Cover tips

Whether it’s a modest box of conversation hearts or a flamboyant heart-shaped box of chocolates, a whopping 92% of Americans plan to say “I Love You” with a gift of sweets on Valentine’s Day, according to the National Confectioners Association.

Now with its Art Deco furniture, uniformed doormen and glamourous décor, it’s hard to imagine The Beaumont in its previous life as a parking garage built in 1926. Tucked away on Balderton Street, behind London’s Oxford Street (the Selfridge’s end, of course), it was transformed into a hotel in 2014, yet a stay here is reminiscent of a time when flapper girls would be holed up in the bar and dashing gentlemen would be holding court in the lobby.

Even with all our travel savvy, the experts at The Points Guy and our team of intrepid contributors are occasionally thrown a curve ball ... in this case, by the grounding of the Boeing 737 MAX 9.

Most of us want to live healthier lives. As such, we've written about the best all-inclusive wellness resorts and the best credit cards for fitness expenses. And a few years back, we even covered a card that offered rewards for staying active.

One of our very best packing tips is to fill your closet (and suitcase) with reliable staples you can rewear again and again. Of course, those essentials will vary slightly by season. When building a winter travel capsule wardrobe, timeless basics and layering pieces are key. Instead of panic-buying trendy outfits you'll wear once before every vacation, focus on adding a few high-quality pieces to your wardrobe that pair effortlessly with your existing favorites and will last for years to come.

When traveling means spending long days on your feet, the right shoes are your superpower. Marry performance and luxury, and you can hit the ground running. Gifting an amazing pair of shoes, both fashionable and functional, is a surprise that elevates every traveler's fashion edits with high marks for ingenuity. Be that person they won’t soon forget: a soul searcher with impeccable taste. Here are ten of the finest footwear for travelers to gift this Valentine’s Day.

There's no shortage of great perks you can get with a travel credit card — especially with several solid options currently on the market.

Credit cards offer all kinds of protection, from travel insurance and trip delay coverage to purchase protection and extended warranty. One of the single most useful benefits any credit card can offer, however, is cellphone protection.

Underrated and underexplored, the small slither of West Africa that makes up Benin is best covered by road. 

I know what you're thinking: It doesn't make much sense to hold two cards that earn the same type of points while paying hefty annual fees to keep them both in your wallet.

In the cruise industry, January through March is considered “wave season,” a time when cruise lines offer promotions, incentives and, often, their best deals of the year. Whether you’re a seasoned cruiser or a newbie, it’s a smart time to book trips.

Earning airline elite status is a bit like an obsession. You take deliberate actions to maintain it, and when you lose it, you have serious withdrawals when you don't get that first-class upgrade or see a comparatively low number of miles in your account after a flight.

As I hopped in the driver's seat of the Ram ProMaster van I had rented for the next two weeks, reality set in that I was embarking on the longest road trip of my life.

Many Americans are starting to plan spring break or summer trips. But travel presents new dangers, like volcanic eruptions in Iceland to wars in the Middle East.

Alaska Airlines has reached a new milestone in a multiyear overhaul of its fleet.

It's already shaping up to be an interesting year for travel. Images of flaming planes on a runway, volcanic eruptions and catastrophic earthquake damage are reminders to add travel insurance to your pre-trip checklist.

The benefits of investing in a great travel backpack are numerous. In most instances, they’re just as roomy as your carry-on, with the added perks of allowing for easy access to essentials (no need to unveil the entire contents of your bag to the airport while digging about for your phone charger when you’ve got plenty of pockets to utilize). With a backpack, you can head off to your airport gate with both hands-free for your coffee and boarding pass. And they’re a much better option for hiking and camping trips; nobody wants to lug a suitcase across soggy grass or bumpy terrain.

“I feel like we’re at the house of rich friends with impeccable taste…and they’ve given us run of the place,” I said to my partner during our stay at Inn the Ground, which opened in Oregon’s Willamette Valley this year. We were seated around a sleek concrete fire bowl on the patio, wearing plush white robes on loan from the Inn. Sipping pinot from glasses we grabbed after being told we could help ourselves to anything in the ultra-modern kitchen, we relished the quiet, and watched the last of that day’s light disappear from the profile of Mt. Hood.

The marigold façade of the Pousada Convento in Tavira, a town on Portugal's southern coast, gleams in the late-afternoon sun. Refreshing as it is to sip chilled pineapple juice in the Algarve heat, it's not the promise of shade that leads me into its cloisters. The tranquil courtyard, flanked by cheery yellow walls and weathered colonnades, is a portal to the 16th century, when the structure was built for an order of Augustinian nuns.

As we head into the next two weeks of holiday travel, the U.S. Transportation Security Administration expects to screen more than 2.5 million passengers daily from Dec. 21 to Jan. 2, following the screening of approximately 30 million travelers over Thanksgiving.

Taking a cruise can be anything from a short but welcome escape from daily life to a once-in-a-lifetime family vacation. Cruising is generally a safe travel option, and the majority of voyages conclude without any major incidents.