Articles

Money and Fees

Article / Entry Requirements & Customs

How to Get a Copy of Your Birth Certificate for Travel

Birth certificates are crucial for obtaining essential identification for travel. Do you know where your birth certificate is?

Article / Arthur Frommer Online

Southwest Airlines to End Open Seating, So Why Fly It At All? There's Still One Reason

Social media is so infected with liars and bad actors that we can't trust it even to tell us the sky is blue anymore. But the minute Southwest Airlines announced that, after some 50…

Article / Arthur Frommer Online

DOT Secretary Forcefully Reminds U.S. Airline Passengers of Their New Refund Rights

Some airlines are still struggling to reboot their service in the wake of last weekend's cataclysmic CloudStrike software shutdown. On Monday, Delta Air Lines was still limping its way…

Article / Passportable

Virgin Voyages Offers Free Cruises for Young Adults Traveling with a Parent

Virgin Voyages made a splashy entrance into the cruise market a few years ago, but at the worst moment imaginable: The line's first cruise was originally scheduled for April 1,…

Article / Passportable

This Carnival Cruise Customer Service Scam Cost a Family Their $900 Vacation

We've warned you before about travel scams involving fraudulent phone numbers for airlines' customer service call centers. Passengers fall prey to that con when they look up an…

Article / Miscellaneous

How to Visit Paris During the Olympics—Even If You Want to Avoid the Games

In the summer of 2024, Paris’ flashy new Olympic facilities will compete with traffic chaos, security crackdowns, and price hikes. Here’s how to navigate Paris even if…

Article / Theme Park

Disney's Lightning Lane Passes Explained: These 10 Tips Will Save Money and Time

Disney's Lightning Lane service heaps extra expenses onto a visit, but many guests still feel like they need to submit. One thing is for sure: It's a waste of money if you use it the…

Article / Arthur Frommer Online

Airlines Are Shrinking Carry-On Sizes, Forcing Travelers to Pay Checked Bag Fees

Your carry-on hand baggage may not be small enough anymore. A new furor is unfolding in the skies as airlines are caught drastically reducing the maximum permitted size of carry-on…

Article / Passportable

Venice, Italy, Says the Entry Fee for Day Trippers Will Be Doubled

Update: November 8, 2024: There has been an update to this story. Click here to read it. The trial period for the controversial new entry fee for Venice Italy, is complete for 2024.For…

Article / Cruise

Holland America’s Standby Program: Is This the Best Deal in Cruising?

Holland America Line's Standby Program offers significant discounts for cruises—but with very short notice if you're selected. Here's what to know before taking the gamble. 

Article / Arthur Frommer Online

The Cost of Visiting Universal Epic Universe Will Gut Your Bank Account—and Disney's

There's a famous event from the history of architecture that serves as a warning to companies that assume competitors could never catch up.In the late 1920s, the Empire State Building,…

Article / Car, Bus, Rail

Orlando's Visitor Toll Pass Saves You $20–$30 a Day. More Tourists Should Know About It.

Is Florida's Visitor Toll Pass legit? Yes! But it saves tourists so much money on tolls that the rental car companies would rather you didn't know about it. Here's how it works.

Article / Family & Kids

Disney World Rebrands Genie+/ FastPass, but It's Still a Miserable, Complex, and Costly Chore

In July 2024, Walt Disney World in Florida tweaks its overscubscribed beat-the-lines product yet again. To make it work, vacationers will have to plan even farther ahead and spend even…

Article / Air Travel

5 Idiotic Viral Travel Hacks You Shouldn’t Bother Trying When You Fly

Don't believe everything you see on the internet. These viral travel hacks aren't likely to make flying better—and could make things worse. 

Article / Arthur Frommer Online

Bags Stolen From Baggage Claim: The Airlines' Big Luggage Security Problem

Many travelers won't know or remember this, but there was a time when airline passengers had to to present a claim check in order to pick up their luggage after flights.Until the early…

Article / Passportable

JetBlue Basic Economy to Allow Carry-Ons—Which Airlines Still Charge for Overhead Bins?

JetBlue passengers with the airline's cheapest class of tickets, known as Blue Basic fares, will be allowed to bring a carry-on bag onto the plane at no additional charge, the carrier…

Article / Slideshows

The Best Packable Backpacks: These Day Packs Fold Up for Easy Travel

Now that many travelers are cutting costs by packing only a single carry-on bag, a new problem arises: What should you carry around for a day of touring, or what bag can you use in the…

Article / Hotels

A Home Rental Exec Reveals His Best Hack for Finding Cheap Vacation Rentals

Sick of the high vacation rental fees on Airbnb and VRBO? A guy who founded one of the big home rental sites shares a huge tip for getting around them.

Article / Arthur Frommer Online

Online Passport Renewal is Back in the U.S.! Here's How to Get In On It

All right, Americans. Ready? This is online passport renewal, take two. The U.S. State Department today announced that it is once again accepting applications for online passport…

Article / Arthur Frommer Online

This Airline Is Mining Your Personal Information to Sell Things to You In Flight. Stop That!

Welcome to the spammy skies. United Airlines has launched a new ad serving platform that will exploit the personal travel information of its customers gathered from bookings, and the…

Article / Arthur Frommer Online

Find Vacation Rentals—But From Someone You Know: Meet Trustr, A New Rental Site

According to the National Association of Home Builders, there are 7.5 million second homes in the United States, which is 5.11% of the total number of homes. Yet even in this age of…

Article / Passportable

TSA Confirms Real ID Will Be Mandatory to Fly Starting May 7, 2025

This post was originally published in December 2022 and contains updated information.The deadline for all Americans to be using Real I.D., the strengthened identification format that…

Article / Slideshows

Silver Nova Cruise Ship Review: What Silversea's All-Inclusive Luxury Cruising Is Like

Compared to mainstream cruises with their upcharges and theme-park-esque gimmicks, all-inclusive luxury cruises definitely have their charms. The staff knows your name and preferred…

Article / Cruise

11 Ways to Find a Cheap Cruise: The Secrets of Cruise Discounts in 2024

We’ve got the lowdown on how to make your hard-earned cruise vacation cash go even further. Here are 11 methods for booking a cheap cruise.

Article / Air Travel

Where is Everybody? "Humanless” Customer Service is Dominating Travel. Can We Be Heard as Consumers?

Companies have been eliminating customer assistance and denying consumers help with increasing frequency, and now the problem is nearly ubiquitous. Why isn't this a national…