Low-cost Icelandic airline Play is helping travelers plan a European shoulder season vacation by offering 25 percent off fall and early winter flights.
24.07.2024 - 23:31 / cntraveler.com
“In Cuba, nothing is exact. That is the appeal of the place,” wrote award-winning Cuban novelist Pedro Juan Gutiérrez in his book Our Graham Greene in Havana. This inexactness, and its simultaneously volatile yet enduring qualities, are what define Cuba and its vibrant capital. Stuffed full of plazas, baroque beauties, twirling ironwork, buffed-up vintage American motors and limping Ladas, Havana is a city of tremendous beauty soldiering on through dire times marked by power shortages, transport issues, external and internal blockades, inflation, and a slow post-pandemic tourism recovery.
Yet, in these liminal times, an upswell of creatives and entrepreneurs—some calling themselves the resistance to the communist state—are creating new art, places to stay, and places to eat, drink, and listen to music.
Beginning November 15 through to February, the 15th Habana Biennial international art fair will liven up the city’s streets, squares, galleries, and museums with Cuban and international artists showcasing new work in the official and always exciting program. The last biennial hosted 353 artists from 46 nations, and the Detrás del Muro ("Behind the Wall") sociocultural project staged on, behind, and in front of the city’s Malecón seawall is one of the highlights.
Travel to Cuba is indeed possible according to 12 purposes outlined by the United States Treasury Department; American Airlines, United, and Southwest fly from the US to Havana’s José Martí International Airport. US passport holders are asked to select a category of travel when buying an airline ticket or booking an Airbnb; the easiest category to fulfill for independent travelers is “support for the Cuban people.” Group travel is also possible via the ‘people-to-people’ purpose for travel if your trip is organized by a tour operator. US-based travelers must engage with and support the private sector, and lodging in state-run hotels is not permitted.
A pink Cuban Tourist Card, bought at airports or via airlines or visa service companies, is required for entry to the island. (Different rules apply to Cuban-born travelers). New e-visas are being rolled out to replace paper cards, and paper versions will be valid until the end of 2024; fill out the online D’Viajeros entry form up to 48 hours before travel. Travel insurance is included in US airline tickets. US-issued bank cards are not accepted on the island, so bring plenty of US dollars in cash and change small amounts as you go into Cuban pesos (CUP). (State-run establishments accept bank card payments only; but many of these are off-limits to American visitors. Cuba announced Wednesday, July 17, that state tourism establishments will soon begin to accept foreign cash payments, but that change
Low-cost Icelandic airline Play is helping travelers plan a European shoulder season vacation by offering 25 percent off fall and early winter flights.
Jul 18, 2024 • 6 min read
Qatar Airways was declared the best airline in the world at the 2024 Airline Awards in London on June 24. Qatar beat out Singapore Airlines, last year’s winner, who slipped to the number two spot this year. Emirates, ANA All Nippon Airways, and Cathay Pacific Airways completed the top five. No North American airline made the top twenty, with Delta narrowly missing out at 21. Other North American airlines that made the top 50 are Air Canada (29) and United Airlines (42). In fact, those three airlines are the only North American airlines to receive any Airline Awards. Other popular North American airlines like American, JetBlue, and Southwest failed to even be mentioned for any individual award.
In 2019, I moved from the US to Ireland and didn't look back.
Jul 17, 2024 • 7 min read
Jul 17, 2024 • 8 min read
If the current heat-wave has got you dreaming of snow-capped peaks and balmy ocean breezes, you’re not alone. Alaska Airlines just announced a massive winter expansion with one brand-new cold-weather destination and 18 new routes spanning the United States, Canada, Mexico, and Costa Rica.
Jul 17, 2024 • 7 min read
When settling on a place to live, cost of living is certainly a factor. But so is the recreation opportunities.
Los Angeles has the most sleep-friendly airport in the United States thanks to an overabundance of lounges open day and night.
I'm zooming across Gull Lake in a Malibu Wakesetter 22 LSV powerboat, which I've been told has enough torque to rocket me to the moon. The water is 77 degrees, warmed by a sun that just won't quit. Captain Amanda Nash and instructor Matt Soundy barely look old enough to drink, yet both are skilled wake surfers, excited to show me their TikTok moves. They're living the wet, hot American dream here in central Minnesota: zigzagging across six-foot swells, sucking down root beer floats, and partying every night after work. They're fun gossips too, pointing out the rumored lake homes of Tom Cruise and some med-tech bajillionaire who allegedly imported his own beach sand because the lake sand wasn't “white enough.” I enjoy the chitchat, but I'm here to launch my own wakeboarding career—one of several ways I'm trying to embrace the “lake life” I've heard so much about since moving to Minnesota six years ago. The state is the “Land of 10,000 Lakes,” as its license plates proudly attest, but as my New Yorker husband, Andrew, and I learned, that motto rounds the number down: There are actually 11,842, if you want to get persnickety about it.
At TPG, one of our main missions is to teach our readers how to use points and miles to secure dream trips they otherwise wouldn't have been able to afford. Often, we don't hear about the trips that our readers end up taking, but every now and again, we're gifted with tales of special experiences.