Happy Sunday and Birthday to My Sister! 🤱 My sister Carol's birthday
I hope you're having a great weekend! Today is my sister Carol's big birthday. Here's her Instagram handle, She's a talented artist and travels a lot. Check it out!
🇺🇸 Memorial Day Weekend coming soon
Do you want to hear something nuts? Five days from today is the start of Memorial Day weekend in the USA and tomorrow is Victoria Day in Canada! Both long weekends mark the unofficial kickoff to summer and it's hard to believe it's here already. I don't know about you but I feel like 2024 is flying! This week I have two travel tips about Memorial Day travel ... or any holiday travel for that matter.
⚠️ Unbelievable: Driver pursued by police crashes head-on into cars on California freeway
Speaking of nuts, be sure to watch this week's travel videos below: One of them is of a driver who chased police with her van and then drove the wrong way on L.A.'s 405 and plowed into cars. They closed the freeway for a few hours and it was backed up for miles. No doubt those trying to get to LAX missed their flights. Another reminder to leave for the airport extra early because you just never know what's going on on the roads.
🪳 United Airlines passenger spots cockroach
If you scroll down towards the bottom, you will see there are a lot more travel videos this week. I didn't want to add any more to the list but one of them that should be mentioned is that United Airlines released a new safety video, which they say will keep the attention of even the most frequent fliers. Take a look and let me know what you think. Is this video finally going to make travelers pay attention? Speaking of United, did you see that one of their passengers spotted a giant cockroach on a seat and the whole row freaked out? It was during boarding and really not United's fault since it probably crawled in from the boarding door (most likely) or it hitched a ride on a passenger's bag. Either way, I'm just glad it didn't happen to my wife and kids and if you read the story, you'll understand why 😂
🏆 This Week's Travel Contests: - Win a Summer of Glamping! (June 6)
- 2024 Sesame Place Getaway Sweepstakes (June 6)
- Win a 7-night "Romantic Danube" river cruise on award-winning luxury cruise line, AmaWaterways (June 2)
- Win $25,000 to make your dream home a reality! (July 31)
- Win $10,000 for the ultimate summer vacation! (sept 30)
Here's how to enter them all.
🌎 Travel Trivia Question of the Week
If you missed this week's Travel Trivia Tuesday question, here it is: Which country shares the most borders? Scroll down to the bottom to find the answer! |
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💰 Limited-Time 75,000 Chase Sapphire Preferred Bonus 
NEW! For a limited time, you can earn 75,000 bonus points after you spend $4,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening. That’s over $900 when you redeem through Chase Travel℠. The standard bonus offer is only 60,000 points with similar spending requirements. As a result, the extra points make this offer worth $938 with the Sapphire Preferred instead of $750 when using the 25% travel redemption bonus. New 75,000 Bonus Offer: Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card
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✈️ Today's Travel Outlook 
As of 9:25am PT, there have been 47 canceled flights to, from or within the United States and 1,619 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.
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🚗 Monday 
AAA: Memorial Day travel expected to climb past pre-pandemic levels – Here are the best and worst times to hit the road
AAA just released their 2024 Memorial Day projection. Can you believe the unofficial kickoff to summer is just 11 days away? Crazy. And speaking of which, airports and roads are expected to be crazy too, as “AAA projects 43.8 million travelers will head 50 miles or more from home over the Memorial Day holiday travel period." Find out what this means for you and your long weekend travel plans.
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💸 Tuesday 
A simple money-saving tip for international travelers
It's going to be a record year for Americans traveling internationally and as such, it seems prudent to remind you of a very important money-saving tip because I think I speak for everyone when I say ... getting ripped off sucks. I really can't stand seeing people take advantage of others by making them pay more for something than they really should be paying. Here's a simple tip that can help you save money when you travel abroad.
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🔌 Wednesday 
Traveling internationally? These are the plugs you need
My family and I are going on a big European trip this summer and I’m getting everything organized, especially all my travel gadgets. The most important thing to have when traveling internationally is the right travel adapter. Here's what I recommend.
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🏨 Thursday 
How to find the best hotel or vacation rental
I just received a great question from a reader, which I thought I would share with you, along with my answer. Gail C. wrote: “I’m wondering how you would advise me to choose a nice little hotel in Milan, Italy. I want to go to the Duomo and hopefully see the Last Supper…..among other things. But have NO idea where to start to choose a hotel.” Here's my advice.
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⚠️ Friday 
12 tips and hacks for Memorial Day weekend travel
AAA projects 43.8 million travelers will head 50 miles or more from home over the Memorial Day holiday travel period. If you're going to be one of them, you'll want to check out today's travel tips and hacks to ensure smoother travels. Read the story here.
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📺 Travel Videos of the Week 
Insane: Two freefall skydivers become the first wingsuiters ever to pass through London’s famous Tower Bridge
It looks like the city of London doesn’t want to be outdone by their next-door neighbor, the City of Lights, because they approved an insane request made by Red Bull. Red Bull, the popular energy drink, is known for sponsoring some of the world's most incredible and daring athletes and their latest video may be the craziest one yet. Watch it here.
Unbelievable: Driver pursued by police crashes head-on into cars on California freeway; 405 northbound closed for investigation
I woke up this morning and turned on the local news here in Los Angeles, as I always do. The top story is that the 405 northbound freeway at Wilshire Blvd is closed for an investigation into what was possibly the most bizarre police chase of all time … and that’s saying something because we’ve seen our fair share of crazy chases. Watch the unbelievable video here.
Sweet: First look at Caitlin Clark’s WNBA Delta Air Lines charter
Thanks to Caitlin Clark's immediate impact, where courtside seats for tonight’s game are going for a record $5,000, her team and other WNBA teams won’t have to fly commercial for away games. Read the story and get a first look inside the team's charter plane.
Scary: Airline worker falls from plane door as jet bridge pulled away too soon
I have to warn you, this video is difficult to watch but I’m sharing it with you for two reasons. Number one, miraculously, the airline worker somehow didn’t get seriously hurt and secondly, it’s an important lesson for all travelers to make sure the jet bridge is there before stepping out. Watch it here.
Brilliant or cruel? Mom calls this toddler trick 'the best airplane travel hack' but not everyone agrees
A mom recently shared a video showing what she called 'the best airplane travel hack' but it garnered mixed reactions. Watch the video here and share your thoughts. |
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💬 TRAVEL QUOTE OF THE DAY “A journey is best measured in friends rather than miles.” ~ Tim Cahill |
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🌎 12 Things to Know in Travel Today 1 Frontier Airlines does away with change fees in budget airline pricing overhaul
2 Biden signs sweeping aviation safety, reform bill into law
3 Cruise ship passengers isolating amid bug outbreak
4 3 dead after Amtrak train collides with pickup truck
5 Munich Airport closed after climate activists from Last Generation glue themselves to runway
6 Reagan National Airport's new long-haul flights coming soon
7 United to 'begin the process' of adding planes and routes as FAA evaluates airline's safety
8 TSA projects busiest summer travel season ever
9 They’ve been stuck for 7 weeks on the ship that crashed into a Baltimore bridge. This is what life is like for the Dali crew
10 Violence rages in New Caledonia as France rushes emergency reinforcements to its Pacific territory
11 The first Mexican taco stand to get a Michelin star is a tiny business where the heat makes the meat
12 What the actual hell is going on at Boeing?
Read it all here as well as the 84 other top travel news stories from this past week! |
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🧵 TRAVEL THREAD OF THE DAY @davidatthread: "One thing you will NEVER, EVER forget? Being on a commercial flight, & crew makes announcement it is their HONOR to be a part of escorting a fallen soldier home. They ask after landing, that everyone remain seated while the military escort team deboards. Of course, during this time, the plane is SILENT, except for the sound of the coffin being unloaded from the cargo hold. I DARE you not to cry. Pray for our heroes and their families." |
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✅ Currency Exchange 🇪🇺 €1 Euro = $1.08 USD
🇬🇧 £1 GBP = $1.26 USD
🇨🇦 $1 CAD = $0.73 USD
🇦🇺 $1 AUD = $0.66 USD
🇲🇽 $1 MXN = $.060 USD
✅ Calendar Countdown ☀️ 8 days until Memorial Day
🎆 46 days until 4th of July
🛠 106 days until Labor Day
🎃 165 days until Halloween
🦃 193 days until Thanksgiving |
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✈️ Travel Trivia Tuesday Answer |
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Which country shares the most borders?
It's a tie! The answer is China and Russia. Both border 14 neighboring countries. I've listed them below along with their border length, thanks to Wikipedia.
China
Afghanistan: 76 km (47 mi)
Bhutan: 470 km (290 mi)
India (3): 3,380 km (2,100 mi)
Kazakhstan: 1,533 km (953 mi)
North Korea: 1,416 km (880 mi)
Kyrgyzstan: 858 km (533 mi)
Laos: 423 km (263 mi)
Mongolia: 4,677 km (2,906 mi)
Myanmar: 2,185 km (1,358 mi)
Nepal: 1,236 km (768 mi)
Pakistan: 523 km (325 mi)
Russia (2): 3,645 km (2,265 mi)
Tajikistan: 414 km (257 mi)
Vietnam: 1,281 km (796 mi)
Russia
Azerbaijan: 284 km (176 mi)
Belarus (2):[k] 959 km (596 mi)
People's Republic of China (2): 3,645 km (2,265 mi)
Estonia: 294 km (183 mi)
Finland: 1,340 km (830 mi)
Georgia: 723 km (449 mi)
Kazakhstan: 6,846 km (4,254 mi)
North Korea: 19 km (12 mi)
Latvia: 217 km (135 mi)
Lithuania:[ai] 227 km (141 mi)
Mongolia: 3,485 km (2,165 mi)
Norway: 196 km (122 mi)
Poland:[ai] 206 km (128 mi)
Ukraine: 1,576 km (979 mi)
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