News and notes from around the interweb:

• First look at United’s Newark Polaris lounge. The space looks nice but I can’t quite get past that the airline is promotion a do-it-yourself bagel bar along with sandwiches and wraps as part of their food service. They’ll have sit down dining but it still reinforces for me the cost cutting theme we’ve seen so much of from Polaris.

  

• New $450 premium Korean Air credit card and it isn’t very good.

• Regulatory capture at the DOT? It’s funny that consumer advocates are willing to talk about airlines controlling the regulatory process now, since they’re also largely opposed to the current administration, but it was a significant issue in past administrations too. Concentrated benefits and dispersed costs, this is a feature of most regulatory regimes.

• Another life savings seized at the airport from a US citizen on the way out of the country.

• Emirates Skywards introduces family pooling of miles

• American is offering signing bonuses up to $45,000 for regional carrier pilots

• Important travel details guidebooks don’t tell you about,

  [I]t’s not just the quality of the architecture or the vitality of the street life that matter. The quality of the sidewalks is a central consideration, especially in emerging economies. What good are the sights if you are looking down all the time to avoid a slip or a broken ankle because of gaping holes? Sometimes major thoroughfares have no sidewalks at all.