Disneyland 5X Surprise, September 30 Deadlines, and Some Wild Travel News — Weekly Recap

We actually had a pretty quiet week around here. You know — Disneyland, expiring credit card perks, a fight over a beach chair that ended in death, and James May trying to land an Airbus A350. So, the usual. Let’s get to it! I brought one card to Disneyland specifically because I wanted to see what would happen when all those park purchases started posting. Food? Lightning Lane? Souvenirs? Some purchases earned exactly what I expected. One was a very pleasant surprise. (©iStock.com/Jaroslaw Kilian) Could You Land an Airbus A350? René found another fun assortment of travel stories this weekend. British Airways put James May in an Airbus A350 simulator to see whether the licensed pilot and former Top Gear host could actually land the thing. That’s only one of the stories. There’s also an exceptionally expensive way to put your feet up on a bus, a bizarre malaria outbreak connected to a major airport, more fallout from last week’s Alaska cruise dock fire, and a dispute over a Greek beach sunlounger that ended about as badly as possible. See everything René dug up in this week’s travel-news roundup. September 30 Is Almost Here Tuesday isn’t just the end of the month. It’s also the end of Q3 — and that means several use-it-or-lose-it card benefits are about to reset. If you carry several rewards cards, this is a good weekend to spend five minutes checking whether you’ve left anything sitting on the table. Here’s our September 30 checklist so you can see what applies to the cards in your wallet. Two Marriott Offers Are Going Away, Too September 30 is also the scheduled end date for two elevated Marriott Bonvoy card offers we’ve been following since August. I’m not going to manufacture urgency here. If neither card makes sense for you, a bigger offer doesn’t suddenly make it a good idea. But if you’ve already been considering one of them, waiting until the final few hours to sort through Marriott’s eligibility rules probably isn’t the move. See which Marriott offers are ending Tuesday — and which of the two I still prefer. Have a great Sunday! — Chris