There Seems No End to Constantly Increasing Airfares, And Your Recourse is to Lower Your Costs of Accommodations and Meals at the Destination
Posted on 08/26/2014, 8:30 AM
About a year ago, it became apparent that Southwest Airlines was no longer a source of consistently cheap airfares (though often the cheapest). On numerous routes on various occasions, its airfares were no lower than those of older airlines. In some instances, if it did periodically possess a price advantage, it was because it did not charge for suitcases checked aboard a flight ...
Turning Japanese in New York City: The Cuisine (and Culture) That’s Sweeping the City
Posted on 08/18/2014, 5:45 PM
Bagels. Cheesesteak. Massive aged steaks, served by guys with thick Brooklyn accents and possible mafia ties. If you haven’t been to New York City lately, you might think that these culinary delights sum up the foodie scene here. But that couldn’t be farther from the truth. In fact, thanks to New York City’s burgeoning Japanese population, specialties not usually seen outside of the “ Land...
At the Close of a Recent Vacation on the Coast of Maine, I Remember the Many Highlights of that State
Posted on 08/15/2014, 10:45 AM
Click here for the first part of Arthur Frommer's report from his vacation in Maine. If asked to name the two most important attractions of the state of Maine,? most visitors would answer--in my recent experience--that they were (1)? Acadia National Park, and (2) L.L. Bean. The famous discount shopping ?outlet had its birth in Freeport, Maine, where its original store is a? vast, multi-f...
I am Writing this from the Midpoint of a Unique Vacation In a Seaside Stretch of 19th Century America
Posted on 08/13/2014, 12:30 PM
Winter Harbor, ME Back in the days when discount shopping outlets were new and rare (I’ll explain the significance later on), my wife and I decided to make an auto tour of the coast of Maine. We no sooner crossed the border into that state, than we encountered the first of several amazing reduced-price stores, whose wonders reached a crescendo at L.L. Bean (then unknown to us). ...
The Airlines' Efforts to Make You Spend More, Continue Until the Very Moment You Board the Plane—That, and Several Other Observations
Posted on 08/10/2014, 4:00 PM
In today’s America, the airport check-in counter confronts you with all sorts of unexpected money offers. (There are commercial appeals all around, like in the billboards along a highway.) Want priority boarding of your plane? That will cost $47 extra. Want to buy the right to cancel or change your return flight for a penalty of only $75? That can be obtained for $11 extra. Want ...
This Winter's Air-and-Land Packages to Chilly Locations are So Low in Price as to Seem Almost Unbelievable
Posted on 08/09/2014, 2:15 PM
Now's the time to start thinking about a travel "bargain". At the start of autumn in just a few weeks, airlines and tour operators roll out extraordinary discounts for international travel in November through February. Provided only that you're willing to go on a short, one-week vacation to a non-tropical location in that chilly time, you will enjoy the best prices of the year. I...
London's Tourist-Unfriendly Policies Are Flummoxing Visitors on Public Transit—Be Prepared!
Posted on 08/05/2014, 4:30 PM
Getting out of the London rain? Better not be using cash. London's transit system is in flux, and tourists are getting the worst of it. All spring, the Underground was plagued by strikes (and the constant threat of them) because Transport for London, which governs it, announced intentions to close most of the Tube's staffed cashiers' windows. Instead, TfL said, everyone would simply bu...
Against All the Warnings of Radioactive Dangers, Americans Are Traveling to Japan in Unprecedented Numbers
Posted on 08/01/2014, 9:45 AM
American tourism to Japan is again booming. In the month of June just past, nearly 90,000 Americans visited the great cities of Japan (especially Tokyo and Kyoto), more than ever went there during any other monthly period in past years. In the six months from January through June of 2014, nearly 500,000 Americans visited Japan, increasing the chance that more than 1,000,000 Americans will ...
What to Expect from Hilton's New Room Selection App and How It Will Change Hotels
Posted on 07/31/2014, 3:30 PM
Okay, travel nerds, here's what I predict will happen soon. Bustling new websites will be devoted to which specific hotel rooms are the best ones to book. Travelers will debate, sometimes bitterly, the finer points of palm tree placement outside a resort's windows. Hotel staff will learn how to handle guests who won't rest until they're reassigned from 431 to 432. Rooms with numbers endin...
A Student Program Called WhereThereBeDragons.com is So Different From the Usual, Comfortable, Study Abroad Variety as to be Startling
Posted on 07/31/2014, 1:00 PM
The "study abroad" programs that most of us know are pleasant interludes that don't really change or alter our ways of thinking. Students opt to spend a year in London, Paris, Rome or Florence, and embark on a trip that involves carefully-supervised accommodations in comfortable hotels or guesthouses where a teacher is always nearby. They go on supervised tours, enjoy excellent meals, ...
