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Canada not on sale any more
Remember when the US dollar got around $1.50 Canadian? Memories! (It’s around $1.12 as I type.) But it’s about to get more expensive for non-Canadians visiting the country. It has long been possible to get a tax refund at the border, including the GST paid for hotel stays. Effective April 1, 2007, no such refunds will be possible any longer. Bummer. Nice to get it while it lasted, of course, but honestly, the hotel stay tax refund never made sense to me.

US Airways shortens the life of a mile
Most airlines expire your miles after 3 years (you generally reset the clock with a flight, or any other account activity.) US Airways has now cut that time to 18 months. If you’re earning anything in your account, this is moot. But if you rarely earn miles, make sure to credit something small to your US Airways account to keep balances alive. Better yet, spend ‘em!

Maxjet marketers suck up to the boss
I’m all for fare sales. And a $999 roundtrip business class fare from New York to London is great. But to say that it’s in celebration of the CEO’s birthday? Asskissers. (Use code CEOBDAY to get the deal at maxjet.com.)

The 9/11 hijackers are on the no-fly list
Thank goodness they’re on the list now that they’re dead.

World’s best airport security? Sweden!
Rah, rah, Sweden. Biometrics in full effect, while safeguarding privacy.

US and EU reach deal on passenger data
Not much more information out there, other than the fact that a deal of some kind has been reached. But this means that airlines flying between the EU and US won’t be fined. I certainly hope the details don’t remain secret forever, though.

Slower blogging this week
Expect fewer posts this week. I’m at O’Hare as we speak, waiting for this specific plane to board. Happy travels to those on the road.