Tijuana Airport's new Cross Border Xpress (CBX) terminal

Tijuana Airport's new CBX terminal opens
 in San Diego on December 9, 2015

For the past 2 years, San Diego residents have watched a new building take shape next to the USA/Mexican border, complete with an overhead walkway. It's a new portal, of sorts, into Mexico.

When the new Tijuana Airport Cross Border Xpress terminal (CBX) opens on December 9, 2015, making it the only airport in the world to have terminals in two countries.

 "CBX", situated in San Diego, California, USA, is connected to Tijuana International Airport's Terminal 1 by a passenger foot bridge. Eligible passengers will pay USD 18 for access to the 525 foot bridge.

The Terminal 2 building will serve as a check-in and processing facility for departing passengers only, with its own parking and customs offices. There are no gates or arrival facilities. The structural scheme of CBX is intended to allow greater access to flights out of Tijuana Airport for both domestic and international air carriers.

The design of the joint binational Terminal 2 is the work of late Mexican architect Ricardo Legorreta.

Related resources
Cross-border airport? New California terminal extends to Mexico
Tijuana International Airport (TIJ) transportation guide
San Diego International Airport (SAN) transportation guide

Travel Tax Squeeze: Best and Worst USA Cities

Here's interesting news if your travels take you to major cities in the USA.

This past week, the Global Business Travel Association (GBTA) released its annual travel tax report on car rentals, hotels and restaurants in 50 top USA cities. Of most interest to travellers are what the GBTA calls "discriminatory travel taxes", which are taxes imposed specifically on travel services, above and beyond general sales taxes. Here are a few highlights.

Worst USA Cities for Travel Taxes


Rental car return backup at Portland Airport - the USA city with the highest
discriminatory travel tax rate - that will effect your rental car bill

The top 10 U.S. cities with the highest discriminatory travel tax rates are:

2013 Rank	City	$ over general sales tax
1	Portland (OR)	$22.86
2	Boston	$19.34
3	Indianapolis	$18.10
4	Minneapolis	$17.46
5	Chicago	$17.39
6	New York	$15.96
7	Washington, D.C.	$15.61
8	Kansas City	$15.26
9	Charlotte	$15.16
10	Milwaukee	$15.04

Minneapolis jumped up two spots over 2012 (from 6 to 4), and Washington D.C. jumped up four spots (from 11 to 7).

Best USA Cities for Travel Taxes

Enjoy your rental car in California, the taxes won't break the bank

You may be interested to know that California and Florida are among the states with the lowest discriminatory travel tax rates in the country, making them tourist friendly.

The top 10 U.S. cities with the lowest discriminatory travel tax rates are:

2013 Rank	City	$ over general sales tax
1	Burbank	$1.58
2	Orange County	$3.16
3	Ontario (CA)	$4.48
4	San Diego	$5.27
5	Oakland	$5.79
6 *	Tampa	$7.27
7*	Fort Lauderdale	$7.27
8*	Fort Myers	$7.27
9*	West Palm Beach	$7.27
10	Los Angeles	$7.37

* tie

The biggest change since 2012 was Los Angeles, which dropped from 5th to 10th.

More...

The information gathered by the GBTA is helpful, and we are appreciative of the level of detail the organization shares in its press releases, allowing us to share it with you. You may also be interested in the total travel tax burden rankings - just refer to the references below for more.

All information in this blog post is from the following Global Business Travel Association (GBTA) press releases:

• GBTA Reveals Best and Worst Travel Taxes Across Top 50 U.S. Destinations
• Taxes and Fees on Travel Reaching the Tipping Point 
• Bad For Business: A Billion Dollars In New Travel Taxes