Delta A220 Comfort Plus Review, New Delta One Lounge Coming to LAX, A321neo Business Class Seat Delayed Again, Southwest Rapid Rewards Cards, and More – Weekly Recap

A busy week on the Delta beat: René got his first A220 Comfort Plus experience and filed the full review, I covered two big Delta stories out of LAX — one genuinely good, one a familiar kind of frustrating — Southwest’s Rapid Rewards cards are running limited-time elevated offers, and Saturday’s news roundup wraps things up. Let’s go.

Leading off: René’s first-hand A220-300 Comfort Plus review — front-row bulkhead seat, serious legroom, swing-out screens, and a seat width trade-off worth knowing about. The short version is that the front row of Comfort Plus on the A220 is legitimately good, and René calls it the best coach seat on the plane — though the rest of Comfort Plus isn’t exactly a revelation. There’s also a tale of a missed connection, a Minneapolis overnight, and Allianz travel insurance coming through exactly as advertised. Worth a read if the A220 is in your future.

The bigger Delta story of the week — two stories, actually — I covered in one post: Delta is opening a second Delta One Lounge at LAX, this one in Terminal 2, with an initial phase expected this summer. That’s the good news. The less good news is buried in the same post: the Safran VUE business class seat that was supposed to make the A321neo a real transcon premium product appears to be dead, with Delta now evaluating the Thompson Aero VantageSOLO as an alternative — and mid-2028 as the earliest realistic certification date. Delta 360 members and Delta One flyers at LAX will have something real to look forward to this summer. Everyone waiting on a genuinely differentiated narrowbody business class seat will have to keep waiting, apparently for two more years.

Time-sensitive: all three Southwest Rapid Rewards personal credit cards have elevated welcome offers through July 1. The Priority card — the one I actually carry — is at 90,000 points after $3,000 in three months. The Premier is at 85,000 and the Plus at 80,000. I make a strong case for the Priority card specifically: it’s the only personal card that lets you pick a seat at booking (including preferred seats up front) and grab Extra Legroom seats within 48 hours of departure for free. If you fly Southwest even a handful of times a year and care where you sit, this card has a good argument. The full breakdown — including the one benefit change worth noting on the Plus card — is here.

Saturday’s news roundup is live and it’s a heavy one. A 23-year-old woman lost both legs on a Carnival shore excursion in Nassau after being sucked under a catamaran propeller — her attorneys allege the crew encouraged dangerous drinking beforehand and that the boat wasn’t properly secured. Carnival is trying to get the case dismissed. Also in this week’s post: Carnival’s new VIFP replacement loyalty program launches September 1 and you must opt in now or lose your status entirely. If you’re heading to Guadalajara for a World Cup match, there’s a serious safety warning worth reading before you go. A Delta passenger was federally indicted after slapping a flight attendant mid-flight — he’s looking at up to 20 years. And overhead bin locks might actually be coming. There’s a lot more where that came from. Catch the full roundup here.

In case you missed them:

• Delta Air Lines A220-300 Comfort Plus Review – How Much Better than Coach or First Class?
• Delta Continues Building at LAX — Still Waiting on That New Business Class Seat
• Southwest Airlines Credit Cards: Earn Up to 90,000 Bonus Points (Limited Time)
• If You’re Headed to a World Cup Match in Guadalajara Read This Safety Warning First, 23-Year-Old Loses Both Legs on Carnival Shore Excursion and Now She’s Suing, and More Travel News!