My goodness, the blog today might as well be renamed "One Refund Policy at a Time," because there's so much to talk about when it comes to flight refunds. DOT clarifies flight refund rules The US Department of Transportation has today issued an enforcement…
There are all kinds of benefits to making purchases with credit cards over other forms of payment -- you can earn rewards, you get fraud protection, you can dispute charges, and with some cards you even get purchase protection and other travel coverage.…
Nope, this post has nothing to do with travel, but given the point we're at, I figure TV advice is probably more useful than travel advice. ;) I'm not usually that huge of a TV watcher -- in the past I typically kept up on a few different shows, and…
As the news cycle on COVID-19 evolves and we find our radius of travel getting smaller and smaller (in many cases, to the confines of our homes), it's no wonder so many people are looking to get outside. Even the most stringent of "shelter in place"…
I'm sure I'm not the only one who is daydreaming at the prospect of getting on a plane. At this point I'd be giddy about a middle seat in the last row on a Spirit Airlines flight taking me to a Holiday Inn Express just off an interstate. I continue to…
I know several people who have visited Japan for the first time and had their lives changed forever. Sure, the food is incredible, the public transportation is top-notch, and the culture is fascinating... but that’s not what I’m talking about. It’s their…
If you have any upcoming air travel planned, chances are you're dealing with uncertainty, confusion, and a lack of clear communication from airlines. Frankly that's not surprising, since at this point airlines are struggling with what to make of the…
Airlines are going great lengths to try and deny people cash refunds for cancelled flights. They're doing quite a good job with it, because most consumers seem to believe they aren't entitled to cash refunds, which simply isn't true. Let's take a look…
The situation is changing by the hour, and while there will be worldwide social and economic fallout from this pandemic, the impacts on the travel industry are far-reaching. If you're looking for information and updates on the virus itself, please check…
Much of the travel industry has been asking for government aid, given the unprecedented situation we're in. There has been a lot of controversy surrounding US airlines requesting government aid, given that they've used much of their profits over the…
It's been a complicated few weeks for air travel, to put it mildly, and we're hearing a lot of stories from people who are in the middle of a trip, or otherwise trying to get home, and are being stymied by the constantly changing flight schedules and…
I live in China, but I've spent the last seven weeks doing everything I can to avoid being there. When the virus first started spreading, my wife and I left for a planned vacation on the beaches of Thailand. After seeing the situation worsen after we…
Prior to a couple of months ago, arguably the biggest crisis in the airline industry was the the Boeing 737 MAX, which has now been grounded for over a year, following two 737 MAXs crashing. A Twitter user asks about the Boeing 737 MAX grounding, in…
The New York Times has an opinion piece published today by Tim Wu about why we shouldn't feel sorry for US airlines. He argues that we should make demands of airlines about how they treat their customers and employees before providing them any sort of…
As the situation continues to unfold, we are seeing a deluge of information across the internet -- with much of the good and practical content being drowned out in the noise. At the same time, many people seem to not understand the gravity of the situation,…
I’m an airline product geek, and every year I like to publish a list of what I consider to be the world’s best first class airlines, best first class lounges, best business class seats, etc. I recently shared my rankings of the world's best first class…
I think it's safe to say that the events of the past several weeks have been surreal and unprecedented, to put it mildly. What many originally thought of as a regional situation has turned into a global pandemic. I feel like at first it was one of those…
I’m an airline product geek, and every year I like to publish a list of what I consider to be the world’s best first class airlines, best first class lounges, best business class seats, etc. I recently shared my ranking of the world's best first class…
I'm a huge airline product geek, and every year I like to publish a list of what I consider to be the world's best first class products, best first class lounges, best business class seats, etc. In this post I wanted to share my updated ranking of the…
Here in the US we've seen airline stocks plummet, airlines issue travel waivers, and Southwest's CEO has even said that the drop in demand is comparable to post-9/11. One thing I've been asked over and over by readers in the past several days is if I…
I like to tell everyone who will listen about the huge value they can get by maximizing credit cards and using them responsibly. There are so many great credit cards out there, and those who are using debit cards or paying cash are basically throwing…
