# Cheaper Fares Abroad, Big Bilt News, a Merger & 7 Other Big News Stories

Page: https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-thrifty-traveler-podcast-7239229/cheaper-fares-abroad-big-bilt-news-a-merger-7-other-big-news-stories
Text version: https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-thrifty-traveler-podcast-7239229/cheaper-fares-abroad-big-bilt-news-a-merger-7-other-big-news-stories.md
Podcast: [The Thrifty Traveler Podcast](https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-thrifty-traveler-podcast-7239229)
Published: 2026-01-15T11:15:00+00:00
Episode link: https://thrifty-traveler-podcast.simplecast.com/episodes/cheaper-fares-abroad-big-bilt-news-a-merger-7-other-big-news-stories-icrc37zu
Audio file: https://pscrb.fm/rss/p/afp-957879-injected.calisto.simplecastaudio.com/b5a012d1-5a98-4220-89d0-e08e89f21c75/episodes/fbb17248-5c7d-4265-967f-c4d0aa4befe4/audio/128/default.mp3?aid=rss_feed&awCollectionId=b5a012d1-5a98-4220-89d0-e08e89f21c75&awEpisodeId=fbb17248-5c7d-4265-967f-c4d0aa4befe4&feed=MFk8PVUG
Processing state: not_requested
JSON: https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/the-thrifty-traveler-podcast-7239229/episodes/cheaper-fares-abroad-big-bilt-news-a-merger-7-other-big-news-stories
Duration seconds: 2969

## Resource

The news has been relentless to kick off the New Year, so the guys are devoting the latest Thrifty Traveler Podcast to 10 big news stories you need to know in 2026. That includes much cheaper one-way international fares, the surprising Allegiant-Sun Country merger, Bilt Rewards 2.0, a pair of new lounges, and much more. Plus, a listener wonders what to do about the dreaded “equipment swap” and Gunnar keeps digging a deeper hole with his recent O’Hare take…

## Actions

- request_transcript: `POST https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/the-thrifty-traveler-podcast-7239229/episodes/cheaper-fares-abroad-big-bilt-news-a-merger-7-other-big-news-stories/transcription-requests` — Idempotently request low-priority transcript generation for this episode.
- read_markdown: `GET https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-thrifty-traveler-podcast-7239229/cheaper-fares-abroad-big-bilt-news-a-merger-7-other-big-news-stories.md` — Read the agent-friendly Markdown representation of this episode resource.

A page view does not enqueue transcription. Agents should invoke `request_transcript` explicitly when they need this episode processed.

## Transcript

Full transcripts are not published on public pages unless there is a clear rights basis.