ATM Alert: Don’t Count on Cash
US credit & debit cards don’t automatially unlock cash advances abroad No, this isn’t a warning about people spying on and stealing your PIN number, about robbers ready to pounce travelers and their newly obtained cash, or any other common travel warnings. It’s about how US credit cards are out of sync with the rest of [...]
Airlines’ Mileage Programs Compared
Blog research compares & contrasts ease of frequent flier mileage redemption Do frequent flier programs frustrate or even anger you? They do most of us. We rack up miles in order to get free flights or perhaps upgrades. And what happens when we try? We thought we’d be able to redeem 25,000 or 30,000 points [...]
Do Airlines Issue Refunds When Fares Drop?
The current “tax holiday” on federal airline taxes has again shown the spotlight on airlines that keep moneys that rightly belong to passengers, as recently posted here. But wait! There’s more! Air Fare Watchdog has been keeping an eye on another way that airlines keep revenues that they shouldn’t — namely, fares that dropped after pssengers [...]
FAA Stops Collecting Taxes But Most Airlines Pocket the Fees
The Federal Aviation Administration furloughed some 4,000 employees and began shutting down many functions, because Congress was too busy posturing and jockeying for political positions to renew funding for the FAA. Air controllers, being essential to public safety, are still on the job, but there’s no mechanism to collect millions of dollars of airline tax revenues that increase air fares up to 15 percent. Rather than giving passengers a price break, all but three airlines (Alaska, Spirit and Virgin America) kept air fares at their previous rate and pocketed the revenues that would otherwise have gone to the government.
Chris Elliott’s Poll on Heroes Against TSA Excesses
Five heroes (or villans) in the Resistance against overreaching TSA practices — and my candidate for an honorary mention If it seems that I ardently dislike the Transportation Security Administration and its policies, it’s because I do. Sheltered by the Patriot Act, this post-9/11 agency is part of the Department of Homeland Security — arguably the most overreaching [...]
TSA’s ‘Virtual Strip Search’ Being Phased Out
New software can detect “objects” without revealing explicit body images Here’s the first smidgen of good news from the Transportation Security Agency in ages. The TSA is tweaking the software used at screening stations that will replace the current intrusive, explicit Xrays with new general body outlines. Without being anatomically detailed, it nevertheless is said to reveal hidden “objects. [...]
Fly or Drive? The Domestic Traveler’s Dilemma
Flying may win for one person, but two or more people spend less & have more flexibility by driving — especially on short trips I have been to Rapid City four or five times — always in winter and/or on business. And I’ve always flown. My husband and I are planning a long weekend there soon, [...]
US Proposes Complicated & Intrusive Passport Application
Is the US Department of State trying to make the country a prison without walls? Or is more about building walls than bridges? Sometimes it seems that way. First, American citizens were being required to carry a passport for travel to (or perhaps technically re-entry from) Canada and Mexico. Then, passport fees were raised for initial [...]
Airline Checked Bag Fees & Policies Listed
Airline bag check and pet travel fees compared. What about kids traveling alone? Of all the add-on fees that US airlines have contrived, the checked-baggage fees are arguably the most irritating. They have changed the way we travel, elevated the total cost of a trip even the best fares snared during a sale and come [...]
Did I Spend $23 or “Save” $2?
Add-on charges can pile up for travelers who can’t say no. “No” comes easily to my fingertips when checking in online I usually don’t bother printing my boarding pass at home, but I did so this evening because I have an early flight tomorrow morning, which means a very early bus to the airport. United [...]
