Spirit Airlines is expanding its presence in South Carolina, adding flights from Charleston to Boston and New York City this spring.
12.01.2024 - 22:25 / travelandleisure.com
It’s never a pleasant experience to fly through turbulence on an airplane. and a new list is revealing which routes are more likely to experience bumps than others.
Passengers heading from Nashville to Raleigh/Durham are most likely to experience the bumpiest rides based on a report that analyzed the turbulence levels of 150,000 airline routes from travel tool Turbli. The report calculates the turbulence levels by assigning each route an «eddy dissipation rate,» which is scientific for the level of turbulence intensity.
The top 10 worst routes for turbulence include:
“Turbulence is air movement created by atmospheric pressure, jet streams, air around mountains, cold or warm weather fronts or thunderstorms. It can be unexpected and can happen when the sky appears to be clear,” according to the Federal Aviation Administration.
The report also shares the global airports that are most likely to experience turbulence, within 100 kilometers of the hub, with Santiago (SCL), Medina (MED), and Tokyo's Narita (NRT) taking the top three spots. Within the United States, Denver (DEN) ranks 7th, and is the only US airport in the top ten.
Serious injuries from turbulence have been on the rise. In 2022, there were 17 cases of injury from turbulence, which was the highest level since 2011. Most injuries from turbulence are sustained by airline crew members, according to FAA data. The FAA recommends keeping your seat buckled at all times to prevent injury from unexpected turbulence, and only using approved child safety seats onboard aircraft.
Experts have previously shared with Travel + Leisure that modern airplanes can navigate major turbulence without any damage.
Spirit Airlines is expanding its presence in South Carolina, adding flights from Charleston to Boston and New York City this spring.
Beating out even famously scenic states like Alaska and Utah, California boasts more national parks than any other state. The Golden State's 10 national parks show off the diverse range of landscapes you can find on the West Coast, from the towering redwoods of NorCal, the arid deserts of SoCal, the iconic flora of Joshua Tree and the surreal geologic results of past volcanic eruptions and glacier paths.
The Wall Street Journal published its annual list of the best and worst carriers in the US for 2023, and Delta Air Lines once again took the crown for the top airline.
Regardless of whether you’re a nervous flier or not, turbulence can be an unnerving experience mid-flight. One minute you are cruising along smoothly, and the next you’re seeing the seatbelt sign illuminate and things start to get a little bumpy.
Mark your calendars: On April 8, 2024, a rare total solar eclipse will cut a path across the continent beginning with Mexico, passing through the US, and exiting through Canada. The line of totality for this celestial phenomenon will cross through 13 US states with some areas seeing a maximum totality of over four minutes (including Bloomington, Indiana, and Mesquite, Texas). So, there are plenty of chances to observe the eclipse as it arches from Texas to Maine, hitting Oklahoma, Arkansas, Missouri, Illinois, Kentucky, Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York, Vermont, and New Hampshire on the way.
Endless miles of vast land stretch as far as the eye can see, but only a few families own much of it. Almost half of all American farmland is owned by people who don't actually farm themselves. Many of these wealthy families make their fortunes in the lumber and forest industry, with millions of acres in timberland throughout the Pacific Northwest.
There’s no better way to get to know a city than by ambling down winding roads and cobblestone streets, popping into restaurants and art galleries along the way. Unfortunately, in the many car-centric metropolitans of the US, a leisurely stroll from your hotel lobby might just lead you to a parking lot instead.
For frequent flyers the varying amount of legroom on airplanes can be difficult to navigate. A recent study analyzed the amount of available legroom on varying airlines’ most popular routes, and ranked them in order of most legroom to least legroom. The clear winner was JetBlue while Frontier Airlines and Spirit Airlines tied in 7th place, according to the study from Upgraded Points. The full ranking for the airline seat legroom is:
When it comes to putting together the perfect pub tap line-up, parallels can be drawn from football management. As with an ideal first 11, there needs to be balance at the pumps — a required blend of promising youth and gnarled veterans, an equilibrium struck between the scampering pomp of the new world craft brewing scene and a solid spine of enduring, ageless classics, the odd eccentric from overseas and, at the fear of stretching the analogy a little too far, a couple of unashamed crowd-pleasers who go down far too easily.
Growing up in the Midwest, I often saw photos on calendars or computer-screen wallpapers that seemed like they couldn't be real.
Six countries now have the world's most powerful passport, according to the 2024 Henley Passport Index — but the US isn't one of them.
There's a new six-way tie for first place in an annual global travel ranking.France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Singapore, and Spain, have all tied as having the top passport in the world, measured by providing visa-free access to 194 countries with their respective passports, according to the newest Henley Passport Index. The annual report measures the flexibility of visa-free travel and has become a popular list among global travelers. For comparison, in 2023, only Japan was crowned with the top spot when it provided access to 193 countries.