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!

Here are this week’s travel news headlines from around the web and interweb I found the most interesting. Take a look:

• A 23-Year-Old Lost Both Legs After a Carnival Shore Excursion in the Bahamas. Now She’s Suing.

Hannah Smith was a recent college graduate celebrating her milestone with a friend when she was sucked under the propeller of a catamaran ferry during an excursion in Nassau. She lost both legs and 60% of her blood in the accident and has since had multiple surgeries. Her attorneys allege that excursion staff lured the group into drinking dangerous amounts of alcohol combined with marijuana before boarding, that the ferry wasn’t properly docked or secured, and that staff was untrained. Smith says she got in the water at the suggestion of a crew member while the boat was docked. Carnival is currently asking a judge to dismiss the case, arguing it doesn’t own the tour operators involved. A GoFundMe for Hannah has raised nearly $80,000. This is a heartbreaking story and one worth reading if you ever book third-party excursions through a cruise line.

• Carnival’s New Rewards Program Launches September 1. Here’s What’s Changing, and What You Need to Do Now.

Carnival President Christine Duffy and brand ambassador John Heald sat down for a 7-minute video this week to answer key questions about the new Carnival Rewards program, which replaces the long-running VIFP loyalty program on September 1, 2026. The biggest change: milestones will now be based on days sailed rather than number of cruises, which Carnival says actually benefits guests who take longer voyages. The Sail & Sign card is also getting a redesign, moving to a vertical orientation and displaying each guest’s total days sailed right on the card. Here’s the important part: you must opt in to the new program before it launches. Privacy rules prevent Carnival from automatically transferring your VIFP status. If you don’t opt in, you start from zero. Don’t sleep on this one.

• If You’re Headed to Guadalajara for a World Cup Match, Read This First

Guadalajara is one of three Mexican host cities for the 2026 FIFA World Cup, and the excitement is real. But so are the safety concerns. Earlier this year, the killing of a senior cartel leader triggered arson attacks, road blockades, and gun battles across Jalisco state, temporarily disrupting air travel and road access near the city. The U.S. currently places Mexico at an “increased caution” advisory level with Jalisco specifically mentioned, and U.S. government staff in Guadalajara were subject to nighttime curfews even after the immediate violence subsided. Mexican authorities have deployed thousands of military and police officers for match days and the Fan Festival. If you’re going, plan your transport carefully, stick to official shuttle routes, carry your documents, avoid late-night independent travel, and make sure your travel insurance covers civil disturbance. The games will go on, but this is not a city where you want to be unprepared.

• A Delta Flight Was Diverted to Atlanta After a Passenger Slapped a Flight Attendant. He’s Now Facing Federal Charges.

Cody James Maluck, 32, of Indianapolis, was on a Delta flight from Fort Lauderdale to Los Angeles when a flight attendant skipped him during beverage service because he appeared to be asleep. According to federal prosecutors, Maluck then slapped her on the backside hard enough to move her body forward. The pilot diverted the flight to Atlanta, where he was arrested. The FBI took over the investigation. Maluck allegedly admitted to touching the attendant but denied the force described. He was federally indicted on June 3 on an assault charge that carries a potential 20-year sentence. Delta said it has “zero tolerance” for this kind of behavior. Good.

• Maine Man Sentenced to a Year in Federal Prison for Biting and Punching His Girlfriend on a Cruise Ship

John Kelleher, 46, of Brewer, Maine, was on probation at the time of his December 2024 cruise, which meant he was not supposed to leave Maine without permission and was also prohibited from drinking alcohol. He did both anyway. Things escalated when he allegedly bit and punched his then-girlfriend during an onboard altercation on or around December 19. He pleaded guilty in January 2026 and was sentenced this week to 12 months in federal prison followed by a year of supervised release, and ordered to pay $360 in restitution. The FBI has jurisdiction over crimes committed aboard cruise ships in international waters, which is exactly how this ended up as a federal case.

• BYD Just Became the First Automaker in the World to Say: If Our Self-Driving System Crashes Your Car, We’ll Pay for It

Chinese EV giant BYD has announced full damage coverage for accidents that happen while drivers use its “God’s Eye” urban autopilot feature in China. No payout cap, no need to buy a separate insurance product, and your insurance premiums won’t go up the following year. The coverage runs for one year for new buyers or existing owners who upgrade to God’s Eye 5.0. BYD already has over 3.15 million cars with intelligent driving systems logging 124 million miles of data every day. Tesla has never offered anything remotely like this for its Full Self-Driving feature. The question of who’s liable when a self-driving car crashes has been unanswered for years. BYD just answered it, at least for China, at least for now.

• Delta Passengers Are Already Frustrated With Overhead Bin Rules. It Could Get a Lot Worse.

Delta passengers have been increasingly irritated by gate agents forcing them to check bags even when overhead bins are clearly half empty, and a recent Reddit post with photos of conspicuously empty bins went viral with hundreds of sarcastic responses. But here’s where it gets more interesting: the International Air Transport Association is now floating the idea of automatic locks on overhead bins during emergency evacuations, after multiple incidents where passengers stopped to grab luggage instead of evacuating. The FAA supports the current “Save a life, not a bag” campaign, but officials have signaled that if passengers keep ignoring the directive, mandatory locks and steep fines could follow. So Delta passengers may soon have even more reasons to complain about the overhead bins.

• A Venetian Local Who Has Watched Her City Get Crushed by Tourists Still Wants You to Visit — Just Differently

Camilla Feiffer was born and raised in Venice and has watched the city’s permanent population dwindle under the weight of nearly 30 million annual visitors. Pharmacies and local shops shuttered and replaced by souvenir stands. Housing prices so high that Venetians have been forced to the mainland. And yet Feiffer doesn’t want tourists to stop coming, she just wants them to come differently. She’s designed a local-led “Uncommon Day Trips” experience through Intrepid Travel that takes visitors away from the Instagram hotspots and into real Venetian neighborhoods, markets, and artisan workshops. It’s a thoughtful piece if you have a European trip planned this summer and want to feel less like part of the problem.

• Sick of Getting Hit With a Credit Card Surcharge at the Register? You’re Not Alone. But Here’s Who’s Really to Blame.

Small business consultant Gene Marks writes in The Hill that he finally hit the wall when his dentist tacked on a 3.5% credit card surcharge. His argument is a good one: banks charge swipe fees (typically 1.5-3.5%) as a cost of doing business, and businesses have every right to be frustrated by that. But here’s my take — don’t pass it on to me. As someone who uses credit cards for every purchase possible to earn points and miles, being penalized for paying with plastic is a real pet peeve. Bake the cost into your pricing like every other overhead expense and move on. Customers will pay $13.50 for a burger without blinking. They’ll resent being told there’s a surcharge for paying with Visa. And frankly, if a business charges me extra for using my credit card, I’ll find one that doesn’t. Given how many travel-related businesses, hotels, rental car companies, and tour operators have started adding these fees, this one hits close to home for a lot of us in the points and miles world.

• Delta Is Quietly Walking Away From the Lie-Flat Seats It Promised Transcontinental Passengers Years Ago

Back in 2022, Delta announced plans to outfit a fleet of A321neo aircraft with reverse herringbone lie-flat business class seats from Safran SA for its premium transcontinental routes. It was a genuinely exciting promise. Then the seats kept failing FAA safety certification tests. And kept failing. One plane was built with the new cabin in 2024 and immediately put into storage, where it sat for over a year collecting dust. That’s actually why the current 44-seat domestic First Class A321neos exist — Delta needed a stopgap to get those planes flying while it waited for an approval that never came. Now Delta has apparently had enough. Chief Marketing Officer Ranjan Goswami told Bloomberg the airline is now pitting a new supplier, Thompson Aero Seating, against Safran to see who can get FAA approval first, with the target pushed back to 2028 at the earliest. That’s four-plus years after the original promise. As someone who follows Delta closely, this is a real disappointment. The reverse herringbone layout would have been genuinely competitive with United Polaris. Instead, passengers on those routes will keep waiting.

Were there any crazy or interesting travel news stories you found interesting that I missed? If so please drop a comment below and include a link to the story! – René