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Arthur Frommer Online

Article / Arthur Frommer Online

What Hotel Workers Wish You Knew About Being a Good Guest in These Times

Everyone who has stayed at a hotel since Covid-19 knows that something is off. You're not losing your mind. Room rates have gone way up. Business is way up, yet housekeeping services…

Article / Arthur Frommer Online

Fall Foliage Map for 2024 Predicts Midwest Will Outdo New England

The Midwest will have the most vibrant fall foliage in the United States this year, according to a new forecast released by the weather watchers at AccuWeather. In a wedge of the…

Article / Arthur Frommer Online

TikTok's Viral 'Temple Run' Trend Imperils Cambodia's Angkor Wat (and Is Stupid)

On TikTok, YouTube, Facebook, and wherever else stupid videos proliferate on the internet, a popular trend that has recently emerged involves clips of tourists running and jumping…

Article / Arthur Frommer Online

What’s Up with These Hourslong Check-in Lines at Las Vegas Hotels?

"Hotel check in wait times are out of control in Las Vegas," social media influencer VegasStarfish argues in a recent posting. The video evidence accompanying the claim certainly makes…

Article / Arthur Frommer Online

Florida Is Trying to Ram Development of State Parks, "Skirting the Legal Process"

Floridians are sounding a red alert after the state unexpectedly revealed its intent to allow rapid development at nine of Florida's nature reserves, sidestepping the usual process…

Article / Arthur Frommer Online

Say Goodbye to Passport Stamps in Europe: New Entry/Exit System Starts in November

The European Union Commission has officially announced the start date of its incoming Entry/Exit System (EES) for arriving tourists, which will change the way international passports…

Article / Arthur Frommer Online

Mpox Is Now a Global Health Emergency. Should Travelers Worry?

On Aug. 14, the World Health Organization (WHO) formally declared mpox, previously known as monkeypox, a public health emergency of international concern (PHEIC). PHEIC declarations…

Article / Arthur Frommer Online

Disney Is About to Gut Magic Kingdom, Fans Are Furious, and You Don't Have Much Time

We've had plenty of warning signs that the current management of the Disney brand doesn't understand or appreciate their roles as stewards of priceless Americana. For the last few…

Article / Arthur Frommer Online

U.S. Forbids Airlines from Charging Families to Sit Together

There's been another big win for consumers at the U.S. airports. On Thursday, the Department of Transportation (DOT) announced that it has proposed a rule that forbids commercial…

Article / Arthur Frommer Online

Southwest Airlines to End Open Seating, So Why Fly It At All? There's Still One Reason

Social media is so infected with liars and bad actors that we can't trust it even to tell us the sky is blue anymore. But the minute Southwest Airlines announced that, after some 50…

Article / Arthur Frommer Online

DOT Secretary Forcefully Reminds U.S. Airline Passengers of Their New Refund Rights

Some airlines are still struggling to reboot their service in the wake of last weekend's cataclysmic CloudStrike software shutdown. On Monday, Delta Air Lines was still limping its way…

Article / Arthur Frommer Online

Rome Jubilee in 2025 Means Tons of Construction in 2024: What Travelers Need to Know

Sorry, travelers, but getting that perfect shot of the Pantheon may require a return trip to Rome. (The photo above was taken earlier this month.) As we all know, Rome wasn’t built in…

Article / Arthur Frommer Online

Airlines Are Shrinking Carry-On Sizes, Forcing Travelers to Pay Checked Bag Fees

Your carry-on hand baggage may not be small enough anymore. A new furor is unfolding in the skies as airlines are caught drastically reducing the maximum permitted size of carry-on…

Article / Arthur Frommer Online

The Cost of Visiting Universal Epic Universe Will Gut Your Bank Account—and Disney's

There's a famous event from the history of architecture that serves as a warning to companies that assume competitors could never catch up.In the late 1920s, the Empire State Building,…

Article / Arthur Frommer Online

Dengue Fever Surges in the USA! Learn How to Prevent Mosquito Bites When You Travel

Just days after the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued a warning about the increased risk of dengue virus infections in the United States, Florida health officials…

Article / Arthur Frommer Online

Frommer’s Maine Coast: Our Latest Guide to Acadia, Portland, and Other Seaside Stunners

“Maine is a beautiful place that I paradoxically want to hoard to myself and share with everyone I meet," humorist John Hodgman writes in his 2017 book Vacationland. On a recent…

Article / Arthur Frommer Online

Bags Stolen From Baggage Claim: The Airlines' Big Luggage Security Problem

Many travelers won't know or remember this, but there was a time when airline passengers had to to present a claim check in order to pick up their luggage after flights.Until the early…

Article / Arthur Frommer Online

Online Passport Renewal is Back in the U.S.! Here's How to Get In On It

All right, Americans. Ready? This is online passport renewal, take two. The U.S. State Department today announced that it is once again accepting applications for online passport…

Article / Arthur Frommer Online

This Airline Is Mining Your Personal Information to Sell Things to You In Flight. Stop That!

Welcome to the spammy skies. United Airlines has launched a new ad serving platform that will exploit the personal travel information of its customers gathered from bookings, and the…

Article / Arthur Frommer Online

Find Vacation Rentals—But From Someone You Know: Meet Trustr, A New Rental Site

According to the National Association of Home Builders, there are 7.5 million second homes in the United States, which is 5.11% of the total number of homes. Yet even in this age of…

Article / Arthur Frommer Online

American Airlines Raises Bag Fees, Will Ban Some Booking Sites from Points Eligibility

This news post was updated with new information after its original publication.It's almost as if the corporations dominating our lives are determined to make back whatever they missed…

Article / Arthur Frommer Online

The News Said Two Airlines Just Scrapped Change and Cancel Fees—but the Truth Is Messier

Something notable is happening at American airports. Something that only happens once in a blue moon.Airlines are changing their positions on fees. In recent days, two major U.S.…

Article / Arthur Frommer Online

Study Finds Gig Drivers Still Earn Less Than Minimum Wage. Is Using Uber and Lyft Ethical?

Corporations are squeezing Americans for more cash everywhere. We're all feeling it, especially at the grocery store and at the gas pump, even as the big companies in those industries…

Article / Arthur Frommer Online

Opening Dates for Orlando's Big Summer 2024 Attractions—and Should You Care?

This year, it's as if the USA's most popular tourist destination is holding its breath. Most summers, Orlando's theme parks construct a new blockbuster ride or two to attract families…

Article / Arthur Frommer Online

Biden Creates His First National Park Unit: Amache in Colorado

Update: Amache officially became a Natonal Historic Site on February 15, 2024. Here is its official National Park unit page.Last Friday, U.S. President Joe Biden signed the paperwork…