FOOD & DRINK tips

Do new free onboard snacks warrant a press release? JetBlue thinks they do.

While traveling, being able to drink filtered water throughout the day can be challenging. And while buying bottled water might be a temporary solution, it’s terrible for the environment and expensive to do. Which is why bringing along a bottle like Kor’s Nava Filter Water Bottle on your trip is a good idea. This straw-filtered bottle is stylish, durable, and won’t be a pain to carry around.

Food pics on Instagram feeds can sate even the biggest visual appetite. Search a hashtag such as #food or #restaurant and you’ll find the world represented through its dishes. A sweet bun served up in a village tea house in Myanmar, a high-concept amuse bouche straight from Paris, a mile-high roadhouse burger from somewhere along Route 66—there’s something for every taste.

Enter the General Assembly Space “Go Places: Burgundy” sweepstakes by October 2, 2016, for a chance to win the grand prize: a 10-day trip for two people to Burgundy, France, including air, hotel, market and vineyard tours, and wine tastings.

It’s become an industry-wide marketing trend recently for airlines to serve branded coffee and promote the association. Boast the roast.

Enter the Travel Channel “The Trip: 2018” sweepstakes by March 30, 2018, for a chance to win the grand prize: a trip for two to Antigua and St. Lucia, including airfare to, between, and from the islands, six nights’ accommodations in Antigua, 13 nights in St. Lucia, spa treatments, a swim with sting rays, a cooking class, a jet ski adventure, a water ski lesson, a scuba lesson, and a catamaran cruise.

Free meals in coach—that relic of a bygone, gilded era of aviation—might be making a comeback.

Free meals in coach? Holy throwback!

Beer lovers, rejoice. Arthur Guinness is Airbnb’s newest host, and you could spend the night at his beloved brewery this spring.

Sir Richard Branson’s latest trending project isn’t galactic space travel, it’s hotels. The 66-year old mogul has dabbled in the hospitality industry before with his Virgin Limited Edition business, but now he’s bringing the Virgin brand stateside with a handful of Virgin Hotel properties. The first of these is Virgin Hotels Chicago, which I was able to experience in person on a recent trip to Chicago.

Fair or not, American travelers are sometimes given a bad rap abroad. The ugly American stereotype paints us as insensitive, loud, and unfashionable—even if most of us aren’t! Instead of getting mad about it, why not take it as travel advice? Here’s what you can learn from the ugly American stereotype.

For years, Southwest has bragged about its simple, low price for all onboard alcoholic beverages: “$5 happy hour, every hour.” In fact, Southwest has held to that $5 drink price since 2009.

Without warning, Chef Patrick flicked his wrist and chocolate sauce flew across the table. As I and the other restaurant patrons jumped to cover the tops of our wine glasses, the chef smiled and began to throw together (literally) the night’s dessert on a white canvas, like an Italian Jackson Pollock. He sprinkled coffee cake and sunflower seed crumbs, then gently added lemon curd and cheesecake. For the finale, he slammed fist-sized tiramisu balls down on the table, sending chocolate debris flying across the canvas.

When you think of enjoying an espresso in Italy, you probably don’t envision getting one at Starbucks. Italy is the same country that gave us the cappuccino, the macchiato, and—my personal favorite—the affogato, which comes with a big scoop of gelato. Drinking coffee in Italy is an event in itself, so it’s no wonder the country has resisted the super-sized coffee chain for so long. But with the opening of the first Starbucks in Italy, that attitude might be changing.

Between avocado toast (thanks, millennials) and avocado ice cream (thanks, Tom Brady), you’d think that we’ve reached peak avocado—but you’d be wrong. This June, an entire 6,700-square-foot avocado museum will open in San Diego.

“There’s nothing wrong with that view,” says Annette McDonnell with honest pride from her vantage point at the Paradise Ridge wine tasting room in the small Sonoma town of Kenwood. Out the window, dormant grapevines soak up sun above a sea of bright yellow wild mustard flowers. Beyond the vineyards, the fire-scarred hills are developing a hint of green as winter grass stakes the first claim of renewal after the fires swept through the area in October 2017.

One part of the globe has suffered perhaps the most skepticism from travelers in recent years: the Middle East and North Africa. But this year, the region is experiencing a spike in visitor numbers, astounding Middle East travel experts with its sudden resurgence.

Many of the world’s best wine regions are popular vacation spots in their own right: California, France, South Africa, and New Zealand. But there are still some undiscovered, award-winning wine regions with hidden treasures like “floating” vineyards and castle wineries—and fewer tipsy tourists.

For New Yorkers, access to a good rooftop can make or break a summer. Whether you’re getting your tan on or enjoying a quiet nightcap with a view of the skyline, time spent on the roof is a quintessential part of summer in New York City. And for visitors, there’s no better or easier way to join in the rooftop revelry than by hitting up some of the best rooftop bars in NYC.

If traveling more is one of your New Year’s resolutions for this year, you’ll want to check off all of the 12 best places to travel in 2019—there’s one for every month of the year.

At the Fairmont Waterfront in Vancouver, something is abuzz. Fairmont hotels might be synonymous with luxury, but at this one, travelers can take one of the best free tours in Vancouver—a beekeeping demonstration.