Articles

Jason Cochran

Article / Slideshows

The Hotels Where Big TV Shows and Sports Quarantined for Their Pandemic Seasons

Producing entertainment during the Covid-19 pandemic has required Herculean ingenuity. But fortunately, at the same moment big hotels experienced downturns and shutdowns, major…

Article / Arthur Frommer Online

Is This The Strongest Proof Yet Flying Is Safe? See These New Military-Grade Tests

If you ran an airline in 2020, how would you prove to the public that flying in your planes is safe? It's a tricky proposition in an age of document dumps, disinformation, and fake…

Article / Arthur Frommer Online

Oh, Great. Now That Icelandic Volcano Looks Like It Could Erupt Again

If you're old enough, you might remember that time in 2010 when a volcano shut down Europe. In March of that year, Iceland's Eyjafjallajökull volcano (pictured above) erupted and…

Article / Arthur Frommer Online

The QE2 Returns to Service as a Hotel While the Queen Mary's Prospects Sink

In a recent YouTube video about why and how ships get scrapped, maritime historian Chris Frame slipped in a striking fact. Comparing the remnants of Ancient Egypt with the golden age…

Article / Passportable

WATCH: Spectacular Drone Footage of Cruise Ships Being Scrapped in Turkey

Maybe it can be argued that even before 2020, the cruise industry was reaching a saturation point. A long period of explosive growth perhaps forewarned that our cruise ship fleet was…

Article / Local Experiences

London's Iconic Red Boxes Reborn as Shops: Phone Booth Curry for Lunch?

An urgent need for cheap rent in Britain is leading entrepeneurs to the famous red phone booth. The next time you visit London, this tourist icon may be more likely to serve as a…

Article / Arthur Frommer Online

JetBlue Can Now Hook Up All Its Passengers with Saliva-Based Virus Tests

United, American, and Hawaiian airlines are gradually introducing Covid-19 tests for passengers who are headed to Hawaii, a state that now demands negative results. But JetBlue is…

Article / Passportable

With Peak Season Over, Yosemite to Remove Reservation Requirement

One of the few delightful byproducts of the novel coronavirus pandemic has been relatively empty national parks. To avoid overcrowding, a few of them implemented advance reservation…

Article / Local Experiences

Spend Hours Walking Around the World's Great Neighborhoods with These Addictive YouTube Channels

Narration-free virtual walking tours are racking up millions of views as they scratch our travel itch in isolation.

Article / Arthur Frommer Online

United Is the First U.S. Airline to Offer Covid-19 Tests to Passengers

United Airlines will be the first airline in the United States to extend Covid-19 testing to passengers. The program will start small, rolling out only on flights from San Francisco to…

Article / Arthur Frommer Online

When Cruising Resumes, You Won't Be Allowed to Roam Ports Alone

Large cruises that depart the United States have been paused since mid-March, but we now know one thing about their return. Guests will no longer be able to wander ports of call on…

Article / Arthur Frommer Online

Hotels Suspended Amenities But Are Keeping Resort Fee Cash. The Scam Must End

At this point, everyone knows that the travel industry has been forced to curtail its usual offerings. To satisfy social distancing and tight sanitary protocols, hotels have suspended…

Article / Arthur Frommer Online

Headlines Shout of Covid-19 Exposure on Flights, but Look Deeper—It's Worse

You might have seen a few headlines this week casting doubt on whether flying is safe. Here's one from the New York Post, dated September 21: "Woman spread coronavirus to 15 people on…

Article / Arthur Frommer Online

Hawaii Is Reopening! Starting Oct. 15, State Will Admit Tourists with Recent Virus Tests

Perhaps no American state's economy has been devastated by Covid-19 worse than Hawaii's. The state's isolation determines so much about its health. Nearly all tourists arrive to the…

Article / Arthur Frommer Online

Morocco Reopens to Tourists—But Maybe That's Not Such a Good Idea

On September 6, Morocco's national air carrier, Royal Air Maroc, tweeted that "nationals of visa-exempt countries with an invitation from a Moroccan company or a confirmed hotel…

Article / Slideshows

See the "Air Liners" of the 1930s on These Rare Vintage Trading Cards

In the 1920s and '30s, all eyes turned skyward. Aviators were the heroes of the day, courageously testing the elements and wobbly technology alike as they pushed newfangled aircraft to…

Article / Slideshows

America's Rarest Old-Fashioned Amusement Rides

For well over a century, Americans have had a tireless love affair with amusement rides, from New York's Coney Island to the piers of Southern California. Few things seem to affirm the…

Article / Passportable

Welcome to Covid Island! Only Tourists Who've Been Infected Are Allowed

A popular Brazilian island is reopening to tourists even though Covid-19 continues to spread. The only catch is you have to have caught it. The archipelago of Fernando de Noronha, 218…

Article / Passportable

This Airline Will Charge You More if You Use an Internet Ad Blocker

Here's an airline fee you surely never imagined would exist. Sean O'Neill at Skift reports the discovery of a brand-new airline fee: an extra surcharge for using ad suppression…

Article / Passportable

Ding Dong! Airline Change Fees Are Dead! Delta and American Copy United

Yesterday, in a huge win for travelers, United Airlines dropped change fees for many types of flights. We gave you the full rundown of the move in this earlier post. Now, as they…

Article / Arthur Frommer Online

Maybe It's Time to Say It: Flights and Theme Parks Aren't Making Us Sick

One of the most difficult aspects of managing this pandemic has been altering our own perceptions and fears as more information becomes available. The slow dawning of enlightenment…

Article / Passportable

Make Plans: National Parks Are Free on September 26

Each year, the U.S. national park system sprinkles a few days across the calendar during which the government collects no entrance fees. The next date comes on September 26, 2020.…

Article / Passportable

SFO Airport Opens Rapid Covid Testing Facility, but We Need More

Covid-19 has been with us for the whole year, and back in the spring, countries around the world began requiring negative test results from visitors, but the world's airports still…

Article / Passportable

In a Covid First, Family Kicked off Cruise for Leaving Shore Excursion

Cruises out of the United States are still banned, but in Europe, where Covid-19 infections are under much better control, cruises are just beginning to resume. MSC Cruises was the…

Article / Arthur Frommer Online

Airlines Are Cutting Smaller Cities: Aren't We Tired of Having Two Americas?

American Airlines is threatening to cut flights to dozens of small and medium-sized American cities after September 30, when the conditions of the recent federal aid package…