An airline may no longer owe you a hotel if a last-minute mechanical problem leaves you stuck overnight. Starting Oct. 19, the Department of Transportation won’t count certain repairs, onboard medical emergencies, and a few other disruptions as the airline’s fault, which is what triggers meal vouchers and hotel stays. Refund rights aren’t changing, and trip delay coverage on many travel cards can reimburse meals and a hotel, whatever reason the airline gives.

If a foldable phone is on your wish list, the iPhone Duo opened for preorders on Oct. 16. It starts at about $2,000 and folds down to roughly the size of a passport. It’s eSIM-only, and at that price, card phone protection is only a partial safety net.

Marriott is leaning into marathon season with race packages at a handful of hotels. At the JW Marriott Essex House New York, that means pasta specials before the New York City Marathon on Nov. 1, a free drink when you show your medal, and some rooms overlooking the finish line. Plus, JetBlue’s new first class is now on sale for flights starting in December, with fares from $249 one-way between LaGuardia and Fort Lauderdale if you book by Oct. 16.

👉 Top cards for trip delay protection

Good flight deals don’t last long, so let Thrifty Traveler Premium do the hunting for you. Choose your home airport and get email alerts for everything from cheap weekend getaways to business-class seats you can book with points. Recent deals have included flights to Europe for $300 and Emirates business-class award flights to Milan.

Every deal is researched by a real team of flight experts and comes with step-by-step booking instructions. Plus, Departure Digest listeners get $20 off their first year with code DEPARTUREDIGEST.

Pay the taxes and fees on an award ticket with a travel rewards card. That’s usually what activates trip delay and cancellation coverage.

Have a travel or points question? Submit it here and it may be featured in a future episode.

Starting Monday, your plane could break at the gate, strand you overnight, and the airline might not owe you a hotel room.

This is Departure Digest, and happy Friday. Today, we’ve got a rule change that could affect your next flight delay, Apple’s new foldable iPhone, and Marriott perks for marathon runners.

Let’s start with that rule change.

On Oct. 19, the Department of Transportation is changing how airlines classify certain delays and cancellations. Ten specific causes are moving out of the bucket for problems within the airline’s control.

That bucket is what triggers the good stuff. Every major U.S. airline promises a meal voucher when a delay it caused leaves you waiting three hours or more. Most also promise a hotel if you get stuck overnight.

The list includes a medical emergency onboard, removing an unruly passenger, and damage from severe weather or debris on the runway.

The one that bugs me is maintenance. Certain surprise repairs that can’t wait until after the flight will no longer count as the airline’s fault.

If a plane breaks right before my flight, that feels about as airline-controlled as it gets. So you could end up paying for a meal or a hotel the airline might have covered before.

Your refund rights aren’t changing, though. If your flight is canceled or changed significantly and you turn down the new option, you’re still owed your money back, even on a nonrefundable ticket.

Here’s what I’d do. Ask why before you ask for anything else, because the reason decides what the airline owes you. And if it’s one of the new exceptions, ask anyway. Nothing stops an airline from helping.

This is also where your credit card can earn its annual fee. Trip delay coverage on many travel cards can reimburse meals and a hotel, typically after a six- or 12-hour delay, depending on the card. And that coverage doesn’t hinge on how the airline explains the delay.

Your card can also protect the most expensive thing in your pocket, especially if it’s about to be a foldable iPhone.

Apple starts taking preorders for the iPhone Duo today, and deliveries start next Friday. It starts at about $2,000 and goes up to about $3,200 for the most storage.

My first reaction was absolutely not. Then I looked at it like a traveler.

When closed, Apple says it’s about the size of a passport. And open, the screen is about 50% bigger than the iPhone 18 Pro Max. Apple claims up to 31 hours of video on that inner screen, which is a transatlantic round trip with battery to spare. There’s even a folio case with a built-in kickstand, made for the tray table.

I’m still not paying that much for a bigger movie screen. But I get the appeal.

The Duo is also eSIM only. There’s no physical SIM slot, so you can’t pop in a local card at the airport kiosk. Set up a travel eSIM or an international plan before you go.

Now, the points. A shopping portal is a site from an airline or bank that you click through before buying online, so you earn extra miles. Apple shows up on them a lot, sometimes at up to 4 miles per dollar. The problem is that the newest iPhones are generally excluded, and the Duo is already on those exclusion lists.

Where your card can help is protection. Many cards cover your phone when you pay your monthly wireless bill with them, but claims usually cap out between $600 and $1,000, minus a deductible.

On a phone this expensive, that’s a partial safety net. This might be the rare phone where I’d at least price out AppleCare.

And if a new phone isn’t on your list, maybe a marathon is.

The New York City Marathon is Sunday, Nov. 1, and it’s one of my favorite days in the city. Thousands of people in foil capes, shuffling very slowly down Central Park South.

Marriott is leaning into it at a handful of hotels. At the JW Marriott Essex House New York, some rooms overlook the finish line. There are pasta specials the night before, and a free drink if you show your medal on race day or the Monday after.

The Marriott Marquis Houston has early check-in, late checkout, and a pasta buffet for the Houston Marathon in January, plus a lazy river for after the race.

The catch is that these perks don’t come with every booking. You typically need to book that specific marathon offer or enter the right promo code. Book a regular rate at the same hotel, and the pasta isn’t included. Just like that broken plane, the fine print decides what you get.

One last thing. JetBlue just put its new first class on sale. Flights start in December, but if you book by tonight, you can get fares as low as about $250 one way between LaGuardia and Fort Lauderdale. There are also deals on a couple of other routes out of Boston and JFK.

Okay, that’ll do it for this week. Good luck to everyone running in two weeks, and I’ll talk to you Monday.