Citi Cuts Travel Card Benefits Including Car Rental, Trip Insurance

The 26-country no-border-control Schengen area is in danger of collapsing under the migration threat. Presumably, the new border controls will be for no more than two years. But for now, you have to figure on reverting to the bad old days of mind-numbing border hassles within the area.

Travelers heading to or from Washington, D.C., through Reagan/National Airport can expect major ground travel disruptions and delays through July 18. Trains on both the Blue and Yellow lines will suspend operations on two track segments:

Editors’ Note: On October 1, 2018, Primera Air announced it will cease operations immediately. The following story was published on September 11, 2018.

Score two for the airlines, nil for consumers.

A: It can be. You can occasionally get caught and be denied entry to a country—and boarding a flight to that country—because of some arcane and unexpected requirement.

For at least the second time this summer, Amtrak is offering a rare flash sale for fares on Northeast Regional train travel for as low as $19. Sample one-way fares range from $19 between Richmond and Washington, to $49 from New Haven to Washington.

The average payback for six major hotel chain loyalty programs—the value of what the points will buy, compared to what you pay to earn the points—is near 9 percent. That’s substantially higher than the return from the big three airline programs, which fetch about 4 to 6 percent. Those figures come from IdeaWorks’ 2017 CarTrawler Hotel Reward Payback Survey. Among hotel programs, Wyndham’s payback is highest, at 16.7 percent.

Think overnight train trips in your own cabin cost a fortune? Not with Amtrak’s latest flash sale. Book an Amtrak roomette for one and get the companion ticket free if you buy by June 26. The deal is valid for travel this August 20 through February 15, 2019, with only a single blackout date: November 25, 2018.

According to a report in the Post-Gazette, people who live in the Pittsburgh area can now load up at those wonderful “Airmall” shops airside at Pittsburgh airport without having to fly anywhere. A new pilot “myPITpass” program allows people without tickets to go airside, as long as they show the usual ID and go through the usual TSA screening, between 9:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m. weekdays.

Last year when Italy’s Cinque Terre decided to limit the amount of tourists that visit each year, overtourism once again came to the forefront of many people’s travel plans. While other popular landmarks and cities also had tourist caps or were exploring crowd-limiting options, iconic Cinque Terre’s cap has gained a lot of attention, and is part of a rising trend.

When a former airline president takes over as top gun at Amtrak, what’s the first thing he does? Add fees, of course.

If your flight on American Airlines is canceled or delayed, forget calling customer service or waiting in line at an airport. You can now rearrange your trip yourself, using American’s newly launched “dynamic reaccom” (read: re-accommodation) tool online, on the mobile app, or at an American Airlines kiosk.