Articles

Trends & Hacks

Article / Car, Bus, Rail

Travel Troubleshooter: Mystery Rental Charge in Madrid

What is 'Super CDW' and why is it on our reader's credit card bill? The car rental company's website isn't clear and the credit card company won't help -- is all hope lost?

Article / Air Travel

13 Lessons Learned on a Flight from Hell

What's a mother of two to do when airline staff decides that help is a four-letter word?

Article / Health, Insurance, Security

5 Things Airlines Won't Tell You About Their Food

Although some airlines have made an effort to improve the food, there are a few things they aren't telling you about the fare up there.

Article / Cruise

Europe by Sea: Top Tips for Bagging the Cruise of Your Dreams

The cruise lines are deploying a record number of ships in Europe for 2008 and that means beaucoup choice for you.

Article / Entry Requirements & Customs

Travel Troubleshooter: When the Check's Not in the Mail

A hotel offers a priest a tax refund. No, that's not the opening line of a joke -- unless playing phone tag and hearing excuses is funny to you.

Article / Packages

What's Happening on Mountains and Slopes Around the World

Great ways to get downhill, from trains in Vermont to cable cars in France; plus more news from mountains around the world.

Article / Health, Insurance, Security

Travel Writing 101: What Exactly is Travel?

Anyone can be a travel writer. But what makes a travel writer different from, say, a mystery writer, or one who crafts sentences about romance, children's stories or even humor?

Article / Entry Requirements & Customs

Follow the Crowd: 4 Secrets of the Herd

The conventional wisdom on traveling -- which is not to do what everyone else is doing -- is often wrong. Sometimes, the mob knows best.

Article / Miscellaneous

Travel Troubleshooter: Two Years Later, Still No Refund

Two years after being promised a refund from Lufthansa, the 890 Euros our flyer thought she'd get is nowhere to be found. Is this a lost cause?

Article / Health, Insurance, Security

Travel Tech: Do Air Purifiers Work on Plane Trips?

Our health expert makes sense of the mini purifiers that promise to make your next trip sniffle free.

Article / Hotels

Cozy Yuletide and New Year's Specials at National & State Parks

Celebrate the winter season in Ohio state parks or in Yosemite National Park and take advantage of several deals on offer.

Article / Health, Insurance, Security

Travel Troubleshooter: No Room, No Refund, No Fair?

What if you prepay for a hotel but there's no room for you? Our guest gets the run around from his New York hotel and Priceline.com Did he get what he deserves?

Article / Entry Requirements & Customs

Tariff Trouble: 6 Airline Ticket Rules You Need to Know

When it comes to airline ticket rules, the devil isn't in the details. The devil is the details.

Article / Entry Requirements & Customs

7 Strange Surcharges You Could Find on Your Next Trip

A barrage of fees, levies, surcharges and extras has pelted travelers for years. But just when you were convinced that the travel industry had thought of it all, it comes up with yet…

Article / Entry Requirements & Customs

12 Lessons Learned from a Life on the Road

I asked some of the most experienced travelers I knew to tell me what traveling has taught them. Here are a dozen tips from of them, in their own words.

Article / Health, Insurance, Security

Travel Health & Safety: 7 Food Allergy Tips

You needn't stay home or court disaster: By preparing for the worst you can sail through most situations with little or no effort on your part.

Article / Cruise

Our Cruiser Finds a Ship that Fits Like a Slipper

If a cruise ship is too big, I feel lost. Too small and there's no place to hide. A ship like the Crystal Symphony is just right.

Article / Cruise

Welcome to $100 Oil: Cruise Industry Ups Prices to Defray Fuel Costs

The bill for topping off the tank on those 2,500-passenger ships is taking just a bit too much bite out of the old profit margins. And you know what that means: Joe Citizen's gotta pay.

Article / Miscellaneous

Travel Troubleshooter: I Didn't Buy That Ticket

Our caller just wants a price quote but she gets a bill and a ticket she doesn't need, too. Now the airline won't return her money, saying its tickets are nonrefundable. Is she out of…

Article / Car, Bus, Rail

Gridlock Alert: The 5 U.S. Cities With the Worst Traffic

The government recently announced the winners of a competition for federal funds to fight traffic congestion -- yes, cities actually were competing for the honor of having the worst…

Article / Health, Insurance, Security

Travel Troubleshooter: Plenty of Rain, But No Raincheck for Leaky Hotel

What happens when a storm threatens to ruin a vacation, but the booking agent won't let you reschedule?

Article / Car, Bus, Rail

Santa's Here, With Amtrak Discounts For The Rest Of The Year

The weather outside may be frightful, but Amtrak's discounts are delightful. We've uncovered some Amtrak discount codes for November and December in this round, and some that last well…

Article / Miscellaneous

Travel Troubleshooter: A Changing Rate at the Inn

What happens when a hotel changes its rate after you've confirmed everything? One reader finds out -- with a little help from our expert.

Article / Money and Fees

U.S. Credit Cards Lose Their Cachet in Europe

Many European countries have moved from the magnetic-stripe cards U.S. travelers are familiar with to a system called 'chip and PIN' -- which for us might as well be called 'chip and…

Article / Health, Insurance, Security

Travel Health & Safety: Plenty of Fish in the Sea?

Here are some tips on avoiding becoming sick as a result of eating fish while you are on the road -- or at home, for that matter.