Airport tips

Laptop bags aren’t just for the business traveler anymore—and they’re no longer relegated to the humble padded messenger bag. Stylish laptop bags now range from trendy backpacks to designer tote bags, and the best ones will protect your hardware as much as they complement your style.

Update: After a few iterations of policy changes in one week, United’s current policy on schedule changes is that if it can’t get you to your original destination within six hours of the original schedule, it will refund your fare—but with a catch. The refund is limited to a credit voucher good for a year rather than cash, and you can get cash only if you don’t use that voucher within a full year. The blogosphere is speculating that refusing a cash refund for a full year is illegal, but nobody has any great suggestions about how to avoid the problem.

World responses to pandemics—like the U.S.’s to the COVID-19 outbreak—are always a moving target. When it comes to contagious diseases, there are going to be new developments occurring every day. Of late, the 30-day Europe travel ban means that all U.S. citizens returning home from many countries in Europe (plus China and Iran) will be sent to one of 13 U.S. airports designated for screenings and then directed to self quarantine for 14 days.

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has barred residents of New York State from enrolling in or renewing membership in several “trusted traveler” programs including Global Entry. Specifically, the order covers four programs that expedite the Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) entry process:

The 2020 coronavirus, or COVID-19 pandemic, has been a moving target when it comes to travel. Nobody knows how long it will continue, whether and which areas it might hit next, when and where it will plateau and start to ease off, or when the travel world might return to something like normal. The time frame for cases to begin diminishing is unknown. And even once a decrease occurs, it’s worth considering that the virus could return.

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has pushed its REAL ID deadline back once again, this time to October 1, 2021, due to complications created by the coronavirus pandemic. This may seem like a long way off, as most people procrastinate going to the DMV for as long as possible, but the months can fly by quickly. And if put off, you might not be able to fly domestically with your ID.

I sometimes get so used to bashing travel suppliers—especially airlines—for the many ways they abuse travelers’ rights, that I often overlook the good they do. Especially during this global pandemic, travel suppliers are doing a lot of good.

After a long period of silence after saying last year that inflight animal rules would change, the Department of Transportation is now officially soliciting public comments on new rules about animals in an airline cabin.

Here’s a good reason not to check a bag—during the second half of 2021, U.S. airlines lost or mishandled over 1.2 million bags. As the pandemic waned and travel picked back up, the amount of mishandled luggage also increased—by 80.6 percent, in fact.

In case fines of nearly $50,000 weren’t enough of a deterrent for bad behavior on airplanes, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and Transportation Security Administration (TSA) will now team up to take away the privilege of TSA PreCheck memberships for unruly passengers.

As travel continues to soar towards—and past—pre-pandemic levels, air travelers are once again getting familiar with busier skies and more crowded airports. In fact, 1 out of every 4 flights landing at New York City’s Newark airport arrives more than 15 minutes late.