JetBlue raised its bag fees for the second time this year, and a first checked bag now starts at $50 each way if you pay at least a day ahead and avoid peak travel dates. Otherwise, it can run up to $70. If history repeats itself, other airlines could follow within a couple of weeks. The best way to avoid the fee is an airline credit card like the JetBlue Plus Card, which can get you and up to three companions a free first checked bag. If you check bags on JetBlue even once or twice a year, the card can pay for itself.

Before you rent a car abroad, check whether you need an international driving permit. Countries including Italy, Spain, Austria, and Japan require one, even if the rental counter never asks for it. It’s $20 through AAA, no membership needed, and often same-day at a branch.

And if the grandparents are visiting for the holidays (or you’re visiting the grandkids), Six Flags is offering guests 65 and older free, unlimited admission to their home park through the end of its 2026 season.

Rove is a free travel rewards program that lets you earn transferable Rove Miles on hotels, flights, dining, and shopping using the credit cards you already have.

The real standout is hotels. Book a Loyalty Eligible rate through Rove and you can earn Rove Miles alongside your hotel points and elite night credits. Departure Digest listeners get a 1,000-mile welcome bonus instantly upon joining.

Film a quick walkaround of your rental car, inside and out, before you leave the lot. It makes damage disputes so much easier.

Have a travel or points question? Submit it here and it may be featured in a future episode.

Checking a bag on JetBlue is starting to feel less like bringing luggage and more like paying for an extra passenger, and for a family of four on a round trip, that can now add up to $400 before anyone’s even picked a seat.

This is Departure Digest. Today, JetBlue’s second bag fee hike of the year, when you actually need an international driving permit, and a free holiday outing for the grandparents.

So, JetBlue first.

JetBlue raised its bag fees again this week, and for new bookings, the first checked bag now starts at $50 each way. That’s if you pay at least 24 hours before your flight and you’re not flying on a peak day. Pay later or fly on a busy date and it can run up to $70, which is now also the starting price for a second bag.

For comparison, Delta, United, American, and Southwest mostly charge around $45 for a first bag right now. So JetBlue went from roughly in line with everyone else to one of the priciest big airlines to check a bag on. And bag fees are the easiest place to tuck a price increase, because they don’t show up when you’re comparing fares on Google Flights.

If you booked your holiday flights before the change, you’re on the old prices. If you’re booking now, pay for your bag online at least a day ahead, which can save you up to $15 per bag each way. And check JetBlue’s peak dates, since moving your flight by a day can sometimes land you in the cheaper tier.

The best option though is still to have an airline credit card. For example, the JetBlue Plus Card has a sub-$100 annual fee, and it gets a free first checked bag for you and up to three companions on the same reservation, as long as you book with the card. If two of you check a bag on one off-peak round trip, that’s $200 in fees, so a single trip more than covers the annual fee.

I wouldn’t open one just to save on a single flight, but if you check bags on the same airline even once or twice a year, it can pay for itself fast.

As for how competitive the airline industry is right now, ask me again in two weeks. When JetBlue raised bag fees back in March, United, Delta, Southwest, American, and Alaska all followed within about two weeks. If they match again, that tells you most of what you need to know.

JetBlue says it’s about fuel and operating costs, and to be fair, fuel is way up this year. But my prediction is that when fuel prices come back down, these fees won’t. I can’t think of a time a big U.S. airline lowered its bag fees, and once everyone’s matched, nobody has a reason to go first.

Okay, from a fee nobody wants to pay to a $20 one I’d happily pay every time.

An international driving permit is a small booklet that translates your U.S. driver’s license into about 10 languages. It isn’t a license on its own, so you carry it alongside your regular one, and it only counts when you have both.

You don’t need one for Canada or Mexico, but plenty of popular places require it, including Italy, Spain, Austria, and Japan. Driving without one where it’s required can mean a fine, and it can complicate your insurance if you get into an accident.

Some rental counters won’t give you the keys without one, but plenty never ask, so you assume you’re fine, right up until you get pulled over on a winding road outside Florence and the officer wants to see it.

Getting one is easy through AAA, and you don’t even need to be a member. It’s a $20 permit fee plus two passport photos, and at a branch, you can often walk out with it the same day. Applying online adds a photo fee, shipping, and about five business days.

It’s good for one year, and you can apply up to six months before your trip. And if a website is selling you an international driver’s license, close the tab, because the government’s own travel site warns that a lot of those sites are scams.

For $20, I’d get one for any trip where there’s even a chance I’ll rent a car.

And if the grandparents are coming to town for the holidays, Six Flags just made theirs the cheapest ticket in your group.

Guests 65 and older can now get free, unlimited admission to their home Six Flags park through the end of its 2026 season, which lines up nicely with the parks’ holiday events.

Register online through your home park’s ticket page first, then activate it at the gate with a photo ID.

It’s a smart move on Six Flags’ part, since grandparents bring grandkids, and grandkids want hot chocolate and funnel cake. I have a feeling the park makes that free ticket back by the second snack stand.

Alright, that covers it for this week. Prepay your bags, grab your permit before you go, and give me two weeks on those bag fees. Enjoy the weekend, and I’ll talk to you Monday.