Articles

Article / Arthur Frommer Online

Peaceful at Last, The Important (and Easily Reached) South American Nation of Colombia is Finally Attracting the Tourism It Deserves

The recent making of a peace treaty (with amnesty provisions) between the government of Colombia and its longtime insurgent guerillas (a movement known as "FARC") has brought about…

Article / Arthur Frommer Online

Medellin, Colombia, A City Once Infamous for its Frequently-Violent Drug Battles, Has Become a Touristic Magnet Now that the "Narcos" Have Been Ousted From It

In a recent column, I wrote about the surprising emergence of the South American nation of Colombia as a hot new tourist destination  (and one that also has the fastest-growing…

Article / Arthur Frommer Online

The TSA May Now Deny You the Right to a Pat-Down

Until this month, anyone undergoing a TSA search at airports has had the right to bypass the "Advanced Imaging Technology" screening booths—the ones in which passengers hold their…

Article / Arthur Frommer Online

From A.F.: I, Too, Have Drawn Up a List of a Dozen New Year's Resolutions for Travel in 2016, Hopefully Meant to Maintain and Improve My Vacation Trips

Most of us make New Year's Resolutions to correct human failings in our daily activities.  I do something of the same, but limited to the times when I leave my home for a trip.  Here…

Article / Arthur Frommer Online

Pauline Frommer's Top (Travel) Resolutions for the Coming Year

It’s that time of year and let’s be real, those three inches padding my waistline aren’t coming off anytime soon. Instead of doing the usual “lose 10 pounds” resolution, my top 7…

Article / Arthur Frommer Online

Counting Down the Top 6 Travel Stories of 2015—And Looking Ahead to 2016

(Photo by Zach Dischner/Flickr)Unusually dramatic events and trends shaped the way we traveled in 2015 and should continue to impact our wanderings in 2016. Counting them down,…

Article / Passportable

Two New Passport Rules Elicit Anger

The U.S. State Department has changed the rules for passports in two ways.First, as of January 1, 2016, it will no longer allow you to add pages to your passport if you fill up…

Article / Arthur Frommer Online

Numerous Parts of the Travel Industry are Rapidly Being Dominated by Monopolies—and Relief Does Not Seem at Hand

It is slightly more than a year since final Justice Department approval of the merger between American Airlines and U.S. Airways, but most of the travel industry is still dazed and…

Article / Passportable

Snacks Are Back On United Airlines

Well here's some news that may put a smile on your face (just as it's moving your belt buckle an inch more towards your hips). United Airlines has announced that it will be bringing…

Article / Passportable

Coming Soon: Planes with Skylights?

In the never-ending quest to figure out new enticements to squeeze cash out of passengers, airline operators in a corner: There's not much space to add more stuff.According to The…

Article / Arthur Frommer Online

Some Pre-Christmas Musings About the Current State of Travel

The major news in travel continues to be the amazing strength of the U.S. dollar, which makes travel cheaper for the American tourist.  And that strength continues despite…

Article / Arthur Frommer Online

The Department of Transportation Is Getting Serious About Airlines Compensating Passengers for Damaged Luggage

If you think passengers are being treated disrespectfully by the airlines—what with ever shrinking seats and ever growing fees—consider what their luggage is going through. Recently,…

Article / Passportable

Manhattan's New Tourist Sight: Jerry Seinfeld

The modern tourist landscape New York City continues to co-opt some of Las Vegas' best ideas: In 2013, Billy Joel announced his once-a-month residency at Madison Square Garden,…

Article / Passportable

London's Black Taxis Will All Soon Accept Credit Cards

London's licensed cab drivers famously have a larger hippocampus (the part of the brain that's responsible for memory) than average folks. That's the result of two years of studying…

Article / Passportable

'70s Heartthrob is Now Upscale Cruise Director

If you were a North American teenager in the 1970s, you certainly remember Willie Aames. He became a teen magazine cover boy and Battle of the Network Stars fixture by appearing on…

Article / Passportable

Cyber Monday Travel Savings: A (Growing) List

Apparently tryptophan, the sleep-causing amino acid in turkey, also inspires wild bouts of shopping. How else to explain the mad rush after the holidays to empty Best Buy and…

Article / Passportable

Cyber Monday Travel Savings: A (Growing) List

Apparently tryptophan, the sleep-causing amino acid in turkey, also inspires wild bouts of shopping. How else to explain the mad rush after the holidays to empty Best Buy and…

Article / Arthur Frommer Online

The Current Prices Charged for a Trip to Cuba Show that Neither the U.S. Tour Industry Nor the Cuban Government Has Yet Gotten Serious About American Travel to That Island

Tours to Cuba, offered by the nation's best-known tour operators, continue to be priced at outrageous levels, confirming that both the Cuban authorities and the U.S. tour operators,…

Article / Arthur Frommer Online

There is Increasing Evidence that the River Cruise Industry has been Over-Built, and that Discounts are Now Widely Available from all the Usual Sources

Two years ago, the sudden popularity of European river cruises seemed to catch the entire travel industry by surprise.  River boats, and their itineraries, became totally sold…

Article / Arthur Frommer Online

American Airlines Changes Its Frequent Flyer Program, Making It Near Impossible for Average Joes to Earn Miles Just from Flying Any Longer

And then there were none.Did you hear a loud groan last week? That was the members of American Airlines' frequent flyer program—well, all but the business travelers—reacting to…

Article / Arthur Frommer Online

Why I, Personally, Will Continue to Travel Abroad, Despite the Latest Global Travel Alert

This morning I told my daughter I was going to write about the worldwide travel alert and she gave me a worried glance. "Mom if you tell people to travel and then something happens,…

Article / Passportable

Pausing for Art in the Napa Valley: A Visit to the Spectacular di Rosa Preserve

White, red, or rose, and whether to sip or spit—those are the choices and considerations that fill the days of most visitors to the Napa Valley wine region. But even the most avid…

Article / Arthur Frommer Online

A Controversial New Documentary Film Will Supplement American Travelers' Impressions of European Life and Politics, Both Pro and Con

Market, Helsinki, FinlandWe Americans travel to Europe primarily for cultural reasons—to view great art at famed museums, to encounter history in the form of monuments,…

Article / Passportable

Airfare to New Zealand Has Been Slashed: $328!

American Airlines may be dumbing down some of its product inside the United States (click here for that story), but overseas, it's making a big move that should bring down the price…

Article / Passportable

Congrats, Philly, the US's First World Heritage City

Congratulations to Philadelphia, which has just become the first American city to earn the distinction of World Heritage City.Like World Heritage Sites, which are named by UNESCO,…