Articles

Jason Cochran

Article / Arthur Frommer Online

Rash of Violent Muggings Plagues Cape Town's Landmark Table Mountain

What can a city do when its most photographed tourism icon gets the reputation as a no-go area?That's the quandary facing Cape Town, South Africa, one of the most beautiful cities in…

Article / Arthur Frommer Online

Lyft Is Charging Customers Extra Fees but Hiding How Much

A warning for travelers who rely on rideshare company Lyft: The company is quietly hiding the true amount it takes in extra fees that are added to your base fare. A recent ride I took…

Article / Passportable

New Apple Update Allows Travelers to Finally Stream from iPhones or iPads to Hotel TVs

There are some 136 million iPhone users in the United States, yet most televisions in hotels and on cruise ships are not configured to allow guests to stream from Apple devices.Android…

Article / Slideshows

Brightline Miami to Orlando Review: Take the Train to Disney

It had its naysayers early on, but when Brightline kicked off service between Miami and Orlando in September 2022, the train delivered a major gift to Florida. Brightline in Florida is…

Article / Cruise

Icon of the Seas Doesn't Have Enough Lifeboats—on Purpose

Royal Caribbean's mighty new cruise ship reserves lifeboats for paying customers. So how would the remainder of its 7,960 passengers escape?

Article / Passportable

Turkey Drops Visa Requirement for North Americans, Granting Free Entry

In a flash of good news that got lost in the shuffle of holiday celebrations and grim headlines, one of the most exciting destinations in Europe has decided to stop charging Americans…

Article / Slideshows

Celebrity Ascent Review: How Is the Celebrity Cruises Formula Holding Up?

Celebrity Cruises' newest ship, the Celebrity Ascent , entered service at the end of 2023, bound for Eastern and Western Caribbean sailings through its first winter season, then…

Article / Passportable

Paris' Notre-Dame Cathedral Sets a Reopening Date

UPDATE, December 12: Notre-Dame cathedral in Paris is on track to reopen to the public on December 8, 2024, French President Emmanuel Macron announced exactly one year before that…

Article / Hotels

Dave Karger, Movie Awards Mainstay, on His Favorite Hotels Around the World

One of TV's most reliable entertainment experts picks four hotels where you'll feel like a star.

Article / Arthur Frommer Online

As Most Travel Companies Slash Point Value, Southwest Airlines Does Flyers a Favor

Almost a year ago, Frommer's warned readers that big corporations were preparing to reduce the value of loyalty points and frequent flyer miles.Since then, we've seen the predicted…

Article / Slideshows

Walt Disney's Los Angeles: The Most Complete Tour Online

Walt Disney was a child of the Midwest, but he never found true success until he settled in California. For 43 years, from 1923 to his death in 1966, Los Angeles was Disney's home…

Article / Slideshows

Queen Mary 2 Transatlantic Crossing Review: What It's Like to Sail This Classic Journey

For North Americans, there aren't many journeys more mythic than a transatlantic crossing on an ocean liner. After all, the modern societies of both Canada and the United States…

Article / Arthur Frommer Online

Travel Influencer Sued for Telling "Increasingly Bold Lies" to Build Her Brand

This story was published in April 2022. An update to this story is posted below.A travel influencer with more than half a million Instagram followers and more than 207,000 TikTok…

Article / Arthur Frommer Online

Disney Just Raised Prices on a List of Things—by More Than Twice the Inflation Rate

Dwindling cash reserves, huge corporate acquisitions to pay off, crazy costs to lift the Disney+ streaming service off the ground, boardroom battles . . . the Walt Disney Company sure…

Article / Arthur Frommer Online

California Bans Deceptive Resort Fees: See What's Affected and When

The resort fee dam is breaking.California Gov. Gavin Newsom has signed a new law, SB 478, that reins in the practice of slipping extra fees into travelers' bills.While some media…

Article / Arthur Frommer Online

No ETIAS Authorization Fee to Enter Europe in 2024 After All: More Delays

Proving that Americans aren't the only ones who have difficulties getting their border entry procedures in working order, Europeans have had to postpone introduction of their European…

Article / Passportable

Norwegian Cruise Line to Add Solo Cabins to All of Its Ships by January

Norwegian Cruise Line, which led the cruise industry by designing special cabins for people traveling on their own starting in 2010, has announced that as of January 4, 2024, all of…

Article / Arthur Frommer Online

Which Airlines Have the Worst Extra Fees? Someone Did the Math

Everyone knows that travel booking has become an industry of fake-outs and skullduggery, a netherworld of mounting hidden fees that only reveal themselves after you're deep into the…

Article / Slideshows

If You Haven’t Seen Niagara Falls Lately, You Haven’t Experienced This Amazing Power Station

In the 1800s, Niagara Falls was considered the epitome of North America's pristine promise and inexhaustible resources. Before photography, paintings of the site's furious churn…

Article / Slideshows

Brightline Train to Disney: Look Inside the Cars of the New Fast Railway Between Orlando and Miami

The United States desperately needs more railway options to ease crowding in the skies and on the roads. One of the country's most promising new train options, open as of September 22,…

Article / Slideshows

Academy Museum in Los Angeles: What's at the Oscar Museum and How to Visit It

To most people, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences is known, if it's known at all, as the stuffy group behind the Oscars. Within Hollywood's mighty film business, though,…

Article / Arthur Frommer Online

Thinking of Renting an EV? You'll Need to Make These Adjustments to Your Plans

The major car rental agencies now offer electric vehicles (EVs) as part of their standard inventory, but knowing what it takes to operate an EV may not yet be a part of your own…

Article / Passportable

Venice, Italy, Officially Approves New Entrance Fee for 2024: Here Are the Rules

On September 12, the city council of Venice, Italy, finalized the city's long-postponed plan to battle overcrowding by charging visitors an experimental entry fee in 2024. The final…

Article / Slideshows

Popular Place Names You've Probably Been Pronouncing Wrong

Don't feel stupid. It happens. When you've only read about the places you've always dreamed of going, of course you wouldn't know how to say their names yet. But once it's time to buy…

Article / Slideshows

London's Tate Modern Reopens Its Controversial Viewing Deck—and It's Still Free!

Tate Modern changed London forever in 2000. That's when a dilapidated old power station on a dreary, semi-industrial stretch of the River Thames' southern shore was refitted to display…