Jaw-Dropping Prices on Autumn Airfare to Europe on Sale This Week
Posted on 01/12/2021, 1:00 PM
On January 11, 2021, a total of 708,177 passengers were screened by TSA agents at U.S. airports. A year ago on the same day, the number was 1,992,453. And that 65% drop is spawning some extraordinary airfare discounts. I told you last week about American Airlines' new daily deals page, which on its very first day gave away free flights for kids to the Caribbean. The big news is that American's ne...
Stray Cats and Washing Machines: Memories of Inspired Kindness
Posted on 01/08/2021, 1:00 PM
One of the great blessings of travel is that it allows us to see how people across the globe lead their daily lives. That includes how they handle the problems that rarely make the news. Alas, we're in a no-travel time right now. But we can still scratch that travel itch by learning about contemporary cultures across the globe—and the way the Portuguese are dealing with stray cats offers welcome i...
The Longest Multi-Use Trail in the U.S.A. Opens in New York State
Posted on 01/07/2021, 1:00 PM
In December 2018, I made predictions for the trends that would impact travel in the coming year. Back then, the number of issued permits for walking the Pacific Crest Trail (featured in Cheryl Strayed's seminal travel memoir Wild) had tripled in just three years, and simultaneously, several new, very long-distance trails were being developed around the world. One of them was New York's Empire Stat...
American Airlines Launches New Daily Deals—And The First One Is Fantastic
Posted on 01/04/2021, 10:00 AM
American Airlines is kicking off the new year by launching new daily promotions, and while I don't know what the future deals will be, the first one could truly be called a steal. Those who book a ticket by midnight PST on Monday, January 4, will be able to snag one free child's ticket for every adult ticket purchased. Not all destinations are valid. Tickets are only being discounted to the Cayma...
What You Need to Know About Credit Cards and Rental Car Insurance (It's All Changing)
Posted on 12/29/2020, 12:00 PM
A number of cards are no longer offering rental car insurance. Here's how to find out whether you're covered—before you hit the rental counter.
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Support Out-of-Work Chefs and Get a Taste of Travel at the Same Time
Posted on 12/29/2020, 6:00 AM
"Food is everything we are," the late, great Anthony Bourdain once said. "It's an extension of nationalist feeling, ethnic feeling, your personal history, your province, your region, your tribe, your grandma. It's inseparable from those from the get-go.” Those words still ring true today. Eating can be an elemental and transporting experience—and trying foods from different cultures is one of the ...
The Marshmallow Test for Holiday Travel (Or Why You Need to Stay Home Right Now)
Posted on 12/21/2020, 10:00 AM
Over six years, from the late 1960s to the early 1970s, psychologist Walter Mischel and his colleagues tempted small children. In one of the most famous psychological experiments of all time, they offered tots between the ages of 3 and 5 a big choice: They could either immediately eat a marshmallow that was placed in front of them, or, they were told, if they restrained themselves and didn't eat t...
Maps: The Most Popular Holiday Gifts and Sweet Treats Across the USA
Posted on 12/16/2020, 1:00 PM
It may say something about the slow job market that the folks at the career site Zippia seem to have enough time on their hands to do deep dives into Google search holiday data. But I'm thankful they did, because they came up with a pair of fascinating maps, each of which gives a profile of the American personality, state-by-state. One map (it's at the bottom of this post, but click here to see a ...
If My Toddler Refuses to Wear a Mask on a Flight, What Can I Do?
Posted on 12/15/2020, 2:00 PM
A few days ago, a video—of desperate parents trying to wrangle an overtired two-year-old—went viral. That's a pretty common scenario for a viral video, but in this case, the tot was objecting to wearing a mask on a United flight, and the crew was objecting to the child flying without one. Because the child refused to comply with the airline's mask policy, the family was booted off the plane—and th...
Lie-Flat Sleeping Options Being Tested in Economy Class
Posted on 12/14/2020, 1:00 PM
There's a moment in the film Crazy Rich Asians when it becomes clear that the modern-day Cinderella heroine has actually met a Prince Charming. Rachel, at the airport about to fly to Singapore, is laden with food for the trip, when Nick, her boyfriend, leads her not into economy class but into a super-glam private cabin where, soon, you see them cuddled in bed. You could feel the audience swoon, no...
