Pauline Frommer: It's Tragic That Europe Bans Americans, But I Agree
Posted on 06/30/2020, 7:00 AM
It’s official: Americans are not welcome in Europe, at least not in the near future. That’s the decision that the European Union formally announced today with its list of nations that will be welcomed back come July 1. America isn't on it. Right now, the E.U. trusts 14 nations, including Rwanda, Algeria, Uruguay, New Zealand, Australia, and Tunisia, more than the United States. This move doesn’t...
American Queen River Cruises to Resume This Summer—But Are They Safe?
Posted on 06/30/2020, 6:00 AM
While most of the cruise industry has suspended sailings through the summer, American Queen Steamboat Company has announced that the paddle wheels on its river cruises will be turning again in mid-July. To make that happen, the Indiana–based company has introduced new safety protocols and regulations in partnership with nonprofit medical provider Ochsner Health. The new policies include frequent ...
The Lodges at Four Hugely Popular US National Parks Are On Sale
Posted on 06/26/2020, 4:00 AM
Several weeks ago we wrote that we expected to see discounts on stays at the great lodges of our national parks thanks to the lack of international tourists in the United States this summer. That has now come to pass. Xanterra, a firm that manages many of these grand hotels, has put out a sale alert for lodgings at, or near, four of the system's most majestic parks. The links below go to the ful...
Hawaii Moves from Quarantine Toward Tests. But Will the Feds Approve?
Posted on 06/25/2020, 6:00 AM
The numbers tell a compelling story when it comes to Hawaii. On the winning side, the state has had just a bit over 800 coronavirus infections so far. That's the third lowest rate in the United States, after Montana and Alaska. But there has been an economic cost. Some 22.6% of Hawaiians were unemployed at the end of May—the second highest rate in the nation after Nevada (at 25.3%). It's no secr...
Deal Alert! Amtrak Slashes Fares Deeply for Summer Travel
Posted on 06/24/2020, 7:00 AM
Though it looks like Amtrak will cut service drastically in October, for now the trains are running as usual—but mostly empty. To better fill them, the railway is throwing a sale, and the price cuts are major. They include: • 25% off Acela rates (which reduces the price for Boston or New York City to Washington, D.C., to $99, among other discounts)• 30% off long-haul routes for travel before Sept...
Airport Leadership Begs the US Government to Regulate Mask Usage
Posted on 06/23/2020, 6:00 AM
Much of the attention given to the issue of air travel safety in the time of Covid-19 has focused on the in-flight experience. But airports, too, are gathering places for crowds, and thus also potentially dangerous. That point was made last week by a man who would know: Kevin M. Burke, the North American President of the Airports Council International, the global, nonprofit trade group representi...
A Winning Strategy to Get Vegas Gamblers to Wear Face Masks
Posted on 06/22/2020, 6:00 AM
The reopening of casinos in Las Vegas earlier this month was a gamble amid the pandemic. Sadly, it now looks like that might have been a bad bet. In the nearly three weeks since Sin City casinos and other businesses throughout Nevada began welcoming guests again, the state has seen a sharp increase in the number of Covid-19 infections. On June 20, Nevada recorded 445 new cases, breaking a record...
Frommer's Publishes New Series of Affordable E-Books For Travel in the United States
Posted on 06/20/2020, 2:15 PM
The cheap new guide books are concise, but full of info—where to go, what to do, where to eat, where to stay—for trips close to home...
Amtrak Cuts Deep: Over 460 Stations Across the USA Will Lose Daily Service
Posted on 06/17/2020, 8:00 AM
Reuters has obtained an internal Amtrak memo that says that as of October 1, the national railway is planning to cut roughly a third of its weekly service. It will do that by reducing all of its daily long-haul routes except for one (the Auto Train) to thrice-weekly service. In addition, daily departures along the Northeast Corridor, the busiest part of the railway’s network, will be significantly...
Maine Announces New Ways Tourists Can Get Around Its 14-Day Quarantine
Posted on 06/10/2020, 5:00 AM
Maine, more than most destinations, has been between a rock and a hard place. And I'm not describing the famously jagged coastline. Not only is Maine unusually reliant on tourism—it's the top industry—but because of the state's northerly location, it has a woefully short vacation season it needs to make the most of. In this pandemic era, Maine has the bad luck of getting the lion's share of visi...
