Tagged: travel

Snapchat Becomes More Traveler-Friendly

"You and your selfies!" I kidded to my teenage daughter as she struck a pose for what seemed like the tenth time in an hour and then clicked away on her smartphone. "Mom I'm not…

A La Carte Cruise Pricing To Become Even More A La Carte, At Least on Norwegian Cruise Lines

Start boning up on your math. You're going to need those calculating skills to determine which cruise vacation will now have the overall highest costs.I reported last week that…

Are Cruises Becoming All-Inclusive? Kinda. Sorta. Maybe.

While those who head to sea are no longer afflicted by rickets (too many citrus fruits on the buffet for that), they do sometimes have to handle noroviruses, seasickness, and that…

The Time Has Come to Consider Re-Regulation of the Airline Industry

In a modern democracy, "regulation" is no longer a dirty word. Unregulated medications can hurt or kill you, unregulated monopolists can destroy competition, and unregulated…

5 Capitol Reasons to Head to Washington, DC in the Next 6 Months

The United States Congress may be in a constant gridlock, but nothing stays the same for long in the United States’ Capitol. Here’s what visitors to this always-fascinating city can…

Safety First: What Parents Need To Know Before They Send Their Kids Off to Summer Camp

Earlier this year, my 12-year-old daughter was studying the concept of utopia in her history class and having trouble grasping what the word meant. I told her to think of her summer…

New York City’s Latest Culinary Trend Is One That Your Mother—And Your Cardiologist—Will Approve Of

About five years ago came the parade of pork, in every form under the sun, the fattier the better. That trend was followed by the “Cronut” phenomenon: normally sane people getting up…

Which Frequent Flyer Program Is the Best for Actually Redeeming Miles? A Massive New Study Provides Some Answers

We have to give thanks to Consumer Reports, which has done the heavy lifting on this one, completing a study of some 70 million passenger in the last year has yielded important data…

Hey Yank, Want to Go to Cuba? You Can Now Get Travel Insurance and a Bed More Easily If You Go

And another piece—no, make that two—has fallen into place for Americans with a yen to visit the long-forbidden Cuba. Today, massive online lodging company AirBnB (it serves as a…

Portrait of a Family Volunteer Vacation in Chennai, India

When Vani (not her real name) was five years old, her mother dropped her off to live at the SEAM Children’s Home in Chennai, India. Vani’s mother had remarried, and her new husband…

Is An Exotic Trip In Your Future? Here Are Some Important Health Precautions to Take in Advance of Travel

Heading to Quebec City? You can likely just hop on a plane or train without a second thought. But for other destinations—many parts of Asia, Africa, South and Central America and now…

DogVacay is now CatVacay, Too

There are no figures for this, but I wonder how many people decide they can't travel because they don't want to (or can't afford to) leave their animals behind. Kennels are expensive…

Want to Use Your Frequent Flyer Miles? Guess How Many You'll Need. No, Really, GUESS, Says One Airline

How would you feel if you walked into a grocery store and underneath the butter, the broccoli and the babaganoush were signs with question marks rather than prices?Well, Delta has…

Special Globe, A Superb New Website for Families with Children With Disabilities, Debuts

Travel was an important, and much beloved, part of Meghan Harris’ life growing up. Her father was a professor, and he used his sabbaticals to show his family the world.  Harris hoped…

Free National Park Visits for Fourth Graders (And Their Families) For One Full Year

For years, a number of ski resorts have been allowing fourth graders to ski for free. The reasoning behind this move was that age 10 was the perfect age to develop a life long…

Travelers Carrying AmEx Face Tough Changes

It's been a tumultuous month for American Express, and that turbulence is about to be transferred to travelers who use the credit cards. Many travelers choose the card because of its…

Hot Deals On Flights to Europe From the U.S. (And One Is For Business Class!)

Not only is the U.S. Dollar continuing to crush the Euro, airfares across the pond are now a better value, per mile, than flights within the continental United States. Three…

Exellent Trips on a Lean Budget? Say YES to Mooching

Mooching can be an art. Sure, it’s lacking in dignity, but it can be quite effective, as anyone with, well, relatives knows. Travel mooches can be a particularly canny way of not…

Drop That Towel! Hotels Get Serious About Foiling Linen Thieves

Is hotel check out about to become a much more emberrassing ritual?It might if you're one of the 5 to 20 percent of hotel guests who steal towels, robes and other linens each…

Last-Minute Deals on Hotels Are Getting Better and Better! Here’s Why

Speak on a mobile phone instead of text? That’s considered a rude act nowadays in many circles. But while mobile technology has, arguably, made us less social, many in the travel…

The Luck (And Deals) Of The Irish: A Head-Turning Fare Sale from Aer Lingus to Ireland and Beyond

Head across the pond for a quick, and inexpensive, pint of GuinnessThe euro is currently trading at a jaw-dropping…

A New Monopoly on European Airport ATMs Means Lousy Exchange Rates for Travelers

I just had the pleasure of co-hosting our radio show with Samantha Brown, Travel Channel star par extraordinaire. (You can hear the podcast here). Whenever I chat with Samantha, I…

Bye-Bye, Economy! Delta Airlines Introduces Five New Classes of Seating

In 2013, Delta Airlines collected $1.67 billion dollars in so-called ancillary fees last year (mostly change fees and baggage fees), whupping its nearest competitor by almost $300…

Point/Counterpoint: Pauline Frommer Gives Her Impressions of Colonial Williamsburg

I won’t lie: I was dragged, kicking and wailing, to Colonial Williamsburg. I thought the idea of spending Thanksgiving at the famed “living history museum” was a goofy one, and…

India Eases Its Visa Rules, While Russia May Be Closing Its Doors to Many Visitors

As per usual the news out of Russia is puzzling. Instead of easing restrictions on travelers and thus helping their sanction-damaged economy, the Russian government may be making…