Traveling to Europe will require a VISA in 2024

The EU will be requiring Americans to purchase a VISA to enter Europe next year. That is the bad news. The good news is that the cost will only be about $8 and the online application will take just a few minutes to fill out and be approved. Basically, this is an easy way to generate more money. CLICK HERE to read more.

Looks like air travel on Tuesday and Wednesday has slowed down as leisure travel moves to the weekends – Allegiant Air and Frontier Airlines are two of the three (Southwest is the largest) largest low-cost airlines that cater to leisure travelers. Recently Allegiant decided to almost wipe out all their flights on Tuesdays and Wednesdays as leisure travelers concentrate their travel patterns around the days of Thursdays, Fridays, Sundays, and Mondays. Frontier Airlines is also cutting service on Tuesdays and Wednesdays but not as draconian as Allegiant did. CLICK HERE for an interesting article.

Cruising is actually cheaper than checking into an assisted living center – This past week we had some family members that we had to transition to an assisted living center. I was amazed at the prices which were about $150 -$250 a day depending on the level of care. For the last 20 years, I have been sharing with you that it is actually cheaper to take a cruise (for as low as $100 a day) than to go into an assisted living center. I recently read about a couple who actually did exactly this. They sold their house and have spent the last 1000 days on a cruise ship. They have a ship doctor and have a glorious time enjoying great weather and a positive atmosphere of entertainment, food, and fun. I wonder if Medicare will cover this?

Everyone was getting into and now getting out of short-term rentals – During the pandemic short-term rentals found listed on Airbnb and VRBO made a killing with short supply and high prices. It seemed like everyone wanted to get in on all the action and was buying real estate rental housing to make a fast buck. Now with so many short-term rental units on the market and travel patterns moderating, the rental rates are plummeting which is causing many owners to sell their properties. It will be interesting to see how things shake out in the end as some sale prices are tumbling at a pretty fast pace. CLICK HERE for a great article.

Airlines are making so much money that their unions want a piece of the action – All the major airlines are making hay right now. During the last few weeks, airlines have reported amazing profits as the airplanes are full and travelers are paying super high prices. While that is great news for the airlines it also comes at a bad time as far as their union negotiations go as they are in the middle of negotiating with almost all their key unions for future wage rates. Obviously, the unions are seeing these high-profit numbers and they want a piece of that action. I am hearing that some pay increases may go as high as 30% to 50%. I can’t see how this can be sustainable the next time the economy starts to slow down.

Hotel rates keep moving up with the average daily rate now $158 – Hotel rates keep rising, however, the increases are starting to slow from the rapid rise from the last two years. Interestingly the number of filled rooms is now decreasing which I think is a preamble to lower hotel rates in the future. 70% of the rooms were full in June which is still very high historically. Something tells me if the economy starts slowing, these rates will also go down as well. CLICK HERE for more