Articles

Money and Fees

Article / Arthur Frommer Online

Cruising Is Getting More and More Expensive for Unvaccinated Passengers

Carnival Cruise Line has become the latest major cruise company to announce that passengers who are unvaccinated or do not want to reveal their vaccination status will have to purchase…

Article / Arthur Frommer Online

Is It Wise to Book Group Tours at This Time? Our Advice

Even in the best of times, group tours are tremendously complicated travel products. A tour company not only has to create an appealing itinerary. It must also arrange for all…

Article / Arthur Frommer Online

Hertz Accused of Slapping Fees on Innocent Customers: How to Protect Yourself

Tuesday's Los Angeles Times had a skin-crawling story about Hertz, the rental car giant that just emerged from bankruptcy last week. The article tells the tale of a family who picked…

Article / Arthur Frommer Online

The World’s Most and Least Expensive Cities for Expats in 2021

Interested in living abroad? Turns out you're likely to blow your budget fastest in Ashgabat, Turkmenistan, according to a well-regarded annual ranking of the world's most expensive…

Article / Passportable

Southwest Airlines' 50th Birthday Sale Is Big—and Won't Last Long

For Southwest Airlines, it's been a week of good news and bad news so far. On Monday, technical issues led to the grounding of flights nationwide. Then, a separate computer network…

Article / Passportable

Curacao To Give One Night Free After Every Three Booked—We Think

Last week, headlines trumpeted the news that hotels on Curaçao are giving visitors a big incentive to visit: four nights for the price of three. The deal, the equivalent of 25% off the…

Article / Passportable

Amtrak Nearly Halves the Price of Its USA Rail Pass for Summer Vacationers

And it's time for another impressive sale from Amtrak. Over the last six months, the national railway has rolled out one discount after another, but this one should be particularly…

Article / Passportable

You Can Now Stay Overnight at the Palace of Versailles. Take a Peek Inside.

We're guessing Marie Antoinette's TripAdvisor review of the Château de Versailles would have been decidedly mixed ("Pastry chef: okay; security against angry mobs: subpar; verdict: two…

Article / Arthur Frommer Online

Thanks to Plummeting Hotel Costs, This Could be New York's Most Affordable Summer in Years

Hotel rates and Broadway show tickets have long been the two most expensive parts of most visitors' trips to New York City. But on Wednesday, May 19, some of those expenses were…

Article / Arthur Frommer Online

Newly Launched Breeze Airways Connects Smaller U.S. Cities for Low Fares

A new low-cost airline dedicated to serving small and "underserved" U.S. cities is set to take off this week. Breeze Airways, the fifth airline startup backed by JetBlue founder David…

Article / Arthur Frommer Online

Travel Prices Will Rise Sharply in the Coming Weeks, Warns a New Report

I've always said that one of my main jobs as a travel writer is to make really stupid mistakes so I can warn my readers about what not to do. Glory be, I made one such mistake in early…

Article / Passportable

New Flights—and Cheaper Airfares—from the U.S. to Italy Coming This Summer

In April 2013, the way Americans planned Italian vacations underwent a seismic shift. That was when the Emirates airline announced plans to start flying from New York City to Milan.…

Article / Passportable

After Pandemic-Era Reprieve, Parking Fees Coming Back to Las Vegas Strip

Some travel policies adopted during the pandemic look like they're here to stay (goodbye, airline change fees!). Others proved to be fleeting (goodbye, empty middle seats on…

Article / Arthur Frommer Online

With the Return of Travel Comes the Return of Robocall Travel Scams

If the pandemic had one silver lining, it was that, from March through August, the number of robocalls of all sorts dropped precipitously. Like everyone else, the employees of the call…

Article / Passportable

Another U.S. Airline to Charge for Checking Your Oversize Carry-On at the Gate

There's a moment in most movie westerns when the hero walks into town and everybody on the street slowly turns to give him a beady stare. I had that experience when I flew Ryanair in…

Article / Passportable

A "50% Off" Flash Sale for Amtrak's 50th Birthday

America's national railway is turning the big 5-0, and in celebration, Amtrak is halving the cost of most journeys for the coming months. But there are significant exceptions,…

Article / Arthur Frommer Online

Another Mediterranean Destination Says It Will Subsidize Tourist Visits

Last year, the Italian island of Sicily announced that it was creating a fund to pay for half of vacationers' costs. It was a powerfully attractive promise, to be sure, but considering…

Article / Arthur Frommer Online

Will TripAdvisor's New Subscription Service Alter Its Hotel Search Results?

There’s a term in marketing known as the “Ikea Effect.” It comes from a study that showed that when customers had to invest time and effort into a product—such as building an Ikea…

Article / Arthur Frommer Online

The Gentrification of Nature—and What to Do About It

America’s wide-open spaces should be open to all. But more and more, the great outdoors are becoming a playground for the rich. Mind you, nature has long had a luxury market hawking…

Article / Arthur Frommer Online

Airlines Bring Back Fees, But Not for Every Passenger

Strange as it may feel to find anything about 2020 that could possibly qualify as the Good Old Days, the global crisis did yield a few positives. When demand for commercial flights…

Article / Passportable

Act Soon for Amtrak's Terrific BOGO Sale on Private Roomettes For Summer Travel

You'll have to book this one soon. The deadline is April 16, but if you're lucky enough to get this bring-a-companion-for-free deal, you will both be traveling at the height of the…

Article / Passportable

The Motel from "Schitt's Creek" Is for Sale! (Wig Wall Not Included)

The Ontario motel used for exterior shots on the TV comedy Schitt's Creek is up for sale. Located on 6.7 wooded acres in the town of Mono about 55 miles north of Toronto, the Hockley…

Article / Passportable

Find a Town That Will Pay You to Relocate There with This Online Directory

As we learned in the last year, travel doesn't have to mean vacation only. Relocation can be a type of journeying, too, especially for those who can work remotely. During the pandemic,…

Article / Passportable

Vail Resorts Cuts Price of Multiresort Ski Pass by 20% for 2021–22

A season pass to ski at some of the top mountain resorts in North America will be significantly cheaper next winter. Vail Resorts, which operates dozens of properties, began selling…

Article / Arthur Frommer Online

The Airlines Are Blindsiding Customers by Switching Itineraries—But You Don't Have to Take It

Americans may not realize it, but the pandemic has made airline schedules far less stable than they were. Travelers now have a much higher chance of getting stuck with an itinerary…