Four things we checked this week, each about thirty seconds to read.
The Fine Print: your bag is better protected flying domestic than international
International flights cap airline liability around $2,060 under the Montreal Convention. US domestic rules cap it at roughly double. Either way it is a ceiling on what you can prove, not a payout, and the clock is short: 7 days to report damage, 21 for a delayed bag.
The Window: book Japan's cherry blossoms now, before the forecast exists
Full bloom lasts 5 to 7 days and moves up to two weeks from year to year, but the 2027 forecast will not arrive until December or January. Hold free-cancellation rooms for late March, pick one base, and know your fallback further north.
From the Archive: the Caribbean's best week is the one people think is dangerous
Hurricane season officially runs to November 30, and prices follow the calendar. The storms do not: risk drops sharply in early November and is negligible after mid-month. That leaves about two weeks of off-peak pricing with near-zero hurricane risk, and there is still time to book it.
Quick Check: "book on Tuesday" is a myth. "Fly on Tuesday" is not.
The book-on-Tuesday rule comes from an older era of airline pricing. Today's major fare studies cannot even agree on which day is cheapest to buy, which tells you how small the effect is. The day you fly is what moves the price: Google Flights data shows Monday through Wednesday flights can run about 13 percent cheaper than weekend ones.
Booking Thanksgiving? It falls on Thursday, November 26. AAA's data points to flying on the holiday itself as the biggest saving, and the Sunday after as the most expensive day to come home.
Know someone booking a trip?
Forward this. It takes two minutes to read and might save them a seat fee or a few hundred dollars.
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