Three Budget-Priced Airlines Are Currently Offering Cheap Flights Across the Atlantic to Europe
Posted on 10/20/2016, 8:00 PM
When it comes to transatlantic flights, these low-cost upstarts are giving major airlines a run for their money. ...
Among Americans Fearful of Violence in Europe, There Appears to Be a Movement to Book Cruise Vacations in Areas Closer to Home
Posted on 10/20/2016, 8:00 PM
For cruisers with security concerns, Alaska, Canada, and the Caribbean might be the safest bets....
New York Attempts to Put Airbnb Out of Business
Posted on 10/20/2016, 3:30 PM
The big news in travel has been the signing, by the Governor of New York State, of a law passed by the state legislature that is deliberately designed to put Airbnb out of business—at least in the city and state of New York. Although, according to Airbnb, New York accounts for only 2% of its worldwide business, the effect of this dramatic development should be devastating to that apartment-rental ...
Ocean Cruises Have Developed a Set of Uniform Characteristics That Will Attract or Repel You
Posted on 10/19/2016, 7:45 PM
After three years of failing to go on an ocean cruise, I recently returned to one aboard a popularly priced ship (but not one of the monstrous, 5,000-passenger variety). Here are some characteristics that I truly believe are found on all similar ships, and some tactics for enjoying the experience: EVERYTHING IS EXTRA. The cruise lines seem to have developed a policy of relying heavily on ext...
British Vacations Are Increasingly Affordable for the American Traveler
Posted on 10/19/2016, 7:30 PM
The big travel news of the current fall/winter season is the drop in the value of the British pound. As we go to press, the pound is selling for only $1.21. It used to sell at $1.60, and the new value is claimed by some analysts to be the lowest in 30 years. For most American tourists, the cost of hotels, meals, theater tickets, and the like has been decreased by close to 30%. The result, as...
Families With Children Are Now Being Welcomed Aboard (Some) River Cruise Ships
Posted on 10/19/2016, 7:30 PM
The evidence is fast accumulating that the number of river cruiseships is now more than equal to the demand for river cruises. Accordingly, several of the river cruiselines are devising new lures to fill their ships, and one such tactic is to throw overboard the once-widely-held belief that families with children would not be permitted on river cruiseships. Certainly, families traveling with ...
The Strange Case of the Expired Passport....
Posted on 10/19/2016, 7:15 PM
There was once a time when Americans traveling to and from Canada could do so with little advance preparation other than a hotel reservation. Almost any form of identification would be sufficient to cross the border into Canada and then later to return to the United States. So it was with upset and anxiety that my wife and I recently learned we might not be able to board a cruise ship leaving...
Gigantic Cruise Ships Need a Different Approach
Posted on 10/19/2016, 7:15 PM
(photo: Royal Caribbean) The constant growth in the size of cruise ships—of which some now carry 6,000 passengers—has forced the cruise lines (and not simply the cruise passengers) to adopt a wholly different set of tactics and policies. And sometimes, these new experiments in cruising have failed miserably—as Royal Caribbean Cruisline recently discovered. When Royal Caribbean discov...
How You Book Rail Is About to Change
Posted on 10/04/2016, 12:15 PM
Train travel is a $300 billion market. Globally, more than twice as much was invested in high speed rail as it was in air transportation last year. And that’s how it should be. The world’s roads can’t keep up with population swells that are swamping them with cars. Our climate, too, needs some TLC, and rail is an infinitely greener mode of transportation than any other (with the exception of...
Its Currency Selling at Unprecedented Low Levels, Its Drug-Related Violence Subdued, Mexico is Positioned to Enjoy Heavy American Tourism this Coming Winter
Posted on 09/30/2016, 6:15 PM
There no longer seems any doubt that the Zika scare has wrought havoc with tourism to Florida. In a study conducted by Allianz Travel Insurance, advance air bookings for the coming winter to the entire state of Florida are down by 15 percent. And bookings for specific resort cities in Florida are down by a devastating 29 percent to Miami, 32 percent to Tampa, and 15 percent to Palm Beach. S...
