Skiing’s Budget Secret: It Can Be Cheaper in Europe

The start of the new year is a time for resolutions, one of them being to travel more.

Peak ski season is well underway, and travelers flying with Alaska Airlines can enjoy free lift tickets at select resorts across the U.S. and Canada — just by showing their same-day boarding passes.

Getting to Europe just got easier with a new promotion from Flying Blue, the joint frequent flier program of Air France and KLM. 

As of Dec. 16, 2024, Paris and Berlin are linked by a direct high-speed train for the first time. Though the new eight-hour rail service isn't exactly speedy, the launch is part of a push within Europe to reduce short-haul flights in favor of more eco-friendly train options.

Every winter, Moncler- and Chanel-clad skiers descend upon St. Moritz for fresh Alpine snow, truffle fondue, and an après-ski scene steeped in excess. Many of the best dressed stay at the venerable Badrutt's Palace, whose founder, Caspar Badrutt, helped establish St. Moritz as a resort town. The hotel reopened for the season with 25 new suites and guest rooms, all outfitted with B&B Italia furniture and Loro Piana upholstery. Look the part by skiing into the plein air Paradiso Mountain Club & Restaurant in a cream down jacket and black fleece-lined boots. Pop a bottle or two of brut, selected from cellar containing more than 30,000 bottles.

Ski season in the western United States and Canada doesn't look like it did a decade ago. Despite the fact that climate change has made snowfall far less predictable, resorts have never been more crowded. This is partly because so many of the region's best mountains now accept the multi-resort Epic and Ikon passes, making it cost-effective to spend more days at more destinations, and also because the COVID-era uptick in the sport has endured. Long lift lines and packed runs, as well as sold-out slope-adjacent hotels, are now the norm.

This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Kelsea Myers. It has been edited for length and clarity.

American Airlines will use a special rule exception to fly longer-than-normal routes out of New York's LaGuardia Airport next year.

American Airlines has just announced a notable expansion to Canada and the Rockies next year. 

Planning international travel in 2025 will be a lot easier thanks to a wave of new flights kicking off in the new year. Even better, these flights are expected to be more affordable than ever.

It's been another wild year across the airline loyalty landscape, with Delta Air Lines and United Airlines raising their status requirements, Alaska Airlines acquiring Hawaiian Airlines, and American Airlines adding new features and rewards for its Loyalty Points-based AAdvantage program.

New York’s Times Square in a chilly December is as far from the Dominican Republic as you can get, but the island's tourism office recently brought a piece of the country to the “crossroads of the world” in the form of a giant transparent dome in Duffy Square right in the heart of Times Square just weeks before the glittering New Year’s ball drops.