The Airport With No Liquid Rules For Carry-On, Marriott Doesn’t Know What Counts As Housekeeping, Why We Don’t Use Skiplagged

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Hello and happy Sunday, travel friends, both near and far. Here are some articles we’ve read from other bloggers (and other sources) that we think you may like, so we’re passing them along.

• This week the news came out about Lufthansa losing its 5-star rating from Skytrax. Given that Skytrax’s rating system for airlines and airports has always been a bit suspect since there are no set criteria for an airline receiving the 5-star title. Lufthansa received the award in 2017, partially for the superior seating on its upcoming Boeing 777X planes. It seems Skyrtax was a bit ahead of themselves as it’s 5 years later and the 777X is still years from going into service. Skytrax gave no reasons for the airline losing its 5-star rating. Let’s hope the same doesn’t happen to Houston Hobby, the only 5-star airport in the US.
• The TSA occasionally posts on Twitter about the things they confiscate at airport checkpoints. If you’re interested, here’s what the TSA does with those items. It turns out the items most often taken away from passengers are liquids. If you have a water bottle, there are usually places to dump your drink before the checkpoint. While the safety of mixing unknown liquids is questionable, so would be lining up all of the potentially deadly, larger than 3 oz. bottles, you’ve taken away from passengers for a photo-op. Fortunately, the TSA may soon get updated equipment that will do away with the 3 oz. requirement.
• Hotels have been saying for a while that they’d like to eliminate single-use toiletries. IHG announced the idea back in 2019. While using bulk containers to refill each room would undoubtedly be less expensive, hotels touted that moving to large bottles was more environmentally friendly. And to show that no good idea can’t be monetized, IHG will partner with Unilever to use Dove soap for all hotels in the US by 2030.
• We all make mistakes. When they come to travel, you hope that they’re little ones, or at least easily corrected. For instance, I once planned a whole trip to the wrong airport. I caught it right away and was able to fix the error with it only costing me the extra time. However, sometimes a seemingly simple mistake, like flipping your departure and destination cities, can end up costing you extra money than you planned for your trip.
• While I usually book our flights directly with an airline, I occasionally use an online travel agency to book an itinerary with multiple airlines. In that case, you need to do your homework because at least one of these agencies will sell you a combination of flights that are impossible to take. While the author says they’ve dealt with the company in question with no issues, the agency booked a hidden city flight as part of the itinerary.
• After switching back to staying in hotels instead of Airbnbs, I’ve noticed some things still haven’t returned to normal. Sure, there’s a lack of employees to go around, but hotels still do a poor job of setting expectations. For example, on a recent stay, housekeeping services were inconsistent. One day we had full service. The next day nothing. If a hotel is offering limited services or by request, you’ll only find out once you’ve arrived. Management can no longer blame these changes on restrictions or unexpected staffing issues. If you’re still understaffed after 18 months, you will be that way for a while. Make a schedule with what you have, and then be upfront and let us know.

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This post first appeared on Your Mileage May Vary