'For frequent travelers, the costs add up'
Opinion, comment and editorials of the day


'I'm taking a stand against jacked-up airline fees by taking the middle seat'
Blake Fontenay at USA Today
Ordering a "plane ticket now is like buying a car — after you've made your purchasing decision and are ready to get on with the rest of your life, you're bombarded with decisions about add-on fees," says Blake Fontenay. Choices "must be made about how many bags you want to check, whether you want 'priority seating' and whether to add" insurance. Shouldn't "everybody get refunds if flights are cancelled, regardless of whether they've made an impulse buy for travel insurance?"
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
'Remember the real victims of Jeffrey Epstein'
Renée Graham at The Boston Globe
President Donald Trump is "not a victim of a vast left-wing conspiracy. He's not a victim at all," says Renée Graham. Those "who most deserve empathy and answers are the girls — now women — victimized by Epstein and others. Trump is "getting what he deserves." The "focus shouldn't be on the president's latest attempt to use victimhood and lies as a shield from responsibility, but in inching closer to some small justice for the victims and survivors."
'It's okay to go no-contact with your MAGA relatives'
Sarah Jones at Intelligencer
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Young adults are "going no-contact with parents and other relatives, often because of politics," says Sarah Jones. The "usual narrative pits liberals against MAGA elders." Sometimes the "act of knowing a person leaves you with no choice but to move on without them." Though "shunning won't work as a political strategy, there are still natural consequences for the way we speak and behave." Politics "never stopped at the family front door. Why pretend otherwise?"
'Ivy leaguers aren't auto workers'
Dominic Pino at the National Review
Why "do graduate students at private universities get to pretend they're auto workers or electrical workers?" says Dominic Pino. Thousands of "U.S. grad students at elite universities" are "now members of traditionally blue-collar unions." Graduate "students at public universities are sometimes allowed to unionize depending on state laws." Ivy Leaguers "can be transformed into auto workers and unions can coerce graduate students into paying them, as long as three out of five unelected lawyers agree."
Justin Klawans has worked as a staff writer at The Week since 2022. He began his career covering local news before joining Newsweek as a breaking news reporter, where he wrote about politics, national and global affairs, business, crime, sports, film, television and other news. Justin has also freelanced for outlets including Collider and United Press International.
-
5 hastily redrawn cartoons about redistricting
Cartoons Artists take on Donald Trump's draughtsmanship, the White House ballroom, and more
-
Bonnie Blue: taking clickbait to extremes
Talking Point Channel 4 claims documentary on the adult performer's attention-grabbing sex stunts is opening up a debate
-
Crossword: August 9, 2025
The Week's daily crossword puzzle
-
DHS preps for major ICE expansion, rankling local law enforcement
IN THE SPOTLIGHT As the Trump administration positions ICE as the primary federal police force, its recruitment efforts have been met with a less-than-enthusiastic response
-
'This is a coordinated campaign of harassment'
Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
-
JD Vance rises as MAGA heir apparent
IN THE SPOTLIGHT The vice president is taking an increasingly proactive role in a MAGA movement roiled by scandal and anxious about a post-Trump future
-
Congress should 'step in' to block Trump's White House ballroom makeover
Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
-
Trump's global tariffs take effect, with new additions
Speed Read Tariffs on more than 90 US trading partners went into effect, escalating the global trade war
-
House committee subpoenas Epstein files
Speed Read The House Oversight Committee has issued a subpoena to the Justice Department for its Jeffrey Epstein files with an Aug. 19 deadline
-
'America is becoming a nation of homebodies'
Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
-
Eighty years after Hiroshima: how close is nuclear conflict?
Today's Big Question Eight decades on from the first atomic bomb 'we have blundered into a new age of nuclear perils'