Great review it does make me think of airlines Europe. The theme is awesome. I can see where people would rather play airlines over this. Hopefully I will get to play it one day.
IIRC, they are a flat 2$, and just bump the dividends up a bit. I always use it as sort of "pass". They don't get used too often... well they can... but it depends on how the game is going along.
Shoot, thought I caught you. ;) Thanks for reviewing one of my favorite games. I have thought about building "nowhere track," and it just seemed too mean so I never did.