Road warriors who own a small business now have a new way to rack up reward miles with United Airlines.

United's MileagePlus Small Business Network, introduced Friday, is the first U.S. travel loyalty program that rewards companies for nonairline purchases.

(Watch: United's 787 Back in Business)

The program is separate from the carrier's PerksPlus, which rewards small and midsize businesses when their employee travel on United, United Express or Lufthansa.

Updating your Facebook status and garnering followers on Twitter could get you VIP treatment at the airport from American Airlines.

American has partnered with Klout, a website and mobile app that tracks an individual's power in social media, to provide a complimentary free day pass to any of the airline's Admirals Club airport lounges to people with a Klout score of 55 or above.

(Read More: Check-In With Style: American Offers Flagship for VIPs)

What's a Klout score, you ask? It's a numerical value of 1 to 100 derived from a proprietary algorithm that measures the breadth and strength of a person's online social influence.

If you're looking for the airline where you'll have the best chance of cashing in frequent flier miles or points for a seat on a future flight, you're best odds are with value airlines. In fact, the fourth annual Switchfly Reward Seat Availability Survey found Southwest, its subsidiary Airtran and JetBlue among the top five airlines for customers trying to book tickets with frequent flier miles or points.

"Value oriented airlines probably are offering a lot more reward availability than your traditional, global airlines," said Jay Sorensen with the IdeaWorks Company, which conducted and analysed the reward seat survey.

The Switchfly Survey found value airlines have seats available to be booked with frequent flier miles 96% of the time. That compares to 61.5% reward seat availability with larger legacy network airlines.

(Read More: Delta Dividend Signals New Course for Industry: CEO)

Survey Rankings

Switchfly and IdeaWorks surveyed 22 of the largest frequent flier programs operated by airlines around the world. Below is a listing of where U.S. based carriers ranked in this year's study.

Rank Airline % Total Availability

#1 Southwest 100%

#3 Airtran 95%

#5 JetBlue 88.6%

#8 United 80.0%

#13 Alaska 56.4%

#17 American 48.6%

#20(tie) Delta/U.S. Airways 36.4%

Smaller Frequent Flier Programs, Greater Availability.

So why are your odds of finding seats open for frequent flier rewards greater with value airlines? It's primarily because the value frequent flier programs tend have fewer members and a lower inventory of accrued miles.

(Read More: Snapshot Into the World of Corporate Jet Travel)

"There are a lot miles chasing each reward seat and I guess you could say the lower cost carriers don't have that baggage chasing them," said Sorensen. "They have fewer miles or points chasing rewards and they've adopted a more streamlined approach to reward redemption."

Sorensen adds that value airlines also benefit from having networks set up with a high frequency of flights on numerous routes so there are often more seats available.

Booking Reward Seats Getting Tougher

As airlines have merged the number of people in their frequent flier programs has swelled. For example, once U.S. Airways and American Airlines merge,they will have more than 100 million members in the combined airline's frequent flier program.

With so many people in these programs, booking a flight using miles or points will become tougher.

"There's a tremendous tsunami of miles or points coming on the books of airlines. That's made finding a reward seat that much more difficult, because there are a lot more miles chasing fewer reward seats," said Sorensen.

(Read More: Abu Dhabi Airport Debuts World's First Cocoonlike Sleep Pods)

Advice For Summer Flights

The Switchfly survey was conducted by IdeaWorks making inquiries about frequent flier seat availability in the largest markets airlines will be flying to this summer.

Since airlines have cut capacity and are flying with fewer seats on fewer planes, they are being more restrictive about awarding frequent flier seats. That will make it tougher this summer for families looking to book tickets with miles.

"The era of miles is coming to a close. Really within the next five years we're going to see a change with major frequent flier programs going from earning miles to accrued points based on the fare paid," said Sorensen.

Weary travelers looking to catch a nap inside an airport can rarely escape the noise and bustle of the terminal. But one airport has a unique, egg-shaped solution.

This week, Abu Dhabi International Airport unveiled cocoonlike sleeping chambers inside one of its terminals. The 10 GoSleep pods are chairs that convert into flat beds and feature a sliding shade that isolates the occupant from noise, light and crowds.

(Read More: Flight Delayed or Canceled? How to Get Rebooked Fast)

The GoSleep pods, designed in Finland, cost about $12.25 per hour of use.

Average U.S. airfares dropped in the fourth quarter of 2012—by a whopping $1—but are still a relative bargain compared to average consumer prices.

Average domestic fares, adjusted for inflation, dropped 0.2 percent to $374 from $375 in the fourth quarter of 2012 from the year-earlier period, the U.S. Department of Transportation's Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS) reported, based on its analysis of airfare data.

(Read More: Fees Undermine Fliers' Ability to Compare Airfares)

Zipping through airport security just got a little easier for some frequent fliers.

Eligible Delta Air Lines, United Continental, and US Airways travelers who have been approved for TSA PreCheck expedited security will begin to see a unique identifier on their boarding passes this week.

(Read More: Get Out of My Way! TSA PreCheck Program Expands)

The goal of the new identifier is to help qualified travelers route themselves to the dedicated PreCheck lanes at the nation's 40 participating airports.

Just as major airlines tend to match airfare increases initiated by another carrier, so goes the story for fees.

United Airlines on April 18 raised its change fee for most nonrefundable domestic airfares to $200 from $150. US Airways matched the increase last week, but American and Delta didn't commit, citing a "no comment" policy on competitors' price changes.

(Read More: Follow the Leader: US Airways Matches $50 Fee Hike by United)

But American and Delta joined in yesterday, matching the $50 fee increase.

New York's busiest travel hub just joined the ranks of other airports that provide swanky and expedited check-ins for elite travelers.

American Airlines' frequent fliers, VIPs and international first class passengers flying out of New York's JFK Airport will notice a new perk when they haul their bags to the airport. On Wednesday, American opened its Flagship Check-In at JFK, the third such private oasis at a U.S. airport for the airline's top customers.

Existing locations at both Los Angeles and Miami airports have been open for more than a year, and the airline also offers Flagship Check-In at London's Heathrow Airport.

(Read more: VIPs Only: Inside American's Flagship Check-In at LAX)

The JFK Flagship Check-In experience is located in Terminal 8 and is open daily between 3:30 a.m. and 11 p.m.

Travelers hitting the road with their mobile electronic devices have three questions about staying connected away from home: will there be Wi-Fi, how much will it cost and how well will it work?

Increasingly, it is that last question that matters most.

(Read more: Six Ways to Get Free Wi-Fi When You Travel)

Hotels, airports and airlines are struggling to keep up with customers streaming movies on their tablets and hosting online meetings on their laptops, with varying degrees of success. While hoteliers and airport authorities have been fighting the bandwidth battle for years, airlines are still installing Wi-Fi on many aircraft and are already confronting challenges.

Travelers who want Wi-Fi in the air cannot always tell if a plane will have Internet service when they book their tickets. Prices for service are still evolving, and the quality of the connection does not come close to matching what most people are used to on the ground.