Current Events in December 2022

During the holidays, many consumers flock to airports around the country to celebrate with their friends and family. However, this time of year usually means more crowds at TSA security checkpoints, more stress, and more uncertainty about making it to the airport on time. 

To help give holiday travelers some insight into when to get to the airport, Upgraded Points conducted a survey to determine when consumers should arrive at the airport to ensure they don’t miss their flights. The survey covers 50 airports across the U.S. and even features a list of the top 15 airports in the country where arriving early is imperative. 

“Preplanning is always key to a smooth travel experience,” said Alex Miller, founder of Upgraded Points. “But as we all know, things happen when it comes to travel – especially around the holidays. By knowing which airports are busier and why you can pre-plan for any delays and ensure your timing sets you up for success.” 

Time is of the essence in these 15 airports

Fifty of the largest airports across the country were included in this study, and they were ranked based on 15 criteria: number of enplanements, number of passengers, airport size, average TSA wait time, number of terminals, number of gates, number of airport employees (per square mile), number of airport lounges (per square mile), number of restaurants/bars (per square mile), number of shops (per square mile), number of parking lots/decks, percentage of on-time departures, percentage of delayed departures, car traffic volume, and car traffic index. 

Each factor was given a weighted score, and airports with the highest scores were those where travelers needed to arrive earlier. The survey ultimately narrowed down the top 15 airports where arriving early was critical:  

• O’Hare International Airport (Chicago, IL)

• Los Angeles International Airport (Los Angeles, CA)

• John F. Kennedy International Airport (Queens, NY)

• George Bush Intercontinental Airport (Houston, TX) 

• Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport (Dallas/Fort Worth, TX)

• Miami International Airport (Miami, FL)

• San Francisco International Airport (San Francisco, CA) 

• Charlotte Douglas International Airport (Charlotte, NC) 

• Philadelphia International Airport (Philadelphia, PA)

• Newark Liberty International Airport (Newark, NJ)

• Seattle-Tacoma International Airport (Seattle, WA)

• Orlando International Airport (Orlando, FL) 

• Boston Logan International Airport (Boston, MA) 

• Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport (Atlanta, GA) 

• Denver International Airport (Denver, CO)

Based on the survey, Chicago’s O’Hare is the most important airport to get to early. The results recommend travelers get there three hours and four minutes before their flights are scheduled to take off. On the other end of the spectrum is John Glenn Columbus International Airport, which requires travelers to get there just one hour before departure. 

What contributes to slowdowns? 

There are several factors that contribute to slowdowns in these major airports – and that put travelers in jeopardy of missing their flights. Everything from airport staff, TSA wait times, the total acreage of the airport, the number of gates in an airport, and even the number of restaurants or bars in an airport make it harder to be on time for a flight.

The survey showed that the number of employees in all of O’Hare International Airport is nearly 10% lower than the national average. On top of that, the airport has nearly 200 gates and welcomes tens of millions of passengers a year. 

Overall, to help ease some of the stress of traveling during the holidays, experts recommend giving yourself plenty of time at the airport – especially in some of the biggest, most populated areas. 

Parents with sick children this season have sometimes struggled to find pain relief medicine. Now both CVS and Walgreens have begun to limit purchases of the medications amid short supplies.

CVS shoppers can only buy two children’s pain relief products in one transaction. Walgreens is more lenient, allowing online shoppers to purchase as many as six products in one transaction. It has no limit on in-store purchases.

Walmart said it has seen a significant increase in demand for children’s health products but has been able to keep enough of the products on store shelves to meet the demand.

The shortage has little to do with supply chains. Both chains say the shortages are being driven by an outbreak of upper respiratory infections in children over the last few months.

The Consumer Healthcare Products Association (CHPA) says it has remained in contact with its member companies that manufacture pediatric analgesics, including liquid formulations. It says the companies are operating facilities 24 hours a day, seven days a week, and are not currently experiencing widespread shortages.  

‘Recent and rapid increase in demand’

“The reason for the scarcity of OTC children’s pain relievers at certain retail locations is a direct result of the recent and rapid increase in demand driven by a rise in pediatric cases of respiratory illnesses including the flu, COVID, and RSV,” CHPA said in a statement. “Manufacturers are producing at full capacity and directing product inventory to where it is needed most. However, we understand it might be frustrating for parents to quickly locate these products from their usual pharmacy or retailer due to intermittent out-of-stocks.”

RSV, or respiratory syncytial virus, has been widespread across the U.S. since early fall. It is a common respiratory virus that usually causes mild, cold-like symptoms. 

Most people recover in a week or two, but RSV can be serious, especially for infants and older adults. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) says RSV is the most common cause of bronchiolitis and pneumonia in children younger than one year of age in the United States.

While RSV is surging, there has also been an uptick in COVID-19 cases, especially in California. This year’s flu season is also the worst since before the pandemic. Healthcare providers have dubbed it a “tripledemic.”

Just ahead of the holiday travel crush, things seemed to be getting better for airline travelers. But the latest Air Travel Consumer Report shows there's still a long way to go.

According to the Transportation Department, consumer complaints about everything from on-time peformance to lost baggage fell 15.6% from August to September – the latest month for which there are data.

At the same time, though, complaints are more than 380% above pre-pandemic levels.

Arrivals and Departures

Getting where you're going on time showed improvement in September, with carriers reporting an on-time arrival rate of 82.1%, compared with 75.6% in August. However, the rate in the pre-pandemic month of September 2019 was 84.1%.

Airlines posting the best on-time rates were Delta, United and Alaska. The lowest were JetBlue, Frontier and Allegiant.

Probably among the most irritating experiences a traveler has is sitting on the runway waiting to depart.

In September 2022, there were 13 tarmac delays of more than three hours on domestic flights, a big improvement over the 72 reported in August. There was just one delay of more than four hours on international flights, versus five tarmac delays reported in August.

Where's my suitcase?

Carriers handled 37 million bags in September with a mishandled baggage rate of 0.48%. That's a lower rate than a month earlier and on par with the pre-pandemic September 2019 rate of 0.47%.

The mishandled baggage rate for the third quarter was 0.61%, slightly higher than in the July – September period of 20019, befor the pandemic hit.

Other areas covered by the report include bumping oversales, treatment of disabled passengers and discrimnation, which may be found here.

As consumers make their final turn into the holidays, new findings from Datasembly indicate that families will be spending nearly 17% more to feed their dinner guests this year – double the increase seen last year.

Datasembly analyzed 13 popular holiday dinner items including turkey, eggnog, ham, apple pie and green beans. This year’s shopping cart totaled $60.29 on average versus $51.79 for the 2021 holidays. 

Of all the basket items, the biggest year-over-year increase is for biscuits – almost 47.7% – followed by butter and russet potatoes at 38% and 32.6%, respectively. The basket items with the smallest increase are the frozen whole turkey at 6.3%, followed by the bone in spiral ham at 7.7%.

Big box retailers to the rescue!

But, the consumer’s grocery dilemma is not lost on Target and Walmart. GroceryDive reports that both are putting holiday meal deals out front through the weekend.

At Walmart, it’s busy placing discount stickers on many of the food items that are causing sticker shock. As an example, cooks can buy bone-in ham for $2.28 per pound, whole turkeys for less than $1 per pound, plus discounts on potatoes, stuffing, ready-to-heat mac and cheese, and made-in-store pumpkin pie.

At Target, the home chef can forget about cooking altogether and buy a complete holiday dinner for $25 and sides for under $5. Target’s adding a convenience feature, too, allowing customers to place orders for the items on December 24 and get their order the very same day using pickup, drive-up, or Shipt delivery.

Kroger decides it wants in on the action, too

Interestingly enough, Kroger responded to Walmart and Target’s deals by also offering affordable meals during winter break.

In an announcement made Monday, the grocery chain said it’s pulled together discounted options that can feed a family of four at an average cost of approximately $10 per meal, including everything from a traditional breakfast with eggs, sausage, fruit and toast to a “pizza night” combo that comes with a Mediterranean-style chopped salad kit.

When a product stops working properly, some consumers simply replace it. Others want to repair it so they can continue to use it.

That’s the whole point of “right to repair” rules, which the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) says it plans to vigorously enforce. 

Some Epson printer owners say that after years of use, their printers have displayed a message saying the device has “reached the end of its service life,” suggesting it must be replaced. But there appears to be an available repair.

The issue affects Epson L130, L220, L310, L360 and L365 models, which are all inkjet printers. There are pads inside the printers that soak up excess ink. When the pads get full the printer tells the user that its life is over.

Danger of ink spills?

Epson says it designed the printer to stop working when the pads get full of ink because of the danger of an ink spill. Usually, the company says the printer wears out at about the same time the pads get full so it’s time to buy a new printer.

But a number of consumers posting on message boards say their printers were working just fine until the “end of life” message flashed. A Reddit user going by the handle Flared 101 claimed it's just another example of planned obsolescence. 

“It's all the same: buy another one of our identical products in this season's colors, whose technology hasn't fundamentally changed in any way since 2001,” the post said. 

Here’s what Epson says

Epson says the printers can be serviced to replace the pads, but it has to be done by an authorized Epson vendor. It has also addressed the issue on its website.

“In the event a user receives this alert, the printer needs to be properly maintained in order to continue printing,” the company said. “Epson understands the importance for its customers to be able to print whenever they need to and offers flexible options to extend printing, including a one-time Maintenance Reset Utility, enabling North American customers to continue printing for a limited time in order to determine the repair solution that best fits their needs.”

The company also says the printers in question are not very expensive and a repair may be less cost-effective that simply buying a new printer. Jonathan Zittrain, a Harvard University law professor, has written that in cases like this, consumers think they have purchased a product but in fact, “are only renting a service.”

A decade after Takata airbags began exploding, killing and injuring car drivers and passengers, thousands of vehicles equipped with these deadly devices are still on the road. And the death toll continues to rise.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) reports five deaths so far this year. Three of the fatalities occurred recently in Stellantis (Chrysler) vehicles. In November Stellantis issued an urgent recall of 276,000 vehicles with Takata airbags. To date, only 2,000 have been repaired, the automaker said.

Takata airbags are deadly because the device designed to inflate the airbag on impact degrades over time and can explode, sending metal particles flying through the cabin. The airbags are usually found in older cars and can sometimes deploy without the vehicle being in a collision.

When it issued its recall last month, Chrysler said the airbags were so dangerous that the vehicles should not be driven until they are repaired. The Do Not Drive order covers Chrysler 300, Dodge Magnum, Challenger and Charger from the 2005 through 2010 model years.

The latest death occurred in July when the airbag in a 2010 Chrysler 300 exploded, killing the driver who had borrowed the vehicle from a family member.

“Left unrepaired, recalled Takata airbags are increasingly dangerous as the risk of an explosion rises as vehicles age,” NHTSA Acting Administrator Ann Carlson said last month. “Every day that passes when you don’t get a recalled airbag replaced, puts you and your family at greater risk of injury or death.”  

What to do

In many cases, the owners of these vehicles are unaware of the danger. Older vehicles may change hands several times so the automaker has no contact information for the current owner.

If you drive an older vehicle, there is an easy way to check to see if your car is covered by the recall. NHTSA has a recall database on its website. You’ll find it here.

Type in the 17-character VIN found on the car’s registration or on the driver’s side dashboard, and learn about any open recalls on the vehicle. If there is a Takata airbag recall, do not drive the vehicle but contact a dealer to arrange a repair.

Used car prices have begun to fall but they’re still higher than before the COVID-19 pandemic. So used car shoppers should consider how many miles they can expect from their purchase.

Fortunately, researchers at iSeeCars.com have done the legwork on this one, analyzing how many more miles a 10-year-old used car has left and using the model’s average sale price to arrive at a cost per 1,000 miles.

The study looked at more than 2 million cars to see which used models are priced the lowest, yet offer the longest remaining lifespan, making them the best used cars for the money. All of the cars in the study were priced at between $9,000 and $19,000 and most had a remaining lifespan of more than 100,000.

Chevy Impala

Far and away the best value is a 10-year-old Chevrolet Impala. With nearly 112,000 miles left and an average price of $9,706, the Impala costs just $87 per 1,000 miles.

The 2012 Toyota Prius is second on the list of best values. Selling for an average of $13,878, the Prius hybrid has nearly 130,000 miles of life left, delivering a cost per 1,000 miles of $107. Because of its fuel efficiency, owners also save on gasoline.

The Honda Civic is close behind with a cost per $1,000 miles of $108. According to the study, the 10-year-old Civic coupe model selling for an average price of $12,673 and has about 117,819 miles of life remaining.

The 2012 Kia Sedona is the fourth best value. It has nearly 88,000 miles left and sells for an average price of $9,640, giving it a cost per 1,000 miles of $110. Its smaller number of remaining miles is offset by its relatively low sticker price.

More than 80,000 miles of life left

“We now know shoppers can buy a 10-year-old car that costs substantially less than one to 5-year-old used models, yet these vehicles still have 80,000 or more miles of life left in them,” said Karl Brauer, executive analyst at iSeeCars.com. “Some, like the Toyota Prius, Toyota Avalon, and Honda Ridgeline, have more than 125,000 miles to go. And all of these top 20 cars provide a potential lifespan above 200,000 miles.”

The Toyota Avalon rounds out the top five best values. A 10-year-old model sells for $15,818 and has just over 143,000 miles left. That gives it a cost per 1,000 miles of $111.

Other good values include 10-year-old Honda Fits and Accords, Ford Fusions, Dodge Grand Caravans, and Toyota Camry Hybrids.

Ask anyone what the most important considerations are when they travel and they’ll tell you customer care. One bad experience with an airline could taint that company’s relationship with a person forever. 

To demonstrate which carriers cater to consumers with all their love and which ones don't, all one needs to do is look at air passenger rights experts AirHelp's 7th annual ranking of best service, fly on time, and treatment of passengers if and when problems occur.

To calculate the scores, AirHelp uses its own database of flight statistics, thousands of customer poll responses and its own experience in helping 1.3 million passengers around the world receive compensation following flight disruption.

The winners

While a few U.S. airlines fared well, international carriers and airports left most of their U.S. peers at the gate. Qatar Airways, United Airlines, Qantas, Etihad Airways, and South America’s LATAM Airlines were rated highest among carriers worldwide.

As far as airports are concerned, AirHelp found Tokyo Haneda International Airport, Recife/Guararapes-Gilberto Freyre International Airport in Brazil, and Tokyo Narita International Airport to be the best global airports for 2022. 

In addition to its second place finish worldwide, United Airlines was also ranked as number one in the U.S., followed by American, and Delta finishing 8th and 19th respectively. As for airports stateside, Houston George Bush Intercontinental Airport in Houston was the highest-scoring airport. 

When you break that down to individual metrics of claim handling, on-time performance, and customer satisfaction among domestic airlines, Delta ranked first in on-time performance; JetBlue came in number one in customer opinion and United earned the top spot in how effectively claims were handled.

And the losers

Overall among domestic airlines, Spirit, Frontier, and JetBlue came up as the losers in the overall AirHelp Score.

JetBlue took last place in on-time performance; Frontier in customer opinion and Spirit in the claims processive category. Newark Liberty Airport was ranked as the worst both at home and in the world. 

As for the holidays…

In a separate study, Forbes Advisor thought it would be interesting to find where the trouble spots for holiday travelers might be. For that study, researchers analyzed data from the Bureau of Transportation to determine which airports and airlines are the best and worst for holiday travel, specifically considering data from November through January for the 100 busiest airports and eight of the largest airlines. For them, the good and the bad look like this:

Worst airports for holiday travel: Westchester County Airport (HPN) earned the top spot on the list of worst airports for holiday travel, followed by Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport (ANC) and McGhee Tyson Airport (TYS).

Best airports for holiday travel: Long Beach Airport (LGB) is the best airport for holiday travel, followed by Ellison Onizuka Kona International Airport at Keahole (KOA) and Norman Y. Mineta San Jose International Airport (SJC).

For those who are heading toward sunny California, you’re in luck, Forbes’ analysts said. Six of the top 10 best airports for holiday travel are located in California, including Long Beach Airport (LGB), Norman Y. Mineta San Jose International Airport (SJC), Sacramento International Airport (SMF), Oakland International Airport (OAK), Ontario International Airport (ONT) and Hollywood Burbank Airport (BUR).

Worst airline for holiday travel: JetBlue Airways

Best airline for holiday travel: Alaska Airlines 

There is no shortage of studies that have looked at the ways that too much time in front of screens can be detrimental to kids. Researchers have found that excessive screen time can affect everything from kids’ vision, to physical health, and overall mental well-being. 

With the holidays right dead ahead, kids are gearing up for holiday break. With electronics an ever-present part of our day-to-day lives, how can parents ensure they’re actually connecting and spending time with their kids when they’re not in school? 

Children and Screens: Institute of Digital Media and Child Development is a nonprofit organization that works to understand the media’s impact on child development. This holiday season, it's offering parents 13 tips on how to encourage ditching screens and creating more personal connections with kids. 

“The holidays can be a period of increased screen time for kids, whether it’s more time playing video games, scrolling through Instagram, or binging the latest series,” the organization wrote. “But it can also be a great opportunity to establish new habits, spend more quality time with family, and set intentions for the new year.” 

Going screen-free for the holidays

The goal of these tips is to help families spend more time together – and less time looking at tablets, smartphones, laptop screens, and TVs. Here is what experts from Children and Screens recommend for having a screen-free holiday season: 

• Set Goals: Holidays mean a holiday break. With no school, kids have more free time, and rather than assume they’ll spend that time in front of screens, plan ahead with your little ones. Think about other activities they can engage in, friends or family they can see, or games they can play that don’t involve screens. 

• Go Screen Free: Create designated times when all devices are put away. Make sure that everyone in the family abides by these rules. With no one in front of screens, it’s the perfect time to connect with each other. 

• Have Fun with Dinner Time Conversations: Without phones, dinnertime can still be fun and exciting for families. Children and Screens experts encourage families to play games at the dinner table, ask each other interesting questions, or take the time to learn more about each other. 

• Embrace Boredom: While it may feel difficult for many kids – and parents! – being bored is okay. Not having a phone or computer at the ready gives kids more time to tap into their imaginations and let their minds wander to creative places. 

• Create and Explore Together: The holidays are a great time to do things as a family. This can mean doing simple activities together, like playing board games or looking through old family photo albums. 

• Find Balance: Instead of spending all of the holiday break in front of different screens, this is a great opportunity for kids to try an assortment of different things. There’s time to read books, visit with friends or family, participate in holiday traditions, and even have screen time – when it’s balanced with other activities.

• Get Engaged: The holidays are a great time for parents to join in this screen-free challenge with their kids. Brainstorm ideas of things to do, places to visit, or activities to do together. 

• Take Screen Time Breaks: Experts recommend that for every hour of screen time, kids take a 10-15 minute break. Any activity that doesn’t involve screens counts as a break. 

• Take Time for Others: Giving back to those in need – especially during the holidays – can be incredibly fulfilling for families to do together – whether that’s donating clothes or volunteering at local organizations. 

• Share the Love: Use the holiday break to share love with a family member or friend every day. Children and Screens encourages families to pick a new family member – either who lives in the house, or who’s part of the extended family – or friend every day of the holiday season to shower with love. 

• Stick to Routine: While the usual day-to-day routine is likely to change without school, it’s still important for kids to have a schedule. Any rules that are typically in effect regarding screen time should be maintained during breaks from school. 

• Stay Connected: It’s important for kids to feel and stay connected to their friends. Though this is likely to entail a lot of virtual communication with school out of session, balance between screen time and screen-free time is key. 

• Motivational Interview Activity: Parents can help kids better understand their screen time habits by asking them thoughtful questions. These kinds of conversations can also be more likely to set future change in motion in regard to kids’ screen time habits. 

For more insights on child development and screen time – for the holidays and beyond – visit Children and Screens.

Epic Games, creator of the wildly popular video game Fortnite, has agreed to pay more than half a billion dollars to settle federal charges related to privacy and hidden fees. Some of that money will go to consumers in the form of refunds.

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) secured the agreement, claiming Epic Games violated the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) and deployed design tricks, known as dark patterns, to dupe millions of players into making unintentional purchases.

There are actually two settlements that total $520 million in payments. As a result of the first agreement, Epic will pay $275 million for violating the COPPA Rule, the largest penalty ever obtained for violating an FTC rule. In a first-of-its-kind provision, Epic will also be required to adopt strong privacy default settings for children and teens, ensuring that voice and text communications are turned off by default.

$245 million will go to consumers

Under the second agreement, the company will pay $245 million to refund consumers for its dark patterns and billing practices, which the FTC says is the largest refund amount it has secured in a video game case. 

"As our complaints note, Epic used privacy-invasive default settings and deceptive interfaces that tricked Fortnite users, including teenagers and children," said FTC Chair Lina M. Khan. "Protecting the public, and especially children, from online privacy invasions and dark patterns is a top priority for the commission, and these enforcement actions make clear to businesses that the FTC is cracking down on these unlawful practices.”

The Fortnite video game is generally free to download and play but charges users for certain things within the game. The game reportedly has more than 400 million users worldwide. 

According to Gamequitters.com, a site for parents, Fortnite is highly addictive for young people. 

“Fortnite (and video games at large) are designed by people with PhD’s in human psychology,” the site declares. “Games use state-of-the-art behavioral psychology to intentionally keep you hooked and increasingly… to spend more money. The gaming industry describes this as making a game engaging and immersive, but what this really means is that Fortnite addiction is by design and changes the brain.”

Here’s who is eligible

The FTC explains in detail which consumers can get refunds and who is eligible. In short, the agency says refunds will be available to:

• Parents whose children made an unauthorized credit card purchase in the Epic Games Store between January 2017 and November 2018

• Fortnite players who were charged in-game currency (V-Bucks) for unwanted in-game items (such as cosmetics, llamas, or battle passes) between January 2017 and September 2022

• Fortnite players whose accounts were locked between January 2017 and September 2022 after disputing unauthorized charges with their credit card companies.

The FTC said it is still in the process of setting up the refund system and will announce the specifics when plans are finalized.

Memo to Santa – if you plan to stuff stockings with dark chocolate this year you might be advised to choose another candy. Despite previous studies, dark chocolate might not be so healthy.

Researchers at Consumer Reports (CR) report finding cadmium and lead, two heavy metals, in the dark chocolate bars they tested. Consuming just small amounts of those metals on a regular basis could lead to health problems in both children and adults.

So how much cadmium and lead are we talking about? The researchers conclude that eating just an ounce of dark chocolate daily would put an adult over the healthy limit.

The researchers also say that if you eat dark chocolate, the heavy metals are almost impossible to avoid. The research team tested 28 brands of dark chocolate bars. They found cadmium and lead in all 28.

Tunde Akinleye, the CR food safety researcher who led the project, says over-exposure to heavy metals can have negative health effects for people of all ages. He says it can lead to high blood pressure, immune system suppression and kidney damage, as well as other health conditions.

But who eats dark chocolate every day? You might be surprised. Consumer Reports cites data from Mintel suggesting that 15% of people who snack on dark chocolate do it every day.

Five brands with the least amount

But not to be a complete holiday buzzkill, the CR researchers did find five brands of dark chocolate with low levels of the metals. They are:

• Mast Organic Dark Chocolate

• Taza Organic Dark Chocolate

• Ghirardelli Intense Dark Chocolate

• Ghirardelli Intense Dark Chocolate Twilight Delight

• Valrhona Abinao Dark Chocolate

For years studies have heralded the positive health effects of dark chocolate. The candy is rich in antioxidants and has less sugar than other candies. 

Home affordability improved slightly in November, according to the latest Zillow Market Report. The average rent also fell, bringing down the cost of shelter.

However, buying a home still remains a challenge. Even though prices have retreated from their record highs in some markets, they remain well above pre-pandemic prices.

Still, the improvement is welcome for people hoping to purchase a home. As previously reported, the average 30-year fixed-rate mortgage in November dropped from over 7% to around 6.5%. Zillow said that decline reduced the average cost of a mortgage by nearly 5%.

While home prices remain stubbornly high in some markets they are falling in others. Zillow put the value of the average home at $357,733, 0.2% less than in October and down 0.5% from June’s peak.

Combined with the drop in mortgage rates, lower home prices brought down the average monthly house payment for the first time since July. Industry experts say it’s unlikely there will be a big increase in affordability anytime soon but the latest trend, caused by a huge drop in demand, is a positive sign.

"The housing market entered a deep freeze this November as buyers paused their purchasing plans, likely till after New Year's in many cases," said Zillow’s senior economist Jeff Tucker. "The two big questions are whether mortgage rates will continue to decline and whether that will be enough to bring buyers back in time for the spring selling season. In the meantime, those on the prowl for a house will benefit from motivated sellers, unusual bargains and a welcome lack of competition."

Expensive markets saw the biggest declines

Of course, all real estate is local. While the national drop in average home values has been small, the nation’s most expensive markets, and those seeing the biggest increases during the pandemic, have experienced the steepest decline in home value.

The average home price is down 10.6% in San Jose, Calif.; 10.4% in Austin; 9.5%  in San Francisco; and 8.1% in Phoenix.

The positive trend in real estate also extended to the rental market last month. Average rents fell 0.4% from October to November, the largest one-month decline in the seven-year history of the Zillow Observed Rent Index. 

After peaking during the summer, average rents fell 0.1% in October. Zillow says that decisively closes the door on a period of nearly two years of above-average monthly rent increases that began in the first year of the pandemic.

Grocery prices are continuing to strangle any hope of curbing inflation. In November, food-at-home prices shot up at a 12% annual clip – five points higher than the core consumer price index – leaving consumers with few choices: deal with the shrinkflation sham, buy lower-priced store brands, or shop at the dollar stores that are bolstering their food section to offer the cash-strapped consumer some cushion.

None of this is making it easy for consumers.

“Staggering inflation has forced brand-name food companies and retail grocery stores with store brands into a complex maze of product offerings, price, size and quality, thereby further complicating the consumer's quest for the best value,” Bill Rieke, an adjunct instructor in the Operations and Supply Chain Management program at Xavier University Cincinnati, told ConsumerAffairs.

“The kingpins in the grocery world aren’t showing their hands about what they’re doing to meet the consumer’s outcry about inflation, but reports show there’s something afoot, like major chains plotting their own version of the ‘dollar store’.”

What happened when a grocery shopping expert went looking for the best prices?

Figuring out who’s got the best prices for any given week takes time – and probably a spreadsheet – but, fortunately, there are people who live and breathe grocery prices. Enter Kristen Whirrett who runs the JoyfullyThriving website.

Whirrett has been tracking prices for three years and in her latest calculations, she says there are two chains that are constantly working to make sure their customers get better deals.

“Walmart and Aldi tend to have very competitive pricing. Many of their prices are within pennies of each other,” Whirrett told ConsumerAffairs. “While Aldi may be cheaper overall, Walmart has more products so this appeals to some shoppers. Kroger and Meijer are more expensive stores based on everyday prices, but if you shop their sales, you can often beat the lowest prices at Aldi or Walmart.”

When she tallied up the totals of her latest comparison shopping of 183 products – items from the dairy, pantry, canned goods, condiments, baking goods, meat, frozen, paper, personal products, and diapers sections – here’s what she found in both numbers of products where each grocer had the best prices and their overall winning percentage:

In making frequent stops at all four of those chains, Whirrett found that each brings their best game in different categories.

“I like Meijer for their amazing meat sales. I like Aldi for its quick and frugal shopping experience. I absolutely love the sales at Kroger!,” she said.

And Walmart? “Walmart isn’t my favorite grocery store to shop but it is a low-priced option where you can get everything at once.”

Overall, where is Whirrett spending more time – and less money – these days?

“I will always go where the prices are lowest to stretch our money the farthest," she said. "That is why I am shopping at Aldi more."

Whirrett’s suggestions on how consumers can save money

“For consumers who are looking to save money, it is important to know what the cheapest grocery store is closest to you. Making this your go-to store for shopping will definitely start saving you money,” Whirrett told ConsumerAffairs.

“Then, if you watch for sales at other stores around you and stock up on the sales that beat the low prices, you will save even more money.”

However, she says you should keep things simple. Otherwise, you may feel so overwhelmed that you may check out in the checkout line yourself!

Here are some saving strategies:

• Start watching the sales and aim to buy most of your groceries when they are on sale. 

• Then, learn to use coupon apps at the grocery store. 

• Start with one thing, then start building a stockpile of the foods you regularly use. Don't try to do it all right away! 

“You will see your savings grow as you start stacking strategies,” she said. 

“Your call is very important to us, but we are experiencing higher-than-normal call volumes.”

If you’ve tried to contact an airline in the past year, you might have that message and it's probably still ringing in your ears, not to mention that crick in your neck from staying on hold for what seem like days.

You’re not alone.

Joe of Hingham, Mass. told ConsumerAffairs in his review of American Airlines that he was on hold with customer service for four hours yesterday only to be told his problem could only be resolved at the airport. 

Cynthia of Northville, Mich. said she had the same experience with Southwest. “After one hr and 47 minutes on hold, I was told that nothing could be done,” but the Southwest representative offered to have someone call me back in “six to eight business days,” Cynthia said.

What can a customer do to get around impossible on-hold times?

"We are experiencing higher than normal call volumes” has become a broken record. But, in truth, it may just mean that "We are experiencing normal call volumes and we are understaffed" – a problem that Delta Air Lines CEO Ed Bastian admitted to last year. And one that he doesn’t like his airline to be associated with.

When Bastian came under fire about the matter during one of the carrier’s earnings calls, he said “Just email me, I’ll take care of it.” By the way, Delta’s email addresses are generally FirstName.LastName@delta.com.

But, what if the airline you’re dealing with doesn’t have someone in charge who boldly puts their email address out there as Bastian does, or you’re forced to use the airline’s app that also ends up as a dead end? Is there a real live human being left in the travel world who you can speak to? Travel expert Wendy Perrin says there is: Call the airline’s customer-service office in a different country.

“Major airlines have overseas locations where staffers speak English—in the U.K., Germany, Australia, Hong Kong, and Singapore, for example—and they are typically just as able to help you as their U.S.-based counterparts, as long as their office is open (not all call centers are open 24 hours) and not dealing with a snowstorm,” she said. Note: If you use your credit card with a customer service agent rep who’s based in another country, a foreign transaction fee may be tacked on.

“So if you need to speak with someone at American Airlines, try calling one of its worldwide phone numbers. To keep the cost of the call down, use WhatsApp, Skype, or Google Voice,” Perrin said.

ConsumerAffairs found that other airlines like United also post international, European, or Asian phone numbers online.

But, fair warning – Delta doesn’t offer that overseas-office option anymore. Airline expert Gary Leff, says there is a workaround though – dial 1-855-548-2505 when you have to travel within 48 hours.

“This is the number that’s printed on the airline’s red ‘Need Help?’ cards and on their ‘Need Help?’ signs at the airport,” he said.

“They’ll only assist with travel needs in the upcoming 48 hours, but it circumvents the waits.”

Let the other guy wait on hold for a change

Perrin credits Leff for turning her onto GetHuman.com – a site devoted to ID’ing customer service phone numbers for nearly every major company you can think of. 

“Its crown jewel is a free, automated callback service that gives you an estimate of the current hold duration, sits on hold for you, and calls you back and connects you when a representative answers. Just search the database for your airline to get started,” Perrin said.

Why not just hire someone to handle this hassle for you instead?

There’s an answer for everything, but is there someone somewhere you could hire to do all the customer service dirty work for you instead? Evidently. Perrin says that CrankyConcierge.com can possibly save the day for a traveler whose flight is canceled or delayed. Emergency help starts at $175. 

If a customer isn’t satisfied that it’s done everything it can to try and help – and the customer has done what they ask in their terms of service – “just ask for a refund of our service fees and you'll get it,” the company says on its site.

Medicare open enrollment commercials may have ended for the year but nothing has slowed down Medicare scammers. Social media sites are flooded with reports that people are receiving calls from someone claiming to be from Medicare, offering to replace paper Medicare cards with plastic ones.

For starters, Medicare doesn’t cold-call people. Secondly, Platinum Marketing & Design says it is the only authorized provider of plastic cards and it doesn’t call people either. The scammers’ objective is to steal personal information from their victims.

Utility trailer scam

Craigslist is rife with shady deals and scammers lately have been using it to advertise a utility trailer for sale. The seller poses as a recent widow who needs to sell her late husband’s trailer. She doesn’t need it and has listed it at a cheap price, she says in the ad.

The ad should be instantly recognizable as a scam because the scammer asks to be paid in eBay cards. It goes without saying there is no utility trailer. As long as consumers realize that payment in anything other than cash or check is not on the up and up there should be no victims. 

Fake customer service scam

“Reloading” is when a scammer targets a recent scam victim, offering to help them recover their stolen money. A scam making the rounds now claims to be a customer service rep from Coinbase, saying they can help the victim recover stolen crypto.

Of course, the service isn’t being offered for free so the victim could wind up being a victim again. People in doubt about the legitimacy of such a call – and there is no chance it is legitimate – should hang up and call Coinbase customer service directly.

House-buying scam

Of all the scams we’ve seen this week, this could be the scariest because it is the most believable. It targets people who are about to close on a home purchase.

The victims receive an email, purportedly from the closing agent, telling them the receiving account for closing costs has changed. They’re given new wiring instructions. If they wire the money to the scammer’s account, it’s gone and can’t be retrieved. Homebuyers receiving such an email should directly telephone the closing agent to confirm the message’s authenticity.

Fake ticket scam

StubHub is a legitimate site where people can resell tickets to sporting events or concerts, sometimes at a discount price. It’s easy for scammers to use the site to sell non-existent tickets.

Because it’s a scam, victims may be told to pay for the tickets in an unusual way, which should be a huge red flag. To avoid becoming a victim, be wary of tickets offered at below face value, especially if it’s a highly popular event. Buying tickets directly from the event venue is an even safer way.

With the holidays nearly a week away, some of the biggest retailers – like Amazon and Target – are gearing up for the final push of holiday shopping. 

Now, Walmart is announcing its plans to ensure shoppers are ready to wrap their gifts and put the finishing touches on their holiday plans. The company has launched a last-minute gift sale, announced shipping and pickup order deadlines, and shared its diverse gift card options. 

Check everyone off your gift list

Walmart has dedicated a section of its website to Last Minute Gifts. Here, shoppers can search through thousands of discounted items and see which items are specially priced for the holidays, which are best sellers, and which have rollback pricing. 

Some of the last-minute deals include: 

• Ionvac SmartClean 2000 Robovac: $79 (originally $179.88) 

• HART 215-piece Mechanics Tool Set: $98 (originally $159)

• Nespresso Vertuo Plus Coffee and Espresso Maker: $127 (originally $159) 

• Onn. 55’  Class 4K UHD Roku Smart TV: $268 (originally $379) 

• AncestryDNA Genetic Test: $59 (originally $99) 

• Google Nest Hub 2nd Gen: $49.98 (originally $99.98)

• Microsoft Xbox Wireless Controller: $44 (originally $64.99)

• Graco 4Ever DLX 4-in-1 Convertible Car Seat: $230.99 (originally $329.77) 

• Cate & Chloe Ariel 18K Rose Gold Halo CZ Stud Earrings: $19.99 (originally $150) 

• Barbie 6-Doll Sports Career Collection, Related Clothes & Accessories: $25 (originally $35.67) 

For those on your gift list who may be harder to shop for, Walmart also offers a number of gift card options. These include Walmart-specific gift cards, as well as gift cards to local and national restaurants like Starbucks, Chick-Fil-A, and Dairy Queen, other stores like Apple or Disney, Visa or MasterCard gift cards, gift cards to streaming services like Netflix or Hulu, or experience gift cards, like movie theaters or airlines. 

While a gift card makes it easy for shoppers and offers flexibility to the recipient, Walmart also offers electronic gift cards. Customers can purchase them online and have them emailed directly to the recipient’s inbox, giving them even more freedom to spend their gift how – and when – they want. 

Delivery and Pickup Deadlines

In addition to last-minute gifts, Walmart has also announced its deadlines for receiving deliveries and pick-up orders in time for the holidays. 

To get your items by Christmas Day, orders must be placed with two-day shipping no later than 2:00 p.m. local time on Wednesday, December 21. Walmart also offers express delivery in two hours or less, and those orders must be placed by 4:00 p.m. local time on Christmas Eve. 

Lastly, consumers can place orders online and do curbside pick-up at their local Walmart store. Shoppers who opt for this choice must choose a time slot for pick-up by 4:00 p.m. local time on Christmas Eve. 

COVID-19 may have disappeared from the headlines but the coronavirus hasn’t gone away. In fact, with the start of cold weather and holiday gatherings, it appears to be making a comeback.

That may be one of the reasons that the U.S. Postal Service is resuming free delivery of COVID-19 tests to Americans who request them. 

Residential households can order one set of four free at-home tests from USPS.com. Here’s the order form.

Orders of free tests are limited to one order per residential address. Each order includes four individual rapid antigen COVID-19 tests. You can order now but shipping will begin the week of December 19, 2022.

If you have COVID-19 tests sitting on the shelf it may be wise to check the expiration date. The tests don’t last forever.

Wide-ranging expiration dates

According to the FDA, COVID-19 test kits have a shelf life that can range from just four months to as many as 26 months. The FDA lists each test and its shelf life here.

If the expiration date column says that the shelf-life is "extended," there is a link to "updated expiration dates" where you can find a list of the original expiration dates and the new expiration dates. If the expiration date column does not say the shelf-life is extended, that means the expiration date on the box label of your test is still correct. 

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reports that COVID-19 cases in the U.S. have been rising since early November. So have deaths.

The CDC says the U.S. recorded nearly 3,000 COVID-19 deaths in the first week of December, making it the most deadly week in the last few months.