October 27, 2024  •   View this email in your browser

Happy Sunday!

🎃 Pumpkin farm
The only travel I did this week was driving 50 miles to a pumpkin farm. It was a fun but long day -- especially because it was hot. It's perfect weather for baseball, though.

⚾ World Series
Earlier this week, I wrote that this is a dream World Series for many, especially MLB. Although I'm a diehard Yankees fan, it's hard not to be happy for the Dodgers since I live here and there are some great guys on the team, including Freddie Freeman who hit Friday's walk-off grand slam, turning that game into an instant classic.

You also have to love a player who, after hitting one of baseball's most memorable home runs, immediately runs over to hug his dad and then tells a reporter, “he has been there since I was a little boy, throwing batting practice to me every day. This isn't my moment, it’s my dad’s moment." While researching his exact quote, I learned that Freeman was born here in Southern California, but his parents are from Ontario, Canada and he holds both Canadian and American citizenships – just like my kids!

I came very close to going to the game since one of my friends had a last-minute extra ticket but I passed because my son told me earlier in the day that he was so excited to watch the game with me. When I picked him up from school he said, “I'm more excited about the game than going to Universal Studios.” It was the first time he'd ever shown any real interest in baseball and I couldn't pass it up.


Obviously, I'm a huge baseball fan and have been fortunate to experience some amazing things, including a private tour of the Baseball Hall of Fame with Ken Burns and a Yankees legend. I also traveled to Australia to see the first ever MLB game, when the Dodgers took on the Diamondbacks. And my all-time favorite, going to two World Series Game 6, when the Yankees clinched (1996 and 2009). If you love baseball and travel like me, then you will probably enjoy these stories:
-You’ll Never Believe What This Dodgers Star Baseball Player Travels With In His Suitcase
-New York Yankees Legend and Current Baseball Announcer Makes Rookie Mistake at LaGuardia Airport

️🛬 Pete Buttigieg announces $1 billion in grants to modernize 125 airports across the country
Alright, enough about baseball ... Let's get to the travel news, which there was a lot of this week (be sure to scroll down to read it all). One of the stories this week, was about Forbes naming the best U.S. airline and airport as well as international winners. If you haven’t traveled in a while, you might be surprised by some of their results – especially New York’s LaGuardia Airport winning best U.S. airport. It doesn’t feel that long ago when Joe Biden, then Vice President, said LGA was like a “third-world country.” He took some flack for that statement but sometimes the truth hurts and good for New York for making lemonade out of lemons. It took almost 10 years and a cool $8 billion but look at it now. Fortunately, government officials on both sides of the aisle, who are also frequent fliers, realize that airport infrastructure is important and are investing in America’s future. Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg posted this announcement this week.

🎤 Chicago's WGN
On Tuesday, I was up early to call into Bob Sirott's morning drive on Chicago's WGN. As usual, we talked about a lot of things travel-related, including how American Airlines is testing a new boarding procedure to eliminate line jumpers. If you try to board before your zone, a loud embarrassing beep goes off when scanning your pass and then the agent makes you get out of the line. We also discussed finding the best airfare deals and how and why travelers should use fare alerts. 

In this issue:

• Today's Travel Outlook ✈️
• Travel Tips This Week ✅
• Travel Quote of the Day 💬
• Travel Thread of the Day 
• 12 Things to Know in Travel Today 🌎
• Travel Video of the Day 📺
• and more… 

✈️ Today's Travel Outlook 

As of 9:20am PT, there have been 44 canceled flights to, from or within the United States and 1,203 delayed. Here's a link to the up-to-date stats and a live look at the FAA's National Airspace System Status. Here's what to do during weather delays and flight cancelations.

🧭 Travel Products of the Week

Limited time deal: $7.85 travel cable organizer
The key to a successful travel experience is being organized and at 40% off (just $7.58 at the time of this newsletter distribution), this handy travel cable organizer is a great purchase to help you keep all your cords, cables and chargers in one easy-to-find place. It makes a great gift, too. Check it out here.

🏞️ Monday

Central Park lamp posts have a secret code so you'll never get lost again
I lived in New York City for a while and visited Central Park frequently. But in all my years going to the park, I've never heard this tip before and it's a really helpful and interesting one about the secret GPS system used throughout the park's lamp posts. Whether you're a New York City native or are planning to visit, you'll want to check this out. Read the story here.

📷 Tuesday

Outrageous insurance fraud scam caught on camera proves why everyone needs a dashcam
You hear about insurance fraud scams all the time but to see one caught on camera is quite shocking and disturbing. A 69-second video that was posted on TikTok has already garnered more than 40 million views and shows in crystal clear detail how crazy this scam is and how fortunate it was that the driver had a dashcam. Here's the story, video and the dashcam they used.

🏆 Wednesday

Best U.S. airline and airport announced in Forbes’ Air Travel Awards
Forbes Travel Guide just launched its first-ever Verified Air Travel Awards, celebrating excellence in air travel across a range of categories, from luxury lounges to the best in-flight dining. They also name the best U.S. airline and airport as well as international winners. Here's what you need to know.

⛔Thursday

Why it’s important to tell a flight attendant if you've switched seats on an airplane
Under the United Airlines subreddit on Reddit, a user posted an interesting thread about a passenger vaping on the plane being ignored, which lead me to think about the importance of notifying a flight attendant if you ever agree to switching seats on an airplane. Here's why.

🧙‍♀️ Friday

Flying on Halloween? Here’s the TSA’s advice on what to wear and what NOT to wear
When you get on an airplane, chances are you’ll come across some real characters, some of whom push the airline’s dress code boundaries. Things get even crazier when you fly on Halloween, which I’ve done multiple times. Here's what you need to know.

📺 Travel Videos of the Week

TSA shares video of prohibited items bin and it's everything you would expect

'Do your job': Air India Karen demands cabin crew member moves economy bag from business class

San Diego Zoo Giant Panda Cam

‘That rat could cripple the plane’: Rodent spotted trapped inside lighting panel on Spirit Airlines aircraft

🌎 Top 10 Travel Stories of the Week

1 Boeing machinists reject new labor contract, extending more than 5-week strike
2 Frontier, Spirit Airlines revive merger talks
3 Southwest shareholder Elliott drops proxy challenge
4 Spirit Airlines agrees to sell 23 planes and cut staff
5 US fines American Airlines $50 million over mishandling of disabled passengers and wheelchairs
6 United launches largest winter schedule ever with a focus on Africa, Southern 7 Europe, and Latin America plus ski and sun destinations across the U.S.
8 India plans to punish people making hoax bomb threats against flights
9 Boeing faces new scrutiny as US aviation agency opens safety review
10 Helicopter that crashed in Houston, killing 4, was on an air tour flight
Read it all here as well as the 84 other top travel news stories from this past week!

✅ Currency Exchange

✅ Calendar Countdown

✈️ Miles and Points

💳 Our favorite credit card rewards to earn in 2024

💳 5 reasons why the Bilt Card is worth it
The Bilt World Elite Mastercard continues to be the best way to pay rent with a card as you can earn 1 point per dollar in rent payments without fees. However, if you have a high monthly payment, you can reach the previous $50,000 annual earning cap before year-end. Thankfully, the annual Bilt points cap is being lifted so you can earn more points on rent. Here are 5 of the best reasons the Bilt Card is worth it.