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Arthur Frommer Online

Article / Arthur Frommer Online

Replacing Maho Bay, Newly Expanded Cinnamon Bay Provides Affordable Digs in the U.S. Virgin Islands

For many years, a collection of tented bungalows called Maho Bay, on the quiet island of St. John in the U.S. Virgin Islands, was the world’s best-kept budget secret. Sensitive,…

Article / Arthur Frommer Online

New York Attempts to Put Airbnb Out of Business

The big news in travel has been the signing, by the Governor of New York State, of a law passed by the state legislature that is deliberately designed to put Airbnb out of business—at…

Article / Arthur Frommer Online

Gigantic Cruise Ships Need a Different Approach

(photo: Royal Caribbean)The constant growth in the size of cruise ships—of which some now carry 6,000 passengers—has forced the cruise lines (and not simply the cruise…

Article / Arthur Frommer Online

The Strange Case of the Expired Passport....

There was once a time when Americans traveling to and from Canada could do so with little advance preparation other than a hotel reservation. Almost any form of identification would…

Article / Arthur Frommer Online

Families With Children Are Now Being Welcomed Aboard (Some) River Cruise Ships

The evidence is fast accumulating that the number of river cruiseships is now more than equal to the demand for river cruises. Accordingly, several of the river cruiselines are…

Article / Arthur Frommer Online

British Vacations Are Increasingly Affordable for the American Traveler

The big travel news of the current fall/winter season is the drop in the value of the British pound. As we go to press, the pound is selling for only $1.21.  It used to sell at…

Article / Arthur Frommer Online

Ocean Cruises Have Developed a Set of Uniform Characteristics That Will Attract or Repel You

After three years of failing to go on an ocean cruise, I recently returned to one aboard a popularly priced ship (but not one of the monstrous, 5,000-passenger variety). Here are…

Article / Arthur Frommer Online

How You Book Rail Is About to Change

Train travel is a $300 billion market. Globally, more than twice as much was invested in high speed rail as it was in air transportation last year. And that’s how it should be.…

Article / Arthur Frommer Online

Though the Timid Tourist is Frightened by a Number of Adverse Travel Conditions, the Value of the U.S. Dollar is Not One of Them. The Dollar is Today Unusually Strong

Perhaps the biggest travel news of the current season is that the U.S. currency remains unusually strong against virtually every other currency. When you travel abroad in the coming…

Article / Arthur Frommer Online

Its Currency Selling at Unprecedented Low Levels, Its Drug-Related Violence Subdued, Mexico is Positioned to Enjoy Heavy American Tourism this Coming Winter

There no longer seems any doubt that the Zika scare has wrought havoc with tourism to Florida. In a study conducted by Allianz Travel Insurance, advance air bookings for the coming…

Article / Arthur Frommer Online

A New Hotel Booking Engine Emerges for the "Text Only" Crowd

Today, more than ever, the medium is the message….as much as the message itself. If you have a friend (or child) who refuses to talk on the phone, but wants to have every interaction…

Article / Arthur Frommer Online

Depending on Whether Authorities Have Reduced the Threat of Zika, Florida Might Otherwise be an Unusually Favorable Destination for Your Winter Vacation

Florida is feeling wild this year.No state has had worse recent luck than Florida in attracting tourism, and that might create better conditions for your own trip…

Article / Arthur Frommer Online

The Current Autumn Season is the Best Possible Time to Enjoy Bargains on Cruises and Tropical Packages

Holland America Line's VeendamWe are now in a time for travel when everything costs less than it usually does. That's because from now until Christmas, travel slumps.…

Article / Arthur Frommer Online

Here are Four Important Travel Questions and the Answers to Them Supplied by Noted Travel Writers

In Iceland, the rush is onWhy is Iceland booming? (Booming, that is, in incoming tourism.) Though the figures aren't official, estimates of the growth in its visitors this…

Article / Arthur Frommer Online

Five More States Are About to Consider the Legalization of Marijuana, Creating the Basis for a Large New Industry of Marijuana Tourism

(Credit:Vitezslav Valka/FreeImages)The statistics seem irrefutable that tourism to Colorado has benefited greatly from that state's legalization of the sale and use…

Article / Arthur Frommer Online

Canada, Iceland, and Japan are Standouts in a Mostly Sluggish Year for Travel

They call it the "election year curse." For reasons no one can really explain, travel declines slightly during years when the presidency is at stake. Statisticians cite…

Article / Arthur Frommer Online

Priceline Ditches Its "Name Your Own Price" Program for Airfares. What's the Real Meaning of This Move for Consumers?

When Priceline launched its “Name Your Own Price” feature for airfare some 15 years ago, the effect was electric. A major company had pulled back the curtain, letting the public in…

Article / Arthur Frommer Online

The Fees Travelers Love....At Least for Now

Discuss the mechanics of travel with most folks and the talk inevitably turns to fees. Sometimes you can actually feel the room heating up as travelers rail against having to pay…

Article / Arthur Frommer Online

Of the Many Popular Tourist Destinations, Only a Tiny Handful Deserve to be Regarded as So Possibly Unsafe as to Warrant Your Avoiding Them

One of the oddities in financial matters is that a large number of successful Wall Street types make their money by betting on those stocks whose prospects are bad.  After all, the…

Article / Arthur Frommer Online

Significant New Travel Developments in London and Orlando Will Have an Impact on Your Own Forthcoming Vacation There

What's new in London?  Probably the most important development is the completion of a ten-story tower atop the Tate Modern museum. Not only has the exhibition space…

Article / Arthur Frommer Online

The International Summer Program at Cambridge University is Apparently the Largest of the Learning Vacations, But Requires Early Applications

It's obviously too late to sign up for a summer vacation stay at one of the great English-language universities that open their classrooms and residence halls each July and August to…

Article / Arthur Frommer Online

Amtrak Passengers Often Forfeit a Great Deal of Money by Failing to Inquire About the Price of Earlier or Later Trains

A rule of train travel, too often overlooked, is that successive Amtrak departures to the same destination are often priced differently. By failing to inquire about the…

Article / Arthur Frommer Online

A Group of British Travel Agents Is Leading a Worldwide Effort to Prevent the Heedless Disposal of Sharp Pieces of Plastic Upon the Ocean Floor

(Photo credit: kevinkrejci/Flickr)It doesn't often happen that members of the travel industry associate themselves, massively, with an idealistic cause having little to do with…

Article / Arthur Frommer Online

Hoteliers and Tour Operators Now Candidly Admit to a Drop-Off in Travel to Europe, Which—Paradoxically—Creates Opportunities for Americans Determined to Vacation There

Nice, France (photo credit: Mbighin/Dreamstime.com)They have finally admitted it.  After weeks of denying that recent terrorist attacks have reduced tourism both to,…

Article / Arthur Frommer Online

Haul My Stuff, Underwrite Your Vacation: A New App May Save Brawny Travelers Money

There are many ways would-be vacationers try to make their trips more affordable. Some start special bank accounts for holiday savings, others scour the internet for hotel discounts,…