Never, Never, Never buy airline miles –

One of the biggest scams in the travel industry is when airlines sell people airline frequent flyer miles. 90% of the time you can always purchase an airline ticket for cash for less than the cost of buying miles and then redeeming them on a frequent flyer ticket. Let’s look at a recent offer to me from United Airlines to purchase 100,000 miles and get 100,000 miles free at a cost of $3500. This means each of those miles costs 1.75 cents each. Below is a comparison of how much a flight on United costs versus how many miles are required to redeem for those same flights. I used the travel dates of Nov 8-15 which would be considered the low season where you should find low priced flights and lowest cost to use miles. 

Even when the airlines offers a buy-one get-one FREE sale on miles you still are a BIG loser. 

Speaking of Airline frequent flyer miles, the FEDS started investigating the big boys –The Department of Transportation recently sent letters to American, Delta, Southwest, and United questioning how they are devaluating frequent flyer miles. One letter asks airlines to detail each change they’ve made to their loyalty programs since 2018. Another asks airlines how the dollar value of a mile has changed in the last six years. Over the last 5 years, the airlines have made massive devaluation of frequent flyer miles so it takes many more miles to redeem for free tickets. Business class airline tickets have seen the biggest hit as the price to redeem for a roundtrip business class ticket can be as high as 750,000 miles on Delta Air Lines. This used to cost 300,000 miles several years ago. I am hopeful this shot across the bow by the DOT will cause the airlines to not devalue any more than they already have. CLICK HERE  to read more. 

Your next taxi ride in San Francisco, LA, or Phoenix may have a robot driver – Waymo, the self-driving robot taxi service, is growing like a weed. Waymo is now completing over 100,000 rides each week in these three major cities. Imagine getting into a taxi and there is no driver. Everybody thinks that robot taxis are years and years away but at the current adoption rate, it is now becoming almost mainstream. CLICK HERE to read more. 

Passports are quickly moving into obsolescence –Starting November 10, 2024, the 29 countries of the European Union Schengen Area will launch a new entry/exit system (EES). CLICK HERE to find out how the new EES will work. Basically, these 29 countries will not be stamping your passport when you enter or exit the country. 

If that is not confusing enough starting in 2025 Americans will have to apply and pay a fee to enter 30 European countries – The European Union wants to start charging Americans a 7 Euro fee starting sometime in 2025. The new program is called ETIAS and the new travel authorization forms must be completed before you arrive in Europe. I really think this is just a way to generate a few billion Euros more from American tourists. CLICK HERE to find out more.