👋 Happy Presidents' Day! Here in the United States it's a federal holiday. Everyone calls it Presidents' Day but it's officially known as Washington’s Birthday.
I apologize for the radio silence the last few days. The reasons are twofold: Firstly, my dad fell again and is back in the hospital. Secondly, one of our stories went viral thanks to Google News picking it up.
The latter was a welcome surprise and set a JohnnyJet.com record; we had over one million (yes, 1 MILLION) visitors in a single day. There was so much traffic that I couldn't afford to drive any more readers to the site on Friday or Saturday as the server was about to crash. I couldn't even get into the backend to update or create new posts.
But even before this traffic spike, I'd decided to pare down my newsletter deployment schedule. So, if you used to get two emails a week from me (Wednesdays and Sundays), you’ll now just get an email on Sundays (unless there’s major breaking news or a travel deal that’s too good not to share.) I will continue to send out my Daily Travel Tip so if you’re not receiving that, you can subscribe here or at the bottom of this newsletter. And speaking of the Sunday newsletter ... it's a day late (but hopefully not a dollar short.) I’ve tweaked the format so scroll down to check it all out.
For those traveling this week, there's lots of nasty weather approaching, and United Airlines (among others) have issued travel waivers, which allow for voluntary changes for travel to, from or through the airports United listed below:
Midwest Winter Weather
Travel dates: February 22 - 23, 2023
Airports: - Appleton, WI (ATW)
- Buffalo, NY (BUF)
- Cedar Rapids, IA (CID)
- Chicago-O'Hare, IL (ORD)
- Cleveland, OH (CLE)
- Des Moines, IA (DSM)
- Detroit, MI (DTW)
- Duluth, MN (DLH)
- Eau Claire, WI (EAU)
- Erie, PA (ERI)
- Fargo, ND (FAR)
- Flint, MI (FNT)
- Fort Dodge, IA (FOD)
- Fort Wayne, IN (FWA)
- Grand Rapids, MI (GRR)
- Green Bay, WI (GRB)
- Hancock, MI (CMX)
- Ithaca, NY (ITH)
- Lincoln, NE (LNK)
- Madison, WI (MSN)
- Mason City, IA (MCW)
- Milwaukee, WI (MKE)
- Minneapolis/St. Paul, MN (MSP)
- Moline, IL (MLI)
- Omaha, NE (OMA)
- Rochester, NY (ROC)
- Sioux City, IA (SUX)
- Sioux Falls, SD (FSD)
- South Bend, IN (SBN)
- Syracuse, NY (SYR)
- Toronto, ON, CA (YYZ)
- Traverse City, MI (TVC)
North Plains Winter Weather
Travel dates: February 21 - 22, 2023
Airports: - Aspen, CO (ASE)
- Billings, MT (BIL)
- Bozeman, MT (BZN)
- Casper, WY (CPR)
- Cheyenne, WY (CYS)
- Cody, WY (COD)
- Colorado Springs, CO (COS)
- Denver, CO (DEN)
- Durango, CO (DRO)
- Eau Claire, WI (EAU)
- Gillette, WY (GCC)
- Great Falls, MT (GTF)
- Hayden, CO (HDN)
- Idaho Falls, ID (IDA)
- Jackson Hole, WY (JAC)
- Kalispell, MT (FCA)
- Laramie, WY (LAR)
- Minneapolis/St. Paul, MN (MSP)
- Missoula, MT (MSO)
- Rapid City, SD (RAP)
- Riverton, WY (RIW)
- Rock Springs, WY (RKS)
- Sheridan, WY (SHR)
- Sioux City, IA (SUX)
- Sioux Falls, SD (FSD)
- Vail/Eagle, CO (EGE)
Here's what to do during weather delays and flight cancellations. |
|
✈️ Today's Travel Outlook 
As of 3:15 pm PST, there have been 67 canceled flights to, from or within the United States and 2,913 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.
|
|
🛎️ Monday 
Flight Attendant Shares 6 Spot-On Hotel Hacks
In this TikTok, a KLM flight attendant shares 6 hotel hacks. I was expecting the tips to be pretty lame but surprisingly, they weren’t, which is why I’m featuring them. Read the story.
|
|
🔑 Tuesday 
The Truth About Hotel Room Key Cards
I have written about 3 reasons to always get two hotel room keys when you travel. After publishing that article, I received several emails from readers saying that they thought you should never throw hotel room key cards in the trash can in the hotel room when leaving because it contains your contact information and credit card information. One reader said perhaps it’s better to take the hotel key cards with you and shred them later yourself. So, what’s the truth about hotel room key cards?
FYI: The photo above is from the Ka'anapali Beach Hotel in Maui when we stayed there last month. Here's our review of the hotel. Hint: We loved it!
|
|
✈️ Wednesday 
A Quick Way to Earn Thousands of American Airlines Loyalty Points Without Flying
I’m sure I’m not alone in scrambling at the last minute to achieve the next tier of elite status with American Airlines (AA) before the looming February 28 deadline. I’ve been an Executive Platinum member for years and I'm about to lose it. But I'm not going down without a fight. Here's how you can earn thousands of AA Loyalty Points without getting on a plane. Read the story.
|
|
🤼♂️ Thursday 
Mother and Daughter Trade Blows with Spirit Airlines Agents
Yikes! As soon as I heard that passengers were fighting with Spirit Airlines agents, I knew exactly what it was over. But this crazy incident offers a learning experience for all travel consumers. Read the story.
|
|
💬 TRAVEL QUOTE OF THE DAY "Only when we are no longer afraid do we begin to live." ~ Dorothy Thompson |
|
|
🌎 12 Things to Know in Travel Today 1 United Airlines will let families sit together more easily with new booking policy
2 New Zealand's cyclone death toll at 11, thousands still missing
3 Italy faces new drought alert as Venice canals run dry
4 San Diego woman sues TSA and San Diego Airport for fall in security line
5 New York zoo ends attempt to recapture Flaco the owl in Central Park
6 Airfare expected to rise in spring and summer, here's why
7 Reasons plane travel, airline customer service, airports are so terrible
8 Woman asks ChatGPT to write ‘polite but firm’ email to airline after delay and the result is fantastic
9 U.S. travel insurance to take off as year-end cancellations spook flyers
10 Brand new Boeing 747 scrapped after 16 flights
11 Have your antiques appraised by 'Antiques Roadshow' during this river cruise
12 Yesterday's TSA checkpoint numbers |
|
 TRAVEL TWEET OF THE DAY
@Luxetiffany: I love sitting on the aisle, but really dislike when my seat-mate won’t put the window shade up on takeoff. It’s very disorienting. Wish it was mandated like it is in Europe. |
|
|
📺 Travel Video of the Week |
|
 | | Grab a tissue: Southwest Airlines shares emotional video of tribute to veteran’s German Shepherd service dog on her last flight. Watch the video here. |
|
✅ Currency Exchange ✅ Calendar Countdown 🇪🇺 €1 Euro = $1.06 USD 🐇 48 Days to Easter
🇬🇧 £1 GBP = $1.20 USD 🇺🇸 98 Days to Memorial Day
🇨🇦 $1 CAD = $0.74 USD ✨ 134 Days to Fourth of July
🇦🇺 $1 AUD = $0.69 USD ⚒️ 195 Days to Labor Day
🇲🇽 $1 MXP = $.054 USD 🎃 253 Day to Halloween |
|
 | | Big bonuses on hotel credit cards mean free nights at some exotic and unique places.. Some of the best hotel credit card offers available now include limited-time bonuses of up to 175,000 points, the best offers ever on some of these cards.
For instance, one of the best Marriott credit cards, the Marriott Bonvoy Boundless® Credit Card, has a 100k bonus that easily offsets the $95 annual fee.. Alternatively, the $0 annual fee Marriott Bonvoy Bold® Credit Card has a new 60k point bonus.. Redeem points at Marriott's distinctive brands, including The Ritz-Carlton, St.. Regis, W Hotels, and Westin.
Several Hilton Honors credit cards also have new limited-time offers.. The Hilton Honors American Express Card has a 100k bonus and no annual fee.. Small business owners can take advantage of The Hilton Honors American Express Business Card's 165k offer (worth up to 33 reward nights!).. Redeem free nights for as low as 5,000 points at properties worldwide. |
|
✉️ 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. |
|
|
📺 This Week's Media Mentions and Appearances  |
|
|
|
|
