Pod Insights The Clark Howard Podcast 10.03.25 Clark Answers His Critics on Clark Stinks / Travel Warning: The Luggage Tag Scam About this episode Friday - Clark Stinks day! Christa shares Clark Stinks posts with Clark. Submit yours at Clark.com/ClarkStinks. Also today, Clark goes pass wild with Frontier - and shares an important warning for air travelers who do something Clark will not do - check a bag. Clark Stinks: Segments 1 & 2 The Bag Tag Scam: Segment 3 Ask Clark: Segment 4 Mentioned on the show: What Is Umbrella Insurance and Do You Need It? 3 Reasons You Should Never Book a Nonrefundable Hotel Room Travel Insurance Checklist: 5 Types of Coverage To Consider Scam Alert: Never Throw This Away in an Airport Airport Worker Reveals Growing Luggage Tag Scam Targeting Travelers Should I Buy an AirTag for My Checked Airport Luggage? How To Pack a Carry-On the Right Way 4 Things You Should Always Pack in Your Carry-On Chase Sapphire Preferred® Travel Card Review Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card: 6 Things To Know in 2025 Clark's Updated Way To Shop for Car Rental Deals Clark.com resources: Episode transcripts Community. Clark.com / Ask Clark Clark.com daily money newsletter Consumer Action Center Free Helpline: 636-492-5275 Learn more about your ad choices: megaphone.fm/adchoices Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Transcript 0:05 Speaker 00 It's great to be here with you on the Clark Howard Show. You know, our mission is to serve you with advice and information that empowers you so you make better financial decisions in your life. And happy Friday. Do I love our Friday podcast? Because it's my opportunity to grow and learn, thanks to you, letting me know where I had a blind spot, my judgment was lacking, whatever it is, it helps me do a better job serving you. And so I'm looking forward to what's coming straight ahead in our Clark Stinks segment.
0:48 Speaker 00 And later, we're going to talk about a ripoff that I just can't stand, the crazy fees for you to check a bag already, and then have something happen ugly on top of it when you check a bag? Oh, boy.
1:08 Speaker 01 You gotta watch out for that one, for sure.
1:10 Speaker 00 Wait till you hear. And then, I'm also going to share with you, I had a dilemma recently. Frontier offering a pass that would allow me, for 17 months, to fly last minute for one penny? Could I possibly do it? With how much I've told you how awful Frontier is? I noodled it, I'll tell you what I did. But right now, it's time for Clark Stinks.
1:42 Speaker 02 I should have never encouraged you to speak.
1:45 Speaker 03 You must think I'm pretty stupid.
1:47 Speaker 04 You should be ashamed of yourself. Well, maybe I'm wrong, maybe I'm wrong. Maybe you're right, pal.
1:55 Speaker 01 All right, Glenn in Texas, Clark, as the years go by, your odor has gradually gotten worse, as far as us super savers out here. Your advice has been moving away from always pursuing the lowest cost in favor of comfort, low risk, and certainty. Examples are advising trip insurance, travel medical insurance, umbrella insurance, avoiding low-cost airlines and basic fares, and never choosing no-change fares. All of these really add up, and for each of them, there is a statistically low chance that you'll need them, or that taking the cheaper route will cause you problems. I think if you listen to your own advice from 10 years ago, you'd see this change. No risks, no rewards. And P.S., I don't expect
2:39 Speaker 01 you will use this, Clark Stinks, but come on, Krista, you've seen the change, right?
2:43 Speaker 00 Have you seen the change?
2:45 Speaker 01 No, you think you've gotten soft?
2:46 Speaker 00 You think I've gotten soft?
2:47 Speaker 01 I don't think so. This isn't about me.
2:50 Speaker 00 So, Glenn, of course, of course, we would read your Clark Stinks, because it's such an interesting point. So, I'm gonna go in reverse order. Why do I not like buying a hotel room that is non-refundable, non-changeable? Because the discount you get tends to be 10%, but the odds that someone's situation will change before they take the trip that involves a hotel, the odds are higher that something might change and you lose all your money. Except if you're booking a hotel in the week before travel. Then, at that point, if it
3:35 Speaker 00 becomes non-refundable, non-changeable, go for it. It's all about weighing risk versus reward, and the calendar plays a part in it. Airline tickets, we buy airline tickets that are non-refundable. That's pretty much how you buy airline tickets. The distinction is, are you allowed to change it fee-free, or is it only good for that flight? If I'm buying a ticket very last minute, I will buy the basic, where I'm stuck if I can't go. And if I'm buying one further advance, further in advance, I won't do it, because my life changes so much over time. Umbrella insurance.
4:20 Speaker 00 That is one that I have never changed on. You go back to my very first book I wrote thirty-five, thirty-something years ago, I wrote about why umbrella insurance is important. Because it's a success tax. If you've done really well financially, you need to protect your assets from an event that could wipe you out. And umbrella insurance is cheap for what you get. Now, the other two, trip insurance, general trip insurance, you insure what you can't afford. If you had to walk away from the money of a trip, and it makes no financial difference in your life, you don't need trip insurance. The medical insurance
5:03 Speaker 00 for overseas, that could be a high-end risk for anyone if you were in an accident, suffered a bad injury, something like that, or became extremely ill overseas. So I would say that that one is not being soft, it's knowing whether your own existing health insurance covers you outside the United States. If it doesn't, I see that as necessary. So I think there's, as much as I'm an all-or-nothing kind of guy, never do this, always do that. There are times that call for, well, it's situational if you do this or not do that.
5:43 Speaker 01 Suzy in Missouri says, "I would never say Clark stinks because my southern mother has taught me to say, 'Bless your heart, Clark.'" When talking about travel and Airbnbs, I understand the cost and convenience of sometimes booking with one, but in this case, I think it's important to be aware of how Airbnbs impact cities and neighborhoods, not only in the US, but more importantly, in Europe. Using Airbnbs takes money away from family-run and local-run hotels, and also strips neighborhoods of actual citizens' authentic culture. In many European cities, it's a crisis, and they have been restricted or banned. When we travel, we like to use local hotels and then book an Airbnb mid-trip to use for laundry for a night, and then the next city, back to using local as much as
6:25 Speaker 01 possible. We were in Venice six years ago, our family-owned hotel gave us- Free drinks and the best service thanking us up and down for choosing them over an Airbnb. I checked Google this year and they are out of business. It really hurt thinking about them. I realize it may not be an option for every traveler, every trip, but I think it's an issue that we Americans must be well informed about at home and abroad to make the best choices about how we spend our dollar and the effect it can have.
6:51 Speaker 00 Thank you for that post and this is an ongoing debate in every tourist oriented city is the housing supply available for locals being impacted and causing rents and cost of purchase to go up because of properties being pulled out of inventory being made for short-term rentals. This is one that communities are still feeling their way on. New York City banned Airbnbs and so far there's been no net increase in supply of housing that's observable in New York, but it does destabilize buildings.
7:35 Speaker 00 That's why so many properties in Hawaii have now banned Airbnbs and VRBOs because it took stable buildings and communities and turned them into transient hotel-like facilities. So this is one we're still feeling our way on and there's a lot of minuses that come with Airbnb and VRBO and there are some pluses for travelers. I'm not throwing you on the bus here because you've said over and over again how much you love Airbnb.
8:11 Speaker 01 Mm-hmm.
8:12 Speaker 00 When you stay in one, do you feel any of these things that you just heard?
8:18 Speaker 01 You know, I don't know. I haven't stayed, I'm trying to think. I haven't stayed in one. I mean, in Europe, it was a really long time ago when I stayed in one. It's only been hotels since then, so I don't really know. I can't really speak to that, but I understand. I mean, I would definitely think about it. It was more when my kids were little. I mean, it was such a lifesaver to stay in an Airbnb. It was awesome. So, but I hear this point and I think it's something to think about for sure.
8:45 Speaker 00 No, the thing for me, I'm a hotel guy. I'm not, I don't like the whole thing of staying in a rental apartment. It's just not something I like.
8:57 Speaker 01 I mean, I love hotels too, but it saved money and then getting the kids breakfast and things like that. Just having the opportunity to do that was, it was super helpful. Evie in Georgia says Clark stinks worse than a load of shrimp left in the hot sun.
9:09 Speaker 00 Oh boy.
9:10 Speaker 01 Well, months ago, he claimed AI would not cost jobs. That has been proven wrong by the low employment rate. There are less jobs offerings because AI and robots are doing so many jobs people used to do. What's Clark's solution?
9:23 Speaker 00 So it's funny because we talked about this just recently on the podcast and YouTube show that with AI, there are people that are going to get train wrecked by AI. Their, their jobs are going to be eliminated. So that's what we feel and see, and no doubt it's going to disrupt people's lives in really bad ways. At the same time, AI will create so many other jobs that are categories that don't even exist yet. We've talked about that in the past, how you go way back in the wayback machine,
10:02 Speaker 00 where we used to have people that would call me when I did radio decades ago and say, oh, this internet thing is going to destroy all these jobs and nobody's going to have work anymore. And instead it led to a huge increase in employment around the world. So new technologies are so disruptive and the effects play out over a number of years, but they're not all one thing.
10:36 Speaker 01 Kalea in California says, I'm set financially partially because of your advice, but when a person asked about protecting his second home with an umbrella policy, but because of a DUI, he was not able to purchase a policy, you miss the other protection option and that is a separate trust, even better, a trust in an LLC. Thank you so much for all you do for us.
10:59 Speaker 00 Thank you very much. I'm not a lawyer and I'm going to defer to your expertise in this area because I'm not aware of that being something that doesn't pierce the owners of the LLC for underwriting the insurance or the trust for underwriting the insurance. Based on what you've said, that would, if it works, would be an obvious, smart answer.
11:25 Speaker 01 Steve in Kansas says, "When answering about using virtual cards for online shopping, you mentioned that paying with a one-time card is the only way to go. Most online sellers do not retain your actual credit card number, but instead keep what's called a token. The token only works at that seller, so if the seller is breached, the criminal ends up with a token they can't use."
11:45 Speaker 00 So is that, I'm trying to follow...
11:47 Speaker 01 I think he was talking about the only use a virtual card number, but what he's saying is that actually just using your credit card is okay as well.
11:54 Speaker 00 It depends on the process, whether the merchant has your permanent real number or not. Thank goodness, more and more, the processes of transmitting payment numbers is doing tokenization. And virtual numbers is a method of tokenization. Tap to Pay is a method of tokenization. And the good news is, we're moving steadily away from criminals just having to breach the database of a company, a retailer, whatever, to grab people's permanent
12:35 Speaker 00 credit card numbers. And that's going to be a wonderful era when we don't have to worry about somebody stealing our number when they don't have possession of our card.
12:45 Speaker 01 And then Paul in California also wrote in about the gentleman who had the DUI and said that he needs to seek out an independent insurance broker, that some insurance companies will write an umbrella policy for someone with a DUI.
13:00 Speaker 00 I appreciate that. Thank you.
13:01 Speaker 01 And then Al in Florida said, "Why do you have a Clark Stinks podcast and allow people to start their post by saying you don't stink? If the poster says that you don't stink, leave it off your show." That's my bad, Al. So...
13:13 Speaker 00 There are people who don't feel right saying it, but it's all with the intent, the purpose. I am going to take a moment because I haven't explained this in years.
13:22 Speaker 01 Okay.
13:23 Speaker 00 So... Back in the, not the earliest days of the internet, but a little later than that, there were a number of people that were building websites that were derogatory towards me. And they had a variety of clever names. And they were getting energy from people that were saying, "Well, Clark's this and Clark's that, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah." I was like, "You know what? If people feel that way, we should have a place on our website for people to share their beefs about me." And it was weird because once we opened that up on our website, all the other sites went away. They lost their oxygen.
14:08 Speaker 00 Because I was like, "Hey, come right into my house and tell me where you're not happy." And then Krista came up with the idea of, "Why don't we occasionally," at that time doing syndicated radio, "Why don't we do a Clark Stink segment on the air?" And it's been ultra-popular, and we've been doing it ever since. So that's why, because I feel like I should not be in a protected cocoon. That if there are things I'm doing that you don't like, it's something I need to hear. It could be that you misunderstand me, or it could be that I'm the one who needs some explaining to.
14:53 Speaker 00 Whatever it is. And so that's why I value this so much. It's a belief I have about corporate America and politicians as well, that so often that people who run companies or people that are in elected office have such a shield around them, they don't hear things that would be helpful for them to hear. A CEO of a company may be so sheltered in the executive suite that he or she is not hearing things about their company that they need to know to serve their employees better and serve their customers better. I think hearing criticism...
15:35 Speaker 00 Is one of the most important things for us, for anybody in a position to change, to improve, to do better. And that's why I love it. And I'm so glad we've had this as an outlet for people now for, gosh, for decades. And you know what? I haven't gotten less stinky. So it's perfect. Oh, man. You would have loved to have been a fly on the wall. We were trying to come up with what we were going to call the, what was then called the forum. And we landed on stinks. So don't feel bad about telling me that I smell worse
16:16 Speaker 00 than whatever. Coming up ahead. You know what smells worse than whatever? Frontier Airlines. So what did I do when they had an unlimited travel pass? You'll hear.
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17:16 Speaker 00 So Frontier has experimented over the years with what are known as go wild passes. And they sell them at all different price points for all different travel periods to see what the marketplace will pay for the privilege of being in the miserable airplane that Frontier offers. They are proud to offer the most uncomfortable seats in the air with the most customer unfriendly policies ever to exist. The only airline in the United States that when a flight doesn't go because of their fault, they offer you no compensation. I mean, they are the bottom of the air travel barrel.
18:03 Speaker 00 So Frontier does this thing, I think it was for four days, where you could buy a pass that allowed you 20 months of travel for a penny a flight, for $299. And I was like, you know what? I need to walk the walk, not just talk. I say how horrible Frontier is from a handful of flight experiences with them, and how they show up in government statistics and all the rest. And I thought, what do I have to lose? I travel a lot last minute, and those tickets are really expensive. So I did it. I bought the $299 Go Wild Pass.
18:45 Speaker 00 And so on one day's notice, I can book a trip when available for a penny, and on 10 days' notice, I can fly internationally. You know, it reminds me of the thing, the first prize was one free ticket, the second prize was two free tickets.
19:04 Speaker 00 So I am going to do it. I bought it. I'm the guinea pig. So the funniest thing is that, attached with it, I bought a $69 option, I think it was $69, where because I have frequent status on a bunch of other programs, I got gold status on Frontier, which means on my $1 fare, I get advanced seat assignment, and I get a free carry-on bag. So I won't be paying the endless junk fees for it. And I will let you know, good or bad, what it's like in my Frontier experience. Oh, boy. I just had to do it.
19:47 Speaker 00 Because, I mean, I trash Frontier all the time. Now I need to see it, experience it with my own eyeballs, my own body, in that horrendously awful seat. And when I say that seat's bad, you know how bad seats are in doctor's waiting rooms? This is worse. Now let's talk about something really bad, ugly. So my Frontier thing doesn't come with a checked bag, which is irrelevant to me, because I don't check bags. But a lot of people hate the whole thing of lugging the carry-on through the airport, or they want to take, you know, four months of stuff for a four-day trip, and so they check
20:30 Speaker 00 a bag. A little biased there. Okay, so the bag, you go to the carousel, spins around, your bag eventually shows up. And what do people do? They rip off the bag tag and they throw in the trash. This came from a claims person at Delta who leaked this to a media source that now is spread all over. So crooks are lurking at the trash cans, and they're grabbing the baggage tags, and then they know how to manipulate the claim process with the airlines, claiming a lost bag, or damage to a bag, or items missing, or whatever.
21:13 Speaker 00 And it looks like you made the claim, but they're getting the money. I mean, it's crazy, because on that bag tag on most airlines, there's enough information. Now, this crime only exists because if you go back in the Wayback Machine, a lot of airlines, not that long ago, they had security people that you'd have to prove that it was your bag before you left. Because the other thing that keeps happening at the carousels is crooks are stealing people's bags. Then you get to the carousel, your bag never shows up. And the airlines now that track the bags, they say, "Well, yeah, we dropped it off at the carousel
21:54 Speaker 00 at blah, blah, blah time, but the bag wasn't there because it was stolen." Well, this is why you want to have an air tag or equivalent in every checked bag. Because there was a big criminal ring that was just broken because someone had an air tag in their suitcase. And they were renting an apartment near, I remember it was LAX, and it was stuffed full of stolen suitcases as they were rifling through them and figuring out how they were going to score money from everything in the bag. And so having an air tag...
22:37 Speaker 00 Is awesome. The airline can't tell you where your bag is. You'll know from that air tag. And if a criminal ring steals it from the baggage carousel, you'll know where it went. So I make checking a bag sound like a really great idea.
22:53 Speaker 01 Sounds awesome.
22:54 Speaker 00 I mean, it's so funny that you got charged a fee for something that adds misery into your trip.
22:59 Speaker 01 By the way, that Frontier thing, that was so funny. You went to lunch with us and you still couldn't decide. You really were, I mean, you're not kidding. You were in a dilemma.
23:07 Speaker 00 I was in a dilemma because, I mean, if, what company have I trashed as much as Frontier over the last few years?
23:17 Speaker 01 I could name a few.
23:18 Speaker 00 Oh, you could?
23:19 Speaker 01 It's okay.
23:20 Speaker 00 So I feel like I need to do it. I need to be there. And besides, if I end up saving money along the way, what could be better than that?
23:29 Speaker 01 All right. Speaking of which, Anna in New York says, I booked a round trip flight on Frontier Airlines.
23:34 Speaker 00 Oh, what a shock. We're gonna hear a complaint.
23:37 Speaker 01 Reviewing the summary of the breakdown of taxes and fees, I noticed a carrier interface charge of $23 each way. That's $46 tacked on to my round trip fare. A Google search showed it's a fee Frontier is hitting you with for using their website to book your ticket. The fee is collected for the cost of upkeep to their website. Since I live near the airport, I drove the next day to verify with a Frontier representative.
24:02 Speaker 00 Wow, what a detective.
24:03 Speaker 01 The agent said she never heard of the fee, so it must be new. I showed her the Google search on my phone. She agreed it's unbelievable. She did say to avoid the fee, have an agent at the airport book your ticket for you, but be aware that if it's at the discretion of the agent to either charge or not charge you with an agent assist fee. Are there other airlines hitting customers with this fee? Is Frontier just being transparent and the other airlines are hiding it?
24:28 Speaker 00 So Frontier charges all kinds of mess, but they do, if you click on the summary of charges, they will show you what every one of those made up things is. So Frontier will do these sales where they're selling a ticket for $19.
24:47 Speaker 00 And then by the time you check out, the $19 is many times that. So know that that is a bait and switch that Frontier does, but not really under the law considered to be a bait and switch because they then do detail every bit of junk that you're paying in addition to it. Sure was a lot easier when you used to see the price of something and that was what you paid, right?
25:14 Speaker 01 Yep. Ben in New York says, "With all the terrible changes Southwest Airlines is making with its baggage and seating policies, I've become a free agent. All the airlines now seem to be about the same and I can get better fares from my local airport on other airlines. I've had the Southwest credit card for years and was going to keep it just for the free checked bag benefit, but now that they've announced they are increasing their annual fee and getting rid of the annual flight credit they had previously offered, I'm going to cancel the card before the next annual fee hits. Can you recommend a good travel card to replace the Southwest card? Although a free checked bag perk is nice, I'm getting used to Clark's method of flying with just a carry-on, so an airline branded credit card is not a must.
25:58 Speaker 01 And reasonable annual fee is okay if the benefits make up for the cost. In the meantime, I plan to use my Costco Visa card for all travel purchases."
26:07 Speaker 00 So probably if you're looking for something similar annual fee, your Southwest card is probably $95 a year maybe. I like the Chase Sapphire Preferred. Not Reserve because Reserve is like an $800 annual fee, but Preferred is $95 or $99 and does a good job as a travel card light. And because it is perfect for free agents, I really like it. But if you travel... Three or more times a year, I'm going to blow your mind and tell you I would get
26:47 Speaker 00 the Capital One Venture X card. Now, hang with me a minute. Venture X has a $395 annual fee, but they give you an upfront $300 credit to use, making the annual fee 95 bucks. You get 2X points minimum on everything you charge, and the points are usable so many different ways, and you get access to mediocre lounges around the world and airports, and then the phenomenal but small number of Capital One lounges, which are the best lounges available
27:29 Speaker 00 from anybody in any airport in the United States. So, if you are traveling enough that the $300 credit is automatic in your life, do the Capital One Venture X.
27:43 Speaker 01 And would you also say the Sapphire Preferred offers that rental car coverage, primary rental car coverage? So if you rent a certain number of cars per year, do you recommend that?
27:53 Speaker 00 So, the 95, it's a low expense, relatively speaking, for a travel card, and decent privileges with it. So, I think it's a, it's a good choice.
28:08 Speaker 01 Jim in Georgia says, "I took your car rental trick," speaking of car rentals, "to the bank. I reshopped my car rental for our vacation next week and was able to upgrade my car and spend less than my standard-sized car. $135 going back into our vacation budget. Thanks again for your great advice."
28:25 Speaker 00 Wow, $135. You broke the century mark. I think that most people who don't rent a lot of cars have no idea how much the rental car rates go up, down, up, down, up, down, and the price differences can be enormous on those rental cars.
28:47 Speaker 00 And you may have heard on a recent podcast YouTube show how I reshopped two different rental cars while I was on a flight with free wifi and cut the price of both of them big time just at the last minute. And so if you don't reshop a rental car, most of the time, you're throwing money away. And if the car price has not gone down, you keep what you have. If it has gone down, you rebook. And that's why never fall for the car rental companies offering you a slightly lower rate booking a non-refundable car rental. Don't do it. Thank you. This is
29:30 Speaker 00 something I do want to thank you for doing, joining us today on our podcast and YouTube show. And on YouTube, not only do you get to see the full show, but you also get to see shorts. Well, not my shorts. Depends on the camera angle if you see my shorts.
29:50 Speaker 01 If you're lucky that day.
29:52 Speaker 00 You're lucky that day. You get to see my legs.
29:54 Speaker 01 The cargo shorts.
29:55 Speaker 00 Cargo shorts.
29:56 Speaker 01 The Clarko shorts.
29:58 Speaker 00 That are, they're from Wellmart.
30:00 Speaker 01 Mm hmm.
30:01 Speaker 00 And I broke two digits. They were $11.99. So it was a big splurge.
30:08 Speaker 01 But they double as a purse. There's so many pockets.
30:12 Speaker 00 The, there's only four.
30:13 Speaker 01 There's a backpack. I should say a backpack.
30:16 Speaker 00 There's six pockets.
30:17 Speaker 01 See?
30:18 Speaker 00 Yeah. Yeah. It's like, I mean, think of what you save on Ryanair. You stuff all your pockets with things. You don't have Ryanair saying, you're going to pay a fee for those cargo shorts. Anyway, the YouTube shorts, we do short, sweet segments for you.
30:39 Speaker 00 About things about your wallet and they're very popular. Share them with a friend if you see something that you're saying, oh, I know so and so needs to know this. Let them know because the whole idea, whatever way you want to be reached, social media, newsletters, websites, the markets, I'm on radio or television. Everything we do is about providing information to you that can impact your life and give you more power in that life. So you can save more, spend less, and avoid getting ripped off.
31:19 Speaker 00 And I hope that you have an absolutely wonderful, fantastic weekend and that if you are like me and football is your life, that your team wins this weekend. If you don't care about football, well, you enjoy all the video content available to you that doesn't have anything to do with football. I mean, it's shocking to me that more than half of Americans don't even watch a minute of the Super Bowl each year. I mean, you don't know what you're missing, missing football. But if you have a more interesting, varied life than I do, I hope that the weekend brings
32:02 Speaker 00 you lots of joy with the activities that you enjoy.
Previous 10.02.25 SPECIAL EDITION: A tribute To Financial Mentor Jonathan Clements Next 10.07.25 Ask An Advisor With Wes Moss Page updated November 6, 2026 · transcript and summary are machine-generated
