Articles

Air Travel

Article / Passportable

United Airlines Flight Attendants Now Required to Wear Masks

Starting today, United Airlines requires all flight attendants to wear masks while on board aircraft. The company is the largest U.S. carrier to adopt that policy, which has…

Article / Passportable

Unbelievably, American Airlines Takes This Moment to Hike Bag Fees

You run an airline. Your business is facing the most dramatic economic crisis in your lifetime. Just to stay alive, you've had to suspend international capacity by a devastating 60%…

Article / Passportable

Air Canada Suspends USA Flights Until May 22

Today Air Canada announced it will suspend all flights to and from the United States until May 22. The change came on the heels of the Canadian government's 30-day extension of its ban…

Article / Arthur Frommer Online

Do Airlines Have to Refund You for a Canceled Flight?

If I cancel a flight because I no longer wish to travel during the outbreak, don't airlines have to refund me for the ticket? I'm getting this question a lot on Twitter and on the…

Article / Passportable

Face Masks on Flights? They're Now Required in Some Places

Many American cities now require citizens to wear face masks in public at all times, but Canada has become the first country to require them on airlines. As of Monday, all passengers…

Article / Arthur Frommer Online

American Pariah: How the U.S. Infection Rate Could Sink Your Future Vacation

As of this writing, more than 80 countries around the world have sealed their borders to other nationalities. It's a logical step to protect national health security: To help…

Article / Passportable

Emirates Airlines' Boarding Procedure Now Includes a Coronavirus Test

Though testing is not widespread in the United Arab Emirates yet, the country's flagship airline rolled out testing for passengers at its Dubai hub yesterday. Before boarding a flight…

Article / Passportable

Delta Air Lines Changes Boarding Procedure

To accommodate social distancing recommendations, Delta Air Lines has temporarily adjusted its method of boarding passengers onto planes. As of April 10, the carrier has been filling…

Article / Arthur Frommer Online

Beware: The Travel Industry Is Clinging to Your Money

Times are tough. We all know it. A lot of us aren't sure where the money will be coming from in a few months—and among the least sure are the businesses that sell travel. That's why…

Article / Passportable

Delta Promises You Won't Have to Take a Middle Seat

Delta Air Lines has announced a new set of measures designed to conform to the world's current standards for social distancing—or at least to nod to them. From April 13 to May 31, the…

Article / Passportable

Government Says Airlines Must Refund Canceled Flights—Eventually

The U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) has issued an "enforcement notice" reminding airlines and the "traveling public" that passengers whose flights are canceled or significantly…

Article / Health, Insurance, Security

Coronavirus and Travel: The Latest News, Updated Daily

Advice and resources relating to how the COVID-19 outbreak is affecting travelers. Updated frequently. 

Article / Arthur Frommer Online

Airline Passenger Data Collection: An Essential Pandemic Tool

In the annals of "woulda, coulda, shoulda," a longtime battle between the airlines and the U.S. government has come to the fore, far too late. For the past 15 years, the U.S.…

Article / Passportable

TSA Says You Can Fly with an Expired Driver's License

In an announcement overlooked by many amid the coronavirus hubbub, the TSA has said that for a limited time passengers may use expired driver's licenses to get through airport…

Article / Passportable

A Frommer's Intern Travels Home from Spain During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Last Monday, my coworkers at the schools in Spain where I was employed as a teaching assistant told me not to worry about the coronavirus. The next day, I was told I wouldn't be…

Article / Health, Insurance, Security

COVID-19 Cancellation Policy Finder for Airlines, Cruise Lines, Hotels, and Other Travel Operators

Helpful links to web pages containing coronavirus policy updates from airlines, cruise lines, hotels, and other travel companies

Article / Arthur Frommer Online

I Just Flew from the U.K. to the U.S.—Here's What That's Like Now

World systems are shutting down and entire countries are banning or expelling foreigners so that governments can take care of their own. I had planned on spending a few months in the…

Article / Arthur Frommer Online

Arthur Frommer: Americans Remain Unaware of the Looming Real ID Requirement

Update, February 1, 2021: The deadline for Real ID has been postponed to October 1, 2021. October 1, 2020. That date, only seven months away, is when the new Real ID requirement…

Article / Arthur Frommer Online

Spring Break in the Time of COVID-19: What's the Responsible Course of Action?

The headline of this post is the question that Inside Edition put to me today. And the question is an important one. Below are a few answers, based on how the situation with the novel…

Article / Arthur Frommer Online

Trump is Battling the Residents of New York State. Arthur Frommer Asks: Will Your State Be Next?

The nation has become quite familiar with conflicts between the Trump White House and various state officials. But somehow, nothing has reached the awesome level of the current war…

Article / Passportable

Which U.S. Airline Is on Time the Most?

Hawaiian Airlines had the best on-time record of any U.S. carrier in 2019, according to newly released data from the U.S. Department of Transportation. Of all the flights operated by…

Article / Arthur Frommer Online

We're Asking If It's Wrong to Recline When We Should Be Furious with the Airlines

Once again, Americans are going after each other. And once again, the infighting is misplaced. Today's battle, like so many other battles these days, confuses the real source of the…

Article / Passportable

Another European Airline Goes Kaput: Arrivederci, Air Italy

Air Italy is shutting down and going into liquidation, the Milan-based carrier announced this week. According to a statement on the airline's website, "all Air Italy flights will be…

Article / Arthur Frommer Online

Trump's Global Entry Ban for New Yorkers Doesn't Add Up, and It's an Outrage

“New York hates you,” a heckler shouted, part of the crowd that gathered in Manhattan when Donald Trump went to his polling place in 2016 to vote for himself (according to BBC.com).It…

Article / Arthur Frommer Online

"Basic Business Class"? Emirates Quietly Shakes Up Airfare Structures

Last summer, with no fanfare whatsoever, Emirates changed the rules of business travel. It took what was a signature product—its well-rated business class service—and decoupled it from…