Dawn Gilbertson

3 days ago | elpasoinc.com | Dawn Gilbertson |Jacob Passy

High winds, tech glitches, broken airplane toilets. Plenty of things can snarl air traffic these days. A nationwide overhaul of the IDs that travelers need to get through security isn’t one of them. The big switch to REAL IDs—those security-enhanced driver’s licenses and ID cards with a star or flag in the corner—was supposed to make May 7 the day of travel Armageddon. Instead, it turned out more like a modern-day Y2K.

6 days ago | wsj.com | Dawn Gilbertson |Jacob Passy |Alison Sider

The big switch to REAL IDs—those security-enhanced driver’s licenses and ID cards with a star or flag in the corner—was supposed to make May 7 the day of travel Armageddon. Instead, it turned out more like a modern-day Y2K. At airports across the country, travelers who had been bombarded with dire warnings encountered little resistance. People who didn’t have the newly required documentation were handed slips of paper and redirected to lines that were often shorter.

2 weeks ago | wsj.com | Dawn Gilbertson

Even the plushest hotel rooms don’t have all the comforts of home, so road warriors bring their ownI play a little game every time I pack for a trip. It’s called, “See if You Can Zip the Carry-On Bag Without Sitting On It.” Frequent fliers everywhere make trade-offs to cram everything into a bag that fits in the overhead bin. What makes the cut and what stays behind is a chore up there with expense reports. Copyright ©2025 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

3 weeks ago | wsj.com | Dawn Gilbertson

Swissport Lounge at O’Hare is a tiny, windowless lounge that has mediocre food and routinely earns low ratingsCHICAGO—The lunch menu at the Swissport Lounge at O’Hare International Airport, if you can call it that, leans more convenience-store staples than the carefully curated fare airline and credit-card lounges serve up to woo big spending travelers. Tiny sandwiches wrapped in brown paper. Prepackaged pasta salad.

1 month ago | wsj.com | Dawn Gilbertson

Scoring a sweet hotel deal is possible if you listen to the sales pitchLAS VEGAS—You won’t find the Bucky show listed in those glossy hotel-room magazines or on one of those flashy digital billboards touting celebrity entertainers. The 20-minute performance—part travelogue, part cheesy inspirational speech—is for invited guests only. And I had a primo seat on Monday. Copyright ©2025 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 87990cbe856818d5eddac44c7b1cdeb8Subscribe NowAlready a subscriber?