Tim Phillips Show, 9/28/26

Flying can be a pleasant experience, or more like a nightmare, and the airline you’re on can have a lot to do with that. Some definitely do a better job of taking care of their passengers, so it helps to know the best ones worth booking. The 2026 World Airline Awards have just been named by Skytrax, in what’s known as the “Oscars of the aviation industry.”

The rankings are based on Skytrax’s annual passenger survey with responses from nearly 25 million travelers worldwide, covering more than 300 airlines.

The awards measure everything from cabin service to food and beverages, cleanliness, seat comfort and more.

Singapore Airlines has reclaimed the top spot, knocking last year’s winner, Qatar Airways, to number two. It’s the sixth time Singapore Airlines has been the winner since the awards began in 1999.

U.S. airlines didn’t crack the top 20 overall this year. Delta Air Lines is the highest-ranking at 25. Delta is also 10th for World’s Best Economy Class Airlines, the top U.S. airline in the category, and 6th for Inflight Entertainment.

Cathay Pacific Airways wins for World's Best Airline Cabin Crew, STARLUX is this year’s World’s Cleanest Airline and Emirates wins for World’s Best Inflight Entertainment.

The World’s 10 Best Airlines for 2026

Singapore Airlines

Qatar Airways

Cathay Pacific Airways

ANA All Nippon Airways

Turkish Airlines

Emirates

Air France

Hainan Airlines

Japan Airlines

Korean Air

Source: Skytrax

Monday Morning Mystery - HUNGRY LIKE THE WOLF    DURAN DURAN    1983 (#3)
HINTS: ARCADIA, ANDY TAYLOR, POWER STATION.

Reynolds Market invites you to stop in today for the Deal of the Day! It might be a household item, a beverage, some food to stock up the pantry with, or something for dinner tonight! Today’s Deal of the Day: And the savings – always a big discount, and sometimes well more than 50% off! So come on in, shop and save, with the Reynolds Market Deal of the Day – today, at Reynolds Market in Glasgow!

Monday: 8-piece Fried Chicken $7

Synth-pop-dance band from Birmingham, England: Simon LeBon (vocals; born on 10/27/1958), Andy Taylor (guitar; born on 2/16/1961), Nick Rhodes (keyboards; born Nicholas James Bates on 6/8/1962), John Taylor (bass; born on 6/20/1960) and Roger Taylor (drums; born on 4/26/1960). None of the Taylors are related. Group named after a villain in the Jane Fonda movie Barbarella. In 1984, Andy and Roger left the group. In 1985, Andy and John recorded with supergroup The Power Station; Simon, Nick and Roger recorded as Arcadia.

Many of us depend on a car in our daily lives, and like most things, the cost of owning one has gotten more expensive. A new study from Insurify finds that American drivers are spending an average of $5,851 a year on car ownership costs, including insurance, gas, and maintenance. But that number can get a lot higher depending on where someone primarily drives.

According to the research, full-coverage car insurance is the biggest chunk of ownership costs, as the average annual cost of coverage has spiked 44% in the last five years to $2,237.

Car ownership for those in rural areas may be higher because they have to drive more and pay higher gas costs, while drivers in densely populated areas may have higher car insurance rates because more traffic leads to more collisions.

The study crunches the numbers in each state to see where car ownership costs the most in the U.S.

It turns out, Georgia has the highest car ownership costs, at $7,648 a year. That includes an average insurance cost of $3,109, average gas cost of $2,604 and average maintenance cost of $1,935.

Georgia’s total is nearly twice as much as New Hampshire, the cheapest state, where it’s just $4,063 annually.

The Most Expensive States for Car Ownership

Georgia - Total Average Ownership Costs: $7,648

Maryland - Total Average Ownership Costs: $7,114

Wyoming - Total Average Ownership Costs: $7,054

Mississippi - Total Average Ownership Costs: $6,942

Missouri - Total Average Ownership Costs: $6,875

Nevada - Total Average Ownership Costs: $6,747

South Carolina - Total Average Ownership Costs: $6,648

Indiana - Total Average Ownership Costs: $6,597

Michigan - Total Average Ownership Costs: $6,583

Louisiana - Total Average Ownership Costs: $6,578

Source: USA Today

Tim's News You Can't Use 

Today is National Drink Beer Day .. here are 7 Fun Facts About Beer

The winners of Finland's Wife Carrying World Championship receive the winning wife’s exact weight in beer.

The official term for the terrifying fear of having an empty beer glass is Cenosillicaphobia.

The ancient Egyptians who built the Great Pyramid of Giza were paid a daily ration of four liters of beer.

When physicist Niels Bohr won the Nobel Prize, a local brewery hooked up a direct pipeline of free beer straight to his kitchen tap.

The world’s strongest beer is called "Snake Venom," and it packs a massive 67.5% ABV—stronger than vodka!

Thomas Jefferson drafted parts of the Declaration of Independence while hanging out in a Philadelphia tavern.

A historic castle brewery in Austria actually lets guests swim in a 13-foot pool filled with 42,000 pints of warm beer.
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Two-thirds of Americans are obsessive about one thing in particular in their homes — their spot on the sofa. A survey finds that 66 percent admit to having unofficial assigned seating throughout their homes. Americans are so loyal to their favorite spots, that they’ll argue with another family member about sitting in their “spot” twice a month. Whether it’s at the kitchen table, dad’s recliner, or the family couch — 68 percent of respondents say they’re very passionate about their spot.
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Too much free time is bad for us. Researchers (University of Pennsylvania) found that while levels of subjective wellbeing initially rise as free time increases, the trend does not necessarily hold for very high levels of leisure. The researchers found that having too much time was associated with lower subjective wellbeing due to a lacking sense of productivity and purpose. The team found that while subjective wellbeing rose with the amount of free time up to about two hours, it began to drop once it exceeded five hours.
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A new report from the National Energy Assistance Directors Association estimates households that heat with oil will pay 31.3% more this Winter. Heating with electricity is projected to cost 9% more, while natural gas costs are expected to rise by 5.8%. Overall Winter heating costs are projected to increase by 8.7%.
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Campaign Asia says Oreo is marking 30 years in China with a KFC twist and collab. The anniversary cookies are fried-chicken flavored and tucked into cocoa burger buns. 
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Highsnobiety says a new Nike Air Force 1 sneaker is going viral because it resembles a giant New York City rat. The “NYC Rat” sneaker has brown, rat-fur accents on the Swoosh and heel. The black shoe also has slanted rat eyes with purple irises. A plum-tinted outsole adds another color dimension. The $140 sneaker will go on sale in October
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Dexerto says competitive eater Joey Chestnut ate 40 pancakes in 10 minutes at the World Pancake Eating Championship in Williamsburg, Virginia. He set a new world record.  This was the first pancake-eating contest of Chestnut’s 21-year career. He beat the previous record of 35 pancakes, set by Geoff Esper in 2025. Max Stanford finished second with 28 pancakes. The contest came one week after Joey  won the World Poutine Eating Championship where he ate 21¼ pounds of poutine in 10 minutes.
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A Pokémon card collection turned into evidence in a drug case in the U.K. 
Police say 26-year-old Jack Young-Larter accepted Pokémon cards as payment for cocaine and cannabis, even encouraging customers to steal sealed card packs to settle their debts. During a raid, officers found drugs, cash, phones, and a valuable collection of trading cards. Investigators say text messages and videos on his phone helped build the case. Young-Larter was sentenced to three years and four months in prison, and authorities have confiscated his card collection, which won't be returned. 
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The Daily Star says Sonni Mason was dressed as Batman for a superhero-themed party when he chased a handbag thief in Norwich, England.  Mason’s friends, dressed as Mister Fantastic, Poison Ivy and Cyclops, joined the chase and alerted the police. The thief dropped the bag. A tip led Mason and his friends to a high wall outside Norwich Cathedral.  Mason tried to retrieve the bag with a homemade grappling hook made from a recycled toilet roll tube. He failed. A friend boosted him up. Mason scaled the wall and tossed the handbag back down to its owner.