Travel

By Robert McGarvey

You believe – we all believe – that it is our network of airport lounges that keep us sane as we travel. Outside, in the airport public areas, there is a madding crowd and its vulgar din. Inside, in our lounges, there is tranquility and civility. We take all that as fact.

But now our beliefs are under attack. Mainly due to overcrowding of lounges.  A recent Travel Weekly headline offered up this verdict: “Airplanes are packed, and the lounges also seem to be crowded.”

You’ve had this experience: enduring a long line and wait to enter a lounge and, once inside, there’s nowhere to sit and who wants to stand in a crowded room and slurp cheap wine?

That is why I am now doing something I don’t believe I ever have done before: mapping out my lounge experiences pre-trip and I am thinking beyond the Centurion which had been my go-to – but its deserved popularity is undermining the guest experience at many airports. If there is one and it doesn’t look to be bursting, I’ll of course check it out and Amex even makes that easy to do in the mobile app. One Mile at a Time tells how here.

And when I just checked the Centurion at PHX, the app warned me: “almost full.”

That’s why nowadays I want alternatives.

Incidentally, there is a belief that the overcrowded lounge is something of a myth.  That Travel Weekly story reported this: “Priority Pass network includes more than 100 U.S. lounges and pass-affiliated restaurants, said visits in July remained 7% below July 2019.”  American Airlines told the publication overcrowding hasn’t been an issue at its clubs. United said that where it has seen overcrowding it’s due to club closures (e.g., at EWR).  So maybe the worries about overcrowded lounges are exaggerated.

Even so I am doing a pre trip think that I have never before bothered with.

Understand however: planning in advance is no guarantee of success. Just now I clicked on Priority Pass, looked up lounges at SCQ in Spain, and my pleasure when one popped up on my screen receded when I noticed this: “Note: The lounge is temporarily closed until further notice.”

Uh, okay.  I’ve made a mental note to just grab a coffee at that airport which, in my past experience, is neither crowded nor hectic so doing without a lounge is not a big deal.

When there aren’t lounges – or they are overcrowded – do the smart thing and step into an airport restaurant.  Sure, you have to pay for that glass of red but usually the free wine at an airport lounge is worth what you paid for it.  Open the wallet and that is a way to buy a piece of quiet refuge in many airports.

Understand too, sometimes there’s no reason to think about lounges. On Day 1 of an upcoming trip there is a tight connection in Atlanta and, much as I have liked Delta’s lounges, there won’t be time for a visit so that’s out of mind.  Ditto for the return flight through Atlanta. 

On Day 2, in Madrid, I have better luck. After landing I journey to Terminal 2 for a TAP flight to Lisbon and there’s a Priority Pass lounge there, Puerta De Alcala.  

And then there’s my return to the US and in Madrid Airport’s Terminal 1 where Delta is housed there’s also a Priority Pass lounge, Cibeles, so I am good.

Not surprising, when I check the lounge access that comes with my Diners Club card, it’s the same two at MAD.  Right there is part of the current problem. The reason so many lounges are overcrowded is that increasing numbers of credit cards dangle them as perks and we the traveling public have become convinced that without lounges life on the road would drive us insane.

But will it, really?

Here’s the funniest bit: when I take the time to drill into lounges and my needs probably I will in fact only twice make use of lounges on a trip that involves six flights, three countries, and five different airports.  That triggers an Alfred E. Neuman moment, what me worry.

Just maybe this is much ado about nothing.

What I am packing today is suddenly quite different from what I packed in years past. Historically, weight be damned, I’d stuff a bag and don’t recall ever being forced to gate check it.

That just won’t work in the hectic days of 2022 travel.

We now need new rules for packing in 2022.

Rule one for travel today is don’t even think of checking a bag. Especially not in Europe but, really, nowhere. Yes, I have Air Tags. And I still won’t check a bag.

Rule two is be very, very mindful of airlines and their requirements for carryons.

Understand, too, that airlines apparently are cracking down on oversized carryon. Christopher Elliott has reported that “airlines appear to be getting stricter about carry-on bags.”

He also thinks he knows why. He quotes Jeff Galak, who teaches marketing at Carnegie Mellon University’s Tepper School of Business: “By being strict on what counts as a carry-on bag, they can move some free bags to paid ones.”

Rule three: European carriers often have different rules from US carriers. For instance: TAP, which I am flying later this month, has an 8 kilogram weight limit for carryon. That’s about 17.6 pounds. A personal item can weigh 2 kg (roughly 4.5 pounds). That’s around 22 pounds total.

Iberia, which I also am flying in Europe, has a 10 kg carryon limit – 22 pounds. That’s inclusive of the “personal item.”

So lightweight matters.

But for me, on this upcoming month-long trip where I will use only carryon (a 40 liter Osprey bag), there are competing universes that need to be satisfied. For instance, I will have six nights in European capital cities (Lisbon and Madrid) where prevailing wardrobes are on the dressy side. But much of the trip will be spent walking 150+ miles on the Portuguese Camino where sweat, rain and mud will be staples. I need clothing I can launder in a hotel room sink and – crucially – that will dry fast and be ready to wear or pack in the a.m.

That rules out the cotton I have historically preferred in everything from shirts to pants and underwear and socks. Last year, on a similar but shorter trip to Spain, I learned that cotton is not quick drying.

What am I packing – keeping in mind this is primarily a walking trip? Much of it is stuff I bought specifically because I am doing this trip.

But, first, a shout out to several readers who pointed me to SCOTTeVEST as a clever tool for, shall we say, augmenting what one can carryon. At first glance I snickered at this eccentric garment but then I weighed my backpack after filling it with a trial load and, well, I saw the brilliance of the SCOTTeVEST. Pockets are what this garment provides. I bought the entry level nine pocket model for $129 from Amazon but I see other styles with as many as 42 pockets. (Yes, it’s mainly cotton but I won’t be washing it on this trip.)

I will stuff the vest with a Bluetooth keyboard, an iPhone (one half pound with case), glasses, coins, keys, a few travel documents, an Apple pencil, a packable day pack and more. That’s probably 4 lbs of gear that rides on my back and every ounce counts. SCOTTeVEST says it builds in a weight management system so the wearer doesn’t look like an inartful shoplifter.

As for my clothing, for this year’s trip, nylon and polyester rule because they dry fast. The underpants are ex officio, nylon/spandex. Amazon Essentials tech t-shirts are in the bag – 100% polyester. One shirt is “mixed material” via Wrangler – 73% Nylon, 27% Polyester; Inner Shell: 88% Polyester, 12% Spandex. Another shirt, via Craghoppers, is 65% poly, 35% cotton and REI says it is “quick drying.” I’ll wear Prana pants that are 97% nylon, and I’ll pack Prana pants that are made of hemp, polyester and spandex.

I’ll also pack three pairs of Darn Tough hiking socks – merino wool but it dries reasonably fast, certainly overnight. And a well worn pair of Chaco sandals will go in the bag.

I believe this kit will work on all three levels – European carryon limitations, doing a long walk in conditions that may well be rainy many days, and yet also being fit to dine in nice eateries in Lisbon and Madrid.

Sigh. I remember the days when I toted a huge garment bag that probably weighed 40 pounds loaded and that was good for carryon even in coach.

Post trip I’ll report back on how this new kit of mine fared. I am optimistic but we shall see.

by Robert McGarvey

Morning Consults’ recent Travel and Hospitality Trends Report should have a catchy subtitle: The Party Is Over. If there is a bottomline message to the 40+ page report it’s that we will be traveling less and more cheaply, indeed most of us probably already are.

You remember – really it was just a few months ago – when the buzz was that we were all in a hurry to “revenge travel.” Indeed an infelicitous naming of a trend but what it boiled down to is that – as fears of Covid receded – many of us, feeling grumpy about being in a kind of isolation for two years – suddenly were hitting the road and high prices be damned, we were going there, there being wherever we had dreamed about.

That didn’t last long.

Morning Consult has the numbers to prove the change has been seismic and this is based on some 16,000 interviews conducted globally.

Chew on this Morning Consult number: “43% of Americans say they are traveling less this summer because of high prices.” Where Covid chilled travel in 2021, in 2022 it’s now high airfares and, in some cases, all time high resort and hotel rates. Consumer wallets just seem to be zipping shut as we contemplate a world of economic and political uncertainty (vide Europe).

Morning Consult elaborated: “Inflation and fears of an economic recession have impacted travelers’ plans. Between October 2021 and July 2022, the share of U.S. adults who said they were planning a trip because they had money saved up that they wanted to spend decreased 4 percentage points.” In that regard, Morning Consult advised travel brands to be aware of the frugal impulses of many travelers and to offer appropriate options. Loyalty programs, incidentally, are apparently proving popular with frugal travelers as they cut costs by cashing in points and miles. I know I have done same – spending over 200,000 Amex miles on two tickets to Europe. Would I done the trip if I’d had to pay cash for the tix? Almost certainly. But the decision to go came quicker with the “free” tix.

But it’s not just money concerns that are slowing travel. Lingering Covid concerns – and, personally, I know more people now who have active Covid infections than at any time previously – also are slowing our desire to travel. Reported Morning Consult: “As has been the case throughout the pandemic, travelers are more comfortable with self-contained rather than shared transport, and with domestic rather than international travel.”

But Morning Consult reported on a third trend that is stifling travel: Business travel is not coming back. “Business travel will never return to a pre-pandemic normal,” said the firm.

By the way, 50% of Germans said they would never travel for business again. 55% of Brits said likewise. Among US respondents, 40% said they wouldn’t.

The numbers have to chill beliefs that a business travel renaissance is just around the bend.

For some, blended trips – so-called “bleisure travel” that unites business and pleasure – will continue, reported Morning Consult. “The best predictor of whether someone will engage in blended travel now is their pre-pandemic behavior. More than half of those who took ‘bleisure’ trips before COVID-19 shutdowns say they’ll take a trip that equally combines business and leisure in the next year, compared with just 5% of those who didn’t take bleisure trips before the pandemic.”

Even with blended trips, however, Morning Consult reports dipping traveler enthusiasm: “The share of workers who plan to go on a trip blending business and leisure has declined since the spring, suggesting the realities of combining trip occasions may be more challenging than anticipated.” Part of that challenge may be explaining the trip to skeptical managers and bean counters. But another part may be continuing concerns about global – and personal – economics.

Probably additional fuel for trip declines is rising concern about airline performance in this summer of chaotic miseries. Said Morning Consult: “The spate of flight delays and cancellations this summer has eroded trust among travelers.”

Travelers, said Morning Consult, have been quick to assign blame: “Travelers feel delays and disruptions could — and should — have been avoided.”

Add it up and what do we need – really – to see a travel boom? A better economy, the conquering of Covid, open checkbooks for business travel, and a smooth performing airline industry.

Picturing a world where all four are true is impossible. At least for me, right now.

You want a different answer? Wait three or four months and almost certainly you will get one in this year of uncertainty as the only certainty.

by Robert McGarvey

Don’t listen to me and I know many of you have not been because for the past nine months I have played Cassandra in forecasting that business travel may never return to 2019 levels and certainly won’t this year or next. Hardened business travelers have just not wanted to believe that could happen. So many have rejected gloomy prognostications, more out of their own desires rather than factual analysis.

But now a heavyweight travel analyst has weighed in with a remarkably gloomy forecast. Jan Freitag, national director for hospitality market analytics at CoStar (nee STR), now is saying business travel isn’t coming back. Period.

When it comes to forecasting the future of business travel, Freitag says: ““I am very bearish on this.”

If he is right this is bad news for Manhattan, San Francisco, even middling markets like downtown Phoenix because these economies hinge on robust midweek business travel. If the hotel rooms are empty, so will be the restaurants, the bars, and much more.

But Freitag probably is right.

The usual argument about why business travel isn’t coming back to full 2019 levels hinges on three realities: technology (think Zoom) has shown that face to face can happen digitally; corporate bean counters want to retain the savings companies have enjoyed when pretty much all business travel was on pause; and, importantly, a significant number of former road warriors have realized that, sans a heavy travel schedule, they are healthier. slimmer, better rested, and have a better family life. Reducing travel just is good for a person.

A fourth argument of course is that it also is very good for the planet and a lot of companies – admittedly more in Europe than in the US but there are some in the US too – are vigorously waving “Go Green” flags as they brag on their cuts in business travel.

Freitag – whose specialty is crunching numbers and finding meanings – looks at another, telling number when he offers his gloomy outlook for business travel: office occupancy. In many major markets – New York and Chicago for example – occupancy is around 30%.

“If I’m supposed to visit you and you’re in the Park Avenue office of some major law firm but you’re not there, I’m not going to visit you in your kitchen in Hoboken; we’re going to do this on Zoom,” Freitag said at the 2022 Hotel Data Conference. “There is, to me, a clear relationship between the lack of office return and urban occupancy.”

Meantime, many companies are subletting space they had rented because they have realized they are never returning to the office occupancy patterns of 2019. A recent survey found half of companies saying they plan to cut office space in the next year, often by as much as half.

Commercial Observer reported: “Yelp announced in June that it would eliminate mandatory in-person work and closed 450,000 square feet of its offices in New York City, Washington, D.C., and Chicago. Amazon and Meta followed suit, announcing that each tech tycoon would slow its expansion in the Big Apple while reevaluating workplace strategy. Salesforce put more than 412,000 square feet of its San Francisco office on the sublease market in July while Twitter recently announced plans to close and downsize offices around the world, including trying to offload a full floor of its New York City outpost.”

The reality is that many office workers discovered in 2020 and 2021 that they liked not going into the office, and certainly they liked not going in five days a week. Accordingly many employers are shedding office space that nobody wants to use anyway.

Add it up and I see a permanent and sizable decrease in business travel. Probably it will stay down by at least one-third, possibly one-half, as organizations slash travel that does not include a palpable ROI. Sales calls, customer relations calls, and suchlike will continue. “Get to know you” face to faces not so much. Inhouse get togethers probably not at all.

But the silver lining for those who still want to travel is that – assuming we sidestep a recession, which seems ever more probable – trips that feature a clear ROI will be funded. If you want to travel, work up a clear business case argument. And Bon Voyage!

by Robert McGarvey

I confess: I used to have drawers full of travel gadgets, from Swiss Army knives and Leatherman tools (the latter in multiple configurations) to a collapsible backpack. But over time my interest in travel gadgets has faded, mainly because most began to resemble suitcase clutter to me and as I have embraced smaller and smaller carryon bags there just was no room for much stuff and of course the TSA nixed some of the honestly useful tools I used to pack (Leatherman is a case in point).

In 2022 however there is one gadget you must have. In fact I have two already and a third is on its way to me. as I finalize my packing list for a month-long Iberian holiday.

The gadget that wins my praise: Apple AirTags.

Don’t leave home without them. Not in this year of lost and stolen luggage. In April, per DOT stats, US airlines “mishandled” 220,000 bags. In Europe matters may be worse as lost luggage almost has become a norm.

Of course I have no intention of checking a bag on any planned travels this year and believe the only time I checked a bag in the past five years was in connection with a fall 2018 cruise from Montreal to New York that necessitated packing inclement and cold weather gear,

So why do I want AirTags and I will travel with them installed in my backpack, shoulder sling, and also a day pack? Stuff goes missing this year. It just does. AIrTag is the finder tool.

You don’t think you need one? Read this piece about an airport baggage handler who stole bags and whose arrest came about in part because of an AirTag,

The Web is full, too, of funny/maddening tales of travelers using AirTags to follow the journeys of their lost bags. Here’s one. Understand: an AirTag will not prevent your bag from going missing. But if it does go AWOL, the device gives you a good chance of discovering its location.

You may have heard AirTags are out of stock and that was so when I looked at Amazon this morning. But the Apple Store said they would get the tags to me in 10 days and that works for me, so I placed the order.

The price: $29 per tag at Apple, or four for $99. You will probably also want to buy AIrTag keyrings for secure placement of the device where you choose to place it. Apple sells pricey, fancy keyrings. I have bought serviceable keyrings for about $5 apiece at Amazon and, hey, how I envision using the device is to secure it in a place where it won’t be seen by anyone who happens to pick up one of my bags, by mistake or on purpose. Remember: luggage thieves probably are dumb but are they so dumb they haven’t heard of AirTags? I wouldn’t bet on it. Conceal the tag in your bag to make it harder for a thief to discover it and toss it out.

Cautionary word here: AirTags need an Apple device (typically an iPhone) to track their location. Android users need an alternative and the NYTimes’ Wirecutter recommends Tile Mate, which runs around $20 apiece. The Points Guy shares the affection for Tile. Incidentally, Tile can also be used with an iPhone so if you are striking out in locating AirTags, that’s an option.

Both AirTag and Tile Mate work in essentially the same way. Apple tells how: “Your AirTag sends out a secure Bluetooth signal that can be detected by nearby devices in the Find My network. These devices send the location of your AirTag to iCloud — then you can go to the Find My app and see it on a map. The whole process is anonymous and encrypted to protect your privacy.”

In Apple’s case the AirTag rides the Apple FindMy network – which is robust and proven.

Per Wirecutter, Tile too has a large crowd-finding network.

Setting one up is fast. Activate the battery, hold the AirTag near your iPhone, tap Connect. You’re connected.

That’s it. Now you will know where your bags are.

AirTags will also help you find misplaced items. Case in point: a month ago I went looking for an AirTag to move it from one item to another and I could not find the thing. But Apple conveniently lets you get a beep from an AirTag and, instantly, I found the device. The funny bit: I had hidden it so well in a daypack that although I searched the bag twice, I didn’t see it.

May I be so successful in finding new hiding places for all my AirTags.

by Robert McGarvey

Let’s be clear about two facts: (1) our planet is experiencing some kind of climate change that in many locations is producing not simply unpleasant changes but possibly deadly ones; (2) for travelers the reality is that sustainable travel is a fantasy – nice to think about but it isn’t happening in my lifetime.

The only sustainable travel is to not travel and that simply is not viable for many of us.

What should we do given the reality of climate change?

If the Democrats in Washington DC can deliver something of a climate bill – and flawed as it is, it nonetheless is the most important legislation of its kind since the Clean Air Act of 1970 and the Clean Water Act of 1972 – we can do something too.

Like what? As I mull my options I don’t see me cancelling my upcoming trip to Portugal/Spain or any of several short business trips on my near-term agenda. Nor do I see myself selling my gasoline powered car and swapping into an electric – electric cars are too pricey, my condo tower doesn’t have chargers, and my car is a 2017 BMW with under 15,000 miles on it (meaning I don’t use it much at all anyway).

But just as the new federal measure will include some significant environmental steps – some $369 billion in tax credits and spending over 10 years for renewable energy – I can take some significant steps too. And I bet I can do it without spending buckets of money either.

I also have no confidence that the travel purveyors – carriers, hotels, DMOs, etc – will do more than the greenwashing lip service they have offered for at least a generation. We have heard it all many times before and it has produced squat.

Governments will actually take steps, that’s so. The US finally has but many in Europe already had. However, over half the globe by land mass has not and will not soon join this parade. Governments such as Germany and Sweden are helpful indeed but much more will be required.

This is where we come in. For my part in aiding the environment here are the steps I will take:

*Fly as little as possible. I used to think nothing of a quick hop to Berlin or Belfast or a same day business trip from LA to San Francisco but nowadays I am rationing my flying because it is a significant source of greenhouse gases. I am not saying my cuts will save the planet but if we all take fewer flights, we could breathe easier.

*Fly in coach or economy plus. OK, I am cheap about airplane seating but now I can justify my seat preference by saying it is better for the environment when more of us are crammed into a plane. Those upfront are eating the proverbial cake.

*Walk as much as possible. Every month Google sends me a breakdown of my travels and a metric that fascinates me is miles in a car vs. miles walked. Most months I walk more than I travel in a car and my goal is to keep it that way. No, I am not going to walk to Los Angeles from Phoenix but I pretty much always walk the 2 miles that take me to downtown. Little walks add up.

*Use public transit instead of Uber. I am lucky. The Phoenix lightrail stops in front my building and it goes quickly to the airport. If it’s too hot outside the lightrail also takes me downtown. Trips I might have used Uber for now are mainly lightrail rides. I suffer little inconvenience and even save a few dollars here and there.

*I really need to start using reusable water bottles. Throwaway plastic ones are just no good for the planet. I know that. And I have the reusable bottles. I just need to remember to use them.

*I am crossing off my bucket list trips that are purely self-indulgent. Yeah, I’d like to see Bhutan or Chengdu or Peru…but other than my idle curiosity what purpose would be served? Too much travel is just pure vanity. I have done my share of those trips. I want to do this no more. Call these trips not taken my gift to the environment.

Add up my actions and will we all celebrate the end of the climate change threat? Of course not. But if we all take little steps that suit us the planet will thank us.

What steps will you start taking? Your steps probably will be different. What matters is taking some steps. As more of us do that that quicker changes will come.

by Robert McGarvey

We all know the brouhaha – sometimes even fisticuffs and videos – involving seat pitch which is the distance between rows of seats in coach on a plane. That number by the way is around 4 inches smaller than it was 50 years ago. If you think your knees clang into the seat in front of you more often, it’s not because your legs have grown but because the pitch has shrunk.

But just maybe the real problem in coach is the size of the seat itself. A half century ago seats were usually 18 inches wide and today they are 16-1/2 inches wide, according to reporting by Stephanie Rosenbloom in the NYTimes.

Doesn’t seem that much?

The aggravating reality is that meantime we have gotten bigger. A lot bigger. In the 1960s the average American male was 5’8″ and weighed 163 pounds. The average woman was 5’3″ and weighed 140.

Today the average woman weighs 170 and is 5’4″. The average man is 5’9″ and weighs 200 pounds.

Just as we are getting bigger the seats in coach are getting smaller.

In 2018 Congress ordered the Federal Aviation Administration to set minimum sizes for airplane seats but it has yet to do so. How exactly it managed to ignore that Congressional mandate for so long is a bit of mystery but not much useful was done in many agencies in that era. But now, according to USA Today, the FAA is seeking public comment on seat size with the intent of issuing a ruling.

Comments from ordinary citizens apparently are welcome. Don’t be shy.

Consumer advocates are not being shy. Case in point: “Seats have continued to shrink by some airlines, and people are continuing to get larger,” said Paul Hudson, president of FlyersRights.org. “Our estimate is that only 20% of the population can reasonably fit in these seats now. It’s beyond a matter of comfort, or even emergency evacuation, there are serious health and safety issues when you’re put in cramped conditions for hours on end.”

Hudson is right. The issue that powers the FAA involvement isn’t comfort – surprise! – but safety and in particular speed and ease of evacuation in an emergency. It doesn’t take an ergonomics expert to assert that snug seats, tiny rows and bigger people complicate evacuation at speed and very well might lead to more injuries, possibly even deaths.

What the FAA wants to calibrate is what are the optimal sizes from a safety perspective – and the more you stare at how our sizes have gone in one direction over the past 50 years while airplane seating has gone in the opposite direction you have to think that something is flatout crazy here.

But for many of us the money questions are more personal: Will I fit comfortably in my seat? Will I spill into the adjacent seat?

A stop at Seatguru will give you useful info that may help you reach your own decisions. Take your body measurements and drill into that site’s data. You’ll get a good read on how comfortable you will be on a particular flight.

Another option – pricey, yes, but sure – is to sit in the front of plane. For instance: in Premium Economy on Delta, seat width is about the same as coach (18.5″ vs 18″ in coach). But there’s a couple inches more pitch.

And there’s lot more room in business class. Both pitch and seat width.

Personally my current preference is Premium Economy but if I had more bucks or miles to burn I’d always go for business class. Especially on a flight of more than a couple hours. When you want assured comfort on a flight, know you must spend for it.

But then there are many who need and want a comfortable flight in coach. What will the FAA rule about seat size?

Unless catastrophic predictions emerge about emergencies and current seat sizes – and I don’t see that happening because so far it hasn’t – it is difficult to envision the FAA issuing a rule that airplane seats must be a larger size than currently prevails. Congress may have ordered the FAA to set minimum seat sizes but so far the agency has ducked that order and you can bet that the carriers and their airplane makers are busily lobbying, both the FAA and Congress, to leave that decision in the hands of the private sector.

Which means it is up to us – you and me – to personally provide for our own comfort in the sky. The airlines won’t do it, I doubt the FAA will, but we can.

by Robert McGarvey

Call this a routine review of the advantages versus costs of the Amex Platinum card.

For me, there also is some urgency attached to my review. My membership renews next month and with the pricey Amex Plat the question has to be, to renew or not? For most of us that has become an annual question where there is no certain answer.

Let’s do a deep dive into the value I have gotten from the card this year – and only this year matters. Where travel is concerned, what happened in 2019 is no longer relevant. We are in a world of the now.

Through the first six months of 2022, I have collected 20,853 bonus Amex Membership Miles which, per The Points Guy’s calculator, are worth $417 (at 2 cents a mile) and here is the deal: I scored that bounty putting in very little effort or time and buying absolutely nothing I did not want. Note: personally I value these bonus points (and all Amex Miles) nearer a penny apiece., which puts the real value of this cache to me at $208. Still not bad for a few minutes a week looking through Amex Offers.

So how did I score so many bonus miles? This year I have seen and activated a 5x points offer with WalMart (shopping online or instore) which is good for 1500 points (on a spend of $300).

I have done similar with a 1500 point Amazon 5X offer on a $300 spend.

I picked up 5200 points via Rakuten, mostly for referring a friend who signed up for the service.

An airline ticket purchase – $1600 for business class to Hawaii – brought in 5X points, around 8000.

There are benefits beyond miles with Amex and, for me, this is where the real value of the card lies. There are miscellaneous, recurring cash credits. $18.07 monthly for a NY Times subscription. $25 for Google Services (an Amex Offer that shows up every so often). $1.07 for a Hulu subscription. $12.95 for WalMart Plus (an Amazon Prime competitor without the video). $200 annually for Uber Eats.  $100 reimbursing some miscellaneous expenses with Delta and I will soon get another $100 with an upcoming trip (the annual airline credit is $200).

The credits total around $790 for the year.

And I get free repairs on three cellphones because all three are on accounts paid for by an Amex card. That’s worth maybe $25/monthly, $300 for the year.

I’ve also logged a few airport club stops on the card and can see maybe six more in the next couple months. Value every club entry at $30 and this is the quickest way to get Plat to pay for itself.

Amex covers my TSA Pre ($85) too.

Add up what I get in credits and perks and I have significantly more in benefits than the annual fee I pay.

This year I also am staying aware of the free trip interruption coverage. With a Europe outing on my calendar I may well need it.

Sure, I know the $695 annual fee I pay for Amex Plat is steep. But whenever I run the numbers it seems to me I am breaking even, maybe even coming out a little ahead because the card builds in so many perks.

Amex dings me another $175 for my wife’s card – but she made that back with a free Clear membership ($189). She uses an annual $100 credit at Saks.  She’s also logged around a half dozen airport club stops this year. She gets the card’s fee back in multiples.

Here’s my advice: if you have an Amex Card, especially one with a premium price tag, at least once a year before renewal do what I am doing in this blog.  Add up the credits you get, including bonus and regular miles, and if the total isn’t around the cost of the card – and ideally more than the annual fee – cancel the thing. If it’s not working for you, end the relationship.

But if it is working for you – and I remain satisfied with my return – keep the card. I know I am for another year.

by Robert McGarvey

For decades I have lived by an unbreakable business travel rule: use only carryon luggage. For me that’s long been a (rather battered) Travelpro 22″ rollaboard that I got for under $100.

And then there are personal trips that generally are longer, often involve wardrobe changes (from, say, hiking clothes to appropriate attire for a fine dining restaurant in a stuffy city), and I never use hotel laundry facilities – honestly cannot recall ever doing it – so I need to bring all I need. That load may involve a couple big bags and, yes, they usually get checked because they are too big for carryon.

And now I have a 26 night trip coming up to Portugal and Spain and here’s my resolve: all I bring will fit in a carryon bag.

The logic is simple: Europe’s airports are scenes of disordered chaos and lost luggage is the new normal.

The only way around this is to not do it, that is, to revert to the old business travel rule. I will bring everything I need in a 40 liter Osprey Farpoint backpack that is acceptable carryon. According to REI that size pack is good for a 1 to 3 night trip. My plan is to make it work for 26 nights.

Last year the same bag worked for a similar trip but of only 19 nights. There’s one more week this year lived out of the same 40 liter bag.

That was not my original plan. I had conceived the trip with me bringing a 60 liter L.L. Bean backpack that I have had for years but never used because, well, it has seemed too damn big but for this trip it seemed ideal. Now it has been deleted from the script and a more compact bag will take its place.

How?

The enveloping question: how can anyone travel on a long trip in 2022 with only carryon?

A personal complexity is that on this trip I will be walking around 150 miles of the Portuguese Camino, from Porto to Santiago de Compostela. Many pilgrims wear their backpacks for the full walk. I do not plan to and will instead use a pack service that for maybe 5 Euros per day will transport the pack to my next lodgings. For me, the walk is enough. I don’t also need to be a pack animal. But…if there are any doubts about the reliability of pack services in 2022 I want to be able to wear the pack which means the total weight should be no more than 20 pounds. And the Farpoint weighs 3.17 pounds empty. That leaves 17 pounds.

The other complexity: this year’s trip involves many nights in two European capitals, Lisbon and Madrid. The scruffy pilgrim look needs to be spiffed up for the big cities.

The first step is to tightly edit the packing list. The bag is small, it just won’t hold that much. Here’s what I envision stuffing into it:

*3 shirts (2 dress, 1 hiking)

*2 pants (1 dressy)

*3 underwear

*2 undershirts

*3 pairs socks

*1 pair sandals (sorry, no dressy shoes in the mix)

Much of this will be hand washable in a hotel sink.

There also will be European plugs, phone chargers, the usual stuff.

How to organize everything? Traditionally I pack a business travel suitcase simply by dropping things in it, zipping it up and off I go. That won’t work on a trip this length and with me literally moving just about every night to different accommodations.

So I have become something of a nerd about backpack organizing devices.

For instance I have an Osprey Ultralight Garment Folder that will hold a couple shirts and a pair of pants. It keeps them neat and pressed.

I also have an Osprey three piece packing cube set: 1 for socks, 1 for undershirt, one for underpants.

I have a large toiletry bag that will hold everything from a toothbrush and paste through prescription pills.

There’s also a 14.5 liter Eagle Creek clean/dirty cube with two compartments, one for soiled clothes.

The backpack also has a sleeve for a tablet – I may bring a very old iPad – and a security pocket with a mesh organization panel.

Call me Mr. Organized.

You don’t like my array of inserts? Understandably. Each of us has to personalize his/her own set and that will hinge on the trip itself and the gear we are packing.

My inserts will differ from yours. But poke around Amazon – or specialty outfits like REI or manufacturers like Osprey – and you will find many thousands of inserts to choose among.

Choose wisely because you will need the proper inserts. The reality is that there is no other way to do long trips carrying so little luggage.

Understand, too, that although many peregrinos – walkers on the Camino – start off carrying huge and stuffed backpacks, some 75 liters and more. Most soon regret that and start tossing stuff, literally on the first day.

Small is beautiful on the Camino but it also is beautiful in just about all European travel if you want to arrive with your luggage.

Buen Camino.

by Robert McGarvey

In about two months I am off on a trip to Portugal and Spain and I find myself doing something I have never before done in decades of travel: I am planning for a trip interruption/delay.

The continuing chaos in Europe is why and of course there also are cancellations of domestic US flights. Just this morning I got an email from Delta about a flight change and what had been a multi hour layover in Atlanta now is cut to 62 minutes – a very workable time in ordinary circumstances but today?

A recent New York Times piece written by a flight attendant warned: “A One Hour Layover Is not Enough Anymore.”

I found that out last fall when I missed a tight connection at JFK (to Madrid) and, because it was weather related (lightning), Delta assumed no responsibility and I was out of pocket for a hotel in New York plus taxis, dinner, etc.

That is why this year I am planning for a trip interruption. I absolutely never have done this before but last year’s was an expensive education in the necessity of such planning.

Understand this: I assume the present 62 minute in Atlanta will change. Last year there must have been a half dozen flight changes in the weeks leading up to departure. I may be routed through JFK or Chicago or Boston or who knows where. I may wind up with a six hour layover. I just can’t know in 2022 air travel.

The one constant is that I must assume the trip could fizzle.

Last year – entirely my fault – I did not understand how the Amex Trip Interruption protection that comes with my Platinum card works. I had only a hazy awareness that I had such coverage. Why would I? I had never had a need to use it. When I did last fall it wasn’t there for me but – again – my fault. Amex did not let me down. I had simply not followed the rules.

The main rule is this: eligible expenses must be on the eligible card. Amex is not going to reimburse me for a missed train in Madrid, a charge that had been put on Diners. Nor would it cover a New York hotel, a charge put on my wife’s credit card (and not an Amex card) because she made the reservation. Ditto for an expensive hotel room in Leon, Spain. Basically if there was a mistake to make I made it.

And paid for it. At least $1000 lost due to some lightning.

You can prevent a similar loss from happening to you.

Word of advice: if you have a credit card that you believe will cover costs incurred due to trip interruption/cancellation, now is the time to read the rules. Here’s the Amex Plat rules – seven pages of them.

The Amex rules aren’t onerous or ridiculous but they must be followed to win reimbursement.

Fortunately the airfare involved in this fall’s trip was paid for with Amex miles, which count in this context, and a few miscellaneous Delta charges were put on the card. So far so good.

Amex Plat is not unusual. Many premium cards include some trip cancellation/interruption coverage but always there are rules. A Chase United Air card I have also covers trip delays/interruption – but of course there are rules and the main one is that the charges be on the card.

Most purchases of travel insurance usually involve coverage for trip interruption too. But if you buy such a policy do check if such coverage is included and, again, what are the exclusions and rules for qualifying.

However you get such coverage, get it. You’ll need it this year.

Face it: in 2022 we are dealing with a wholly new set of aviation related problems. I do think the industry will sort them out – especially in the US (Europe may have deeper issues) – but I would not count on a return to smoother flying until 2023. Until then, accept that you will have flight changes, you may have travel interruptions, you probably will miss connecting flights. Pleasant it won’t be but if we use the tools and perks and protections that we already have the skies will be a little bit friendlier.