Back in mid-October, I wrote about the fact that heavily-discounted rooms were already available at the new, ultra-deluxe, 1,000-suite Vdara Hotel in Las Vegas, even though it was still six weeks away from opening. You would have thought that the early dates of its operation would be sold out by now. And yet, not only are ... Read More »

Among the several U.S. and Canadian cities offering "Greeters Programs" (free walking tours provided to visitors by public-spirited volunteers), the Chicago program ( www.chicagogreeter.com ) is among the oldest and certainly one of the most eagerly promoted; enthusiastic comments by people who have received these free ... Read More »

A recent article by Arlene and Sam Bleecker in the Chicago Tribune on November 8 provides an interesting comparison between the current costs of a cruise and the cost of staying at a large all-inclusive tropical hotel. In their article "All-Inclusive Vs. A Cruise: What's the Better Deal?" the Bleeckers recount a recent stay ... Read More »

A significant development is the announcement by cost-cutting upstart airline AirTran that it will begin flying to far-off Aruba, from Atlanta, starting mid-December. This makes the fifth tropical destination for the cheaply-priced AirTran (which has earlier begun flying to the Bahamas, Cancun, Puerto Rico, and Jamaica ), ... Read More »

Wanna travel legally to Cuba? The 900-passenger Braemar of Fred Olsen Cruise Lines, a British firm, will be leaving Bridgetown, Barbados, on November 26, on an 11-day cruise (£949 per person for inside cabins) of the Caribbean that will stop for two days in Havana, Cuba. Since it's illegal for a U.S. citizen to spend ... Read More »

The interval between airfare sales announced by Southwest Airlines gets shorter and shorter -- 10 days is the probable figure. And yet, instead of reacting cynically to every new announcement, we should all take action; if any of us have plans to fly anywhere (domestically) within the next three months, Southwest Airlines ... Read More »

For the past several years, White House officials of both parties and U.S. Secretaries of the Treasury, have sought to pressure China into raising the value of its currency. Although they have succeeded in part -- the Chinese Yuan, once exchanged at a rate of nearly 8 to the U.S. dollar is now selling for 6.82 -- they have ... Read More »

In e-mails from readers, in other websites containing mentions of them, I have come across so many references to the imposition of "Resort Fees" by Las Vegas hotels that my suspicions have been confirmed. It appears that a rash of "Resort Fees" has swept the hotel industry of Sin City, making up in part for the ultra-low ... Read More »

Because it is less than five years old, Sunwing Holidays of Canada may even be unknown to some of our Canadian readers (although that's doubtful). But very few Americans are aware of it, even though they may live near border areas from which they might be able to travel easily to Canadian cities to take advantage of a ... Read More »

Though the new, futuristic hotels of City Center -- Vdara, Mandarin Oriental and Aria -- are largely owned by the MGM Mirage corporation, their appearance on the scene has wrought havoc with the room rates of the same company's Mirage hotel nearby. If you'll go to the Mirage website ( www.mirage.com ) and then navigate down ... Read More »