Thanks to good weather and fewer planes in the skies, 84.5 percent of the flights operated by the 15 biggest US airlines arrived on time from January through April. That's the best on-time arrival rate for the first four months of any year since the government began keeping records in 1995.

They also mishandled fewer bags in April, the Transportation Department's Bureau of Transportation Statistics reported Thursday. Just 2.6 out of every 1,000 passengers complained of lost, damaged or delayed luggage, compared with 3.3 a year ago the same time. That was the lowest rate for any month since the department started collecting that information in September 1987.

Airlines are continuing a streak of fewer delays and mishandled bags. Experts have attributed that to mild weather and fewer planes clogging the airspace as carriers cut back on flights. Weather accounted for just 0.4 percent of late flights.

Major airlines appear to have selectively matched the sale fares that Southwest and subsidiary AirTran unveiled on Tuesday, according to a Wednesday-morning spot-check of fares by Today in the Sky.

American, Delta, United, US Airways are matching Southwest's fares — as low as $96 round-trip on some routes — in certain markets. But other markets appear to be largely unaffected.

One route where rivals are matching Southwest's sale fares comes on the Los Angeles-Phoenix route. Four major airlines — American, Delta, United and US Airways — are matching Southwest's sale fare of $98 round-trip (as of our Wednesday morning spot-check).

Ken Tichacek has become expert at finding places to recharge his laptop and iPhone at airports.

He's commandeered a check-in counter at an empty gate. He's unplugged a water cooler and perched next to it. He's seized an electric outlet in the middle of a boarding lane for another flight.

"I held my ground as passengers stepped over me to board," says the Salisbury, Vt., road warrior and management consultant.

Such fervor is common among frequent business travelers, who twitch when they can't tap on their tablets or smartphones because batteries are drained. Walk through any terminal and you'll see people plugging electronic devices into any outlet they can find, even if it's behind a bar or in a bathroom.

Airports and some airlines understand the needs of today's digital travelers and increasingly are making electrical outlets more available.

Some good news for road warriors who spend a lot of time on the nation's highways. Recent data shows that corporate rental car rates are going down, even while airfares and hotel room rates begin to edge back up as the country slowly emerges from a recession.

TravelGPA , a firm that analyzes business travel data, reported the average daily cost of a corporate car rental fell almost 5 percent in the first quarter of 2012, compared to the first quarter of 2011. Their figures were based on analysis of nearly a million corporate car rental transactions.

Travel Leaders , a chain of over 1,250 travel agencies nationwide, looked at 1.5 million of its own business travel bookings from the same period and found that per-day car rental prices dropped 4.6 percent, and the average cost per rental fell 2.8 percent.

A steady rain was soaking the windows of La Guardia Airport when Nancy Thode, an elite frequent flier with Delta Air Lines, approached a gate agent with a pressing question: Had her request for an upgrade cleared?

Glancing at her computer, brow furrowed, the agent was not encouraging: "You are No. 13."

But with a nearby video monitor showing that more than half of the 26 first-class seats were already claimed, Ms. Thode knew her chances were slim. "If somebody comes — diamond, platinum or gold," the gate agent pointed out, "they’re going to get it."

Minutes later, Rick Triana, a business traveler, strode up, the word "diamond" emblazoned in capital letters on the tag attached to his Victorinox wheelie-bag. Despite seeing his name at the top of the upgrade list, he confirmed his spot with an agent anyway, lingering around afterward to make sure he wouldn’t be bumped. "You never know," he said.

As the boarding time neared for the Atlanta-bound flight, the upgrade list began to shrink. Mr. Triana was upgraded to first class. So was a gold-level flier (though his wife was not). Ms. Thode, a social worker from Stamford, Conn., dispatched a friend she was traveling with to check on her status. Bad news. "I get knocked off for the diamonds," she sighed. "Silver just doesn’t make it."

If there's anything I'm good at, it's racking up hundreds of thousands of frequent flyer miles every year. From credit card sign up bonuses to shopping online, I take advantage of every opportunity to increase my mileage balances. Here are my tips on how to pad your frequent flyer accounts to get you closer to a first class award trip.

Stick with one airline or alliance: This may be obvious, but focusing all of your travel on one airline is the easiest and quickest way to accrue enough miles to redeem for award travel. In some cases, your preferred airline might not fly to a destination you're headed to. Check with alliance partners and ensure miles flown on that carrier will post to your account.

For example, US Airways is a member of Star Alliance along with United Airlines . As such, miles earned by flying on US Airways are eligible to be deposited into your United MileagePlus account and vice versa. The other major alliances tied to U.S. carriers are oneworld (American) and SkyTeam (Delta).

It's Friday, so how about some strange news about the airline industry?

A survey of 50,000 millionaires conducted by SeekingArrangement.com , touted as the world's largest "sugar daddy" dating website, and SeekingMillionaire.com , a matchmaking website, reveals the U.S. airlines flown most often by rich bachelors and generous sugar daddies.

The press release sent to CNBC.com, titled "Top U.S. Airlines for Landing a Rich Boyfriend or Sugar Daddy," reveals you'll have the best chances of meeting a millionaire when flying Delta Air Lines .

"If you want the best shot of landing a rich boyfriend, fly Delta Airlines. If you want a generous sugar daddy, fly American Airlines. If you want a high net-worth husband, fly United Airlines ," says Brandon Wade, founder and chief executive officer of SeekingArrangement.com and SeekingMillionaire.com in the release.

Business travelers should thank the travel gods that we no longer live in the Stone Age of the Internet when you had to go to the hotel’s "business center" to get online.

Now it’s available in hotels rooms worldwide — from remote eco-lodges in the Amazon jungle to five-star luxury digs in Paris — via laptop and an array of other devices. It’s not always free, but that is changing.

According to HotelChatter.com's 2012 Wi-Fi Report , 60 percent of hotels in the U.S. offer free Wi-Fi. The other 40 percent make you pay a flat fee or purchase a tiered system based on connection speed.

Juliana Shallcross, HotelChatter's managing editor, said this represents a 20 percent increase from last year's report, in which the ratio was reversed: 40 percent free vs. 60 percent not.

But should it be free everywhere?

Getting an ideal seat assignment when making a flight reservation can be a daunting task. With more airlines adding fees for preferred aisle and window seats, you often find the only seats available are further back in the plane.

I'm lucky and have elite status on multiple airlines, so I generally don't have too big a problem getting a decent seat assignment. Sometimes, though, it's not exactly my preference, so I end up monitoring the seat map from time to time to see if a better seat opens up. But many road warriors don't have the time or patience I do in checking back.

There's a website called MySeatFinder.com that does just that for you. It monitors all of your flight reservations and if a better seat opens up based on your preferences, it automatically changes your seat assignment for you.

Looking for an exciting way to burn some of your United Airlines frequent flyer miles? How about a luxury vacation for two that includes tango lessons and a private helicopter tour?

I previously wrote about United's "MileagePlus Headliners" program whereby members can bid their frequent flyer miles in auctions for one of a kind experiences. As you'd expect, many of them are travel related. Other auctions include tickets to sporting events and local food and wine tours. But the auction being promoted currently takes the cake for what would be a truly memorable experience.

Up for bidding until June 19 is a luxury vacation for two to Buenos Aires, Argentina. It's a five night VIP package filled with activities and excursions.