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Exellent Trips on a Lean Budget? Say YES to Mooching

By Pauline Frommer

Posted on 02/06/2015, 4:00 PM

Mooching can be an art. Sure, it’s lacking in dignity, but it can be quite effective, as anyone with, well, relatives knows. Travel mooches can be a particularly canny way of not just saving money, but having real adventures when one hits the road. Here are some of my favorites: 1) Free beds: Beyond hitting up friends and family, there are now organizations of uber-social people who love ...

Marriott Gives Up Trying to Block Your Wi-Fi—Other Hotels Better Not Try, Either

By Jason Cochran

Posted on 01/30/2015, 5:30 PM

Marriott tried very hard to get the government to allow it to block your Wi-Fi signal. The hotel brand attempted to justify the act as a "security" measure, but in practice, doing so forced guests to purchase its own expensive signal if they wanted to get online while on Marriott premises. Last fall, the federal government has slapped Marriott with a $600,000 fine for blocking guest Internet ...

Bad News, Anglophiles: Hershey's Bars British Cadbury

By Jason Cochran

Posted on 01/25/2015, 3:15 PM

British Cadbury bars are officially something you can only buy on vacation. Those of us who got a taste for British chocolate on our trips to the U.K. have enjoyed the ability to re-live our travels through our taste buds by purchasing British-made Cadbury Dairy Milk, creme eggs, and other sweets across America, brought here by a specialized importer. But the New York Times reports that Her...

Newscast Blows the Lid off Fake Online Reviews

By Jason Cochran

Posted on 01/21/2015, 5:00 PM

Do you trust the reviews you find online? You shouldn't. Watch as PBS' NewsHour exposes user-generated review sites—that is, sites where you primarily find reviews written by past customers and not by assigned experts. In a world where a few positive reviews can make a business' reputation, people are easily tempted into stuffing the ballot box with fake reviews, and there's a booming shadow...

The World's First Drone Film Festival is Actually a Travel Film Festival

By Jason Cochran

Posted on 01/14/2015, 3:00 PM

Everyone talks about drones—those small unmanned flying robot cameras—as if they're predominately a technology story. But when you look at the sort of footage that comes out of them, it's very apparent that drone filming is actually a travel trend. Most people who own drones use them as surrogates for human exploration or as extensions of the self that can fly to where human bodies cannot reach...

Cuba Opens to Travel (Eventually)!

By Jason Cochran

Posted on 12/17/2014, 12:00 PM

Some wonderful news for travelers today: U.S. President Obama has announced that for the first time since 1961, relations with the Caribbean nation will move toward normalization. As a part of this, embassies will open in both Cuba and the United States and many restrictions on travel will be eased. For example, travelers will soon be able to use credit and debit cards within the country (we'd ...

Arthur Frommer's Reaction to the President's Announcement Regarding the Travel Embargo Against Cuba

By Arthur Frommer

Posted on 12/16/2014, 7:00 PM

"Although it will make headlines, the announcement of these embargo modifications is of far less substance than meets the eye."...

Adorable Hotel Brand Kimpton Sells Out

By Jason Cochran

Posted on 12/16/2014, 1:00 PM

Travel can fill you with wonder or it can break your heart. Yesterday we learned that Kimpton, one of our favorite boutique hotel brands, has sold out. It now melts into the publicly traded monster hotel company InterContinental Hotel Group, which already owns the likes of Holiday Inn and Crowne Plaza. Kimpton has always been a firm favorite among Frommer's recommendations and with guests f...

Now You Can Stay the Night at Downton Abbey

By Jason Cochran

Posted on 12/15/2014, 1:30 PM

A few years ago, the condition of the English mansion Highclere Castle grew so dire—after years of benign neglect from Earls who were more interested in horses or exploring—that the roof started caving in. And so, to fund its restoration, its current owners decided to open up their glorious home to weddings and filming. They only showed the film crews to the ground floor and first floor, but...

Volunteer Your Time and Get a Free Hostel Stay For Yourself and 9 Friends

By Pauline Frommer

Posted on 12/10/2014, 10:45 AM

Hostelling International USA announced this week that it will be doing a good deed for those who, well, do good deeds. For the months of January and February, it will be giving away free hostel stays (of up to 5 nights) to groups of 10 who do some sort of service project. Amazingly, you only have to volunteer two hours of time to get the freebie (not that we're encouraging anyone to slack off). ...

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