Articles

Jason Cochran

Article / Arthur Frommer Online

Airlines Might Lose Your Seat Fees When You Change Flights—How to Get Refunds

Covid brought the world a lot of conflict and consternation, but it also brought one change that made travel much easier: the end of airline change fees. But don't be fooled. The…

Article / Arthur Frommer Online

Car Renters Force Customers to Bring Fuel Receipts—but It's Not Always in the Contract

American rental car companies have been doing it for more than a decade now. When customers rent vehicles, clerks frequently say that if the car is returned with a full tank of gas,…

Article / Slideshows

See Inside LAX's New Delta "Sky Way" Before a Single Passenger Has Used It

Everyone loves that new car smell. But have you ever inhaled that much rarer scent of dignified travel, the new-airport-terminal smell? On April 20, 2022, Delta Air Lines opens the…

Article / Arthur Frommer Online

Are Avis and Hertz Fixing Rental Car Rates? Congress Is Demanding Answers

As excoriating letters from members of Congress go, these made little effort to soften accusations. "Hertz appears to have used its market position to raise prices substantially even…

Article / Passportable

France's "Health Pass" System for Tourism Is Officially Over

France's so-called "Health Pass" system that was introduced last August has been eliminated as of today, March 14. The system's QR code—which was required to enter the country's bars,…

Article / Arthur Frommer Online

Fuel Surcharges Are Coming, So Get Your Summer Tickets Soon

Consider this your official warning from your friends at Frommer's: Buy your airline tickets for summer travel soon. Gas prices are going skyward around the world, and soon you'll have…

Article / Passportable

Throw Away the Test Kit! Hawaii Drops All Covid Entry Rules

Hawaii is ending all Covid entry restrictions for domestic visitors. On the state's official Safe Travels website, a new alert appeared this week. Framed in an orange box that usually…

Article / Slideshows

PHOTOS: Peppa Pig's New Florida Theme Park Might Be the Most Adorable Ever

Orlando just got a new competitor for the family theme park dollar, and she's one sassy pig. The new Peppa Pig Theme Park opens this week in Winter Haven, Florida, about 40 miles south…

Article / Arthur Frommer Online

Disney Raises Prices Again! Even Die-Hard Fans Now Turning Against Poor Quality

Disney quietly raises theme park prices nearly every year—but this year, it hits differently. The price of tickets for multiday Walt Disney World parks admission, which used to start…

Article / Arthur Frommer Online

Concorde 2.0: NASA Prepares "Quiet" Supersonic Jet That Could Transform Travel

If you grew up before the 1990s, you'll remember the quasi-magical, futuristic promise that was evoked by a single word: Concorde. A supersonic jet that could virtually teleport…

Article / Passportable

After Two Years, (Most of) Australia Will Welcome (Most) Tourists Again!

After two agonizing years in southerly isolation, Australia will finally open its borders to tourists. Covid-19 infections remain an issue Down Under, but because so many…

Article / Arthur Frommer Online

It's True: This European Country Has Abandoned Covid Restrictions

Imagine a land with no masks. No social distancing. No entry tests, no quarantine. A place where tourists can do whatever they want as soon as they get off the plane. Imagine, in…

Article / Arthur Frommer Online

New Zealand Is Reopening, the Headlines Cheer. Don't Get Too Excited

If you were to go by the headlines this week, you'd be planning a vacation to New Zealand tomorrow. New Zealand is "welcoming vaccinated Americans this summer," says USA Today. New…

Article / Air Travel

At New Airplane-Themed Speakeasy, Raise a Cocktail to the Frisky Skies

Come fly away in California's boozy re-creation of an airplane cabin where the flight attendants serve stiff cocktails and campy entertainment.

Article / Arthur Frommer Online

Vaccination Is No Longer Enough—a Booster Is Now a Must in These Places

Like a winter snowstorm, it came in a sudden flurry. The list of destinations that now require visitors to have proof of a Covid-19 booster shot in addition to an original vaccination…

Article / Passportable

The U.K. Scraps All Entry Obstacles for Vaxxed Visitors

The world has lived with Covid-19 travel restrictions for so long that the news seems too good to be true. Starting February 11, most tourists who enter the United Kingdom will need…

Article / Passportable

Ireland Officially Ends Most Covid-19 Public Restrictions

Are we finally near the end of the rainbow? This is good news we've been waiting nearly two years to hear. The Republic of Ireland has decided to end nearly all public Covid-19…

Article / Arthur Frommer Online

WHO Revises Guidance: "Lift or Ease International Traffic Bans"

The World Health Organization has a new message for governments around the world: We can't stop Omicron anymore. The horse has left the barn, so why close the gate behind it? Those…

Article / Hotels

How to Figure Out the Name of That Anonymous Hotwire Hotel

No need to agonize over clues like Sherlock Holmes. To deduce the name of a mystery hotel in Hotwire's Hot Rates, you only need some elementary information.

Article / Arthur Frommer Online

Florida Gov. DeSantis Voided a Vote in Key West, but Cruises Are Respecting It Anyway

On Election Day in November 2020, the people of Key West, Florida, a remote but heavily touristed island in the Gulf of Mexico that's barely 7 square miles in size, went to the polls…

Article / Theme Park

How to Get to Walt Disney World from the Airport Now That Magical Express Is Gone

Disney pulled the plug on Magical Express, the free bus service to its resort. Now you have to pay extra to get from Orlando's airport to Walt Disney World. Here are your options.

Article / Passportable

Arches National Park Adopts Timed Ticketing: Rules & Loopholes

One of the many changes the pandemic brought to society was the widespread introduction of reservations for admission at nearly every kind of tourism spot, from museums to national…

Article / Passportable

WATCH: Orlando Opens Two Insanely Tall, Record-Breaking Thrill Rides

Update: In March 2021, a 14-year-old boy fell from the FreeFall and died. Investigators later accused the ride operator of manually altering the restraint system to accommodate larger…

Article / Arthur Frommer Online

Across the United States This Week, Lost Luggage Is Piling Up at Airports

First, the major carriers had trouble coughing up refunds for cancellations. Then dimwitted and unruly passengers began giving commercial flights a rougher reputation than MMA…

Article / Passportable

Hawaii Simplifies Entry Requirements for Omicron

As of this week, visitors to Hawaii no longer have to fill out a pre-arrival questionnaire. Border officials will still ask asking visiting U.S. citizens for a recent negative NAAT or…