Donate to Charity and Earn 10x Southwest Points for Your Next Flight — Here’s How

Director Ridley Scott has advised people to avoid visiting Malta, one of the filming locations for his action flick, "Gladiator II."

This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Andrew Jernigan, CEO of Insured Nomads. It has been edited for length and clarity.

Saving money is on everyone's to-do list. I mean, just look around at the cost of things. The good news is that if you have an American Express card, it's actually easy to do so with a few simple clicks.

From Elf on the Shelf to cookie swaps, matching pajama sets, ugly sweater office parties, and countless other traditions, the holidays can be the most wonderful — and exhausting — time of the year.

WHY IT RATES: Hodelpa Hotels and Avolta announced a strategic collaboration to provide enhanced customer experiences and exclusive benefits, integrating their strengths in hospitality and innovation. —Janeen Christoff, TravelPulse Managing Editor

A new Alaska Airlines premium credit card with enhanced perks and greater opportunities to earn bonus miles is coming next summer.

Since moving to Florida with my family eight years ago, we've spent every holiday season visiting Disney World and Universal Orlando.

In March 2023, Tim Wong and Andrew Q. Tran took an impactful trip to Asia: The Bay Area-based couple, who began dating in 2020 after meeting through Andrew’s sister, attended a friend’s destination wedding on Balesin Island in the Philippines and went on to visit South Korea and Japan. Tim proposed to Andrew in Osaka, and then Andrew proposed back, at their next stop in Nara. The pair had dinner with their newlywed pals once they’d all returned to the US, and it didn’t take long for Tim and Andrew to become convinced they needed to have a destination wedding, too.

Extreme weather is happening more frequently across the country, as we have seen this year with Hurricane Helene’s catastrophic impact on Asheville, N.C., November’s wildfires in New York and New Jersey and this month’s fast-spreading Malibu fire. Nearly 20 percent of all Americans have had to evacuate their homes because of unexpected severe weather, according to a new study by the analytics firm YouGov.

Chicago is too big, enormous in both geography and spirit, to capture in its entirety. Locals understand this. If you find a book set in a nonspecific “Chicago” — a book purporting to take the whole place as its subject, or one that assumes downtown is the entire ethos — you know it was written by someone who only visits.

Emme Hayes wasn’t happy with the “buy, use, and toss” flow of gear in the outdoor apparel industry. With constant pressure from brands and social media to buy the latest and greatest gear, the industry she loves and has worked in for much of her life wasn’t exactly living up to her – or its – values. Footwear and clothing account for some 8 percent of total carbon emissions, and though gear brands love to tout mantras of ever-increasing sustainability, buying new stuff constantly is never going to be as sustainable as using what you have for longer, and repurposing it when you’re done. In 2021, the climate activist and former apparel designer decided to do something about it, founding the digital platform Articles in Common as a marketplace for recreators to repurpose their outdoors gear and clothing to keep it out of landfills.

In a move that’s left the cruise industry reeling, Mexico’s Congress has voted for a new tax of $42 per cruise passenger on a ship docking at a Mexican port. This new levy could take effect as early as next month. And if you’re thinking, “That’s fine, I’ll stay on board,” there will be no avoiding this extra charge. Whether you disembark or not, all passengers will need to pay $42. Previously, cruise passengers were exempt from tourist taxes under the “in-transit” provision of the Non-Migrant Rights policy.