If you had hopes that the FAA's ban on ridesharing flights would be reversed... well, you're in for a disappointment. A Washington, DC court has ruled that pilots need commercial licenses for these services to work. You're a carrier in that case, not just splitting expenses like the plaintiff (Flytenow) claimed -- and that means you need the "experience and credentials" to ferry passengers. If you want to fly cross-country without resorting to big airlines, you'll have to either charter a private flight or hope that a pilot friend will take you.

[Image credit: Gordon Chibroski/Portland Press Herald via Getty Images]