These United Passengers Will Go 'Back in Time' on New Year’s Eve — Here's How

Good morning from Skift. It’s Friday, January 19. Here’s what you need to know about the business of travel today.

In cities from New York to Vienna, new short-term-rental restrictions — designed to improve housing availability for residents — are poised to boost the bottom lines at hotels. In New York in November, shortly after Airbnb and the like were limited to stays of 30 days or longer, hotel occupancy was up 6 percent and rates were up 8 percent, according to the commercial real estate firm CoStar.

How happy would you be living in Mexico?

Hoteliers in many U.S. markets in 2022 and 2023 found travelers willing to pay higher room rates post-pandemic. Robust pricing allowed many operators to keep pace with inflationary operational costs and debt service payments.Yet strong demand wasn’t enough. Last year, profit margins contracted 1.3 percentage points, and gross operating margins may continue to be pressured in 2024.

New Yorkers looking for quick winter getaways from the city are in luck: Amtrak is bringing back its popular buy-one-get-one-free sale, which offers free adult companion fares for midweek trips through February. The deal applies to full-fare adult coach tickets for trips within the Empire State on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays on the Adirondack, Empire Service, Ethan Allen, Maple Leaf and Associated Thruways lines, with the exception of 7000-8999 Thruway service.

This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with John Barnhart, a 32-year-old who left Tampa, Florida to travel, and work, around the world.

As a New York City local, I tend to avoid typically touristy places like Margaritaville, Hard Rock Cafe, Olive Garden, and Bubba Gump Shrimp.

During the pandemic, doing jigsaw puzzles became a form of meditation for me (and thousands of others) and I’m still doing them four years later. Puzzles have come a long way from the dusty old landscapes and cat illustrations you may still have on your basement shelf; dozens of new brands (many of them women-owned) have popped up and they’re creating beautiful, unique, statement-making works of art that are fun to do and worthy of framing.

It’s a common dilemma most travelers face when booking a dream vacation: how many days are you going stay in one place? It's a choice that can be the difference of having perfectly enjoyed the time in a city, and being somewhere just a little too long. This week, the dilemma spilled over into an online discourse on Reddit where hundreds of travelers weighed in on which cities require the most amount of days to visit, and which can be skipped over. One of the top cities that travelers felt needed extra time is Tokyo. The city has a population of 14 million across 847 sq. miles, while for comparison, New York City is only 468 sq miles. “Definitely Tokyo, if we're counting the Tokyo Metropolis. Just the city proper requires 10-14 days to explore its variety and sprawl,” one traveler wrote in support of the Japanese city in the tread.

London couple Fiona Evans and Josh Chan knew pretty early into wedding planning that the typical big English celebration wasn’t for them. “We started looking at venues, and in the United Kingdom, they're very expensive and they have a long waiting time—18 months to two years,” says Fiona, who works in tech. “We didn’t really fancy that.”

Norse Atlantic Airways announced on Wednesday its latest service between the U.S. and Europe, with bookings open right away and a limited-time promo deal available.

With a rate of $1190 for the cheapest room, New Orleans emerged top of the rankings.