Another New Fee, Courtesy of United Airlines
Posted on 08/21/2018, 4:00 PM
About five years ago, Saturday Night Live scored some laughs with a skit that parodied "priority boarding" announcements at the airport gate. A uniformed Tina Fey and Taran Killam stood behind a podium and called upward of 20 different categories of flyers before they got to "Group 2" as their SNL castmates grew comically agitated waiting to board. Back then, it seemed like the madness at the gate...
In Late Autumn, Fly to Iceland for $99 Each Way
Posted on 08/17/2018, 12:00 PM
The following is in the nature of a “believe-it-or-not” category of travel. A scrappy budget airline of Iceland (the aptly named WOW Air) has just announced that for scattered flights to Reykjavik in August, September, and October, it will charge only $99 each way! Specifically, you’ll be able to fly to Iceland’s capital from 10 U.S. cities at that remarkable price. And these take-off...
Which U.S. Airports Are The Most Expensive to Fly From? Check this New List
Posted on 08/01/2018, 4:00 PM
Where you live impacts how much you pay for air travel. That’s the finding of a new study by The Boyd Group, an international aviation consulting firm. It looked at pricing from all of the major North American gateways and came up with a list of airports that are cheaper to fly from—and ones that cost more. The study was different than those performed by the U.S. government in the past, which ha...
American Airlines to Allow Carry-On for Basic Economy
Posted on 07/26/2018, 12:00 AM
American Airlines passengers who buy basic economy tickets will each be allowed to bring a carry-on bag aboard flights, starting September 5. The news was announced by American executives this week during the carrier's second-quarter earnings call with reporters. Up to now, the luggage allowance for basic economy—American's cheapest, no-frills fare, which was introduced last year—has been just o...
What You Need to Know About the (Likely) Cost of Travel in 2019
Posted on 07/25/2018, 4:45 PM
Will it be a happy new year for vacationers in 2019? Experts are predicting some price shifts. A number of factors should impact the cost of trips next year and beyond. If you’re planning on vacationing next year—and I hope you are!—here’s what to look out for. Airfares: “Up, up and away” is the price forecast from most industry watchers. Airfares, particularly from North America to Asia and Eu...
U.S. Airports with the Most and Least Secure Wi-Fi
Posted on 07/20/2018, 11:45 PM
You already know that airport Wi-Fi can be maddeningly slow. Did you know it also could be leaving you vulnerable to hackers? That's the conclusion reached by a new study (which you can download here) from cybersecurity company Coronet. Analyzing data from the devices of more than 250,000 passengers who had traveled through the 45 busiest airports in the United States over a five-month period, re...
Nuts! Southwest Airlines Stops Serving Them on Flights
Posted on 07/10/2018, 9:30 PM
If you were on Family Feud and Steve Harvey asked you to name a snack served on an airplane, it's a cinch that peanuts would be on the board, probably as the number-one answer. Which is odd because peanuts aren't served on the planes of major airlines anymore, with only one or two exceptions. Delta is one—though according to Travel Weekly, that airline will "refrain from serving peanuts on a spe...
Which North American Airport Has the Fastest Free Wi-Fi?
Posted on 06/18/2018, 12:00 AM
Finding an airport with free Wi-Fi in the United States and Canada isn't as hard as it once was. It's still a challenge, though, to find free airport Wi-Fi that doesn't move at a pace recalling cold molasses, elderly turtles, or repairs to the New York City subway system. But the situation is improving in some terminals, according to a new report from Ookla, the company behind the Speedtest site ...
Singapore Airlines Bringing Back the World's Longest Flight
Posted on 05/30/2018, 9:45 PM
Singapore Airlines has announced plans to resume nonstop service between the Asian city-state's Changi Airport (pictured above) and Newark Liberty International Airport just outside New York City—a flight that will cover more than 10,000 miles and last just under 19 hours, making it the world's longest. The carrier previously offered this route up until 2013, when it was decided that planes would...
Tips on Getting the Most Out of Your 2018 Summer Vacation
Posted on 05/30/2018, 4:00 PM
Remember when summer really meant vacation? I’m talking, of course, of the time before you were able to vote, when summer meant freedom from school and adventures at camp, a fun summer job, or long lazy days doing very little. However you did it, summer was a break from the daily routine—and a welcome one. But for most of us, summer now means the same commute, the same job, the same responsibiliti...
Thanks (and No Thanks) for the Memories, Bob Hope
Posted on 05/21/2018, 12:00 AM
The National World War II Museum in New Orleans—truly one of the best, most thorough, and well-funded historic museums in the United States, and deeply underrated—is adding a special new exhibition through the end of 2018 and into early 2019. It's all about Bob Hope, the comic megastar whose association with the USO was a defining feature of both that war and his career. The exhibition, So Ready f...
American Airlines Cracks Down on Support Animals
Posted on 05/15/2018, 7:00 PM
Emotional support insects are no longer welcome on American Airlines flights. Whoever heard of an emotional support insect, you ask? We have two words for you: Jiminy Cricket. In addition to keeping your helpful, devoted, and musically gifted bugs from the passenger cabin, the carrier's newly revised animal restrictions, which go into effect July 1, ban goats, hedgehogs, amphibians, ferrets, rep...
Another Airline to Sell Transatlantic Fares from $200: What's the Deal?
Posted on 05/14/2018, 12:00 AM
You've heard of Norwegian, XL, and WOW—three low-cost, Europe-based airlines that have made their fame by selling affordable, no-nonsense transatlantic flights from the United States. In what's undoubtedly good news for people looking for yet another affordable way to get over the ocean, one more European low-cost carrier is joining the fray. It's 15-year-old Primera Air, and as of this month, its...
United’s Updated Pet Policy: Ban Certain Breeds
Posted on 05/02/2018, 9:30 PM
United Airlines has updated its pet-carrying policy following a comprehensive internal review in the wake of a disastrous couple of weeks in March. First a French bulldog died on a plane after a flight attendant instructed the owners to put its pet carrier—with the dog still inside—in the overhead compartment. Then the airline sent two separate dogs toward the wrong destinations; one wound up in...
What Fresh Hell Is This? Standing Airplane Seats
Posted on 04/20/2018, 12:00 AM
Just when you thought the aviation industry couldn't possibly find a way to cram more people onto an airplane—short of stashing passengers in the cargo hold or overhead compartment (like there's any room up there anyway)—some evil genius has devised the abomination pictured above. What you're looking at is the Skyrider 2.0, which was introduced by Italian company Aviointeriors at the Aircraft In...
TSA to Make You Remove Snacks from Your Carry-On—Except When It Won't
Posted on 03/29/2018, 3:00 PM
The next time you go through airport security, you could be asked to remove all food from your carry-on luggage, along with all the other stuff that gets removed—your shoes, your laptop, and, should you be selected for an invasive pat-down, your dignity. Then again, the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) might let you keep that Snickers bar or bag of Cheetos in your bag as it slides al...
Arthur Frommer: Recent Tax Cuts Will Force Reductions in Travel Services
Posted on 03/23/2018, 5:15 PM
Some commentators have rejoiced over the recent reduction in federal taxes enjoyed by American corporations and the wealthy. Fewer of those pundits have pointed out that those reductions have been achieved in part by reducing our government’s expenditures for programs that improve our quality of life. The U.S. travel world—and especially our trains and passenger aviation—has suffered in parti...
Singapore Airport Named World's Best for Sixth Consecutive Year
Posted on 03/23/2018, 2:45 PM
In its well-regarded annual ranking of the world's best airports, Skytrax has named Singapore Changi Airport number one for the sixth time in a row. Relying on millions of customer surveys filled out by travelers around the globe, the terminal trackers found the Asian city-state's airport exceptional in its cleanliness, service, shopping, dining, security and customs processing, transit options,...
Arthur Frommer: A Major Softening of Transatlantic Airfares Seems Underway
Posted on 03/23/2018, 1:45 PM
When my 15-year-old granddaughter was asked where she wanted to spend her springtime school break, she quickly answered “Paris.” And my daughter and her husband, not wanting to discourage the young one’s travel urge, set about to study the cost of transatlantic airfare. To their surprise, they quickly found a round-trip fare of only $400 between Newark and Paris. Now it is true that this ...
