Articles

Jason Cochran

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…

Article / Arthur Frommer Online

The First Orlando Theme Parks Have Gone Cashless

The cashless revolution has reached Orlando. Five popular theme parks in Central Florida stopped accepting cash this week. Although the banishment of paper currency and coins has been…

Article / Passportable

Airline Introduces Child-Free Zone So Grown-Ups Can Enjoy "Quiet" Flights

A European airline will cordon off the first 12 rows of its A350 aircraft to create an adults-only area where no one under the age of 17 may sit. “This zone in the aircraft is intended…

Article / Passportable

London's Hunterian Museum: Bits of People in Jars That Changed the World

If you lived in 18th-century London and something went wrong with your body, after you died a famous scientist named John Hunter might show up to rummage through your corpse, snip out…

Article / Slideshows

Tempo by Hilton New York Times Square: A New Hotel Above a Levitating Broadway Theatre

New Yorkers—not to mention engineering nerds worldwide—have been buzzing about this mega construction project since it began in 2019. The Palace Theatre, a true icon of American…

Article / Arthur Frommer Online

America's Downtown Hotels Are Cheaper Right Now, but How Is the Neighborhood?

Across the United States, downtown business districts are hurting. Many former office workers continue to do a substantial share of their jobs from home, leaving entire blocks without…

Article / Miscellaneous

London's Latest Scams: Pedicabs and "American" Candy Stores

Scams come and go in London. Two of the latest target tourists by wearing a cloak of false legitimacy.

Article / Passportable

Hot Pilot in a Cat Video Demonstrates Best Place to Sit on Airplanes

Fasten your seat belts. Today, we have something rare. Somehow, multiple aspects of our pop culture's all-consuming and relentless social media banality have collided to provide…

Article / Slideshows

Doing Niagara Falls If You're Stuck on the American Side

The legendary Niagara Falls, one of the greatest natural attractions in North America, straddles the border between Ontario, Canada, and New York State. In an ideal tourism situation,…

Article / Arthur Frommer Online

No, Cruise Ships Are Not Banned from Amsterdam

Another week, another inaccurate travel headline that seems designed for clicks.In recent days, you might have read that Amsterdam's city council has outlawed cruise ships. BBC News:…

Article / Cruise

Can Passengers Bring Cannabis on Cruise Ships? What to Know About Pot and Cruising

Is marijuana legal on cruises if it's legal where you board? Let's weed out the myths from the facts.

Article / Air Travel

Scam Alert: Passengers Report Fake Airline Phone Numbers Are Listed by Google

Some passengers are saying bogus customer service phone numbers are being displayed on Google, leading unsuspecting customers directly to scammers.

Article / Arthur Frommer Online

Disney World Attendance Is Way Down, but Don't Blame Politics

On the Fourth of July at Walt Disney World in Central Florida—a day when crowds are usually shoulder to shoulder—the pathways were shockingly clear. Wait times for most rides were 30…

Article / Arthur Frommer Online

1 in 3 Flights Could Be Canceled This Summer, Europeans Warn

Today's Times of London published a headline that will dismay anyone who has a European vacation in the works for this year: Air traffic control strike will hit up to 1 in 3 summer…

Article / Arthur Frommer Online

SCOOP: No, Dubrovnik Is Not Fining Tourists €265 for Using Wheeled Luggage

The story isn't true.This happens more often than any of us should accept: Scandalous "news" is published and because it's clicky, it gets spread far and wide—but nobody is actually…

Article / Slideshows

What You Must Reserve in Advance at Walt Disney World—and When Bookings Open

Even when the economy sags and disposable income drops, Disney's theme parks usually find a way to increase revenue. In the company's last financial quarter, despite a sharp collapse…

Article / Arthur Frommer Online

Malaria Is Back in the United States. Here's What Travelers Should Do About It

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has issued an advisory after cases of malaria were detected in Texas and Florida—the first locally transmitted cases of the…

Article / Arthur Frommer Online

Hate Using Disney's Genie+ Ride Reservation System? Hire a Concierge to Do It

When you hear people complain about how unpleasant and cumbersome a trip to a Disney theme park has become, one of the first things they'll complain about is Genie+.The paid ride…