General tips for viewing the Northern Lights in Canada

The Aurora Borealis is a magical thing to see, but it doesn’t come easily, and you have to follow some rules to have the best chance of making it to the show.

First of all, you should be in an area with minimal light pollution. Lakes, meadows, and remote beaches will do. That doesn’t mean that you can’t see it from the city, but the spectacle will be much more intense when there are no artificial lights around.

Secondly, season matters. Different Canadian regions have different Aurora sightings at different times. For example, the Yukon is an all-around kind of destination, while in Ontario, autumn is the best time to see the Northern Lights.

Thirdly, the weather should be your friend, and checking the forecast is obligatory for increasing your chances of catching the Aurora. The best-case scenario is when there are no clouds above and the sky is completely clear.

Regarding the best time, expect the Lights to show up between 10 p.m. and 2 a.m. September to March is the optimal period for Aurora hunting in Canada, as it includes fall and spring equinoxes with the highest solar activity.

The websites that will facilitate your Northern Lights chasing are Aurora Forecast, which covers the whole of Canada, and Aurora Watch, with a focus on Edmonton and Alberta.

But we fall for fall leaf by leaf, and the fall foliage spectacle improvisationally changes its cue every year. Arrive too early, and you only catch the opening foliage act; too late, and you miss the main peak color event.

To help you achieve your amber aspirations, maple marvels, and rustic reveries, I analyzed a trove of tree data provided by the USA National Phenology Network and the many participants contributing to its “Nature’s Notebook” program.

I crunched the numbers on 60,518 annual tree life cycle observations — or phenophase records, for you botany buffs — covering 305 deciduous tree species. That’s a decade’s worth of data, spanning 2,561 observational sites across the U.S., all to serve you the most accurate, tailored-to-your-needs foliage forecast for 2023! I also designated a few states as “Leaf Leaders” for providing some of the best places to see fall colors in the U.S.

Read on or select a jump link to discover when the leaves in your neck of the woods will put on their grandest show of the year.

• Explore the Map: Peak Foliage by Region
• View the Table: State-by-State Peak Foliage
• U.S. Foliage Timelines by Region
• Understand Our Methodology

Credit: Trips to Discover

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Methodology

Independent: My data analysis research is conducted with independence and impartiality to ensure the integrity of the findings. My research is editorially independent, but Trips to Discover may earn a commission for any purchases made through links on this page.

Raw Data Source: USA National Phenology Network. 2023. Plant and Animal Phenology Data. Data type: Individual Phenometrics. 1/1/2012-12/31/2022 for Region: 71.538800°, -66.934570° (UR); 24.396308°, 172.558333° (LL) USA-NPN, Tucson, Arizona, USA. Data set accessed 9/5/23 at http://doi.org/10.5066/F78S4N1V

Collection: I crafted a tailored dataset using the USA-NPN, featuring 60,518 tree status phenophase observations gathered from a span of a decade. These observations come from 2,561 unique sites across the United States and cover 305 species of deciduous trees. My collection focused on two key phenophase classes: “colored leaves” and “falling leaves.”

Cleaning: I narrowed the range of tree status observations to focus specifically on core U.S. fall foliage from August 1 through November 30 of each year. I refined the original dataset to include only sites within the contiguous U.S. I generated a unique Key ID for each observation by combining the site ID, latitude, longitude, state, common tree name, individual ID, and observation year information. I used this Key ID to merge the “colored leaves” and “falling leaves” phenophase observations into pairs.

Analysis: After an initial examination of over 30,000 paired records, I found that “peak fall foliage” generally falls between the first date leaves start to drop (the initial “falling leaves” date) and the date the last leaf changes color (the final “colored leaves” date). This intersection of phenophases yields the most leaves in vibrant hues still clinging to the trees, also known as peak foliage. I calculated the average date range for peak foliage across the 2,561 observation sites, spanning ten years of data. I then aggregated these site-level averages at the state level. I grouped states into eight regions, determined by geographical proximity and comparable peak foliage dates, with the aid of GPT-4 technology. The “Leaf Leader” states were designated based on my subjective evaluation.

Dates: I then derived four critical metrics for each of the eight regions:

1. Foliage Start: Average of states’ “falling leaves” start dates in a region.
2. Peak Start: The earliest peak foliage midpoint in a regional group.
3. Peak End: The last peak foliage midpoint in a regional group.
4. Foliage End: Average of states’ last “colored leaves” record date in a region.

Replicability: All raw data is publicly available. For questions, email noah@tripstodiscover.com. [Google Sheets link] contains the cleaned data and calculations minus proprietary info and raw data. Please credit if sharing.

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Compared to the cost of other everyday items, the price of luggage can feel unreasonable. However, delving into the factors determining luggage prices, like choice material, innovative design and brand reputation, reveals why prices can be so steep. Every detail adds to the cost, from zipper construction to multiple handles, wheels, expanding compartments, and technological innovations.

A brand history that signals quality, durability and style also significantly adds to the premium on certain luggage tags. But is expensive luggage worth the premium?

Knowing the average luggage cost can help inform your purchasing decisions, especially when weighing whether to spring for that top-tier piece. Our in-depth examination of luggage pricing reveals how much suitcases cost on average, providing the insights you need to make the best decision based on your travel style.

Here is a breakdown of everything you will learn on this page:

• What Determines Luggage Prices?
  • Luggage Materials
  • Brand Reputation
• Is the Price Right for Your Luggage?
  • Is Expensive Luggage Worth it?
  • How Much is a Suitcase?

However, recognizing and naming the atmospheric conditions that create these illusions and understanding their definitions can be like rain capturing dust in the air, bringing it to settle on the ground. As the illusionary conditions fade with knowledge, shifting focus from the horizon reveals an oasis of funding opportunities present all along.

And now, for some jargon-clearing rain and more myth-dispelling wisdom from award-winning travel influencer and expert behind the travel and lifestyle brand Packs Light — Gabby Beckford.

Here is everything you will learn on this page:

• Travel Grants, Scholarships, Fellowships — Defined
• Travel Funding Opportunities
• Travel Funding Myths and Misconceptions
• Travel Cost Myths and Misconceptions

You love your pet; you love to travel — I don’t have to tell you these two passions can clash. I’ve been there, renting the only pet-friendly hotel in town because it’s the only option, certainly not out of appeal. Of course, it’s miles from the closest dog park. Finding a pet-friendly eatery nearby that you also want to eat at? Forget about it!

In a country like the U.S., seemingly dominated by travel enthusiasts and pet lovers alike, those of us who travel with our four-legged companions often find ourselves frustrated by the limited availability of establishments that accept pets nationwide.

More to Read: Top 15 Pet-Friendly Resorts in the U.S.

Suppose instead of boarding your pup, you decide to find the most pet-friendly city in the U.S. for your next travel destination — that’s a dedicated pet parent right there. But how to measure “friendliness?”

Alas, as with all great burning abstract questions — a data-driven approach can help us find the answer. Even better, working like a dog, I found the cities for you!

Here are some jump links to help you navigate this page:

• Map: Top 10 Pet-Friendly Cities in the US to Visit
• Roster: Top 10 Pet-Friendly Cities in the US to Visit
• Table: Top 20 Pet-Friendly Cities in the US to Visit
• Methodology

Roster: Top 10 Pet-Friendly Cities in the US to Visit

By harnessing data from the national tourism office, prioritizing U.S. tourist hotspots, manually collecting pet-friendly hotel, Airbnb, restaurant, park and store data and applying a 13-metric statistical analysis, I could gauge the overall pet-friendliness for the 100 most visited U.S. cities — not to say I’m putting on the dog or anything.

Additionally, I measured the “acceptance” of local populations toward traveling pets, the concentration of pet-friendly establishments in each city, and pet-friendly lodging costs. Everything from highly-rated hotels to off-leash dog parks went into my normalized, weighted, indexed, logarithmically transformed scoring system that answers the question, “Which U.S. cities roll out the red carpet for our beloved four-legged companions?”

This question was like herding dogs, but the result? A travel destination where it’s guaranteed to be raining cats and dogs. (If your dog doesn’t find this “punny,” I suggest you stop reading now.)

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Methodology

Independence: I conducted this research impartially, but we may earn commissions from links on this page.

Selection Criteria: Cities were selected based on the top 100 U.S. MSA destinations for overseas tourists using data from the National Travel and Tourism Office (NTTO) Survey of International Air Travelers (SIAT) for Q2 2022-Q1 2023.

Data Points:

1. Pet-Friendly Hotels (Booking.com): Data collected during 7/25/23-7/26/23 MDT, focusing on total pet-friendly locations and those with 8/10+ reviews.
2. Pet-Friendly Airbnb Rentals (Airbnb): Data extracted between 11 AM-12:25 PM 7/27/23. Filters included entire places, Superhosts, and essential amenities. Metrics included total locations and average pricing.
3. Pet-Friendly Restaurants (Tripadvisor): Filtered for establishments that have a dog-friendly feature.
4. Off-Leash Dog Parks & Stores (BringFido): Only within city limits.

Analysis:

• Data Normalization: Pet-friendly amenities were normalized using per capita and square mile calculations.
• Logarithmic Transformation: A logarithmic transformation was applied to the data to counteract city size and population biases, ensuring fair comparisons across cities of different scales.

Scoring:

• Pet Acceptance Level: Captures a city’s acceptance of pets; establishments per capita.
• Pet Density Index: Gauges concentration of pet-friendly spots; establishments per sq mile.
• Pet-Friendly City Score: Combines the two scores above for a comprehensive view.
  • Airbnb Prices: Factored into the final score without per capita/square mile calculations. Weighed at 13.5%.
• Final Weights: I weighed scores to a 10-point system. Key metrics include Hotels (15.14%), Highly-Rated Hotels (12.98%), Airbnbs (15.14%), Restaurants (15.14%), Dog Parks (15.14%), Pet-Friendly Stores (12.98%), and Airbnb Price (13.50%).

Replicability: All raw data is publicly available. For questions, email noah@tripstodiscover.com. [Google Sheets link] contains the gathered data and calculations minus proprietary info. Please credit if sharing.

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TSA PreCheck and Global Entry allow you to move more quickly through the airport but in different ways. These programs offer expedited security and customs processing at U.S. airports. If you’ve spotted a Global Entry kiosk at a customs checkpoint or noticed the notably shorter PreCheck queue at TSA security stations, you’re likely already somewhat acquainted with these memberships.

For anyone who has endured lengthy waits in security or customs lines, the appeal of joining one of these programs becomes increasingly apparent. This piece will clarify what each of these programs entails, highlight membership benefits, detail the associated process and costs, and guide you in discerning which (or both) aligns best with your needs!

Here is everything you will find on this page:

• What is TSA PreCheck?
• What is Global Entry?
• Global Entry Vs. TSA PreCheck

Allow us to set the record straight surrounding misconceptions about Puerto Rico’s status within the U.S., particularly regarding tourism. We address your most frequently Googled questions and provide clear answers to this misunderstood topic. Here are the points we’ll cover to make your visit to the island as smooth as possible:

• Is Puerto Rico a Domestic or International Flight?
• Do You Need a Passport to Go to Puerto Rico?
• How Long is the Flight to Puerto Rico?
• Do You Go Through Customs in Puerto Rico?

Allow me to field your questions as the data journalist for a travel discovery site who has dedicated extensive time over the past four months, investing well over 100 hours in experimenting with generative AI and its direct intersections with the travel industry. This firsthand experience has uniquely positioned me to address your most pressing concerns and questions about integrating generative AI in travel planning. More importantly, I’ll help you decide if generative AI is the right tool for finding your next travel inspiration.

Using the search engine optimization (SEO) suite, Ahrefs, Google tools and, of course, GPT-4 with web browsing capabilities, I surfaced the most commonly searched questions surrounding the use of AI in travel planning.

Here’s a breakdown of everything you will find answered on this page. Let’s dive in!

• How Does AI-Based Travel Planning Work?
• Is AI Travel Planning Reliable and Accurate?
• How Can AI Enhance the Travel Experience?
• What are the Risks of Using AI to Plan Travel?
• Can I Use AI or GPT to Plan a Vacation?
• Is My Data Secure with AI Travel Planners?
• Is AI Safe for Travel Booking?
• What are the Best AI Travel Itinerary Planners?
• Can AI Replace Human Travel Agents?
• Is AI the Future of the Travel Industry? (Some AI humor)

Also, check out my latest piece to gain in-depth insights into the revolutionary impact of AI on the entire realm of the travel industry beyond just travel planning.

This modestly priced adventure was Cook’s opening act in the travel sector he would revolutionize, setting the stage for the global phenomenon that is the tourism industry today.

Similarly, the groundbreaking Artificial Intelligence (AI) model, GPT-4, developed by OpenAI, holds the potential to script a parallel transformation of the travel sector. Just as Cook pioneered hundreds on an unprecedented journey, so too does AI have the capacity to guide travelers into new realms of exploration.

Online travel platforms utilize GPT-4 to create custom travel itineraries, locate deals, and offer destination insights, heralding a new AI-driven travel revolution reminiscent of Cook’s industry-transforming work during the Industrial Revolution. This disruption to traditional norms and total reshaping of travel experiences could redefine tourism entirely, suggesting a future in which the industry isn’t just influenced but wholly defined by AI.

This article provides an overview of the potential impact of AI in the travel industry. Here is a breakdown of everything you will learn on this page:

• AI in the Context of Travel
• AI Integrates Into Your Travels
• AI Transforms Your Travel Planning
• AI and Your Concerns as a Traveler
• AI is Planning Your Travel Anyway

Also, check out my latest AI travel planning FAQ to see if using AI to plan your next trip is a good idea.

Whether you’re a first-time flier or a seasoned service dog traveler, our guide includes all the latest updates on the Air Carrier Access Act (ACAA), Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), and individual airline policies. So please sit back, relax, and let us help make your next flight with your service dog a breeze!

Here is a breakdown of everything you will learn on this page:

• Service Dog Definition and Airplane Eligibility
• Service Dog Training Requirements for Flying
• Breed Restrictions and Flying With Large Service Dogs
• New Rules for Flying With a Service Dog
• Service Dog Rights and Laws When Flying
• TSA and Airport Service Dog Policies
• American, Delta, Southwest, United Service Dog Policies
• Service Dog-Proof Airlines Can and Can Not Ask For
• How to Answer Questions About Your Service Dog
• What to Do if Your Service Dog is Denied Aircraft Entry
• Final Tips on Flying With a Service Dog

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These misconceptions could not be further from the truth and require some serious busting. So we spoke with Gabby Beckford, award-winning travel influencer and expert behind Packs Light, about common travel myths that aren’t true.

Here is everything you will find debunked on this page:

• Solo Travel Myths and Misconceptions
• Solo Female Travel Myths and Misconceptions
• Solo Black Female Travel Myths and Misconceptions
• About Our Expert: Gabby Beckford

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Additionally, searches related to the safety of Cancún are trending after the rideshare app Uber won a court decision earlier this year for the right to operate in the city. Conflict ensued after some taxi drivers began harassing Uber drivers in videotaped incidents that garnished more widespread attention. Following this, the U.S. Embassy in Mexico issued a security alert for Quintana Roo state.

We requested the advice of two travel experts deeply familiar with traveling in Mexico and overseas travel safety about how concerned U.S. travelers should be with visiting the country right now.

Here is a breakdown of everything you will learn on this page:

• Mexico Travel Advice
• Mexico Travel Advisories
• Mexico Travel Safety and Precautions
• Mexico Travel Advisory Map

Mexico Travel Advisory Map

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Some important things to consider that will add time to how early you should arrive at the airport are if you are checking a bag, traveling with children, pets or in a group, or during peak times of day or days of the year. In any of these situations, you should consider getting to the airport at the earlier recommended times below.

Here is a breakdown of everything you need to know about getting to the airport on time for domestic and international flights, plus five major U.S. airports:

• How Early Should I Get to the Airport?
• How Early Should I Get to the Airport for an International Flight?
• How Early Should I Get to the Airport for a Domestic Flight?
• How Early Should I Get to LAX?
• How Early Should I Get to DEN?
• How Early Should I Get to ATL?
• How Early Should I Get to DFW?
• How Early Should I Get to ORD?

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It could be time to replace some of the dated travel apps on your phone or add a few new ones to improve how you plan, book, and navigate your time off this year. Whether you are an Android or Apple traveler; looking for planning, booking, or navigating apps, our list of the best travel apps of 2023 will have something new for you!

Here is everything you will find out about on this page:

• Must-Have Travel Planning Apps
  • Best Apps for Planning a Trip
  • Best Apps for Planning Road Trips
  • Best Apps for Travel Packing Lists
• Top Apps for Booking Travel
  • Best Apps for Tracking and Booking Cheap Flights
  • Best Apps for Hotels and Apps Like Airbnb
  • Best Apps for Planning RV and Camping Trips
  • Best Apps for Rideshare and Taxis
  • Best Apps for Dog Walking and Sitters
• Leading GPS Apps for Driving and Hiking
  • Best Apps for GPS and Traffic
  • Best Apps for Hiking and Backpacking
• Infographic: The 30 Best Travel Apps of 2023

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Finding the best deals to rent a car takes work. Do you pick the cheapest or more reliable rental car company? Should you pay now or later for a rental car, and what are the associated risks with each option? What if you need to cancel your reservation last minute — which company has the highest cancellation fees?

These are all critical questions to consider when selecting the best rental car company, but it can be challenging to examine all these options holistically. That’s why Trips to Discover completed a month-long analysis of the eight most prominent car rental companies to find the best car rentals in the U.S.

We used a proprietary ranking system utilizing 12 variables to find the best car rental company in the country. The algorithm not only considers price but transparency, average fees, cancellation costs, availability, pay-now discounts, car class, size and baggage space, and more. See our methodology for the full explanation.

Here is a breakdown of everything you’ll learn on this page:

• Table: The Best Rental Car Companies of 2023
• Ranked List: The Eight Best Car Rental Companies in the US
  • National Car Rental
  • Alamo Rent a Car
  • Enterprise Rent-A-Car
  • Dollar Rent-a-Car
  • Thrifty Car Rental
  • Avis Car Rental
  • Hertz
  • Budget Rent a Car
• The Best Car Rental Companies in by Category
  • Price: Cheapest Car Rental Companies
  • Fees: Rental Cars With the Least Fees
  • Pay Now: The Car Rentals With the Best Pay Now Deals
• Methodology

Table: The Best Rental Car Companies of 2023

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The Eight Best Car Rental Companies in the US

The data is gathered, crunched, and analyzed; we looked at everything you need to know about renting a car from the eight major car rental companies in the US. Take advantage of this resource to find the best car rental company for your travel style!

We completed and analyzed 176 mock rental car bookings for the nation’s eight largest companies. We used the five largest US airports based on passenger traffic as the pickup destinations for these bookings across five upcoming holidays. Rental durations ranged from three to nine days, depending on the holiday, and we always selected the busiest travel days.

One metric below that is less self-explanatory is the Average True Daily Cost. Car rental companies often quote a daily rate. Still, most of the time, these are base rates without taxes, fees, and other miscellaneous charges, and the meaning of daily rates are lost at checkout — this can make rental comparison shopping even trickier for drivers.

We used the final checkout price for each of the 176 bookings to calculate a “true” daily rate for each company, averaged and used it as the basis for our cost comparison. Because we booked in five different states over five holidays with varying rental durations, comparing the average total cost is less helpful. An accurate daily rate better reveals which rental car company is the cheapest for anyone’s trip duration.

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The Best Car Rentals by Category

Price: Cheapest Rental Car Companies

There are two ways to calculate who has the best deals on car rentals. The first is to average the total checkout cost of all bookings for each company.

Alamo has the cheapest car rentals when examining the average checkout price; Hertz has the most expensive.

Since the daily rate for car rentals drops the longer you book a car, another valuable way to look at the cheapest car rentals is to break the average checkout prices above down into a daily average.

At an average of $110.34 per day, Thrifty Car Rental has the best car rental deals when looking at the actual daily average rate across all bookings; Avis Car Rental has the most expensive average daily rate at $136.60.

If finding the cheapest car rental is your goal, Thrifty is the cheapest for shorter trips of six days and less, and Alamo is the most affordable rental car company with bookings seven days and up.

Fees: Rental Cars with the Least Fees

The base fees for rental cars are consistent across all rental car brands. In our study of 176 mock bookings, we only found a roughly $10 difference between the company that charges the most fees and the one that sets the least.

It’s close, but Alamo Rent a Car charges the least fees, averaging $78.01 per booking, while Hertz charges the most at $89.34. The spread is only roughly $10, so it makes sense to focus less on standard fees when choosing which car rental company to book.

Pay Now: The Car Rentals With the Best Pay Now Deals

Unlike base fees, the distribution in average pay now discounts is substantial among the car rental companies that offer pre-pay deals.

At an average of $131.24 per booking, Dollar Rent-a-Car offers the highest average discount for booking a prepaid rental car; Alamo Rent a Car provides the smallest at an average of $23.85 per booking.

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Methodology

Independent: Our research team operates independently to recommend the best car rental companies using data analysis. Our top recommendations are based solely on primary research and a proprietary ranking algorithm that weighs 12 metrics we found essential to the rental car selection process.

Preliminary Research: We used the most recent J.D. Power’s 2021 North America Rental Car Satisfaction Study’s Overall Customer Satisfaction Index Ranking as one of the 12 metrics. This study became the basis for determining the rental car companies we would include in our analysis. Rental car companies were selected purely at the author’s discretion with no outside influence, financial or otherwise.

Mock Bookings: Trips to Discover completed 176 mock rental car bookings Between 11/15/22 and 12/9/22 for the eight companies of interest — 22 per company. A mock rental car booking in this study means using the main website for each company to book a rental car, completing all the checkout steps except the actual final booking step. No add-ons, insurances, or extras were ever selected. We collected information from this process to later use in our algorithm.

Booking Parameters: We used five car rental airport locations and selected locations based on the busiest US airports, according to WorldAtlas. Five typically busy travel holidays were used as the basis for car rental dates, including Thanksgiving and Christmas 2022. Our booking dates varied depending on the busiest travel days, according to the TSA. We always used the most active travel days to create more competitive results.

Booking Details: Since car rental prices fluctuate daily and even hourly, we collected booking data for each holiday-airport combination for all eight companies within less than one hour of each other and typically within 15-30 minutes. We selected the cheapest car available for each booking and always chose the highest car class if multiple options were available at the same lowest price. We never chose manual vehicles and used the next cheapest option. We always used the car rental company’s quoted baggage and person capacity for each car rental. If not provided, we averaged the claimed passenger/baggage capacity for the same car example from all other companies to arrive at a figure. We never selected any additional protections, insurances, or upgrades; all bookings were completed at the base rate.

The 12 Metrics: During the mock booking process, we collected information that became our algorithm’s building blocks. This information includes:

• Car Availability.
• Car Class of lowest priced option.
• The number of bags and people the car fits.
• The quoted Pay Later Daily Price when selecting your vehicle.
• The quoted Total Pay Later Price and Total Pay Now Price (if applicable).
• Calculated Total Fees with no add-ons as provided by the companies (not including taxes).
• The Total Pay Now Discount (if applicable).
• The Total Pay Later Checkout Price.
• The calculated difference between the Total Pay Later Checkout Price and the quoted Total Pay Later Price (if applicable).
• The maximum fees for cancellation or no-show — typically just no-shows.
• Additional Driver Fees.
• The Google Maps review score and number for each company’s car rental airport location that we used in the study.

Formula: We used the above data to make additional calculations, such as converting fees to a percentage of total cost; calculating a True Daily Cost based on the total Pay Later checkout price divided by the number of rental days; Creating a total weighted Google Review Score for each company based on average review score and count. We used min-max normalization on all data points and calculated a weighted sum of these 12 variables to arrive at a final ranking pool. Our ranking algorithm considers each rental car company holistically based on our samples with varying degrees of weight for each variable; we prioritized elements of renting cars that we found most important. Others might discover different aspects of car rental companies important; car rental companies lower on our list could be your #1!

Replicability: The complete data behind our study can be found via the link below in the “The Data” section. Since car rental rates change daily and often in real-time, a study replication could yield varying results. Other factors, such as whether some car rental companies change to provide an accurate total cost of rental during the car section, would also influence a study replication as our algorithm penalized such pricing models.

Conglomerates: In reality, there are only three rental car companies in this study. We still ranked all eight companies independent of this conglomeration. The three conglomerates and their subsidiaries are:

• Enterprise Holdings Owns: Enterprise, National, and Alamo
• Hertz Global Holdings, Inc. Owns: Hertz, Dollar, and Thrifty
• Avis Budget Group Owns: Avis and Budget

Disclaimer: We ranked the best car rental companies based on our sample of 176 mock bookings, a Google Review analysis, and the JD customer satisfaction survey. We make no claims that these are the best car rental companies for everyone in every situation.

Timeline: This analysis was conducted between 11/14/22 and 1/3/2023. Mock bookings were completed between 11/15/22 and 12/9/22.

The Data: You can download a CSV spreadsheet containing the information and scores of the eight companies we analyzed here. We have removed all proprietary formula calculations from the books. If you want to build a similar project and would like to talk about our process or have questions regarding our rankings system, please don’t hesitate to contact info@strivemedia.com, and we can walk you through the steps. Please feel free to use or share this data with whoever may find this helpful — we ask that your purposes are noncommercial and that you link back to this page so its contributors can receive proper credit for their work.

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Airline cancellations and delays have a much more significant effect on people with disabilities, spurring the Department of Transportation to publish the first ever Airline Passengers with Disabilities Bill of Rights. We broke down this 16-page document into a more digestible guide for quick reference. Click the following link to jump straight into the overview.

Jump to the Airline Passenger with Disabilities Bill of Rights Guide

International travelers who live with a disability, like Francesca Elisabetta Owens, are experiencing some of the worst treatment since before the passage of the Air Carrier Access Act (ACAA). A Certified Travel Coach and Ambassador to Italy for the Travel Coach Network, Owens was initially excited to see the new bill of rights, only to be disappointed.

“Some of these points are so obvious and really add little value,” Owens explained. “Other points are so vague that the person behind the airport counter or the plane staff will not understand a ‘practical use’ of interpretation… The language is too general just to come out and say that we are allowed to jump lines to the front and be serviced before the non-disabled people.”

Owens has lived with a disability since she was 44 after an athletic lifestyle, a pregnancy at age 40 and two heart surgeries “collided,” which means she cannot stand or sit in one place too long. As a world traveler, Owens reports that Americans are often at the root of her worst airport and airline experiences, including ADA ignorance, bullying, and people questioning her rights.

While the new bill of rights may be underwhelming to some, David Reischer, Attorney and CEO of LegalAdvice.com, described it as more of a stepping stone that is important to the actual implementation of the ACCA law.

“The passage of the Air Carrier Access Act (ACAA) in 1986, which made it illegal for airlines to discriminate against passengers because of their disability, has only recently been properly funded to enforce compliance to protect air travelers with disabilities,” Reischer explained.

The new bill of rights assists in clarifying some fundamental rights of air travelers with disabilities, according to Reischer, especially in areas of assistance and accommodation with boarding, deplaning, making connections, tailored seating and airline’s safe handling of passengers’ assistive devices.

Airline Passengers with Disabilities Bill of Rights Guide

Click on any of the links below to jump to the question you are looking to answer. The bill of rights consists of ten sections we reconfigured for comprehension and digestibility. Sections 1-5 answer basic questions surrounding the bill’s creation, and sections 6-12 summarize the bill’s contents. If you prefer to read the bill in its original form, click here to redirect to the DOT.

1. What is the Airline Passengers with Disabilities Bill of Rights?
2. When Did the Passengers with Disabilities Bill of Rights Take Effect?
3. Why Was the Bill of Rights Created?
4. Who is the Bill of Rights for?
5. Where Does the Bill of Rights Apply?
6. What Airlines Can’t Do to Passengers with Disabilities
7. What Airlines Must Do for Passengers with Disabilities
8. Airline Passengers with Disabilities Rights to Service
9. Airline Passengers with Disabilities Rights to Accessibility
10. Airline Passengers with Disabilities Rights to Accommodations
11. Airline Passengers with Disabilities Rights to Bring Assistance and Service
12. Airline Passengers with Disabilities Rights to Conflict Resolution

Renewing or updating your passport can be as complicated as applying for your first. That’s why we researched the most commonly asked questions surrounding how to renew a passport, including how long it takes, how you can track your renewal status and how to change a name on your passport.

Here is a breakdown of everything you’ll find answered on this page:

• How Long Does it Take to Renew a Passport?
• How Do I Track My Passport Status?
• How Long is a Passport Good For?
• Where is the Passport Document/Book/Card Number?
• How to Change My Name on a Passport After Marriage?
• How to Change My Address on Passport?
• Without a Passport, Can You Travel?
• Is Your Social Security Number on Your Passport?
• Does My Passport Address Have to Match My License?
• Which Countries Do Not Require 6 Months of Passport Validity?
• Can I Travel if My Passport Expires in 3 Months?