Articles

Article / Arthur Frommer Online

In late October and Throughout November, A Two-Week Cruise of the Mediterranean Aboard the Spectacular Queen Elizabeth Can Cost Only $999

If you're like me, you receive a dozen repetitive e-mails a week from cruise brokers and cruiselines offering one week sailings of the Caribbean or Mediterranean for $499, two…

Article / Arthur Frommer Online

A Nightmarish Incident on a Recent Cruise May Cause Vacationers to Rethink Buying Insurance Directly from the Cruise Line

By now, you likely have heard the story of elderly couple who were put off an Azamara Cruise ship in a small town in Turkey, when the 89-year-old husband fell and broke his hip.…

Article / Arthur Frommer Online

Offended by Political TV in Your Hotel Lobby? Your Hotel Manager Chose The Channel

Hotel companies spend millions of dollars creating warm-and-fuzzy feelings about their brands and crafting the sensation that a stay there will make customers feel welcome and…

Article / Arthur Frommer Online

Safety is Currently the Major Issue Affecting Travel to Numerous Overseas Destinations. Here's How We Come Out on That Issue, for Several Countries

Is it safe?  That's the most frequent question put to travel advisers as they are asked to plan an international trip.  Is it safe to travel to Israel or Jordan, to Turkey…

Article / Passportable

Economizing, Six Flags in New Jersey To Create World's Tallest Drop Out of an Existing Ride

Six Flags has blazed an admirable path. Many observers were concerned that the amusement park chain would have a hard time getting back on top after emerging from bankruptcy,…

Article / Arthur Frommer Online

New Kiosks Cut Border Control Waits By a Third, But Your Airport Must Ask for Them

In June, Chicago's O'Hare installed 32 kiosks that scan documents for incoming passengers. Right away, despite the fact summer travel was at its peak, wait times were chopped by…

Article / Arthur Frommer Online

Brooklyn's New, Ultra-Gourmet Dining Scene: Pauline Frommer Reviews Three Hot Spots

The dish felt like a dare. “Fried pigs blood with [unpronounceable Scandinavian] berry,” the waiter said placing a small slab of wood with a fried ball in front of me. And then he…

Article / Arthur Frommer Online

Though None of it Made the Headlines, There was News Last Week of Some Importance to Travel

Last week was a fairly busy time in travel, though none of the developments was well covered in the press.  Here's our attempt to bring you up-to-date.First, one of the…

Article / Arthur Frommer Online

What’s the Best Vacation For Your “Stage of Life”? How Age Can—and Should—Affect Your Travel Plans

“Man is by nature a social animal”, wrote Aristotle. And though he wasn’t commenting on vacations, his observation certainly applies:  who one travels with can be as important to the…

Article / Arthur Frommer Online

3 Sneaky Ways To Save Money on Lodgings When You Hit the Road

Sometimes you have to get creative, and perhaps even bend the rules, when looking to save money on travel. That’s particularly the case for lodgings, as hotel rates have increased a…

Article / Arthur Frommer Online

At an Almost Unbelievable Rate of 64 Rupees to the U.S. Dollar, India Has Become the Bargain Destination of the Decade

India--to begin with--was always an inexpensive place in which to travel, even when a U.S. Dollar bought you only 40 Rupees.  When that currency then weakened to a level of…

Article / Arthur Frommer Online

Another Cruise Line Extinguishes Smoking on Stateroom Balconies, and Good Riddance

USA Today reports that Disney is the latest cruise line to ban smoking on its stateroom balconies, joining Celebrity, Princess, Oceania, and Crystal.I'm all for the ban. Not…

Article / Arthur Frommer Online

The Truth is Out: Airline Mergers Do Indeed Result in Higher Prices

If you weren't sure where to come down on the airline merger debate, a position is becoming clearer. Yesterday the Department of Justice put its own foot down on the union of…

Article / Passportable

Town in Namibia Confounds Tourists By Changing Its Name to Something You Won't Believe

A few months, ago, a small fishing town on the extremely isolated Atlantic coast in southern Namibia spent $100,000 in local dollars to erect a huge Hollywood-style sign on the…

Article / Arthur Frommer Online

The Meanest Roads in America: More Public Highways Bleeding Tourists with Cashless Tolls

They're the meanest roads in America.If you haven't taken a road trip vacation in the last few years, you're in for a rude shock. More states are implementing what's called "cashless…

Article / Arthur Frommer Online

Spots Have Just Opened Up on Pauline Frommer's October Tour to Taiwan

I haven't written much about the tour I'm leading to Taiwan here at Frommers.com because we wanted to travel with a small group (a maximum of 15) and the tour filled up quite…

Article / Passportable

Everything's Coming Up Rosen in Orlando: Now There's a Fifth Rosen Hotel on International Drive

The Quality Inn International has long been one of the most reliable budget properties off International Drive in Orlando. Harris Rosen bought it back in 1974, and using it as a…

Article / Passportable

Universal Orlando Announces Harry Potter Festival Event for January: Tickets on Sale Aug. 22

Universal Orlando has announced a three-day "Celebration of Harry Potter" fan event for January 24 to 26. Details are sketchy, but ticketholders are promised a few perks, including a…

Article / Passportable

Carriers Large and Small Going Slower to Save on Fuel Costs

It'll take you longer to get there now.Ryanair has instructed its pilots to stick to a 600mph speed limit, which will save the carrier on fuel costs but also make trips take…

Article / Passportable

Time to See Africa? Wildlife Experts Warn Elephants Will Be Gone in 15 Years

A disturbing report today in Britain's Metro newspaper: The David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust has calculated that an elephant is poached every 15 minutes in Africa.With 36,000 dead…

Article / Arthur Frommer Online

Way To Stay Classy, Ryanair! Wait Until You Hear What's In The Airline's Training Manuals

The same airline that once declared it would install pay toilets (that didn't happen), has been instructing its flight attendants to avoid making change for passengers when they buy…

Article / Arthur Frommer Online

Whether to Buy a "Chip-and-Pin" Credit Card for Your Next European Trip, Is an Increasingly-Hard Decision to Make

A European credit card employing modern "chip and pin" technology, is clearly superior to the old-fashioned "magnetic stripe" credit cards issued to Americans.  But is it…

Article / Arthur Frommer Online

Here's a Fast Stab at Choosing the Five Best Bargain Vacations for the Immediate Months Ahead. Have We Missed Any?

Although their prices may vary from month to month, five packaged holidays remain so uniformly cheap in all months as to provide the basis for an impulse vacation--a sudden…

Article / Arthur Frommer Online

Looking Ahead to Fall Travel: Places To Head and Strategies for Saving Money

Forget what your kindergarten teacher taught you, at least where travel is concerned. There aren’t four seasons, there are three: high season, low season and the period we’re about…

Article / Arthur Frommer Online

Gambling for Freebies: What You Need to Know If Your Vacation Will Include Time at a Casino

Gamblers are a superstitious lot. They know that only a rube counts his money at the table, walks in the main door of a casino or whistles as he cranks the one-armed bandit. But even…