What “Duty-Free” Really Means

When shopping duty-free abroad, the “duty,” or, more accurately, “tax,” that you avoid is the tax that’s in effect where the airport is located. You’re not avoiding a U.S. import duty, which is very low on most items, anyways. The main tax is usually a value-added tax (VAT), although a local import tax could be involved, depending on the location. When duty-free shopping in the U.S., the taxes you avoid are the state and local sales taxes, and/or the federal excise tax that apply to some products.

Duty-Free Items Aren’t Necessarily Cheaper

Airport duty-free shops do not price items by simply dropping the tax; they price so as to be reasonably competitive in their local area. But the shops have to bear the usual retail overhead and also pay a stiff royalty to the airport, so the markups are still high.

Choose Your Duty-Free Purchases Strategically

When you’re returning to the U.S. after a foreign trip, the best buys are generally confined to items that are subject either to a stiff U.S. excise tax or to tight manufacturers’ price controls. That means liquor, tobacco, cosmetics, and fragrances typically offer the best deal.

Duty-Free Electronics Can Be More Expensive

Although they’re often available when duty-free shopping, cameras, watches, and other electronics are almost always cheaper online via sites like Amazon, Best Buy, Costco, or Walmart, than at any duty-free shop.

You Can Shop Duty-Free On Arrival

Some countries allow arriving international travelers to use duty-free shops before leaving the airport, but the U.S. does not. Returning U.S. travelers can buy duty-free only at foreign departure airports.

Liquor is the Most Popular Duty-Free Purchase

Liquor is probably the most popular duty-free buy for U.S. travelers. TSA rules allow travelers to bring liter bottles into the country as an added carry-on even on connecting domestic flights, as long as they’re packed in tamper-evident bags—which the duty-free stores provide with your purchase.

There Are Limits on Duty-Free Purchases

Returning U.S. citizens are allowed one liter of duty-free alcohol and a maximum of either 200 cigarettes or 100 cigars from most foreign countries. Some states impose tighter restrictions on import of liquor and tobacco than the federal restrictions. Conversely, “states may allow you to bring back more than one liter, but you will have to pay any applicable Customs duty and IRT,” according to U.S. Customs and Border Protection.

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Consumer advocate Ed Perkins has been writing about travel for more than three decades. The founding editor of the Consumer Reports Travel Letter, he continues to inform travelers and fight consumer abuse every day at SmarterTravel. Some of the links featured in this story are affiliate links, and SmarterTravel may collect a commission (at no cost to you) if you shop through them.

The post 7 Things You Need to Know About Duty-Free Shopping appeared first on SmarterTravel.

Passport Book vs. Passport Card

The standard passport book covers all the bases: It’s all the U.S. government requires for you to enter a foreign country and re-enter the United States on your return trip. First-time application fees total $165 (a $130 application fee and a $35 acceptance fee). Many foreign countries require nothing more for entry than a U.S. passport book, although some also require visas.

The passport card, meanwhile, is both less expensive and less flexible. The passport card can be used only to re-enter the U.S. from Canada, Mexico, the Caribbean, and Bermuda at a land border crossing or sea port-of-entry. You cannot use the passport card for international air travel, even when you re-enter the U.S. by land. The first-time fee for a passport card is $65 ($30 application fee and $35 acceptance fee).

You can get both a passport book and a passport card for $195 ($160 application fee and $35 acceptance fee).

Passport books or passport cards are both valid for 10 years after issue for adults, and five years for travelers under age 16. The State Department’s website offers complete details and an online application form.

Obviously, it’s far more useful to have a passport book vs. passport card in most cases where you plan to travel internationally. But if your international travel consists entirely of surface trips in the limited areas covered by the passport card, the card is both cheaper and a tad more convenient to carry and use versus the passport book.

Editor’s note: This story was originally published in 2016. It has been updated to reflect the most current information.

The post Passport Book vs. Passport Card: Which Do I Need? appeared first on SmarterTravel.

“I’m interested in finding a complete bumper-to-bumper, ‘drop off the keys at the counter’ car rental coverage when I travel. I recently thought I had complete coverage though a credit card, but when my car suffered a small dent, the car rental company flat-out refused to document that it actually lost income from having the car rental in the shop (which took three weeks to repair a small dent). I was left with responsibility.”

This experience is uncommon, but not unique. Car rental companies desperately want you to buy their collision damage waiver, or CDW (sometimes also known as loss damage waiver, or LDW), and will go to great lengths to make you pay for even the smallest damages if you don’t. Here’s what you need to know before you shell out for car rental insurance on your next vacation.

Car Rental Insurance: What You Need to Know

The One Way to ‘Drop the Keys and Forget It’

When you buy a CDW, the rental company surrenders its rights to charge you for damage to a car rental—with a few exceptions, such as tire damage or gross negligence. (CDW terms and conditions vary by car rental company, so you’ll want to read them carefully before committing.) But otherwise, no matter how banged up the car could be, you’re off the hook: Just turn it in and be on your way. No other approach—your own insurance, your credit card, or a third-party policy—is as comprehensive or convenient. If you want that full flexibility and peace of mind, pay for CDW.

CDW Insurance Is Ridiculously Overpriced

Typically, a CDW starts at around $30 per day and can go higher. The actuarial cost to the rental company—the amount it would allocate toward a damage pool based on risk experience—is probably just a few dollars a day; the rest is theirs to keep. No wonder the agents push it so hard: It’s clearly a lot more profitable than the car rental alone.

You’ll Pay Up Front for All Damage

You can cover your major damage responsibility by relying on your own insurance, a credit card with insurance, or a third-party policy. But in all of those cases you have to pay a damage claim up front, then recover as much as you can (all of it, you hope) by filing a claim afterward. That means signing a credit card bill for hundreds or even thousands of dollars when you return the damaged car, and not knowing if you’ll get that money back.

That’s why some rental companies won’t accept rentals via debit card, or a credit card with a small limit. If you can pay the initial rental fee with a debit card, you may still need to provide a credit card to cover a possible damage claim, which would be filed before you can leave the return counter.

‘Damage’ Is More than Fixing a Dent

If you don’t buy CDW, rental companies can charge for more than just fixing the damage. They may also charge for:

• “Loss of use,” meaning the potential revenue lost while the car is out of service being fixed, even if the company had lots of other cars available. And they generally figure that daily loss at the full retail rate.
• Towing charges, if you are unable to drive the car back to the return station.
• “Diminished value,” or the potential loss of the car’s resale value (because of your damage) when the rental company disposes of it, usually within two years.
• Administrative fees associated with the claims process.

Most non-CDW car rental insurance will cover those extras. But, in some cases, coverage depends on cooperation from the rental company—and it may not be forthcoming, as our reader’s above wasn’t.

You Need General Liability Protection

You should never get behind the wheel of a car—or lawnmower, for that matter—without liability protection. But you don’t buy that from a car rental company: It usually comes with household, homeowner, or tenant insurance, and it covers far more than a car rental. And if your net worth is in six figures, you probably need an “umbrella” liability policy that covers a million dollars or more.

Car rental companies in most countries are required by law to include liability insurance. In the U.S., required coverage can be ludicrously small (usually only the minimum required by the state)—it’s usually much better in Europe. If you don’t have substantial liability insurance, you might consider buying the rental company’s offering. Still, your best bet is to make sure you’re covered 24/7 with your own insurance so you can forget about the rental company’s overpriced insurance.

Alternatives to Rental Company Collision Damage Waivers

Alternative #1: Pay with Your Existing Car Insurance

In many cases, if your regular auto insurance covers collision damage to your insured car, it also covers damage to a short-term rental. But this coverage is generally limited to driving in the U.S. and maybe Canada, and won’t cover car rentals in Mexico, Europe, or anywhere else. So, before you plan on using your own insurance, check its coverage. If it does cover rentals, you can place a claim on it. Still, you must typically pay your policy’s deductible, and any claims may cause your rates to go up.

Alternative #2: Use Credit Card Benefits

These days, most credit cards provide “free” collision coverage for car rentals, provided you use the card to secure the rental. A sample credit card benefits statement describes coverage as:

“Physical damage and/or theft of the covered rental vehicle. Valid loss-of-use charges assessed by the rental company while the damaged vehicle is being repaired and is not available for use, as substantiated in the company’s fleet utilization log. Reasonable and customary towing charges related to a covered loss to take the vehicle to the nearest qualified repair facility.”

Note that this typical Visa card’s benefits do not cover diminished value or administrative costs. A few premium credit cards offer primary collision coverage, meaning the card takes full responsibility for the payment. But coverage on most cards is secondary, meaning the card picks up only what you can’t first recover from your own insurance. And you still have to pay the rental company up front, then file for reimbursement from your card issuer.

Another gotcha in the above fine print: This card (and many others) pays for loss of use only if verified by the rental company’s log. Unfortunately, some rental companies don’t cooperate with credit card issuers in providing this type of documentation in a timely manner.

Alternative #3: Third-Party Car Rental Insurance

If you rent a car through one of the big online travel agencies (OTA) such as Expedia or Priceline, the agency normally offers you the option to buy collision coverage for around $10 a day. That coverage is provided by a third-party insurance company such as Allianz. The cost is a lot less than the rental company’s CDW, but, as with credit card coverage, if you damage the car, you have to pay up front and claim later.

Typical third-party collision coverage includes about the same contingencies as credit card coverage, but because it’s grouped with the booking you won’t have to make any other claims. You can also buy collision coverage independently: Bonzah, for example, sells coverage at around $10-$20 per day.

You should never get behind the wheel of a car—or lawnmower, for that matter—without liability protection. But you don’t buy that from a car rental company: It usually comes with household, homeowner, or tenant insurance, and it covers far more than a car rental. And if your net worth is in six figures, you probably need an “umbrella” liability policy that covers a million dollars or more.

Car rental companies in most countries are required by law to include liability insurance. In the U.S., required coverage can be ludicrously small (usually only the minimum required by the state)—it’s usually much better in Europe. If you don’t have substantial liability insurance, you might consider buying the rental company’s offering. Still, your best bet is to make sure you’re covered 24/7 with your own insurance so you can forget about the rental company’s overpriced insurance.

The Uncertainty Principle

The takeaway from all this: No alternative source of collision damage coverage—your auto insurance, your credit card, or a third party—completely isolates you from risk. Lots of travelers successfully rely on lower-cost alternatives to CDW without encountering any problems, sure. Occasionally, however, your own insurance, credit card, or third-party policy may not cover an unusual charge a rental company might impose.

If you’re unwilling to accept any risk at all, you might want to buy that overpriced CDW. For most travelers and circumstances, credit card or third-party coverage is sufficient, and primary coverage is a lot better than secondary.

Consumer advocate Ed Perkins, the founding editor of the Consumer Reports Travel Letter, has been writing about travel for more than three decades.

Editor’s note: This story was originally published in 2017. It has been updated to reflect the most current information.

The post The Truth About Car Rental Insurance You Need to Know appeared first on SmarterTravel.

I found 10 lines that qualify, listed here alphabetically, with samples of posted one-way fares. Most lines employ capacity-controlled pricing: As buses fill up, fares for remaining seats increase. Most lines also offer a variety of round-trip, multi-ride, frequent-traveler membership, student, and similar discounts. Most require reservations, and pick up and leave travelers on public-street loading zones, or sometimes at hotels.

Editors’ Note: Included fares are accurate at time of publication.

BestBus

BestBus is one of the many bus lines that operate between New York City and the Washington, D.C. area. Although most of its trips use conventional intercity buses, one or two daily trips feature “Prime” service that offers the necessary luxury mix. At least one trip operates most days nonstop between New York Penn Station and Washington-area drop off points at DuPont Circle and Union Station and three stops in suburban Virginia. The Prime fare for February starts at around $47 one-way, compared with $38-40 for the regular service; trips take four hours and more.

Amtrak offers frequent competition, with trips taking from a bit under three hours (Acela, from $155) to 3:30 hours (Northeast Regional, hovering around at $115 with fares below $100 available on specific dates).

C&J Bus Lines

C&J operates at least two daily trips, all with luxury buses, on two main routes:

• Connecting Boston with Dover, Portsmouth, and Seabrook New Hampshire. Trips take 55 minutes to Seabrook, at $13.99, to 1:30 to 2 hours to Dover at $14.99, and on average 1:15 to 1:30 to Portsmouth at $14.99.
• Connecting New York with Andover, Massachusetts as well as Seabrook and Portsmouth, New Hampshire. Trips take 4 hours to Andover, fares are $74. Trips to Seabrook take between 4:30 and 4:45 and trips to Portsmouth take roughly 5:15, fares for both are $84.

Concord Coach Lines

Concord operates several trunk routes, but offers its luxury “Plus Bus” on one daily round trip each on its route connecting New York City with Portland, Maine (6 hours, $79).

Amtrak connects New York with Portland, but a train trip requires changing trains and stations in Boston. The shortest connection for a trip in early March takes six hours and costs $84, including bus transfer between stations in Boston. Competitive air service to Portland for a similar time frame starts at $45 one way.

Dartmouth Coach

Dartmouth Coach operates luxury bus trips at least once daily with extra weekend service between New York City and Hanover/Dartmouth and Lebanon, New Hampshire. Trips take about five hours; fares start at $89. This company is affiliated with Concord Coach Lines and appears to offer a similar luxury product. Dartmouth also operates from the Boston area, but only with conventional buses.

Amtrak does not go near Dartmouth or Lebanon. Flights from New York to Lebanon start at around $134 one way, and require about four hours with a plane change at Boston.

Hampton Jitney

The Hampton Jitney operates between New York and the main eastern Long Island centers, including three to four daily luxury “Ambassador” service trips to/from Montauk, with additional trips to/from Amagansett. Montauk trips take 3:15; fares start at roughly $45.

The competition to the Hamptons is the Long Island Rail Road Montauk line. Montauk trips take 3:15 and cost $22.25 off-peak, $30.50 peak.

Red Coach

Red Coach operates a complex network linking Miami with Tallahassee while also serving key intermediate stops. Although it also operates conventional buses, Red Coach operates luxury First Class runs several times daily between Miami and Tallahassee via Orlando. Miami-Tallahassee trips take about nine and a half hours, with fares starting at $99; Orlando-Miami trips take about 4 hours with fares starting at $45.

Red Coach competes with Amtrak, Brightline, and Tri-Met between some South Florida stops, but no rail line operates to/from Tallahassee or between Atlanta and Florida. Miami-Tallahassee nonstop flight fares start at roughly $150 round trip, taking two hours nonstop or over five hours with a layover.

Tripper Bus Elite

Tripper Bus is one of the many lines that operate between New York City and the Washington DC area. The line runs between two and seven trips each day, and on most days one of those trips uses a luxury “Elite” bus. Trips run between New York City Penn Station area and stops in suburban Bethesda and  Arlington. Travel time is 4:00 hours; Elite class fares start around $60, compared with regular fares which start at $27. See “BestBus” entry for Amtrak and airline competition.

Vamoose Gold

Vamoose is yet another New York-to-Washington bus line that operates a luxury service. “Gold Bus” trips operate three to four times per day between midtown Manhattan and stops in Bethesda, Maryland, and Arlington and Lorton, Virginia. The trips take 4:00 to 4:30 hours to/from Bethesda; 4:40 to/from Arlington; and 5:00 to 5:30 to/from Lorton. Gold Bus fares start at $79, depending on time of day; regular fares start at $49. See “BestBus” entry for Amtrak and airline competition.

Vonlane

Vonlane operates an extensive network of all-luxury bus routes connecting Austin, Dallas, Fort Worth, Houston, Atlanta, and San Antonio. All stops are at city-center hotels except for Dallas, where the terminal is at a Love Field hotel. Sample fares from Houston to Fort Worth are $129; the trip takes four hours.

All Vonlane routes are serviced by multiple airlines, including Southwest. Sample nonstop airfares for Houston-Dallas in late February start at $154 one way, decreasing to under $100 for select dates in March. Amtrak operates one train daily between Oklahoma City and Fort Worth and one train daily Dallas-Austin-San Antonio. Coach fares Dallas-San Antonio start at $37 for a 10-hour trip.

Washington Deluxe

Washington Deluxe is the fourth (on my list) New York-Washington bus line that offers a deluxe option. “LUX” buses operate less than daily between New York/Penn Station and Washington/DuPont Circle. The trip takes 4:00 to 4:30; the fare starts at $35. See “BestBus” entry for Amtrak competition.

The post A Guide to 10 ‘Luxury Bus’ Lines You Can Take Instead of Amtrak appeared first on SmarterTravel.

As with so many other travel buys, like the best hotel booking sites and the best airfare booking sites, to find the very best car rental deals you’ll need to cast a wide net. Still, some places tend to do better than others, at least some of the time.

Some of the links featured in this story are affiliate links, and SmarterTravel may collect a commission (at no cost to you) if you shop through them.

The Best Car Rental Booking Sites in the U.S. and Europe

Here’s a quick roundup of the candidates for best car rental booking sites, based on detailed car searches in both the U.S. and Europe. (Find more details below on the perks and downfalls of each.)

• AutoRentals.com
• Hotwire
• Rentalcars.com
• Priceline
• Expedia
• Low-cost car rental booking sites Alamo, Payless, and Thrifty
• Sixt Car Rentals
• AARP’s discount with Avis, Budget, and Payless
• Auto Europe
• Rentcars.com
• Kayak
• CarRentals.com
• Autoslash

I tested base rental car rates by searching only for economy or compact cars, for a rental period of one week, and only for picking up and returning the car at the primary airports for a number of city destinations in both the U.S. and Europe. All quoted rates (except for opaque rates that hide car specifics until after you purchase their lower-priced deal) are fully cancellable, although some require an advance payment with the option of a refund given upon cancellation. Some vendors offer lower non-refundable rates. All rates include air-conditioning and all U.S. rates include automatic transmission; European rates are for manual since automatic comes at a premium there.

For the most part, the search-and-buy sequence is roughly the same for all car rental booking sites. No one rose out of the mix as especially easy or dropped as especially difficult. Therefore, my comparisons are based almost entirely on my ability to locate the best deals.

AutoRentals.com

Overall, AutoRentals.com is an excellent place to start a search. It’s a metasearch system that displays a matrix of prices for up to 25 model options available through more than two dozen different sources, including a mix of other metasearch car rental booking sites, online travel agencies, and rental company home pages. Price displays include both the posted daily rate and the all-up cost of the requested rental. The display also indicates which rental locations, if any, are off-airport—which is important. This matrix feature is especially helpful in comparing options quickly.

Pros: Coverage of major cities is worldwide. Once you select an option to check, AutoRentals links you through to the vendor’s web pages to make your booking, and it includes many rental companies and search systems you’ve probably never heard about, let alone would find on your own.

Cons: Some of the “best deals” reported are not actually the true total price; they exclude some taxes and fees. And some are not fully cancellable—they’re either nonrefundable or entail a cancellation fee. This information is not disclosed until well into the booking process, and even then you have to dig for it.

Hotwire

Car rentals on Hotwire offered some of the lowest rates by way of “opaque” rates in most of my U.S. tests. Opaque means that you don’t find out about the rental company until after you pay the nonrefundable price. Given the sameness of cars, however, you risk very little disappointment with an opaque rate.

Pros: Hotwire’s leadership in low rates is confirmed by the AutoRentals matrix, where it shows up as the best buy on a regular basis.

Cons: I did not find as many opaque rates for Europe on Hotwire.

Rentalcars.com

Rentalcars.com consistently yielded good prices for my searches, though it didn’t always win every test. The site covers rentals in 160 countries worldwide.

Pros: As with AutoRentals.com, Rentalcars.com is a metasearch system that makes it easy to compare offers. In some cases it offers opaque rates for lower prices if you don’t mind not knowing the exact car type.

Cons: Because some of the booking sites Rentalcars.com works with may be unfamiliar to you, the site shows user ratings for each so you can decide whether you’re comfortable booking. Unfortunately, some of them don’t have particularly high ratings (in one search, many of the results on page one were from providers rated just 5.9 out of 10).

Priceline

Like Hotwire, Priceline car rentals list opaque rates as the lowest options in many U.S. cities. Although Hotwire posted lower ones more often, Priceline was a winner in some cases. So if you’re looking for the lowest, you have to try both.

Pros: The chance of it having the true lowest price. If you already use this site for hotels or airfare, it’s also easy to add on a car (as with the other big search engine booking sites).

Cons: I didn’t find any opaque rates for Europe in my Priceline searches.

Expedia

Expedia consistently offered or matched the lowest or near-lowest rates as frequently as Priceline and Rentalcars.com did. Plus the option to bundle with your airfare or hotel is easy and could save you money (as with other price comparison engines), if you already use Expedia for those, as many do.

Pros: In almost all cases, rates were the same as through the rental company’s own system. And if you already use this site for hotels or airfare, it’s easy to add on a car.

Cons: Expedia doesn’t seem to offer opaque rates, which is only truly a con if you’re looking for them.

Low-Cost Car Rental Booking Sites

In general, prices directly from low-end renters such as Alamo, Payless, and Thrifty were always less expensive than the top-name rental companies, usually with a difference of $100 or more per week.

Pros: The obvious benefit is you’re paying a lot less. But…

Cons: The trade-off is that the low-end outfits and third-party agencies generally don’t include the bells and whistles that top-end company loyalty programs provide. I also sometimes found lower rates on metasearch sites such as AutoRentals.com or Rentalcars.com than I did when booking directly through the low-cost car rental booking sites.

Sixt Rent a Car

For European cities, the Sixt booking site is proof that higher-end companies occasionally offer specials better any other source. At the time of my search, the German company was running a “special” found to be the cheapest option in some cases, but didn’t specify the rental company.

Pros: Another strong chance of finding the lowest price.

Cons: The grid layout and dropdown details panels on the search results page is not as easy to navigate as the results pages on other sites on the list.

AARP Partners

If you qualify for them, AARP’s car rental partnership with the Avis Group (Avis, Budget, and Payless) promises discounts up to 30 percent, and in some cases I did find prices lower than those I’d seen anywhere else.

Pros: AARP rates could end up saving you money over all your other options.

Cons: Even with a “discount,” you might not be getting the lowest rate, so you still have to shop around.

Auto Europe

In Europe, Auto Europe generally matched all other sources, including self-described “discounters,” for offering the lowest rates. Think of it as the AutoRentals.com or Rentalcars.com of Europe.

Pros: I’ve used Auto Europe in the past, and found its customer support to be outstanding. It can also help with difficult rentals, such as finding a rental agency in Ireland that accepts drivers over age 70. It’s a good place to start any European rental search.

Cons: As you’d expect from its name, Auto Europe is best for bookings in Europe. This car rental booking site does offer rentals in the U.S. and elsewhere, but usually won’t get you the best price for them.

Rentcars.com

Rentcars.com is another metasearch system that raises similar results to those search engines that were included in my original tests. Like the others, it manages to dig out some good deals.

Pros: It scans more than 200 rental car companies and confines the search display to the most useful prices.

Cons: As with many other sites, the best prices it finds are sometimes pay-in-advance, including full or partial non-refundability, meaning you need to know ahead of time that your plans are concrete unless you want to lose prepayments.

Kayak

Kayak is best known for airfare metasearch, but it offers a good product for car rentals as well. It searches numerous car rental agencies and booking sites and came up with some of the best prices in my tests. It includes opaque options advertising a “surprise agency” if you’re willing to take a risk.

Pros: The site has lots of handy filters, including “pay now” and “pay at counter” as well as an option to show only hybrid vehicles.

Cons: Kayak works with a wide variety of booking sites, which means you’ll sometimes be pointed to companies you’re not familiar with. Search for reviews before booking with vendors you haven’t used before.

CarRentals.com

CarRentals.com is owned by Expedia, but it didn’t show the exact same results as its parent company in the tests I ran, so it’s worth checking both. (Neither one came out consistently ahead of the other.)

Pros: The site has some interesting filter options, including customer rating and the option for online check-in.

Cons: Making a booking through this site automatically signs you up for emails about “special offers,” with no way to opt out until the first email arrives.

Autoslash

Autoslash is a one-stop shopping site for discounts. When filling out your dates, you also check off any rewards programs or memberships you have, and let Autoslash do the searching for you. Within minutes, you will get an email with a link taking you to your best rate.

Pros: Ability to search all rewards programs and membership discounts at once. If you’ve already booked through another site, you can enter your confirmation number, and they will let you know if there is a better deal available.

Cons: You may have to pay in advance for the best deal, and you may have to book with a lesser-known car rental company.

The Car Rental Booking Site Gotchas to Avoid

No matter where you rent, you have to check out the terms and conditions of any rental before you make your final purchase. Among them:

• Great-looking deals that are nonrefundable or entail a stiff cancellation penalty.
• Cancellable deals that require upfront payment rather than payment at the end of a rental.
• Best deals that apply to tiny “economy” or “mini” cars that are not practical for anything other than running errands around town.
• Occasional deals with a mileage cap instead of the unlimited mileage you normally expect.
• Supposedly all-up prices that exclude some local taxes and fees.

Book a Stay With SmarterTravel Hotels

Now that you’ve found the perfect rental car, you’ll need to find the perfect place to stay. Search SmarterTravel Hotels for great deals wherever your drive takes you.

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Consumer advocate Ed Perkins has been writing about travel for more than three decades. The founding editor of the Consumer Reports Travel Letter, he continues to inform travelers and fight consumer abuse every day at SmarterTravel.

Editor’s note: This story was originally published in 2019. It has been updated to reflect the most current information. Sarah Schlichter contributed to this story.

The post The 16 Best Car Rental Booking Sites for 2023 appeared first on SmarterTravel.

You’ve probably seen lots of stories lately suggesting that you buy “cancel for any reason” (CFAR) travel insurance. This suggestion is based on the fact that conventional trip-cancellation insurance is “named peril” insurance. Meaning: Reimbursement is contingent on a specific exigency named in the policy: If it isn’t named, you aren’t covered.

Focus on “any reason” insurance has assumed prominence recently because many conventional policies do not include a pandemic as a “covered reason.” Often, however, recommendations to buy “any reason” insurance don’t provide details about how it actually works. Here’s what you need to know:

What Is Cancel For Any Reason Insurance?

Typically, the “any reason” coverage is in addition to the traditional coverage that is limited to “covered reasons” for cancellation enumerated in the policy.

Does CFAR Cost More?

Some insurers bundle it into some policies; others treat it as an add-on option. Either way, you pay more than you would for conventional coverage. On a sample trip that a middle-age couple might buy, with a total of $4500 in prepayments, for example, the base cost of the least expensive bundled policy was $220; with 75 percent cancel for any reason, the price increases to $370.

What Does CFAR Cover?

The most common CFAR policies cover between 50 to 75 percent of your nonrefundable prepayments. Coverage kicks in when the typical 100 percent recovery for cancellation due to a “covered reason” does not apply. It does not replace the traditional coverages: You still recover 100 percent for covered reasons.

To qualify for “any reason,” you must:

• Insure the full value of all nonrefundable or at-risk payments

• Buy the insurance within a set period, typically 15 to 21 days, of your original trip payment

• Cancel no less than 48 hours before scheduled departure

Many policies include trip-interruption coverage along with cancellation. That means it covers unanticipated costs of rejoining a departure you missed or unexpectedly returning home early. Interruption coverage is subject to the same 48-hour time limit and 75 percent recovery.

Consumer advocate Ed Perkins has been writing about travel for more than three decades.

The post Cancel for Any Reason Insurance, Explained appeared first on SmarterTravel.

And while statistics vary depending on source and assumptions, public data makes clear that U.S. airline passengers are down about 90 percent for this time of year. International passengers are down at least as much, and domestic air travel in many parts of the world is also down, or shut off completely. Rewards site Upgraded Points recently put those staggering numbers into visuals, which offer a holistic view of the situation thus far.

Here’s what stands out in terms of the about-face COVID-19 has forced upon travel, and data visuals by Upgraded Points that illustrate them.

While very few people are flying (which we’ll refer to as foot traffic), air traffic is higher. As of late-April, about half of all U.S. domestic flights are regularly being canceled despite a 90 percent drop in foot traffic.

The discrepancy between foot traffic and flights is explained by one simple fact: The recent U.S. stimulus bill that offered rescue funds for airports and airlines requires that U.S. airlines continue serving the points they usually serve—which they are doing, by flying virtually empty planes.

Similar effects are seen in Asia and Europe, where foot traffic is down at least 75 percent and many airlines are not required to continue service.

For example, Porter Airlines has suspended all flights, as has RyanAir and Royal Air Maroc. More carriers have suspended all international service, including South African Airways, Turkish, Avianca, and Qantas. The number of daily commercial flights flown globally has decreased by 76.5 percent.

Airlines are having a tough time finding places to park their idle aircraft. As an odd consequence, Southwest is, for now, the world’s largest airline in terms of seats flown per day.

Airports are taking a similar hit, and with a drastic reduction in passengers comes a drastic reduction in workers. Several big multi-terminal fields have concentrated flights into one or two terminals and closed the others. 

All this means big-time economic losses: 4.6 million job losses are projected in the U.S alone in 2020. Sources estimate a loss of 4.6 million jobs in the U.S. travel industry—and counting. It’s no surprise that most airline stocks are tanking. According to International Air Transportation Association (IATA), only Asia looks to lose more passenger revenue this year than North America.

Currently, airlines are offering some very attractive fares, both for the near and long term. Transcon economy round-trips, for example, starting at less than $300 for travel in May; you can (but probably shouldn’t) fly to London for less than $400. But premium-cabin fares are still high.

At present, most airline schedules show minimum service operations through September 30, which is about when U.S. stimulus money is expected to run out. At this time, nobody knows whether conditions will allow airlines to start rebuilding schedules by that time or face widespread closures. For now, most states remain closed or in some state of closures.

The ancient curse “may you live in interesting times” certainly applies to today’s airlines and travelers alike.

More from SmarterTravel:

• OP-ED: You’re Entitled to a Refund for Any Canceled Flight, Even During a Pandemic
• 14 Booking Sites’ COVID-19 Cancellation Policies
• Travel in the Time of COVID-19: What You Need to Know

Consumer advocate Ed Perkins has been writing about travel for more than three decades. The founding editor of the Consumer Reports Travel Letter, he continues to inform travelers and fight consumer abuse every day at SmarterTravel.

The post 5 Charts That Show COVID-19's Impact on Air Travel appeared first on SmarterTravel.

For decades, airlines just about everywhere have been resisting government-mandated passenger rights regulations. Despite the fact that the airlines brought on themselves many of the regulations they hate; they’ve had a remarkably deaf ear for customer pain points. That struggle has been ongoing for years both in the U.S. and abroad.

But now some airlines are using the financial squeeze of the global COVID-19 shutdown to ask for “relief” from those legal requirements like providing refunds for canceled flights, or compensation for lengthy delays. Those terms are mandated by the European Union, but impact flights operating elsewhere, too.

What the E.U. Has Long Required of Airlines

The primary current target is European Union’s Regulation EU 261/2004 for passenger compensation in case of delays. A rule called E.U. 261 has long required covered airlines to compensate travelers by cash payments of:

• about $275 for a delay of two hours or more; on a flight of less than 930 miles
• about $435 for a delay of three hours or more; on a flight of 930 to 5,600 miles
• about $650 for a delay of four hours or more; on a flight of 2,175 miles or more

In addition, airlines are required to provide accommodations for overnight delays. And if a flight is delayed five hours or more, travelers have the option of a refund of all unused tickets and of tickets already used if the flight no longer serve’s any purpose. That’s on top of a no-cost return to the passenger’s origin point.

Airlines sometimes avoid some of the payments if they can provide proof that the delay or cancellation was due to extraordinary circumstances, but those exceptions are rare. E.U. 261 applies not just to flights within the E.U., but also flights from E.U. to and from points outside the E.U., regardless of where the given airline is based.

What E.U. Airlines Are Trying to Change Now

The current proposal is to lengthen the delay times that trigger compensation from two, three, and four hours to five, nine, and 12 hours, respectively, and to exclude some routes entirely. It’s also been reported that some airlines want more wiggle room to avoid payments. The latter proposal, submitted by Croatia, is viewed locally as a compromise.

Most travelers in the U.S. probably aren’t aware of the E.U. 261’s compensation requirements, or that it can apply to them. U.S. domestic air travelers have no comparable protections at at home: The only cash compensation rules in the U.S. cover the singular case of bumping due to overbooking. What U.S. travelers get in other delays and cancellations is determined by each line’s contract of carriage, and no airline offers cash compensation for delays. (The DOT does require refunds for canceled flights, however, for any flights operating to, from, or within the U.S.—as does the E.U.)

It’s anyone’s guess what will happen to the current proposal. But Brexit regulations still being laid out also raise the issue of whether the U.K. will continue to honor E.U. 261 in general.

Cash refunds for canceled flights during the pandemic and beyond is another skirmish in itself. Regulations in both the E.U. and U.S. require cash or credit-card refunds (credit vouchers do not suffice). But airlines in much of the world are fighting to overturn those requirements, too. The government of Canada recently said it will allow its airlines to forgo refunds for canceled flights.

So far, neither the U.S. nor the E.U. has granted airlines’ wishes. The U.S. issued an enforcement notice warning to airlines, and the E.U. stated that airlines currently still need to follow E.U. 261, and that: “In order to change any provision of this law, you would need wide support for an agreement from the other institutions.”

But never underestimate the power of high-priced lobbyists, and stay tuned for updates.

More from SmarterTravel:

• Should I Cancel My June Trip? Take a Flight Credit?
• Flight Cancellation Rights: The Ultimate Guide
• How COVID-19 Could Impact Your Frequent Flyer Miles

Consumer advocate Ed Perkins has been writing about travel for more than three decades. The founding editor of the Consumer Reports Travel Letter, he continues to inform travelers and fight consumer abuse every day at SmarterTravel.

The post How COVID-19 Is Waging a New War on Air Passenger Rights appeared first on SmarterTravel.

If you’re avoiding booking flights for the foreseeable future due to COVID-19, you might be wondering what’s going to happen to your frequent flyer status and/or airline points in the meantime.

For many frequent flyers and business travelers, the most important benefits of frequent-flyer membership are through special “elite” status: The prime benefits are no-cost upgrades to available premium seats via various priority lists, as well as preferential treatment on relaxed baggage restrictions, better boarding group, fewer or no seat-assignment fees, and faster ways to earn more miles/points.

Those upgrades are a powerful loyalty attractor. Elite members go to great lengths to retain or upgrade their status level, and the schedule reductions and travel restrictions due to the COVID-19 pandemic have seriously thwarted their ability to retain and improve status. The same goes for hotel chains with loyal members.

Recognizing this problem, and wishing to retain loyalty of their best customers, many airlines and hotels have started to ease status requirements for the duration of the epidemic. They’ve also extended validity of some important elite-status benefits. And some airlines have even eased restrictions on use of miles for ordinary, non-elite flyers.

Airlines Changing Points Terms Due to COVID-19

Several airlines have already announced their changes; others are sure to follow. The changes listed below are effective as of April 20. They’re moving targets: Look for further, rolling, extensions, especially those scheduled to end this month or next. Further down are the hotel chains offering points or elite-status term changes.

Alaska Airlines

Elite flyers can retain their current status on Alaska through at least December 31, 2021.  Companion certificates earned through the line’s credit card slated to expire in 2020 are extended: Apply certificates by December 2020 for travel through November 6, 2021. Status-earning miles acquired between January 1 and Apr 30, 2020, will roll over to 2021. You can find more information here.

Air Canada

Elite flyers on Air Canada retain their current status through December 31, 2021. Frequent flyers will not have to pay a fee to redeposit miles used to book award flights, through at least April 30. Accrued miles will not expire through May 14. You can find more information here.

American

Elite flyers whose status expires on January 1, 2020, will retain their current status through January 2022. Upgrade certificates slated to expire on January 31, 2021, are extended to July 31, 2021. You can find more information here.

Delta

Elite flyers with Delta retain their current status through January 31, 2022. Status-earning miles acquired in 2020 will roll over to 2021. Sky Club memberships set to expire March 31 or later are extended for six months. You can find more information here.

Upgrade certificates and vouchers scheduled to expire March 1 through June 30 are extended until December 31, 2020. Certificates and vouchers expiring after June 30 are extended for six months.

Hawaiian

Hawaiian “will not be expiring any miles from March 1, 2020 through December 31, 2020. Members with miles set to expire within this time period will retain their full mileage balance. [Prior] standard expiration policy will resume on January 1, 2021.” You can find more information here.

Southwest

A-List and A-List Preferred flyers with elite status through December 21 will have status extended through December 31, 2021. Companion passes earned through December 31, 2020 will be extended through June 30, 2021. You can find more information here.

United Airlines

Elite flyers on United retain their current status through January 31, 2022. United has lowered mileage and spend requirements for the 2021 status year to earn various status levels by 50 percent.. Frequent flyers will not have to pay a fee to redeposit miles used to book award flights, through at least May 31. You can find more information here.

Expiration dates on several annual-pay programs, such as Wi-Fi, checked, bags, United Club membership, and seating in Economy Plus are extended by six months. Electronic travel certificates are now valid for 23 months.

WestJet

WestJet has upgraded or extended members who were on track to attain status in March through May, and it will “continue to look after” other travelers whose elite status might be affected by coronavirus changes. WestJet is also extending the validity of various vouchers and certificates, by varying periods—check the website for details. You can find more information here.

Other North American Lines

Clearly, the other big airlines with robust elite-status programs—specifically, American and Hawaiian—are likely to announce similar policies, within weeks if not days. On other U.S. and Canadian lines, status is a lot less important, but you can expect some relaxation of various frequent flyer rules from those lines fairly soon, as well.

Foreign Lines

Big foreign lines, too, are easing rules and extending status. Lines that have extended status for a year include LATAM, Qantas, Qatar, and Virgin Australia; Virgin Atlantic has extended status six months. Air France/KLM, Cathay Pacific, Emirates, and Etihad are adding miles to accounts or lowering status requirements. Many of these lines are also extending validity of various upgrades and companion certificates—check their respective websites for more information.

Bonus: Amtrak

Even Amtrak is relaxing some rules. Upgrade, companion, and various other certificates earned through the Guest Rewards program due to expire are extended through September 25, 2020. And earned points expiration dates are also extended to that date.

Hotels Changing Points Terms Due to COVID-19

The giant hotel chains operate frequent-stay programs that offer substantial elite-level benefits such as room upgrades, free meals, and early check-in/late check-out, along with the room awards available to ordinary members. They, too, are reacting to the fact that members can’t earn credit as quickly as they can during normal periods. In fact, their extensions are generally more generous than those of the airlines.

Accor

Accor has added bonus points to member account that reduce the points required to qualify or requalify for elite levels. You can find more information here.

Best Western

Current member status levels are extended through January 31, 2022. You can find more information here.

Hilton

Current member status levels for 2019 scheduled to end on March 31, 2020, are extended through March 31, 2021. Members with 2020 status is extended to March 31, 2022. Accrued points due to expire in 2020 will remain valid through December 31, 2020. Accrued Weekend Night rewards are extended through August 31, 2021. You can find more information here.

Hyatt

Elite status levels as of March 31 are extended through February 28, 2022. Unused awards with expiration dates between March 1, 2020 and December 31, 2020 are extended to December 31, 2021. Accrued points due to expire in 2020 will remain valid through December 31, 2020. You can find more information here.

IHG

Qualifying points required to reach the several elite levels are reduced by at least 25 percent , through 2021. Points due to expire between April 1 and December 31 will remain valid through December 31, 2020. Award night certificates due to expire between March 1 and December 31 will remain valid until December 31, 2020, and certificates issued in 202 will have an 18-month validity period. You can find more information here.

Marriott

Current elite status is extended through February, 2022. Expiration dates for accrued points are extended to February, 2021. Active award night awards expiring in 2020 are extended to January 31, 2021. You can find more information here.

Radisson

Current elite status is extended through February, 2022. Certificates and scheduled to expire through July 31, 2020, will remain valid through June 30, 2021. Point expiration is extended by six months. You can find more information here.

Wyndham

Wyndham says it is “pausing the expiration of any Wyndham Rewards points until September 30, 2020 and [has] extended current Wyndham Rewards Member Levels (status) for all members globally through the end of 2021.” You can find more information here.

More from SmarterTravel:

• Travel in the Time of COVID-19: What You Need to Know
• Travelers Are Owed Swift Refunds for Canceled Flights, DOT Warns Airlines
• OP-ED: You’re Entitled to a Refund During a Pandemic

Consumer advocate Ed Perkins has been writing about travel for more than three decades. The founding editor of the Consumer Reports Travel Letter, he continues to inform travelers and fight consumer abuse every day at SmarterTravel.

The post COVID-19 Could Impact Your Points and Frequent-Flyer Terms—for the Better appeared first on SmarterTravel.

The State Department defines that emergency in-person service as only for “serious illnesses, injuries, or deaths in your immediate family (e.g., parent, child, spouse, sibling, aunt, uncle, etc.).” A more complete list is available on the State Department’s website.

However, if you have travel plans on the far horizon (or hope to) you can still apply for renewal by mail, with some caveats. Expedited service is not available, and the State Department notes that you can “expect significant delays.” It’s unclear how long that delay will be, and it’s worth noting that for a renewal you’ll need to mail in your current passport with the renewal application. The department urges travelers to “please consider waiting to apply until we resume normal operations.”

Even if you qualify for emergency in-person service, options are currently very limited: The State Department says that passport offices in Atlanta, Connecticut, New Orleans, New York, and San Juan (Puerto Rico) are among those completely closed until further notice. And many of the other acceptance facilities, such as court clerks and post offices, are either closed or no longer accepting in-person passport applications.

At any in-person facility you will need an appointment, which you can make through the National Passport Information Center here, or by calling your local court or post office. For that appointment, you’ll need a completed application, supporting documents, proof of the life-or-death emergency, and proof of international travel specific to the emergency.

If you have an application in process, the State Department will continue to process it, but you can expect those undefined delays. Check the State Department’s website for details and application tracking.

The State Department says these current limitations will remain in effect until “normal operations” resume, which is clearly a very uncertain deadline at this time. If you will need a new or renewed passport in the near future, bookmark the above links for up-to-date information.

More from SmarterTravel:

• How to Renew a Passport: The Ultimate Guide
• Passport Book vs. Passport Card: Which Do You Need
• 17 Essential Passport Wallets and Holders

Consumer advocate Ed Perkins has been writing about travel for more than three decades. The founding editor of the Consumer Reports Travel Letter, he continues to inform travelers and fight consumer abuse every day at SmarterTravel.

The post Non-Emergency Passport Applications Have Halted appeared first on SmarterTravel.