In its latest analysis of airline pricing, the Transportation Department’s Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS) found that average domestic fares were up 4.8 percent year-over-year in the first quarter – but the rate of change varied significantly from one airport to another.

If you’ve looked at airline fare advertising lately, you may have noticed that carriers no longer promote a base fare separately from the taxes and fees that may apply. That’s because a Transportation Department rule now forbids them from doing so – and a federal appeals court in Washington has ruled that DOT’s regulation is perfectly legal.

Members of United’s MileagePlus program who have signed on to participate in the Transportation Security Administration’s PreCheck trusted traveler program will get the chance to use it at a major west coast airport starting this week.

The Transportation Security Administration announced that it has added two airports in the southeast to the list of facilities where participating frequent flyers can take advantage of its PreCheck expedited security screening procedures; and a Texas airport is the latest to join Customs and Border Protection’s (CBP) Global Entry program.

Many road warriors rely on U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s (CBP) Global Entry program to speed up their return to the country after an international trip, and a new expansion of the program is making that a lot easier for transborder travelers.

Last week, we reported on a Transportation Security Administration announcement that participating members of United Airlines’ MileagePlus program are now eligible for TSA’s PreCheck expedited security inspection at Chicago O’Hare. But United now says the program for its frequent flyers is even broader than that.

Should airlines be required to offer passengers some kind of compensation when their checked bag is not delivered to them in a timely manner – especially since so many passengers are paying to check luggage these days? That’s the question that the Government Accountability Office considered in a new report to Congress.

The Transportation Security Administration said it has opened up its PreCheck trusted traveler screening program at another major east coast airport, and is also making it available to more travelers at New York LaGuardia, Washington Reagan National and Chicago O’Hare -- airports where it made its debut in March and April.

Remember the Clear trusted traveler program, which shut down a couple of years ago but then was revived by new owners? It hasn’t been in the news much lately because it’s only been available in two airports for many months—and because its thunder was stolen by the Transportation Security Administration’s PreCheck program. But now Clear has added a third major airport location, with another one in the works.

In an unusual public warning, the Federal Bureau of Investigation is putting international travelers on notice about a new danger in their hotel rooms: infections by “malicious software” when they log onto the hotel’s Internet service.