bookmarking. You can check estimated queue times at Munich specifically at flightqueue.com/airport/MUC before you travel.

This one is genuinely time-sensitive. SAS EuroBonus is running a 20% discount on award tickets, and the booking window closes today - February 23 - based on Central European Time. Travel must be completed by June 30, 2026.

Child tickets get an even better deal - they're already priced at 50% off adult awards, and the 20% stacks on top of that. If you've been sitting on SAS EuroBonus points or were thinking about transferring in, the math is more favorable today than it will be tomorrow.

Award Travel Finder has been tracking SAS availability across routes if you want to quickly scout what's open before the deadline.

A $13 Snickers bar. A $26 bottle of water. A $48 pizza. And - the one that's really making the rounds this weekend - a $50 fee to charge your laptop in your Las Vegas hotel room.

These aren't hypotheticals pulled from a satirical headline. This is the documented reality of what some Las Vegas properties are charging guests right now. MGM Grand's minibar Snickers is apparently just the headline item in a much longer list of absurdities.

Here's the angle that matters for this newsletter: when hotel fees are this aggressive, points bookings that include fee waivers or resort fee credits become significantly more valuable. Some elite status tiers at major programs include resort fee waivers - always worth checking before you book.

On a related note - and something worth reading if you haven't already - canceling a hotel points booking can come with a nasty surprise. Some major programs charge you the cash equivalent of your stay if you cancel inside the window. It's a trap that catches people off guard constantly. For our coverage of

We covered the broad strokes of United's MileagePlus strategy shift earlier this week, but the framing from The Points Guy analysis is worth revisiting: United has arguably gone further than any U.S. airline competitor in drawing a hard line between credit card holders and everyone else.

The message is clear - if you carry a United card, the program is being built for you. If you don't, you're increasingly on the outside of the best benefits, upgrades, and mileage earning opportunities. This is a deliberate, strategic push, not an accident.

The practical upshot? If you fly United with any regularity and don't have a co-branded card, the math of getting one just got more compelling. For all our coverage on this shift, check out

A quick heads-up from the Frequent Miler last-chance deals roundup: there are transfer bonuses to Japan Airlines, Marriott, and Virgin Atlantic all ending this week. If any of those are on your radar for upcoming redemptions, this Saturday is the last day of February - and these deals go with it.

The Virgin Atlantic Flying Club transfer bonus is particularly worth flagging. We covered the WestJet partnership opening last week, which makes Virgin points more versatile than they've been in a while. If you've been considering a transfer to top up for a redemption, this window matters.

Check the full list of what's expiring at our transfer bonuses page, and use Award Travel Finder to confirm availability before you pull the trigger on any transfer.

If you've got Avios sitting in one program - say, British Airways - and you want to redeem them through Qatar, Iberia, Aer Lingus, Finnair, or Loganair, you can transfer them between accounts. Frequent Miler published a handy video walkthrough of exactly how this works this weekend.

This matters because each program has different sweet spots. Qatar Avios are often the go-to for premium cabin redemptions. Iberia Avios open up some of the cheapest transatlantic business class options out there. Knowing how to move Avios around the Oneworld ecosystem is a genuinely useful skill.

UK readers should check out Smart With Points for deeper coverage on Avios strategy specific to the UK market - they've got some of the best analysis around.

The answer is 🅱️ From $5.60 each way.

That's the tax a companion pays per direction on a Southwest companion ticket. On a round trip, your travel companion is paying just $11.20 in taxes to fly with you - regardless of whether that ticket is a cash fare or an award redemption. Over a year of regular travel, that adds up to serious savings.

Curious whether it's mostly couples using it, or friends, or families. And I'd love to hear from anyone who's used it on an award ticket - that's the real power move.

That's all for today - see you tomorrow with more! If a friend forwarded this to you and you'd like to subscribe, we'd love to have you. And for cash flight deals that don't require any points at all, Friday Flight Deals runs the best weekly roundup around.

Looking to redeem your points? Here's what's available right now:

Before we wrap up, I wanted to share some timely opportunities I've been tracking (courtesy of our friends at AwardTravelFinder). These deals won't last long, so let's dive in.

The points and miles world is unusually quiet today - no major transfer bonuses or buy points promotions to report. Sometimes patience pays off in this game.

Award Travel Finder hunts down the best redemptions so you don't have to.

See all deals at AwardTravelFinder.com →