Here is my view of Air BnB.

Yes, it is a gamble. But there are so many cool places on Air BnB. And I like having a kitchen to eat breakfast or even to get dinner after a long day (ie like fresh fruit,cheese, bread, charcuterie). I get so tired of eating out 3 meals a day, it takes a lot of time, is wasteful, and we overeat. I like going to local markets. I also love being able to do my own laundry (in some parts of the world laundry is very reasonable, OTOH I paid $8 to have a pair of baby socks cleaned in LA and $52 to have my skirt pressed in Zurich). I also paid $9 to have an orange delivered to my room once. I don't mind splurging but I hate being ripped off.

I don't rent from Air BnB unless i can figure out almost exactly where it is and walk it on Google maps. They have to have at least a dozen reviews that are very positive, and I read each one, very carefully. People are harsher on hotels than air bnb. I would also not rent from Air BnB in a location where I might have no choice if i wanted to leave. So, for example, Super Bowl weekend. If for some unknown reason i hated my Air BnB spot, there may be no other rooms in the city. (putting aside possibly forfeiture of $ if Air BnB could not help). Lastly, one risk is that they can cancel on you. We had a cottage we liked to rent for homecoming for DD1 but then they sold the house. Local hotels are booked 1yr in advance.

That said, we had wonderful Air BnB experiences in LA, San Diego, Paris, and Seville. Forgot, San Fran too! We stayed in a "Painted Lady" house.

Sabbath, re your q ... will have to think on that and get out a globe. Sometimes recency can dominate!

Here's my 2cents...

Do you purchase traveler’s insurance? Never, usually rely on the credit card coverage, some are pretty good (e.g. Amex). I think we did once, but it was a country that had been having issues with strife.

Do you hire private guides, if so how do you find them? Yes, especially in countries where language is an issue, logistics are confusing, historical background is key or you are short of time. Hotel concierges are a good place to start, but sometimes we just walked up to agencies directly once we were there. E.g. Luxor in Egypt, Angkor Wat in Cambodia, etc. Never for the full trip. Most of our trips to Europe are fully independent, and even in the Middle East.

How many nights do you usually stay in each city? It depends -- 2 to 7, I would say -- sometimes we are just in transit and need to stay a night or two.

Do you dress accordingly for each country that you are going to? Do you dress more for comfort? Yes, in general a comfortable but smart wardrobe of dark (or all light), washable colors is quite flexible, with mix and match pieces and good comfortable walking shoes, and usually one dress-up outfit for dinners. All one color makes laundry easier on the go. Please keep in mind that some countries will require more modesty, as will certain houses of worship (as noted). This can mean legs covered, arms covered, etc. In the Middle East, this can mean long sleeve linen tops and long skirts or loose fitting pants, and a scarf.

Do you plan activities for each day, or do you plan some days for roaming and leisure? We always plan for leisure, especially after landing. Touring is exhausting, and most people aren't used to walking 20,000 steps a day.

Do you ever plan trips to countries that you know nothing about? All the time!

A word on AirBnB -- as an owner of a rental -- many locations have a well developed rental home/apartment market, especially in Europe. These are often professionally managed and may not be listed on AirBnB but rather another site like HomeAway, VRBO, Flipkey, TripAdvisor, Booking.com, etc (or via their management company). These generally are held to a more consistent standard, and in some cases are regulated just like a B&B.

I do purchase insurance that covers medical evacuation if we are traveling overseas.

Hiring guides depends on the country and the situation. I have been to England, Germany, and France with no guides or tours of any kind. When I took my teenage son to Italy, we hired a private driver for just one day to get to a place that was not accessible by public transit. And we took a food tour in Venice, a history tour that got us into the Coloseum at night, and a couple of group tour day trips out of Rome--not private tours. For our upcoming trip to China, we are using an agency and will have guides with us for virtually all the trip--private for part, shared for part. In Europe plenty of people speak English, but not so much in China, plus there are specialized things our travel agency can arrange for us that we would not likely be able to arrange on our own.

How long we stay depends on what we want to do. If a place is centrally located and we have a car for day trips, we stay longer. Generally, I would say we stay three to five days in one place.

I try to dress both for comfort and to be appropriate to where we are. I have never traveled to any place that expects women to be covered (except for specific things like the Vatican). So I haven't really run into this being a conflict as I can manage both.

I plan a lot for trips. I tend to have each day mapped out in detail. I do leave some time open for wandering, but even then I usually have an option or two in mind as possibilities.

I have never gone on a trip without researching the country in advance. I enjoy the research and I feel like we have much better experiences when I have done my homework and made plans--this helps to prevent things like ending up in McDonalds in Italy because everyone is starved and no one knows where to go to eat.

I am very reluctant to use Air B and B after an unfortunate incident involving a place with just one toilet that clogged and a very unhelpful owner. I also like having a front desk to ask directions, recommendations, etc.

Even young healthy people can have an accident while traveling.

I purchase comprehensive trip insurance, not just for trip cancelation, but for repatriation, if something happens to a family member and I have to return home, etc.

Here's the info I got here about travel insurance. It seemed that most responders did buy insurance, but I decided not to because I did not prepay the hotel because of the costs for doing international bank transfers. Everyone in Fiji charged 3% for using a credit card, but that was easier than bank transfers, and I felt that that charge was worth it since my credit card would give me protection.

I bought a sleeve for carrying my credit card and passport that protects against someone scanning the card without my knowing it. Evidently this happened to my brother on our trip to Brazil, and his credit card got cancelled while we were there. I was able to use mine, however, and so we were okay. We also had a driver the whole time we were in Rio - something like a dedicated Uber driver, and his cost was very reasonable, plus there were three of us.

If you decide to drive in Europe, here is some useful info. The traffic signs are very cryptic with no text, and we did not know what all of them meant, as our rental car agency gave us no information for this. I had no idea what a white circle surrounded by a red circle meant, and we probably drove places we shouldn't have.

Lars, what will you do if you are injured while on vacation and have to return home quickly? Or if you are hospitalized overseas for an extended period and your traveling companion has to pay for extra days in a hotel?

I'm not sure why people worry so much over their credit cards. As long as you report it, you are never liable for more than $50, but I think that figure is there just to incent people to report. I have had my card compromised more than once and was never liable for a penny; i don't know anyone who has paid for charges they did not make. Anytime i needed a new card, it was there the next day. NO matter where I was. Maybe if you are travelling alone that could be an issue, but how many of us routinely travel alone internationally?

Terriks, Some credit cards pay for emergency medical evac; mine does. Though I don't think it is necessary, personally, but for a few locations. As tothe second point, I guess you would just pay for those extra hotel nights, not so much in the scheme of things. Like all risks, you have to weigh the likelihood vs the loss. These things are soooooo unlikely, and they are all things I can afford to pay for. Unlike, for example, emergency brain surgery. You would want insurance for that (most people are covered under their own health insurance when they travel).

Financially, it makes the most sense to self-insure almost all risk.

I think someone above put it well. The decision to buy insurance depends on you ability to withstand the costs, and your personality. That is a unique answer for everyone.

Because of Mother’s age (90) and because DH and I were going on a major excursion a great deal of which was paid in advance, I bought trip cancellation insurance last year for the first time ever. We got the “for any reason” cancellation policy, which is a bit more expensive. To give you a yardstick, the premium equaled about 10% of the prepaid costs.

Terriks, I can't answer for Lars, but if I needed to be evacuated or stay a few extra days I could afford pay for it out of pocket (if you can't afford to, then the insurance makes more sense). It isn't a risk I feel I need to insure against. I got health insurance to guarantee that I could get care promptly if something came up, or if I had a catastrophic injury where I couldn't be evacuated immediately to the US. I've never bought travel cancellation insurance because tough I would hate to eat sunk costs if I couldn't go for some reason, it wouldn't kill me, and it's a low risk event. I might buy it if I thought my cancellation risk was particularly high, like if I was traveling with my 89 year old mom.

We are going on a very expensive trip this year and got trip insurance, mostly because we booked and prepaid the trip over 6 months in advance, and both my husband and I have mothers in their late 80's/90's who have had unexpected major issues in recent years, so you never know what could happen. Although I could technically afford to lose the money, given my personality it would eat away at me no end if I lost that much. If it was just airfare or paying a few cancelled nights at hotels, it would not be something I would do. I agree with mntnrd that self-insuring is usually the best way to go for most risks.

Many states don't offer a "for any reason" cancellation option. This option isn't legal in our state, NY, for example. But we were able to get a very comprehensive policy for about 5% of the cost of the trip, so it was worth it in this situation for the peace of mind.

It took over a week for my brother to get his credit card replaced, and so that was not next day. He did not get a new credit card until we got back. He was not out any money - that's not what it was about - it was about the inconvenience of not being able to get money for the remainder of the trip. We tried to buy travelers' checks before we left, but evidently those are no longer available. The friend we went with was extracting money from the business he owns in Rio, and so he was flush with cash - therefore we were not really concerned. Still, there is no reason not to take proper care to protect you credit cards, and the sleeves are supposed to help.

I went to the emergency room in Cozumel with severe stomach pains, and it was free. I also had a dental filling replaced in Mexico City for minimal cost (about $25). I happened to meet a dentist at a party on the same day I lost the filling, and he opened his office for me to do the replacement on a Saturday. He did not speak English, but that was not a problem for me.

When I get older (and I'm pretty old already!), I'll be more concerned getting insurance for health risks. I had an emergency appendectomy in Sonoma on Thanksgiving Day back in 1990, and the friend I was visiting took me to Kaiser Hospital, which did not want to accept my insurance but would not let me go to another hospital. Therefore, my insurance only paid 60% instead of 80%, and so these things can happen in the U.S. as well. Through a clerical error, my insurance paid the hospital twice, and so they received 120% payment and still sent me bills, until I showed them proof of the 120% payment. I doubt they gave any money back to the insurance company.

SAS, I did look into travel insurance once. We did a 3.5 week trip for five to South America. We visited Macchu Picchu, then Patagonia, then did a cruise within Antarctica, back to Santiago, over to Easter Island, then back thru Santiago again on our way to Buenos Aires, and after that, then home. The policies I looked at maxed out at numbers less than what we were paying (maybe there is a firm that does custom quotes IDK) but, extrapolating from the coverage they did offer, it made no sense. 5% seems quite cheap to me... that might have tempted me in that case. I might have paid that for that particular trip. We booked a year in advance (the Antarctica trip we chose is the only one where you fly into Antarctica and then cruise, and it is only offered 8 x a year on a relatively small ship so you need to book very far in advance.)

I probably still would not have thought of insurance but the Antarctica cruise operator made a very big fuss of us proving, in writing, that we had insurance that would cover up to $100,000/per to evacuate each of us from Antarctica (that is what it could cost). Turns out I ended up getting in writing from Amex that yes, they would cover that.

If you don't mind saying where you got the trip cancellation insurance, SAS, that might be good to know. I do hope that you (et al) have a wonderful trip and don't need to invoke it!

Really, Lars, a week? wow that is bad! I cannot remember the details but I know i got one internationally overnight somewhere because I was surprised, and plenty of times my DH or one of my kids domestically overnight.

Here’s my take:

Do you purchase traveler’s insurance? No, we travel overseas extensively and have never felt the need for travel insurance.

Do you hire private guides, if so how do you find them? As a general rule we do not hire guides, but have on occasion. For example, a guide is unnecessary in Israel, but is a good idea if you are going to Bethlehem, Jordan River, etc. I was just there last week for my grand nephew’s bar mitzvah:)

How many nights do you usually stay in each city? It completely depends on the city. Anywhere from 1-2 nights to 10 days.

Do you dress accordingly for each country that you are going to? Do you dress more for comfort? I dress both comfortably and appropriately for wherever I am.

Do you plan activities for each day, or do you plan some days for roaming and leisure? I research extensively and plan for every single day, as well as compile long restaurant lists. That said, I don’t stick to lists and spend plenty of time wandering about and letting things just “happen”. The lists are just a guide.

Do you ever plan trips to countries that you know nothing about? Definitely, but I end up researching before I go.

Mntnrd, I got the trip insurance checking through Squaremouth. You put in the cost that you want to insure and certain other information, and they spit out a bunch of policies to choose from. The site then enables you to compare specific policies side by side, as well as read reviews from people who attempted to collect on their policies. I think we went with a John Hancock policy, that offered among the best benefits at a significantly lower cost than most of the others. Part of our upcoming trip is with a tour company, and they offered their own trip insurance-- the policy I bought had equivalent coverage to theirs at around half the cost.

Who knows, maybe a 3.5 week trip in the style in which you like to travel, multiplied by 5 is too heady a prospect for normal insurance coverage! Or maybe because I don't think you can buy trip cancellation insurance without it being bundled with medical and evacuation, the risks involved in a trip to Antarctica, especially for five people, might be way up there from an actuarial point of view.

As far as the medical evacuation coverage goes, a friend of ours was traveling with her family and they were all in a horrific bus crash in Mexico. Several people on the bus died. Her family all survived but two of them used their medical evacuation insurance to return to Canada. Otherwise they would have been stuck in Mexico for weeks or months until they were well enough to travel by regular flights or they would have had to pay out of pocket, which is very expensive. So I now make sure we have coverage for this one way or the other when we travel overseas.

I'll answer those that apply to my travel.

Do you purchase traveler’s insurance? Yes, always. I need to get home in a hurry if my elderly mother has an emergency. My own health insurance will not cover me abroad.

Do you hire private guides, if so how do you find them? I never have but would love to and am interested in what others will say. $3900 for several people sounds fair compared to what I pay for a tour.

How many nights do you usually stay in each city? 2 - 3.

Do you dress accordingly for each country that you are going to? Do you dress more for comfort? I dress more for comfort without looking too much like an American tourist. There's no way in the world I am going to blend in with the Parisians. I definitely do not wear socks with sandals!

Do you plan activities for each day, or do you plan some days for roaming and leisure? Tour company does that but mine gives plenty of time to roam on your own. I like to plan ahead. You waste too much time trying to figure things out if you don't.

Do you ever plan trips to countries that you know nothing about? Again, I went with a tour but we did go to Albania and Macedonia which are off the beaten track.

Have fun! I know you will.

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Dedtired, tell us about Alabania and Macedonia. Very exotic.

Al-ban-i-a, Al-ban-i-a, it borders on the Adriatic.

Anyone recognize that and remember where it comes from? The ridiculous stuff that gets stuck in my brain.

The tail wagging the dog? Wag the Dog.

Robo, your advice is so spot-on, I’ve bookmarked it to refer back to when we head to Europe. Many thanks!

"but how many of us routinely travel alone internationally?"

I do. Since I travel on a shoestring budget my travel insurance is very inexpensive. I think that I paid around $50 for insurance for my current 7 week trip in Guatemala. I'm not worried about covering the expense of the trip, but rather the expenses of getting home quickly if necessary.

Do you purchase traveler’s insurance? Yes, because anything can happen. If I am purchasing months in advance, I want to insure against a medical emergency for either DH or me that would allow me to cancel. Or if we had to come home for something related to MIL or one of my siblings. Need to check into credit cards on medical evacuation but that is also super important.

Do you hire private guides, if so how do you find them? Yes, I used a private guide in Beijing. I was by myself for that portion of the trip after I presented at a conference in another city in China, and I felt I needed a guide. Robo recommended Catherine Liu tours in China, and I also read the Tripadvisor reviews. I also hired a private car from the hotel to pick me up and take me there.

How many nights do you usually stay in each city? Can be as little as 2 nights.

Do you dress accordingly for each country that you are going to? Do you dress more for comfort? I know I am likely going to be walking a lot, so comfortable shoes are a must. Thank goodness nothing more than business casual dress was needed on the China trip.

Do you plan activities for each day, or do you plan some days for roaming and leisure? I had only a little time to myself in Beijing by myself to explore the street vendors nearby my hotel or just to relax at dinner or at the lounge. The rest of the time during the day I was with the guide.

Do you ever plan trips to countries that you know nothing about? Not been this lucky yet as I still have a long list of countries I know something about to visit.

We purchased travel insurance for our last trip to Europe. The policy was comprehensive including medical, cancellation, and evacuation. This was the first time we have purchased insurance but this trip was an expensive adventure, and included a two week cruise with zero refunds for last minute cancellations. Had we needed to cancel last minute without refund, we could not easily afford the trip again in the short term. Additionally, this was the first trip we made where our medical insurance was not covering outside of the US. So I decided it was worth it for us, I really think it depends on the situation. If we did not have the cruise I probably would have limited the insurance to medical coverage, which would have been an even lower cost.

Terriks, well that math sure makes sense. I think someone above mentioned 10% for good cancellation insurance, and IIRc the one time i looked into it, that was about the rate.

Sabbath, it's so good to see you here! I am still so grateful for all the advice you gave me for our trip to Japan (happening late May this year.)

Taking a break from looking into insurance options for upcoming trip to Ireland -- not exactly exotic!

Albania and Macedonia were fascinating. To me the most interesting aspects were how the different religions live side by side -- Catholic, and Muslim. As I recall, Macedonia was doing a better job of living happily together. Both countries were communist countries until not so long ago and I found it very interesting to see the remnants of that lifestyle (concrete buildings) along with hearing the point of view of people who had lived under Communism. Since I was brainwashed by My Weekly Reader when I was a kid to believe Communism was entirely evil, I learned that some people welcomed it and still miss it because it improved their health care and education enormously despite loss of personal freedom. Albania still has concrete bunkers dotting the cities and countryside that were built under orders from the dictator Enver Hoxha. Today they are used for a number of purposes including teenage trysts! The capital city of Tirana, Albania is lovely and clean with interesting museums and good restaurants. The people were invariably friendly in both countries.

We also visited Ohrid, Macedonia which is on the shores of a beautiful lake. There is an old town which was fun to explore. Great shopping and the best gelato I ever had in my life. There was a music festival while we were there which added to the fun. The capital is Skopje (birthplace of Mother Theresa) and that city is a hoot! Half the town was destroyed in an earthquake and rebuilt in a style that reminded me of Disney World. It was a total waste of money in a country that is very poor. The protestors reacted by throwing paint filled water balloons at the enormous statues (mostly Alexander the Great and his dad, Philip of Macedon). It certainly gave the city a cheerful, multi-colored look. There is also an old town, again fun to explore. I cannot recommend seeing that crazy place enough! Both Albania and Macedonia are poor so you see plenty of trash along the roads. The people are wonderful and English is commonly spoken.

I am looking forward to a doing an Eastern Europe roadtrip with just DH someday ... sounds like we'd enjoy seeing those spots, too, Dedtired.

As for communism, I recall a guide telling us that "after Communism, he has freedom of speech but he cannot afford the open market price of strawberries."

Well, back during communism there were not a lot of strawberries to be had for the average citizen.

Can only tell you what this guy said, was that under communism strawberries were cheap (in season I suppose). Forgetting the particulars, I suppose his point was trading off lofty concepts for everyday goods. I found it thought provoking.

Judging by what I heard from older folks, life was pretty dismal in these poor countries before Communism, so any improvement was welcome. Now I am trying to remember what produce I saw for sale and the price! I will never forget some peaches I bought in Thessaloniki, Greece. They were so fat, sweet and juicy I could have cried from joy. I have never duplicated them here in the US.

Rita- pm me I want to hear all about your plans for Japan!! We are going on our trip in late May - early June. Did I read that you are going to Greece too?

Mtn & dedtired, I don't mean to sound McCarthy-ish about communism. I was very open minded about the concept in the 80s when I was a teen. My views shifted dramatically as I became friends with emigres once the whole enterprise collapsed. Not a single person I have met from a former communist country has had anything positive to say about the system (plenty of positive things to say about communities during the time.) There is a nostalgia among many of the older people for a simpler and easier time among the parents of some of my friends. My children attend an international school and many students are from Russian families. Plus the Bay Area in general has a large Russian population- going out to the opera, for example, you will hear more Russian than English at intermission.

Sabbath, yes, a huge amount of travel planned for this summer. I will PM you tonight.

I am hardly an expert on the topic of communism, far from it. I know it was the much older people (like in their 80s) who perhaps remember the country before communism, and that it brought some improvements. Anyone else (75 and younger) only knew communism and were glad to be rid of it. Anyway, that's what they (the people we met) told me.

Travel insurance -- if I can pay for the expenses with my CitiAAdvantage credit card, I'm covered. Check with your credit card benefits to see if they do the same. I can't buy anything better than what I'm getting for free.

When I travel independently (no tour), I don't bother with insurance, even if I pay by other means. Since my husband died, I've started going on small group tours operated by friends, and others in the group are friends. So, I buy travel insurance when I pay those small-tour operators so that no one is burdened if I have to cancel.

Other guides -- I took at Paris By Mouth food tour, even though I've gone to Paris every year for the last ten, and more years before that. It was worth it for a few hours. The only way to see the Scaffi beneath the Vatican, was through their tour. I've had an art history major guide us through the Renaissance paintings in the Vatican Museum. For my upcoming trip to Venice (where I've never been), another woman in the group wants to do a few tours, but I want time to wander around on my own. I've agreed to one 3-hour tour to do with her, but she wants to do several, which I'm not up to.

Length of stay -- Even on the small tours for 7-10 days, we never change our lodging location. When I'm by myself, I like to spend at least four days in one place, and longer in others. It depends. I prefer to rent apartments.

Blending in -- I dress in basics in Paris, usually black/grey/white/red to build a base of coordinates. I do my best to not draw attention to myself. Even comfortable walking sneakers (like Skechers slip-ons with memory foam insoles and good outsoles) are available in black and don't draw attention. I find Italy to be much more casual, but I still stick with basics, but add more color with my tops and such. England is even more casual -- I'm talking Barber style jackets, walking shoes, etc. because it's not unusual. In London, I also stick with basics for restaurants at dinner, but never hesitate to wear whatever I want for anything else.

Places I've never been -- I always research in advance. Travel isn't cheap, so I want to have a good idea of what's there, where to stay, where to dine. That said, once there, I hate to "chase museums" like so many people I see in Paris who want to see all the museums in one week. I'm very laidback and like to wander around -- just be there, if that makes any sense.

I strongly urge anyone here, who is going to Europe, or, has been and has tips to share, to join (free) the SlowEurope Forum. We started many, many years ago as SlowTravel, much like GardenWeb.

I've met at least 70 of those people in person in the course of travels and intentional get-togethers here in the US. You'll find friendly advice, without sniping, without making you feel uncomfortable. It's a very safe forum and I also know the moderator. BTW -- over there, I'm Cameron.

I do love a good food tour!!! One of my favourite memories of Bangkok is doing an evening food tour of Chinatown. So fun!

We are planning a trip overseas and wanted to know if anyone here could tell me about how they plan their travel:

Do you purchase traveler’s insurance? Rarely

Do you hire private guides, if so how do you find them? Yes, we hired private guides/drivers when we were in Europe last July. I found them online. The driver picked us up in Krakow and drove us to the countryside to visit DH's aunt and family. He then drove all 5 of us to Prague, with two stops along the way (prepaid tours-one to Auschwitz). The same service drove us from Prague to Vienna. From Vienna we flew EzeJet to London.

How many nights do you usually stay in each city? 2-4 is usually sufficient, depending on how many countries we visit. The fewer the countries the more time we spend in each. France and Italy are usually 4-5 days each.

Do you dress accordingly for each country that you are going to? Do you dress more for comfort? I try to dress appropriately, usually in dresses, skirts with appropriate tops. I wear flats and sandals for comfort. Last summer it was so hot in Europe that I was glad to be in breezy dresses every day.

Do you plan activities for each day, or do you plan some days for roaming and leisure? We are planners, so we have an overview with key sights, but leave plenty of time for meandering and finding out of the way restaurants and sights.

Do you ever plan trips to countries that you know nothing about? Absolutely, that is part of the fun of travel. But by the time we leave, we are familiar enough with where we are going and what the customs are.

We delight in the planning of any vacation and like to nail down the details as much as possible. We stayed in AirbnB's and have nothing but positive things to say. They all exceeded our expectations.

bonnie_ann, one of my HS friends is going to Poland this summer with her kids. The youngest is graduating college and they are doing a trip. I can't remember if they are doing a tour package or DIY.

dhygarden, I signed up for SlowTravel. Thought everything was going fine. Appeared to get approved to search and post. Did a little research on some areas we are going to be in. Then, BOOM!, this morning, I get an email saying that I haven’t been approved. Apparently I didn’t tell enough about myself. I thought “loves to travel” was sufficient. Any advice?

I forgot to add we also had great Air BnB experiences in Portland, OR and Vancouver, WA

bbstx -- that's odd. I know there have been issues with spammers lately, trying to sell products by posting. Mention places you have traveled and places you want to go. That you have a particular interest in (mention countries). That Cameron from GardenWeb forums recommended joining....maybe the moderator will ask me?

The site would not let me try to rejoin. I found a “Contact Us” and sent a message. I mentioned your name. There hasn’t been sufficient time for a response.

Okay -- I'm also on FaceBook with the moderator. Are you using the same moniker? I just messaged her for you and asked how you can get approved. She lives in the UK.

quick response, bbstx -- I emailed them. I thought they might be a spammer. If they register again I will approve it. We just landed in Israel!!

Re: SlowEurope. I’m back on without re-registering! It’s good to know people who know people! Thanks, dhygarden!

She didn't know that the system wouldn't allow someone to try again. She fixed it immediately and confirmed with me.

dhygarden, in reading the American Airlines CITI card agreement, it makes no sense to buy additional Allianz coverage. The benefits are identical. Thank you for bringing that up. It is included with our card fees, so we are paying for it, but it's more economical than paying for it by trip.

We are travelling to a music festival only to find that one of the acts we wanted to see canceled altogether and another one has had a key member pull out from the tour due to illness, so we are stuck with the travel unless some other covered circumstance happens. No refunds on the concert ticket, and we bought VIP. This is not the first time we've been burned on a festival. Never again! Especially since we both had to navigate major work schedule changes to be able to go to this. UGH!!

Good on the CITI card, but so sorry about your music festival.

Thanks. I made another thread asking about cancellation of nonrefundable airline tickets.