Archer Aviation Gets $230 Million for Flying Taxis: Startup Funding

A few years ago, when flight prices were awfully expensive, I saw an Amtrak ticket from California to Washington, DC, for just $250 and snapped it up.

Clarksville, a historic district of Austin, Texas, has lately emerged as a stylish dining and shopping enclave. Among the area’s most compelling new businesses is La Embajada, a design shop housed in a 1923 Craftsman bungalow. Combining the hospitality and interiors expertise of its founder, Raul Cabra — who has designed tableware for some of Mexico City’s most celebrated restaurants, including Rosetta and Pujol — La Embajada presents a refined, regionally diverse selection of Mexico’s artisanal offerings. A series of small rooms display vintage and contemporary furniture, from stately midcentury armchairs and 1970s glass sconces to a minimalist agave fiber rug by the Oaxaca-based textile artist Trine Ellitsgaard. The house is also an actual residence. Cabra often stays in the bedroom up the creaky stairs, and he’s recently made it available for short-term stays (bookings include a daily basket of baked goods from Austin’s Swedish Hill). Guests can purchase the room’s handmade décor, such as a pair of sleek bedside lamps in milky white onyx, a 1960s La Malinche dresser and a bedspread from a Michoacan manufacturer that once supplied Herman Miller. Downstairs, glassware, candles and gifts fill a section modeled after a typical general store in a small Mexican town. But La Embajada’s heart is its inviting kitchen, where visiting chefs cook elaborate meals and staff prepare ice cream and coffee. In another twist, every bespoke detail — including a hammered copper sink, caramel-colored tiles and waxed pine cabinets — can be custom-ordered for one’s own home.

Always wanted to see Antarctica? Holland America Line this week unveiled an unusual new option for getting there.

As the summer travel season comes to a close, travelers have a new way to save on fall getaways. JetBlue recently announced the «Game On» fare sale, which offers flights as low as $49. The promotion is a nod to the fall football season, however the fares can provide an affordable options for early fall vacations, or last-minute trips.  As an example, JetBlue shows a fare of $49 one-way from New York's JFK airport to Nashville, Tenn. for travel in both September and October.

Holland America Line is offering travelers a unique opportunity to experience a taste of its renowned Grand Voyages by booking segments of its 2025 Grand World Voyage or 2025 Grand Voyage: Pole to Pole. These abbreviated segments, available for as little as $169 per day, allow guests to enjoy the grandeur and luxury of a world-class voyage without committing to the entire four-month journey.

Disney Cruise Line is sharing more details about its newest ship, Disney Destiny, including its inaugural sailing date and some itinerary details.

Frontier Airlines unveiled 11 new routes across 15 airports that are scheduled to launch in October and November.

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Hundreds of charter and personal planes touched down on the same tarmac this weekend — and it wasn't in the Hamptons, Lake Tahoe, or any other particularly bougie hot spot. It was a pop-up airport called 88NV in the middle of the Nevada desert.

Sri Lanka is set to launch a six-month pilot program on October 1, offering free 30-day tourist visas on arrival to citizens from 35 countries, including the U.S., UK, Russia, India and China. The initiative, which temporarily waives the typical $50 visa fee, aligns with the island nation’s peak travel season, lasting from December to mid-April. This move is part of a broader strategy to revitalize tourism, a sector crucial to Sri Lanka’s economy.

This month, an 11-year-old startup called Flyr raised the largest single round of venture capital for a travel tech company in years: A total package of nearly $300 million. 

This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Scarlett Kiaras-Attari, a marketing executive and education content creator who moved to the UK for her studies. It has been edited for length and clarity.