Big News! United Airlines now allows pooling of miles

United Airlines recently announced they will be allowing up to five friends and family members to pool (combine) their frequent flyer miles to redeem for travel. This is big news for infrequent travelers who can never generate enough miles to redeem for travel.  Now instead of redeeming the miles for stupid things like magazine subscriptions you can find a few friends and pool your miles and use them on free airline tickets. Finally, an airline is doing something good for their customers. CLICK HERE to hear more. 

I bet you have never heard of many of these airlines:  If you travel within Europe you most likely have seen dozens of newer low cost airlines have sprung up in the last two decades. Last week I was traveling from the airport in Rome, Italy and found this list of 17 airlines that fly from FCO. They include: Aegean Airlines, Air Baltic, Air Europa, Air France, Air Malta, Albastar, Eurowings, Iberia, ITA, KLM, Luxair, Norwegian, Ryanair, Tap Portugal, Volotea, Vueling Airline, WizzAir. This list does not include the U.S. carriers of American, Delta and United which also have flights to Rome. Let me know how many you have heard of. I travel a bunch to Europe and could only recall 12 on the list. CLICK HERE for more. 

Electric Vehicles (EV) are a disaster for rental car companies – Renters don’t want them. They don’t have the range they need and renters don’t know how to operate them. Hertz went all in on EV’s and is now losing rentals to other companies. I think rental car companies need to add a QR code on the dashboard of all EV’s that connects to a YouTube video that explains how to use the vehicle. CLICK HERE for more. 

Why are we continuing to see domestic airfare sales?  – I have been amazed at all the spring airfares sales launched by Southwest, Alaska Air and other low cost airlines for the last 60 days. Obviously you don’t offer $59 OW airfare if your planes are full. It will be interesting to watch if there are any airfare sales after Memorial Day. CLICK HERE to hear more.

Renting and operating a car today is so confusing – Every car has different bells and whistles that confuse even the most seasoned traveler. How do you start the car? How do you fuel the vehicle? How do you set up Apple CarPlay and Google Maps? I think now is the time that rental car companies should provide me with a QR code when I get in the car that shows me videos on how to operate the car. Below is my list: CLICK HERE to hear more.

Here is a list of all the YouTube videos that a car rental company should offer a renter:

• Driving directions on how and where to return the vehicle (tied to Google Maps)
• How to start the vehicle and remove the parking brake.
• How to fuel the vehicle. Also diesel or gas or plug in?
• A short video on how to turn on headlights and windshield wipers
• How to set up your phone to Apple CarPlay and Google Maps.
• How to engage the cruise control.

Please help me add to this list so I can send it to our friends at National Enterprise to see if this is possible. 

The Most Meaningful Escorted Tour – France, Luxembourg, Belgium! 

One of the most meaningful trips I have ever taken was in 2019 with the Nebraska National Guard Historical Society to commemorate the 75th anniversary of D-Day. I call it the “Never Forget”-trip for a good reason. Our tour this year (the 80th anniversary) includes scholars and academics on military history. We will pay homage to the fallen at the American cemeteries but also take advantage of and learn about French cuisine, wine, and arts. We will visit Luxembourg and Belgium and end with two nights in Spa (the original spa town of the world!). Listen to our live presentation of this once-in-a-lifetime journey by CLICKING HERE. See the detailed tour brochure HERE, and do not hesitate to call or email our friendly group department today at (402) 435-8888 / GroupDepartment@executivetravel.com. We have eight spots left! CLICK HERE to hear more.

Check out our Weekly Travel Alert Podcast – Did you know our Weekly Travel Alert Video Podcast is available on YouTube plus all your favorite podcast stations, Spotify, Google Podcast, Apple Podcast ? Each week we are adding new and upgraded features. Please jump on board. CLICK HERE to see the Weekly Travel Alert podcast that is hot off the presses.