Was I Right or Wrong to Recommend That You Leave Your Passport in the Hotel Safe While Traveling Abroad?
Posted on 10/17/2013, 6:30 PM
No recent bit of travel advice has generated more controversy than my recent suggestion to leave your passport in the hotel safe when you leave to go sightseeing on a European trip. Will you need that document in your daily round of touristic activities? Only if you wish to change currency at a teller's window in a foreign bank, I responded to a reader's question. Otherwise, don't r...
Eureka! You Can Enjoy a Round-Trip Price of $566 between New York and Paris from November 4 until December 15 on That Reluctant Airline, "XL"
Posted on 10/16/2013, 2:45 PM
When you call to make a booking (to 877/496-9889), you often speak to a telephone reservationist whose command of French is better than her grasp of English. And because of that, they sometimes seem surprised to receive your English-language call. But if you persist in a booking requests made to XL Airways, you may be pleasantly surprised to learn that this French upstart airline is char...
Three Hot New Travel Inventions Coming to You Soon Through Crowdfunding
Posted on 10/15/2013, 10:00 AM
The entire Internet is now an episode of Shark Tank. Inventors with a good idea no longer have to go the traditional route and sell out to VCs and banks—they can take the product right to the consumer and test the waters for investment. If you don't already know about the concept, it's called "crowdfunding." You work up a prototype for your product and float the idea out there, and if there a...
Three Hot New Travel Inventions Coming to You Soon Through Crowdfunding
Posted on 10/15/2013, 10:00 AM
The entire Internet is now an episode of Shark Tank. Inventors with a good idea no longer have to go the traditional route and sell out to VCs and banks—they can take the product right to the consumer and test the waters for investment. If you don't already know about the concept, it's called "crowdfunding." You work up a prototype for your product and float the idea out there, and if there a...
Three Hot New Travel Inventions Coming to You Soon Through Crowdfunding
Posted on 10/15/2013, 10:00 AM
The entire Internet is now an episode of Shark Tank. Inventors with a good idea no longer have to go the traditional route and sell out to VCs and banks—they can take the product right to the consumer and test the waters for investment. If you don't already know about the concept, it's called "crowdfunding." You work up a prototype for your product and float the idea out there, and if there a...
At Westin, If You Decline Housekeeping, They'll Give You $5 to Spend
Posted on 10/15/2013, 9:00 AM
If you're cheap, you will now benefit from being a slob, too. Westin, an upscale-ish branch of the giant Starwood group of hotels, has a new idea. If you do something "great for the environment" (its words) and decline maid service, it will either give you a vouncher worth $5 at the hotel's restaurants or you can have 500 Starwood Preferred Guest Starpoints. In making the "Make a Green Choi...
At Westin, If You Decline Housekeeping, They'll Give You $5 to Spend
Posted on 10/15/2013, 9:00 AM
If you're cheap, you will now benefit from being a slob, too. Westin, an upscale-ish branch of the giant Starwood group of hotels, has a new idea. If you do something "great for the environment" (its words) and decline maid service, it will either give you a vouncher worth $5 at the hotel's restaurants or you can have 500 Starwood Preferred Guest Starpoints. In making the "Make a Green Choi...
A Few Lucrative National Parks Are Reopened, But Most American Treasures Remain Forbidden
Posted on 10/12/2013, 12:45 PM
To help curb some of the damage cause to income and tourism by the Congressional-led government shutdown, state governments are now permitted to open National Park units they deem most important, provided they can find the money. Governors from both political parties are scrambling for funds from state reserves and corporate donors alike so that they can salvage local economies that rely upon...
Is the TSA Pulling Aside Travelers at Airport Security to Make Sales Pitches for TSA Pre Check?
Posted on 10/09/2013, 4:15 PM
Word comes to me today from a traveler who had a strange experience at the airport in Las Vegas today. The traveler, who did not wish to be named, told me that he and several other passengers were "yanked" out of the security screening queue for what was termed "experimental screening." They were led to another area, where they were instructed not to remove their shoes, belts, and laptops. ...
If You Dance or Sing, Trade Your Talent for Travel Across Canada or the Atlantic Ocean
Posted on 10/08/2013, 2:30 PM
Canada's Globe and Mail broke the story open, and now everyone with a guitar may be begging to sign up: Via Rail, Canada's national railway, grants free train tickets and meals to musicians and singer-songwriters in exchange for on-board performances. The Canadian transcontinental ride through the Rockies is already one of the most distinctive voyages that North America has to offer, and sinc...
