Articles

Jason Cochran

Article / Passportable

Hilton's New Mandatory $50 Cancellation Fee

The giant Hilton hotel brand is piloting a new way to make life miserable for travelers: It has started charging $50 for cancellations, no matter when they're made.Under the new…

Article / Arthur Frommer Online

The TSA May Now Deny You the Right to a Pat-Down

Until this month, anyone undergoing a TSA search at airports has had the right to bypass the "Advanced Imaging Technology" screening booths—the ones in which passengers hold their…

Article / Passportable

Two New Passport Rules Elicit Anger

The U.S. State Department has changed the rules for passports in two ways.First, as of January 1, 2016, it will no longer allow you to add pages to your passport if you fill up…

Article / Passportable

Coming Soon: Planes with Skylights?

In the never-ending quest to figure out new enticements to squeeze cash out of passengers, airline operators in a corner: There's not much space to add more stuff.According to The…

Article / Passportable

Manhattan's New Tourist Sight: Jerry Seinfeld

The modern tourist landscape New York City continues to co-opt some of Las Vegas' best ideas: In 2013, Billy Joel announced his once-a-month residency at Madison Square Garden,…

Article / Passportable

'70s Heartthrob is Now Upscale Cruise Director

If you were a North American teenager in the 1970s, you certainly remember Willie Aames. He became a teen magazine cover boy and Battle of the Network Stars fixture by appearing on…

Article / Passportable

Airfare to New Zealand Has Been Slashed: $328!

American Airlines may be dumbing down some of its product inside the United States (click here for that story), but overseas, it's making a big move that should bring down the price…

Article / Passportable

Congrats, Philly, the US's First World Heritage City

Congratulations to Philadelphia, which has just become the first American city to earn the distinction of World Heritage City.Like World Heritage Sites, which are named by UNESCO,…

Article / Money and Fees

How to Beat the High Prices of Best Buy's Airport Kiosks

When you learn how easy it is to slash the high prices of Best Buy's electronics vending machines at airports, you may not be afraid to use them anymore.

Article / Arthur Frommer Online

French Polynesia's Fun New "Passenger Freighter" Tours the Spectacular South Pacific Islands

There was a time when it was relatively easy to take an around-the-world trip using nothing but freighter ships. Accommodations were never plush, but at least they took…

Article / Arthur Frommer Online

Airfares to Hawaii are Dropping Fast Thanks to New Competition in the Skies

Black Rock, Ka'anapali Beach, MauiIt used to be that getting to Hawaii from the United States' West Coat required a major cash outlay. Even earlier this year, round-trip fares…

Article / Passportable

What Motel 6's Fancy New Rooms Look Like

You're about to hear a lot more about Motel 6 in the coming weeks. By the end of this year, it hopes to have renovated 75% of its 1,200-plus properties.The motel chain knows it…

Article / Arthur Frommer Online

American Airlines to Sell An Even More Basic Ticket Than it Does Now

Call it the Spirit Effect: American Airlines will be the latest major carrier to offer a no-frills, stripped-down, bare-bones version of its ticket.Starting next year,…

Article / Passportable

Innovative New In-flight Safety Video Animated with 1,000 Delft Tiles

KLM Royal Dutch Airlines is the latest entrant in the battle to come up with the least boring in-flight safety video. The novel concept: Create an animated version of the pre-flight…

Article / Arthur Frommer Online

In an Unusual Move, Princess Cruises Develops New Musicals with the Writer of "Wicked" and "Godspell"

There's a Broadway arms race raging in cruise ship entertainment. It started nearly a decade ago when Norwegian mounted a chopped-down version of the lesser-known musical Smokey…

Article / Passportable

New App Deletes Photobombers From Snapshots

Software giant Adobe recently unveiled a new smartphone application that should appeal to amateur photographers on vacation. Called Monument Mode, it eliminates photobombers and…

Article / Passportable

Everglades Airboats To Be Eliminated

For most of the twentieth century, airboats have been a staple of touring the Florida Everglades. New rules, though, are about the silence them once and for all.When the National…

Article / Arthur Frommer Online

Hotel Bait and Switch: Throttled Internet is Unethical, So Why Aren't People Angrier?

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Article / Arthur Frommer Online

The One-Percenting of Disney: Who Loses, Who Wins

Every few months, American news outlets erupt with a new round of rueful Disney coverage. Every spring, admission ticket prices shoot skyward, and this week, it hiked its annual…

Article / Passportable

Foreign SIM Cards Come with Censorship

Bringing an unlocked, out-of-contract smartphone on vacation and buying a temporary local phone number remains far and away the cheapest way to use a mobile phone in Europe. Just be…

Article / Passportable

Kids Stay and Eat Free in San Diego

Once again, as it has done annually for a while, the city of San Diego, California, has worked with some of its biggest hotels, restaurants, and attractions to offer a slew of deals…

Article / Passportable

A Camera that Won't Work at Tourist Sights

Instagram is bigger than you thought. This morning, Facebook (which owns it) announced there are now 400 million active users—that's up 100 million since the start of 2015. Soon,…

Article / Passportable

Miss a Connecting Flight? This Airport Will Pay

Would you pay $42 if it meant you didn't have to worry about missing a connecting flight?Gatwick, London's second-busiest airport (out of the city's six), has launched a new…

Article / Passportable

TSA's Luggage Lock Skeleton Keys Leaked

Consumerist and Wired report the design of the master skeleton keys used by the TSA to open and inspect your luggage has been leaked on the Web. Now anyone can use a 3-D printer to…

Article / Family & Kids

How to Research Your Ancestry on a Trip to Scotland

Scotland's government makes researching your ancestry easier than in most places. Here's where to go in Scotland to find your roots—and what to know before you make the trip.