“Rely less on the airline to just offer you a good deal,” Mr. Leff said. “Often you want two cards: one that earns multiple points in the category where you spend the most, and one that pairs in the same ecosystem from the same bank that earns 1.5 or two points per dollar.” This means…
Extra nights in cushy hotel suites, free premium air travel and even stays on private islands. Loyalty points and frequent flier miles, when strategically collected, can fund trips well beyond a traveler’s usual expectations and budget. But it isn’t easy to get these deals. Luckily for us, there’s an entire universe of experts who share…
Dear Tripped Up, I’m a co-owner of Luaka Bop, a New York-based record label, and last June was accompanying the Staples Jr. Singers, a gospel group from Aberdeen, Miss., on a European tour. For a British Airways flight from London to Paris, three musicians were required to check their guitars, but only one instrument arrived…
The 2025 forecast on pricing: Mixed. Airfares are up, hotel rates are mostly flat and cruise lines are more likely to waive your gratuities than slash your fare. Hayley Berg, the chief economist for the travel booking app Hopper, said, “Domestic airfares in 2025 are expected to remain above 2023 and 2024 levels until midyear…
By checking in early and getting to the gate with plenty of time, you’ve done everything right. But then the airline throws a curveball, announcing an overbooked flight. Instead of boarding passengers, gate agents ask for volunteers to give up their seats. Then they stop asking and start bumping passengers off the flight. And they…
Visions of champagne and lie-flat seats danced in my head when Azores Airlines accepted my 500-euro bid to upgrade my husband and me to business class during our kid-free vacation this past August. But the reality was far less cushy: Our seats reclined only a few inches more than regular coach seats. There was no…
Is paying to check a bag on a flight a choice, or tantamount to extortion? A group of senators and executives from five of America’s major airlines sparred over that question on Wednesday at a hearing of the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, which issued a report last month arguing that airline fees, for services…
As a sales season, Black Friday long ago turned the weekend corner to extend to Cyber Monday. And it’s still growing as Travel Tuesday gains traction. In a recent report, the consultancy McKinsey & Company found that bookings for hotels, cruises and airlines spiked on Travel Tuesday 2023. Airline purchases soared, beating the average for…
