Greetings from Los Angeles! 
We're back home after a month of what my son calls The Great Crazy Cousin Summer Tour! Jack and Olivia spent time with their favorite east coast cousins and met new ones, too. It was a heartwarming trip. On Wednesday, we flew from Toronto to L.A. via Chicago's O'Hare (ORD). As you can see from the not-so-crowded ORD pictured above, we just beat the nightmare IT outage. Scroll down to see what the crowds were like yesterday inside CLT airport Terminal C.
💻 Over 1,000 cancelations in the U.S. today
The big travel news of the week was, of course, the global IT outage. The airlines impacted are starting to get back on track and those on JetBlue, Southwest, Alaska ...had no major problems. Unfortunately, passengers on Delta, United, Endeavor (regional for Delta), EasyJet and Spirit are still getting crushed again today (Sunday) with cancelations. Out of the big three, Delta has over 640 and United 250. American has done a much better job getting their schedules back on track with just 24 cancelations so far. Here's what to do if you're caught up in it.
🏈 Hall of Fame running back demands investigation after being wrongfully handcuffed and removed from a United Airlines flight
One of the other major travel news stories of the week concerned Hall of Fame running back Terrell Davis being handcuffed and removed from a United flight. I’ve written way too many stories about passengers misbehaving in airports and up in the skies. In many of the reported incidents, it’s the passengers who are clearly in the wrong and the flight attendants who are simply doing their job and trying to keep things under control. But in this case, it was the flight attendant who was in the wrong. Here's the story.
💻 Amazon's Prime Days are over but some deals are still active
Not exactly travel news but this past Tuesday and Wednesday were Amazon's Prime Days. As you'll see below, there were lots of great deals and some are still active so check them out to see if you can still score items on sale.
📰 In the news
In personal news ... It's been a while since I plugged some of the recent press I've done and this week, two stories dropped and I'm honored, especially Life Hacker's post on The Best Content Creators to Follow If You Love Travel; they listed me number one. The other is an interview I did with Global Traveler's John Wroblewski.
🎉 Passport news from a reader
Here's some good news for those renewing passports. Reader A.C. sent me this email yesterday: "July 1 I mailed from Calif, Texas received them July 6th and on July 12 they were in my mailbox, today July 19 We got our old passports back. Good old USPS. I did not pay to expedite." Here are 12 passport tips for 2024 that will save you time, money and headaches.
⚕️ KLM’s new Travel Well platform aims to help travelers rediscover the joy and meaning of air travel
Without a doubt, travel has changed my life and the lives of so many others. Growing up in Connecticut, we rarely traveled by plane since I have three siblings and airfares were a lot more expensive back then. Also, traveling by plane back then was a rarity unless you were a business traveler. I just did a collaboration with KLM about their new Travel Well platform; read more here.
🌎 Travel Trivia Tuesday Question of the Week
It's Travel Trivia Tuesday again (the weeks are flying, aren't they?) Now, it's a bit debatable whether this week's trivia question is actually travel-related or not but it was both timely and fitting for me, as I was in Toronto where it had been pouring rain all morning, accompanied by some wicked thunderstorms. I was trying to teach my kids how to figure out how far away the lightning was and just to be sure I was giving them the right information, I looked it up. So that's today's question: How do you calculate the distance between you and the lightning? Scroll down to the bottom to find the answer!
|
|
✈️ Today's Travel Outlook 
As of 9:58am PT, there have been 1,199 canceled flights to, from or within the United States and 3,817 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 cancellations.
|
|
🧭 Travel Product of the Week 
The ultimate sleep mask: Why I’ll never go back to my old one
From reader Toni: "On your recommendation, bought this mask for my husband and myself. Wholeheartedly agree, best mask ever! We’ve also used Lewis&Clark, Manta, and others but this is more comfortable and totally seals out light. Just ordered 2 more for Dopp kit and living room for naps. Thanks for recommending." Here's what makes it so good.
|
|
💧 Monday 
It’s hot out there! Here’s how you can actually bring water through security, according to the TSA
It’s extremely hot outside in the United States and beyond. In fact, I just read a headline titled: Millions face extreme temperatures as heat dome covers US Midwest and east. the New York Times also ran a story titled: “Plane Cabins Are Overheating Amid High Temperatures." Today, I'm sharing tips for beating the heat, including one important one straight from the TSA. Here's what you need to know.
|
|
🛍️ Tuesday The best Amazon Prime Day 2024 deals for travelers
Today and tomorrow are Amazon's much-anticipated Prime Days so if you have a membership, now is the time to save on travel gadgets, luggage, household items and more. I just checked the deals and many of the travel gadgets I've recommended in the last year are on sale so below are links to those articles. Note: On Prime Day, deals are always changing and products sell out quickly so hopefully the deals are still active.
Plus, we've rounded up some new Amazon Prime Day deals here and if you want to save money on airfare, you'll definitely want to check out this Prime exclusive deal: Southwest Airlines teams up with Amazon for Prime Day to offer travelers up to 30% off fares |
|
💰 Wednesday Today is the last day of Amazon's much-anticipated Prime Day so if you have a membership, now is the time to save on travel gadgets, luggage, household items and more. I just checked the deals and many of the travel gadgets I've recommended in the last year are on sale so below are links to those articles. Note: On Prime Day, deals are always changing and products sell out quickly so hopefully the deals are still active.
Plus, we've rounded up some new Amazon Prime Day deals here and if you want to save money on airfare, you'll definitely want to check out this Prime exclusive deal: Southwest Airlines teams up with Amazon for Prime Day to offer travelers up to 30% off fares |
|
🚢 Thursday 
Cruise ship leaves family of 9 stranded in a remote part of Alaska due to tour bus mix-up
This is a nightmare on so many levels and as usual, I have some takeaways regarding this unfortunate incident. Here's the story and what travelers can do to prevent it from happening.
|
|
💸 Friday 
Global tech outage: Over 3,000 flights canceled today — Here's what to do if you're traveling
A global tech outage has left airlines reeling as flights get delayed and cancelled across the country. Here's what you need to know.
|
|
🇨🇦 Saturday 
10 interesting things to know about Canada
I’ve probably been to Canada over 50 times and no matter if I go to a new province (Canada has 10 provinces and three territories) or not, I always learn something new and am reminded how different Canada is from the United States. Most of my trips are to Ontario since that’s where my wife grew up but I have been to Alberta, British Columbia, Quebec and the Yukon, too. On my most recent trip, we stayed in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA). After filling up my rental car with gas, I noticed how different pumping gas is in Canada, which is what inspired me to write this story.
|
|
📺 Travel Videos of the Week 
Tensions run high and chaos reigns at Charlotte Douglas International Airport in wake of global IT outage
Yesterday’s global IT outage is being called the largest IT outage in history. According to FlightAware.com, over 3,400 flights were cancelled to, from or within the United States and another whopping 12,900 delayed. Worldwide, there were over 5,000 canceled flights and 46,000 delayed. Unfortunately, today isn't much better as travelers try to deal with the fallout. Here's the scene just hours ago at Charlotte Douglas International Airport and what to do if you're caught up in this mess.
Airline worker suspended after viral video shows her tossing gate checked bags down stairs
We’ve seen a lot of baggage handlers caught on video recently mishandling luggage. I’m not sure why people don’t realize that in this digital age, there’s a good chance someone is watching and recording your every action. Here's the video.
Incredible videos show airport chaos across the country as airlines deal with 'largest IT outage in history'
A global tech outage has caused chaos at airports across the country. Videos shared on social media share a peek into what it's like out there for travelers. Watch the videos here.
Caught on camera: California tourists rush to escape charging sea lion
Almost exactly a year ago, we featured a video of a sea lion scaring beachgoers at a popular San Diego beach. At the beginning of that video, you can hear a San Diego County lifeguard make a PA announcement saying: “Please give that large male sea lion plenty of room, they have bit people.” But in what seems to be a typical post pandemic response from humans, the warning fell on deaf ears. It appears that people haven’t learned. Recently, another video went viral, this one of a sea lion charging onlookers getting too close to their pups. Here's the story and video. |
|
💬 TRAVEL QUOTE OF THE DAY “Remember that happiness is a way of travel – not a destination.” ~ Roy M. Goodman |
|
|
🌎 12 Things to Know in Travel Today 1 More flight cancellations are expected as airlines gradually recover from global tech outage
2 LAX returning to normal after global tech outage
3 Around 600,000 Paris Olympics tickets still available – including 100m finals
4 Passenger gets handwritten boarding pass amid Microsoft outage
5 British woman and Canadian husband found dead in boat after trying to sail Atlantic
6 Air India passenger refused all refreshments on flight. It led to his arrest at Delhi airport
7 A Kentucky motel has to pay $2M to the family of a man who died after a 150-degree shower
8 Turkish Airlines extends stopover program for Canadians
9 FAA data reveals 1,100 runway near misses in 2024
10 More than a third of major UK airports raise drop-off fees
11 With tiny shampoo bottles soon to be banned, N.Y. hotels weigh options
12 World’s biggest indoor snow and ice park opens in China
Read it all here as well as the 84 other top travel news stories from this past week! |
|
🧵 TRAVEL THREAD OF THE DAY @secretarypete: I am hearing reports of some airlines only offering flight credits to passengers for cancelled flights. Let me be clear — you are entitled to get your money back promptly if your flight is cancelled and you don't take a rebooking. |
|
|
✅ Currency Exchange 🇪🇺 €1 Euro = $1.08 USD
🇬🇧 £1 GBP = $1.29 USD
🇨🇦 $1 CAD = $0.72 USD
🇦🇺 $1 AUD = $0.66 USD
🇲🇽 $1 MXN = $.055 USD
✅ Calendar Countdown 🛠 43 days until Labor Day
🎃 102 days until Halloween
🦃 130 days until Thanksgiving
🎅 157 day until Christmas
🎊 163 day until New Year's Eve |
|
| 
💳 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.
|
|
✅ Travel Trivia Tuesday Answer 
⛈️ How to calculate the distance of lightning
According to the National Weather Service: “If you count the number of seconds between the flash of lightning and the sound of thunder, and then divide by 5, you'll get the distance in miles to the lightning: 5 seconds = 1 mile, 15 seconds = 3 miles, 0 seconds = very close.”
|
|
✉️ Was this email forwarded to you?
Was this email forwarded to you by a friend? You can subscribe here to get travel news, deals and tips delivered straight to your inbox. |
|
|
|
|
