We made it to Friday, Extra Mile readers! Today, Kyle reflects on the 25 years since Sept. 11, how it changed travel, and the heroes whose actions that day still resonate. Also today: a nationwide sale on Delta One flights to Europe, what’s next for Spirit’s old LaGuardia slots now that JetBlue and Frontier are circling, and we’re hiring a hotel expert.
🇺🇸 On 9/11, 25 Years of Grief & Gratitude
I don’t remember feeling fear or panic when word first came about one plane hitting a skyscraper in New York City. When another struck, the horror of the moment started to set in. Even at 12 years old, it was easy to recognize the gravity of that day, even as it all blurred together into an incomprehensible tragedy.
But I will never forget the silence.
A teacher walking wordlessly into a classroom of seventh graders before delivering the terrible news. A silent car ride home from school. Wordlessly watching the video footage of the Twin Towers crumbling, over and over and over again, stuck in a horrible time loop.
Twenty five years later, it’s still difficult to find the words for the deadliest terror attack in history. Nearly 3,000 people died in the coordinated attacks, as two planes took down the World Trade Center towers in New York City, ripped a hole in the Pentagon in Washington, D.C., and crashed into a barren Pennsylvania field as passengers fought to regain control of the plane from hijackers.
Many thousands more were injured on Sept. 11, 2001. Add in the lives of first responders, firefighters, and everyday Americans whose reward for their heroism was debilitating disease and death years after pulling their fellow citizens out of the wreckage or guiding them to safety, and the toll is even more heartbreaking.
It has been a quarter of a century since that day. And while it may still be difficult to find the words to capture it, the shadow of that tragedy has stretched into 2026. It shaped us all.
The Sept. 11 attacks changed the arc of history, and our lives with it. It spawned two decades and counting of war and religious paranoia, breeding even more death and hatred. It forever altered air travel in the U.S. and abroad, giving birth to the TSA security procedures we know today and paved the way for new ID requirements for domestic flights that finally took effect last year.
It ripped apart the New York City skyline, leaving the incredible 9/11 Memorial and Museum where the iconic Twin Towers once stood. And it left millions of Americans to contend with the wreckage of their daily lives, suddenly robbed of spouses, siblings, children, co-workers, and friends.
Just like the day itself, finding enough words for the impact and legacy of 9/11 is difficult. The grief is part of who we are now.
It’s much easier to find words of gratitude.
Today, and every day, remember Tom Burnett, who reassured his wife, “Don’t worry, we’re going to do something” on board United Flight 93 after hijackers steered it toward D.C. Remember Todd Beamer, who said “Let’s roll” as he, Burnett, and other passengers successfully fought for control of the plane, burning a hole in a Pennsylvania field instead of the White House.
Remember Heather “Lucky” Penney, who jumped in her unarmed F-16 and screamed through the skies, understanding that taking down that plane to save lives would mean giving up her own. “I’ll take the tail,” she told her partner as they took off on a kamikaze mission that never needed to happen – all because of the bravery of Burnett, Beamer, and others.
Remember the thousands more who might have whispered “Let’s roll” under their breath, too, before running into collapsing buildings, carrying the injured to safety, and digging through the rubble for days on end.
Remember Rick Rescorla, who disobeyed orders to keep his fellow Morgan Stanley employees inside the South Tower after the attacks began, singing through a bullhorn to keep employees calm during the evacuation. Rescorla’s body was never found, but he helped more than 1,000 people escape the building.
And remember Captain Kathy Mazza, a Port Authority police commander who rushed to the scene to help hundreds of panicked men and women escape the North Tower before it collapsed before she, too, gave her life. Because heroes only consider the consequences of doing nothing.
Twenty five years later, it’s hard to say whether America has fully recovered from that terrible day. It changed the country, and the world, forever. Can we ever truly recover from that?
But we know the world is full of Tom Burnetts, Todd Beamers, Heather Penneys, Rick Rescorlas, and Kathy Mazzas. Their actions 25 years ago likely saved the lives of the next heroes we need. And for that, we can’t afford to be silent.
– Kyle Potter, executive editor
🤝 Deal of the Day: Fly Delta One to Europe from 106K SkyMiles!
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– Gunnar Olson, Thrifty Traveler Premium deal analyst
📡 On Our Radar: With Us in Spirit
Welcome to On Our Radar – a weekly look at the news and trends we’re watching lately!
Spirit Airlines officially ceased operations on May 2 of this year, meaning the notorious and consequential airline has now been gone from U.S. skies for four months.
You may have found yourself wondering … what happened to all of Spirit’s stuff? Who is flying their routes? Who gets their highly-regulated flights out of New York?
🛫 Who Gets Spirit’s LaGuardia Slots?
When Spirit closed up shop, it had 22 highly regulated takeoff and landing “slots” from New York – LaGuardia (LGA). You may or may not know that a slot is essentially the government’s way of controlling the massive demand for flights in and out of busy airspaces, including New York City’s three major airports. It does so by divvying out these “slots,” which are highly coveted and change hands infrequently.
Spirit operated at LGA, serving 24 destinations over the past two decades. So when the yellow planes stopped flying, those coveted slots were all of a sudden available. So who wants them? JetBlue does.
According to Aviation Shop, the Federal Aviation Administration said on Aug. 31 that it has tentatively approved JetBlue’s purchase of 22 takeoff and landing slots at LGA from Spirit’s estate. The transaction isn’t official yet, but having JetBlue take over those slots certainly makes sense.
JetBlue has already started flying many of Spirit’s old routes from Fort Lauderdale (FLL), and it already has a robust network in New York and the Northeast. But it also just offered the most money for the slots – reportedly offering $58.5 million (beating out Frontier’s bid of $57.5 million!)
🗺️ Who Picks Up Orlando, South Florida, & South America Routes?
This week, I received a press release from Frontier Airlines announcing new nonstop routes from Orlando (MCO) to Cartagena (CTG), Medellín (MDE), and Bogotá (BOG) – the airline’s first-ever service to Colombia … and a carbon copy of three Spirit routes that closed up shop when Spirit did in May.
It’s no surprise Frontier would jump on these routes. Spirit flew them for years, and there’s likely plenty of demand. But besides those specific Colombia flights, there was still a lot of demand to fill to and from Florida that Spirit left behind.
Well, it appears JetBlue is poised to pick up the slack there, too.
JetBlue is scheduled to fly 28% more flights from former Spirit strongholds like Fort Lauderdale (FLL), Tampa (TPA), Miami (MIA), and Orlando (MCO) in winter and spring 2027 (January – May) than they did in 2026, according to Cirium Diio data.
I predict Frontier will likely see a similar bump in Florida flights next winter, although Frontier doesn’t release its schedule far enough in advance to calculate the pre- and post-Spirit effect.
Spirit’s spirit will live on, but the service you expected from the yellow airlines is going to look a lot more green and blue in 2027.
– Gunnar Olson, travel reporter and flight deal analyst
👕 Give $20, Get $20, and a T-Shirt!
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🎙️ On the Pod: The 10 Best Redemptions in Points & Miles
⏲️ Some deals are just too good to last. That’s why the guys are shining the light on some of the best deals in all of points and miles – the ones you should book ASAP before they disappear.
Watch it now on YouTube, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. And stay tuned for the next installment next week!
🧳 Come Work With Us: We’re Hiring a Hotel Expert!
Are you a diehard traveler and bona fide “sicko” (that’s a term of endearment around here) when it comes to hotels and award travel?
Do you love nothing more than scouring for the next great hotel redemption? Want to help others do the same? Loathe the prospect of another devaluation but relish the thought of breaking that news?
We don’t just want you. We need you.
Here at TT HQ, we’re hiring again – this time for a dedicated hotel deal analyst & reporter. It’s a hybrid role, split between the two worlds of what we do here at Thrifty Traveler:
- You’ll spearhead and even expand the hotel deal alerts that make our Thrifty Traveler Premium+ service so special, and
- Help us cover the news and must-knows of all things hotels on our site, social media, and in this very newsletter!
Not the right fit but know someone who could be? Send them our way – if we hire them, we’ll give you a $500 airline gift card to an airline of your choice!
There’s tons of additional details, responsibilities, qualifications, and basics about the job on our site, but here’s a big one: We’re specifically looking for someone who can join us in our Minneapolis office.
Fit the bill? Be sure to apply by the Sept. 27 deadline!
… and see you soon in the office?
– Kyle Potter, executive editor
✈️ Other Travel Tidbits
- 💼 Chase’s elevated $1,000 bonuses on the no-annual-fee Ink Business Unlimited and Ink Business Cash cards end Thursday, Sept. 17 at 9 a.m. EST. Pair either with a Sapphire or Ink Business Preferred card to turn that into 100,000 Chase Ultimate Rewards points.
- 📊 A new report finds airlines made $13.2 billion last year from extra fees – things like seat selection and bag charges – growing nearly twice as fast as overall airline revenue. United led with $11.5 billion, followed by Delta and American. (PhocusWire)
- 🐎 Frequent Miler calls RiverView Ranch, an all-inclusive Montana resort, “the most aspirational points stay in America.” Cash rates run $3,500-$4,700 per night, but you can book with 220,000 Hilton points per night or a free night certificate. (Frequent Miler)
