Articles

Blogs

Article / Arthur Frommer Online

Driver Licences From Four U.S. States May No Longer Be Accepted As I.D. at Airports in 2016

And those states are: New York, New Hampshire, Louisiana, and Minnesota.In December of 2014, the first phase of the Real ID Act from Congress and the Department of Homeland…

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 / Arthur Frommer Online

As Travel Destinations Jockey for Position, It Becomes Necessary Periodically to Revise Our List of 10 Favorites

Which, currently, are the ten-or-so most-promising  destinations for your own next vacation?  Though any such list is unusually subjective (to put it mildly), I'm willing…

Article / Arthur Frommer Online

Colonial Williamsburg, in Virginia, Comes Close to Being an Indispensable Place to Visit for Americans of All Ages

Travel is a constant process of self-education.  As we visit more and more destinations, we adopt new favorites, replace former cities and resorts with new and more…

Article / Arthur Frommer Online

A New App Promises to Make Travel More Safe for Solo Vacationers

Men and women travel differently. And that’s not a comment on shopping habits or boozy pub crawls. For women, especially solo travelers, safety is always front of mind,…

Article / Passportable

#1 in #2: Japan Opens First Toilet Museum

I don't know if you've ever sat on one of those futuristic Japanese toilets, but they will change your life. In North America and Europe, toilets plug into the plumbing, but in…

Article / Passportable

An Icon of Modernist Architecture Turns 50: Happy Birthday to St. Louis’ Gateway Arch

St. Louis’ Gateway Arch may well be the most bittersweet of the world’s iconic monuments. The planned focal point of a park built in the 1930’s to celebrate Thomas Jefferson, and…

Article / Arthur Frommer Online

International Airfare Wars Make It Much Cheaper to Vacation Abroad This Fall and Winter

I reported roughly a week ago that airfares for the summer took a sharp dip; and that experts were predicting that fall fares would also be low.Sometimes it's sweet to be…

Article / Passportable

Hilton Yanks Adult Movies

Not like you ever rented one, but porn movies are being eliminated from all Hilton hotels' in-demand movie selection.Said Hilton in a statement, as if it was something you might…

Article / Arthur Frommer Online

Advance Reading is the Key to a Successful International Trip; Failure to Prepare via Reading is to Virtually Guarantee Disappointment

If you arrive overseas without any foreknowledge of the history, culture or politics of the country you are visiting, you are bound to have the most superficial…

Article / Arthur Frommer Online

In Addition to Sampling the Cultural Riches of Europe, The Smart Tourist Will Cast An Eye at The Fairly Uniform Social Legislation Adopted by Nearly Every Country on the Continent

The overwhelming number of tourists to Western Europe go there with cultural visits in mind. For Europe itself is like a vast, open-air museum--a treasure house, first, of art,…

Article / Passportable

Entrancing Video Follows Luggage After It's Checked

Amsterdam's Schiphol airport wants to show you that it has put a lot of cash into building the ultimate baggage delivery system. So it produced this astonishing video by attaching a…

Article / Passportable

Airline Complaints Soar! Whose Fault Is It?

It's not your imagination: Airfares may be down (as we reported last week), but complaints about U.S. airlines soared more than 20 percent during the first half of this…

Article / Arthur Frommer Online

A Strong U.S. Dollar Means Transformation (For the Better) of the American Travel Experience in Many Countries

Contrary to the predictions of numerous conservative politicians who felt that the Administration's policies would weaken the dollar, the exact opposite has occurred: The U.S.…

Article / Arthur Frommer Online

The Sky Isn't Falling But Airfares Are: Air Pricing Sees the Biggest One-Month Drop in 20 Years

For months, the second most popular travel question that's been lobbed my way (after "is X, Y or Z safe?") has been: "Why, with the cost of gas so low, haven't airfares…

Article / Arthur Frommer Online

In the Wake of China's Recent Devaluation of its Currency, Get Ready for Cheaper Prices than Ever for an Air-Included Trip

Having attempted unsuccessfully to contact the top executives at America's several leading tour operators to China, I've concluded that they are all on the way to China…

Article / Passportable

All National Parks are Free (On These Days)

The National Park System is extending another gift to the American people in the form of fee-free days.And lucky us—there are two in a month, right when the weather is…

Article / Arthur Frommer Online

Massive Changes at Disney Parks: Two 14-Acre Star Wars Lands and Toy Story Land Coming, and More

Two of the biggest tourist attractions in the world are about to see extreme changes. Disney Parks has announced that it is planning two epic Star Wars-themed expansions for…

Article / Arthur Frommer Online

In Summer, The World of Travel Continues to Change in Small but Significant Ways

New travel developments are rare in the summer months, as travel hits peak traffic, but if anything is new and significant it's the awesome number of Americans choosing…

Article / Arthur Frommer Online

Herewith: A Number of Additional Observations on Important, Current Opportunities in Travel

Galleria Vittoria Emanuele, Milan, ItalyIf you haven't yet made your summer/fall vacation plans, you might want to note that a sort of world's fair will continue operating…

Article / Arthur Frommer Online

It's Hard to Explain Why River Cruises are Currently as Popular as They are, And Yet Their Appeal is an Undoubted Phenomenon

The recent, startling popularity of river cruises is, to me, one of the great mysteries of travel. Just a few years ago, one could easily explain their attraction for elderly…

Article / Arthur Frommer Online

Emirates Airlines Will Fly the Longest Route on the Planet: Tips on Surviving 17.5 Hours in a Plane

17.5 hours. That’s the length of the new longest flight on the planet, which will soon be offered by Emirates Airlines between Dubai and Panama City. Convenient? Certainly.…

Article / Arthur Frommer Online

Stowe in Summer (and Fall) Is a Revelation: A Dedicated Winter Visitor Tries Another Season

White all around, visibility nil, my cheeks flapping wildly from the wind and air—this was the Vermont I knew well, after 20-plus years of heading here to tackle the ski slopes of…

Article / Passportable

Snapchat Becomes More Traveler-Friendly

"You and your selfies!" I kidded to my teenage daughter as she struck a pose for what seemed like the tenth time in an hour and then clicked away on her smartphone. "Mom I'm not…

Article / Passportable

Q-tips: The Weirdest Flat Stanley Ever

Among product promotions, this is one of the strangest.Q-tip—yes, that thing you're not supposed to stick deep in your ears, but you do—has launched a campaign featuring the…