REAL ID – Your Mileage May Vary

Updates for JetBlue, Update on Real ID, Combating Resort Fees & More…

Hey y’all! Here are the articles we’ve recently seen, written by other travel bloggers and article writers, that we learned from, made us think or maybe made us chuckle a little bit. We hope you enjoy them!

Sharon and I both sing in choirs so seeing this video of the Kentucky All-State Choir sing the Star Spangled Banner on all 18 floors of the atrium hit a special spot. Imagine waking up in the morning and hearing this outside your hotel room.
I’ve written about the difference between the seats on JetBlue’s A320 and A321 aircraft. It looks like the retrofit to install the new seats on all of JetBlue’s planes is underway.
Hopefully I’ll live long enough to travel into space. Until then I’ll just have to settle for the video of Starman driving a Tesla Roadster away from Earth.
While the TSA has extended the deadline requiring everyone to have Real ID compliant identification, Californians are FINALLY able to get a compliant drivers license.
Using a combination of feigned ignorance and the $20 trick, Jon from No Mas Coach was able to get a junior suite in Caesars Palace. This would fall just outside my comfort range and I preferred just to ask for an upgrade when we stayed in Vegas.
It’s now easier for American citizens to visit Brazil. You can now apply for a e-visa online for $40 instead of the previously costly $160 fee and time consuming process required.
You’re seated on the aisle in a row of three seats with someone in the middle seat. The plane finishes loading and no one sits at the window. SCORE! But what if the person in the middle seat doesn’t move? Awkward!!!!
Resort Fees (or Urban Destination Fees) are becoming more and more common. We’ve written about how to find out which hotels charge them (and the list keeps growing). I don’t know if Doctor of Credit’s solution of boycotting hotels that charge them will ever work but I do like the other suggestion that he has to help combat them.
While I may have learned to love staying at timeshare resorts, I’m not ready to sit through a presentation like Stephen and Shae from Frequent Miler did. But at least they were ready!
Orlando airport is looking at replacing TSA screeners with a private company. While the airport authority already does this at the “other” Orlando airport in Sanford, I’m not sure if I like the idea of even more confusion if the changes happen.

Like this post? We have plenty more just like it and would love if you decided to hang around and clicked the button on the top (if you’re on your computer) or the bottom (if you’re on your phone/tablet) of this page to follow our blog and get emailed notifications of when we post (it’s usually just once or twice a day). Whether you’ve read our posts before or this is the first time you’re stopping by, we’re really glad you’re here and hope you come back to visit again!

Review of WDW Event, Update on Real ID Deadline, What To Do With Pets While Traveling & More…

Woo hoo, it’s finally the weekend! Here’s a quick recap of the posts we wrote this week:

This week Joe wrote about:

The Platinum Pro status American Airlines gave Sharon for what appears to be no reason at all.
You can now use IHG points at Kimpton hotels, but for how much?
What to do with your pet(s) if you love to travel.
The story of when a rental car company overcharged a guy for tolls, and what he did to try to rectify it.
His musings about why banks seem to make everything so difficult.

And Sharon wrote about:

The 2018 DVC exclusive Moonlight Magic event at Walt Disney World’s Magic Kingdom and how it compared to the 2017 version of the event.
Spirit Airlines is now on time more than two major airlines (Spoiler: we’ll still make fun of them!).
The new Department of State travel advisories for U.S. travelers.
Some incredible man made white water rapids for adventurous types.
An update on Homeland Security’s January 22 deadline for Real ID.

Like this post? We have plenty more just like it and would love if you decided to hang around and clicked the button on the top of this page to follow our blog and get emailed notifications of when we post (it’s usually just once or twice a day). Whether you’ve read our posts before or this is the first time you’re stopping by, we’re really glad you’re here and hope you come back to visit again!

Remember That January 22nd Deadline To Have Real ID At The Airport?

As we hope you read in this article from October, Homeland Security said that as of January 22, 2018, all American citizens age 18+ who used a driver’s license as ID would need one that was Real ID compliant, or live in a state that had gotten an extension while actively pursuing the changeover to Real ID, in order to use it to get through TSA security at U.S. airports. It wasn’t a new decree – they had been working towards this since 2005 and the first deadline had been May, 2008 – but there had been extension after extension for states that were non-compliant. But January 22 was going to be THE final date. In the past few days it was said there were still 9 states that weren’t yet compliant AND still hadn’t filed for extensions, so what was going happen to them as of January 22nd?

Continue reading “Remember That January 22nd Deadline To Have Real ID At The Airport?”

Our Weekly Recap: 10/22/17 – 10/28/17

And all of a sudden, BOOM – it was the weekend! Here’s a list of what we posted this week.

Joe wrote about:

Different approaches of credit card spending to earn miles and points.
Why we forgave the hotel that got almost everything wrong.
His review of the W Hollywood hotel.
Real ID and how residents of the states whose driver’s licenses are non-compliant may not be able to board planes with their current driver’s licenses.
Touring the Key West Cemetery.

Sharon wrote about:

Experiencing tragedy in a tourist town as as resident and as a visitor.
Joe’s interview that was published in Forbes.
What happened when an airline employee tried to give her grief (spoiler: said airline employee decided to pick on the wrong one!)
Delta Airlines’ new reality TV show about becoming a flight attendant.
Her and Joe’s visit to Bedrock City, a Flintstones-themed theme park.

Is Your Driver’s License Valid ID To Get On A Plane? Maybe Not.

Showing your driver’s license has been acceptable proof of identification to board a plane for as long as IDs have been required. Up until now, that is. If you’ve traveled recently, you may have noticed a sign at the TSA checkpoint informing you of upcoming changes.
Continue reading “Is Your Driver’s License Valid ID To Get On A Plane? Maybe Not.”

Should You Get a U.S. Passport Card?

You know what documents you need to get on an airplane. For most people in the U.S., you show your driver’s license to the TSA agent at the checkpoint. If you’re taking an international flight, you’ll have your passport with you and might use that instead. The TSA currently allows many different forms of identification to get past the security checkpoint. Here’s the list from tsa.gov:

Driver’s licenses or other state photo identity cards issued by Department of Motor Vehicles (or equivalent)
U.S. passport
U.S. passport card
DHS trusted traveler cards (Global Entry, NEXUS, SENTRI, FAST)
U.S. military ID (active duty or retired military and their dependents, and DoD civilians)
Permanent resident card
Border crossing card
DHS-designated enhanced driver’s license
Federally recognized, tribal-issued photo ID
HSPD-12 PIV card
Foreign government-issued passport
Canadian provincial driver’s license or Indian and Northern Affairs Canada card
Transportation worker identification credential
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services Employment Authorization Card (I-766)
U.S. Merchant Mariner Credential

I’ve seen U.S. passport cards before but never thought they were good for much. When my dad showed me he had gotten one, I thought it was a waste of money since he also got his passport at the same time.

What can you use a U.S. passport card for, anyway?

Continue reading “Should You Get a U.S. Passport Card?”