Exclusive: TSA Chief Reveals Huge Changes for Faster Airport Security—And Some Are Already in Place
Posted on 10/01/2024, 9:00 AM
With no fanfare, and with little public comment, one of the most dreaded aspects of air travel got faster, less intrusive, and far more pleasant. I’m talking about airport security, believe it or not. And it’s about to improve even more in the very near future. (No joke.) Last weekend, I welcomed David Pekoske, the Administrator of the United States' Transportation Security Administration (TSA), ...
Will Southwest Keep Checked Luggage Free? We Finally Have an Answer
Posted on 09/27/2024, 2:30 PM
Every budget-minded air passenger in the United States already knows that longtime no-frills kingpin Southwest Airlines is in bad trouble. The list of woes is daunting: Repeated operational meltdowns forcing the cancellation of thousands of flights at a time, including in peak holiday season. A heightened safety review by the FAA following several near-miss incidents and abnormally low-flying fli...
Don’t Have TSA PreCheck? In Boston, There’s a $3 Trick to Skipping Airport Lines
Posted on 09/24/2024, 7:30 AM
A blessing and a curse for travelers to and from Boston is that the city’s international airport is pretty much smack-dab in the middle of the action. Buttressed against the Atlantic Ocean, the entirety of downtown and the greater metropolitan area radiates in a circle from Boston Logan. Not coincidentally, the city has some of the worst traffic congestion in the country—and even the world, accor...
Unplugged! Royal Caribbean Bans a Popular Item That Many Cruisers Pack
Posted on 09/23/2024, 2:00 PM
Royal Caribbean has revised its list of forbidden items to ban a useful travel tool that many cruisers pack as an essential item. Even though the change "was not communicated to passengers, and the cruise line has not clarified the matter through the media," reports TheStreet.com, the cruise line's newly republished list of prohibited items was recently revised to include "Extension Cords and Mult...
What Hotel Workers Wish You Knew About Being a Good Guest in These Times
Posted on 09/19/2024, 4:00 PM
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 have been scaled back—sometimes you won't receive much hospitality at all. Amenities are being cut. Guests aren't getting fresh towels, trash isn't being emptied, breakfasts are being cut back, and front desk staffi...
Fall Foliage Map for 2024 Predicts Midwest Will Outdo New England
Posted on 09/05/2024, 3:00 AM
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 country stretching from the interior Northeast and Great Lakes region down through the Mississippi River Valley, conditions this year are ideal, the forecast predicts, for the sort of bright red, orange, and yellow leaves...
TikTok's Viral 'Temple Run' Trend Imperils Cambodia's Angkor Wat (and Is Stupid)
Posted on 08/28/2024, 7:00 AM
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 their way through Cambodia's Angkor Wat temple complex near Siem Reap. They're attempting to re-create in live action the Temple Run video game, which was first released in 2011 and centers on an explorer dashing throug...
What’s Up with These Hourslong Check-in Lines at Las Vegas Hotels?
Posted on 08/22/2024, 4:45 PM
"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 a convincing case, showing nightmarish check-in lines, with hundreds of guests clogging hotel lobbies at properties owned by Caesars Entertainment. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Je...
Florida Is Trying to Ram Development of State Parks, "Skirting the Legal Process"
Posted on 08/21/2024, 6:00 PM
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 that allows for public participation."This appears to be something that has been planned in secret, and it doesn’t appear to have involved the hundreds, if not thousands, of people who are volunteers in the parks, the ci...
Mpox Is Now a Global Health Emergency. Should Travelers Worry?
Posted on 08/14/2024, 4:45 PM
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 are often used to formally open global government channels to coordinate efforts to combat the spread of a disease. Currently, only three diseases merit the dire PHEIC-level warning: Covid-19, cholera, and now mpox. Ea...
