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Article / Arthur Frommer Online

The Lessening of Competition Among Our Newly Giant Airlines, and the Resulting Increase in Airfares, is a Troubling Situation That Might Require Legislative Action

Over the past twenty years, as one U.S. airline merged with another, reducing the number of major carriers to exactly four (United, American, Delta, and Southwest), we were…

Article / Arthur Frommer Online

Which Frequent Flyer Program Is the Best for Actually Redeeming Miles? A Massive New Study Provides Some Answers

We have to give thanks to Consumer Reports, which has done the heavy lifting on this one, completing a study of some 70 million passenger in the last year has yielded important data…

Article / Arthur Frommer Online

A Whole Host of Travel Disclosures, Events, or New Travel Services Can Have an Impact on Your Own Next Vacation

In a recent announcement, the U.S. State Department has found a slight improvement--a very slight improvement--in safety conditions for American tourists going to Mexico. Twenty of…

Article / Arthur Frommer Online

Though Round-Trip, Transatlantic Airfares to Europe this Summer are Almost Always Priced in Excess of a Thousand Dollars, A Few Means Exist for Cutting that Cost

A massive number of Americans are planning to cross the Atlantic in the next several months, to take advantage of a stronger U.S. dollar (and weaker Euro). But while…

Article / Arthur Frommer Online

Can a Florida Congressman Put the Brakes on American Travel To Cuba?

The vast majority of Americans favor travel without restriction to Cuba. Heck, in a recent poll the overwhelming majority of Cuban Americans answered that they wanted to end the…

Article / Arthur Frommer Online

The Hotel Mini-Bar Is Dying Out. New Figures Reveal a Chill in Its Popularity

When was the last time you bought something from the hotel mini-bar?For most casual vacationers who aren't billing hotel charges to a business expense account, the answer…

Article / Arthur Frommer Online

Some How-To's for Visiting the Increasingly Popular Indian State of Kerala

Open the pages of any glossy travel magazine, and, if it mentions India at all, it will likely be gushing over the state of Kerala. Few places on the subcontinent (or the planet for…

Article / Arthur Frommer Online

We’re Proud Spain’s "Autonomous Region" of Catalonia has Chosen a Frommer Guidebook—Barcelona Day by Day—To Be a Contest Prize in Celebration of One of its National Holidays

St. George’s Day—he’s the guy who vanquished that dragon—is celebrated in various ways all over Europe, but in a very special fashion in Spain’s region of Catalonia.  Instead of…

Article / Arthur Frommer Online

Are the Attractions of Costa Rica No More Desirable than Those in Other Central or South American Countries? Ecuador Says Yes

Is tourism to Costa Rica based on a hoax?  Is Costa Rica's leading touristic position among other nearby countries simply a product of public relations?  In an elaborate…

Article / Passportable

Royal Caribbean Limits Last-Minute Deals

Royal Caribbean has been enjoying a lot of publicity for the christening of its latest megaship, Anthem of the Seas, which is bound for service out of New York Harbor next year, but…

Article / Arthur Frommer Online

The Reason Why Guidebooks to Some Countries or Cities Sell Better Than Guidebooks to Others, Is An Enduring Mystery of Travel

As a co-publisher of travel guidebooks, I have to participate in choosing, each year, the destinations--the countries, the cities--about  which we will be researching and…

Article / Arthur Frommer Online

On the Eve of What Will Undoubtedly be a Record-Breaking Summer Travel Season, Here Are Some Europe-Related Observations

We are on the brink of the summer travel season, best known as the Summer of the Strong Dollar.  For the first time in many years, American vacationers are enjoying an…

Article / Arthur Frommer Online

A Recent "Symbolic" Vote by the U.S. Senate, Selling Off Our Public Lands to Private Interests, Should Raise the Ire of Every American

If you are a normal, sensitive individual in love with your country's natural wonders and determined to preserve them for generations to come, then you will be…

Article / Arthur Frommer Online

A Recent "Symbolic" Vote in the U.S. Senate, Transferring Our Public Lands to States (And Thus Eventually to Private Interests), Should Raise the Ire of Every Citizen

To be handed over to private business: America's National Forests (credit: Kaibab National Forest)If you are a normal, sensitive American in love with your country's…

Article / Passportable

When Airbnb Goes Wrong

We love Airbnb. We do. It has the power to transform the way travelers interact with local culture and make expensive destinations affordable. It also strips the power out of the…

Article / Passportable

Airfares to Asia Dropping Below Those to Europe In Many Cases, and From the East Coast, No Less

When is a sale not a sale? When it actually just reflects the going rates, but in a, well, louder fashion.That's seems to be the case with Emirate Airlines current "deal" to Kuala…

Article / Arthur Frommer Online

How Exactly Do You Make a Trip to Cuba? Here's An Attempt to Explain a Several-Step Process

The recent loosening of restrictions on the right to travel to Cuba has permitted almost any American to go there.  You no longer have to apply to the Treasury…

Article / Arthur Frommer Online

Linger Longer in Madurai, India: This Often-Overlooked (By Americans, At Least) Tamil Nadu City Has Much to Offer

Visitors often complain that India is too chaotic. But is it chaos they’re experiencing or simply a far more complex way of life than they’re used to at home? India is, after all,…

Article / Arthur Frommer Online

Now That the Cost of Travel Within Europe Has Been Lowered Through the Decline In the Value of the Euro, Why Not Consider a Longer Trip There?

The sharp, recent decline in the value of the European currency, the Euro, has convinced a large number of Americans that they can now consider not simply a short,…

Article / Passportable

Elite Flyers Lose Access to TSA Pre

Today, American Airlines sent a warning to its AAdvantage frequent flyer club members: You've been downgraded.Said the airline, "The Transportation Security Administration…

Article / Arthur Frommer Online

Portrait of a Family Volunteer Vacation in Chennai, India

When Vani (not her real name) was five years old, her mother dropped her off to live at the SEAM Children’s Home in Chennai, India. Vani’s mother had remarried, and her new husband…

Article / Arthur Frommer Online

Fee Hikes May Be Coming to a National Park Near You

(Photo by NPCA Photos/Flickr)It's no secret that America's greatest treasures,…

Article / Arthur Frommer Online

Hey Yank, Want to Go to Cuba? You Can Now Get Travel Insurance and a Bed More Easily If You Go

And another piece—no, make that two—has fallen into place for Americans with a yen to visit the long-forbidden Cuba. Today, massive online lodging company AirBnB (it serves as a…

Article / Arthur Frommer Online

Is An Exotic Trip In Your Future? Here Are Some Important Health Precautions to Take in Advance of Travel

Heading to Quebec City? You can likely just hop on a plane or train without a second thought. But for other destinations—many parts of Asia, Africa, South and Central America and now…

Article / Passportable

DogVacay is now CatVacay, Too

There are no figures for this, but I wonder how many people decide they can't travel because they don't want to (or can't afford to) leave their animals behind. Kennels are expensive…