Articles

Jason Cochran

Article / Arthur Frommer Online

A Few Lucrative National Parks Are Reopened, But Most American Treasures Remain Forbidden

To help curb some of the damage cause to income and tourism by the Congressional-led government shutdown, state governments are now permitted to open National Park units they deem…

Article / Passportable

Watch Betty White's New In-Flight Safety Video for Air New Zealand

Air New Zealand, an airline known for its celeb-studded safety videos (which have featured Richard Simmons and, erm, some hobbits, managed to convince TV legend Betty White to do its…

Article / Arthur Frommer Online

Is the TSA Pulling Aside Travelers at Airport Security to Make Sales Pitches for TSA Pre Check?

Word comes to me today from a traveler who had a strange experience at the airport in Las Vegas today.The traveler, who did not wish to be named, told me that he and several other…

Article / Arthur Frommer Online

Forget the Phone. Now Twitter is the Place to Get the Fastest Customer Service

"Man invented language to satisfy his deep need to complain." —Lily TomlinAnd man invented Twitter to make sure everyone had to listen.It's pretty obvious that Twitter is a…

Article / Arthur Frommer Online

If You Dance or Sing, Trade Your Talent for Travel Across Canada or the Atlantic Ocean

Canada's Globe and Mail broke the story open, and now everyone with a guitar may be begging to sign up: Via Rail, Canada's national railway, grants free train tickets and meals to…

Article / Arthur Frommer Online

The Dalmatian Daytona: Croatia's Popularity with Young Travelers Surges

According to the national tourism board of Croatia, some 300,000 United Kingdom residents flocked to the sunny Mediterranean country between January and August, a 24% rise from the…

Article / Arthur Frommer Online

Government Shutdown: What Travelers Can Still Do, and What's Closed

There are lots of long, explaining articles about what's causing the shutdown, but they don't make it easy to figure out what's closed for travelers and what's open. We'll make this…

Article / Arthur Frommer Online

JetBlue Upgrades Its Standard Seats: Power Outlets, Bigger TVs, Triple the Channels

At a media event on the roof of its New York City headquarters today, set-price airline JetBlue, which since it inception has been a one-class airline, unveiled an overhaul of its…

Article / Arthur Frommer Online

Hilton Is Killing Room Service at Some Large Hotels, And Look at The Replacement

Last spring, Hilton cemented a new trend among major hotel brands when it killed all room service at its 2,000-room New York Hilton Midtown, Manhattan's largest hotel, joining its…

Article / Arthur Frommer Online

TodayTix: A Promising New Source for Scoring Deep Discounts on Broadway Show Tickets

Broadway is huge business, and a major tourism industry. Last season, which ended in May, raked in a staggering $1.14 billion in grosses for New York City's theatres.In the same…

Article / Arthur Frommer Online

Schussing Savings: No It’s NOT too Early To Book Your Winter Ski Trip

No white stuff: less green stuff—that’s the crude equation that rules the ski industry. It was a point driven home in the winter of 2011-2012, when snowfalls that were 50% lower than…

Article / Arthur Frommer Online

Rooms for $100 in New York City During 'Hotel Week NYC', coming January 3 to 12

Once again, many New York City hotels have banded together and chosen a low-season week during which to knock rates down to approachable levels. The next "Hotel Week NYC" as they…

Article / Arthur Frommer Online

U.S. Government Is Pushing TSA PreCheck to New Passport Recipients, But Global Entry Would Be Smarter

Get a new passport these days, and it will arrive with a new bookmark urging you to sign up for TSA PreCheck. Volunteer some personal information about yourself beforehand, it says,…

Article / Arthur Frommer Online

New 5-Star Iberostar Playa Mita Slashes Room Rates as Low as $105, But Book By Sept. 30

Iberostar, a Spanish operator of major beach resorts for the past 30 years, is opening its first resort on the Mexican Pacific Coast this December, and to drum up word of mouth, it's…

Article / Arthur Frommer Online

Here's Why You Don't Want to Buy the Disney Dining Plan When You Visit Orlando

If you book a vacation at a Walt Disney World hotel in Orlando, you will be offered the option of purchasing the credit-based Disney Dining Plan, which pre-pays many of your meals.…

Article / Arthur Frommer Online

Andante Travels Uses Archaeologists and Professors to Show You the World's Greatest Treasures

While very few U.S. companies now hire professors and experts as tour guides without also charging usurious tariffs for the privilege, the tradition of affordable educational tours…

Article / Arthur Frommer Online

Car Rentals Through Firefly, a New Brand, are Dramatically Cheaper than Others, So What's the Catch?

Firefly, a discount car rental brand, begins arriving at American airports this month. You might think it's a new competitor. As it turns out, everything about it is older than you…

Article / Passportable

AARP Members Get 10% Off and Free Wi-Fi at Motel 6

It's not much, but it's something. Motel 6 announced today a partnership with AARP. Now the group's 37 million members will be entitled to a discount of 10%, plus free Wi-Fi, which…

Article / Passportable

5-Day Sailings on the Disney Magic Marked Down to $125/night in November

Thanks go to our friends at MouseSavers.com, who published this hot deal for Disney Cruise Line. Normally, excursions on the line are premium-priced, well over $200 a day, and rarely…

Article / Arthur Frommer Online

Offended by Political TV in Your Hotel Lobby? Your Hotel Manager Chose The Channel

Hotel companies spend millions of dollars creating warm-and-fuzzy feelings about their brands and crafting the sensation that a stay there will make customers feel welcome and…

Article / Passportable

Economizing, Six Flags in New Jersey To Create World's Tallest Drop Out of an Existing Ride

Six Flags has blazed an admirable path. Many observers were concerned that the amusement park chain would have a hard time getting back on top after emerging from bankruptcy,…

Article / Arthur Frommer Online

New Kiosks Cut Border Control Waits By a Third, But Your Airport Must Ask for Them

In June, Chicago's O'Hare installed 32 kiosks that scan documents for incoming passengers. Right away, despite the fact summer travel was at its peak, wait times were chopped by…

Article / Arthur Frommer Online

Another Cruise Line Extinguishes Smoking on Stateroom Balconies, and Good Riddance

USA Today reports that Disney is the latest cruise line to ban smoking on its stateroom balconies, joining Celebrity, Princess, Oceania, and Crystal.I'm all for the ban. Not…

Article / Arthur Frommer Online

The Truth is Out: Airline Mergers Do Indeed Result in Higher Prices

If you weren't sure where to come down on the airline merger debate, a position is becoming clearer. Yesterday the Department of Justice put its own foot down on the union of…

Article / Passportable

Town in Namibia Confounds Tourists By Changing Its Name to Something You Won't Believe

A few months, ago, a small fishing town on the extremely isolated Atlantic coast in southern Namibia spent $100,000 in local dollars to erect a huge Hollywood-style sign on the…