How To tips

Let’s not beat around the bush: Norway is expensive. However, the historically weak krone has made it a bit less so recently, and even if exchange rates change, there are plenty of ways to stretch your budget without missing out on the fantastic experiences the country has to offer.

It happened at an indoor wall for the sport of “bouldering”. I was standing watching some athletic young men conquer a tricky route that was beyond my abilities, half-listening to their banter, when I suddenly understood what they were discussing. A proposal to climb outdoors. They had never done it. They dreamed of it, but were uncertain how to go about it.

If catching a meteor shower is on your 2023 bucket list, you’re in luck. Late July welcomes the peak of the Delta Aquariid meteor shower, with an average of 10 to 20 meteors per hour.

If you want to upgrade your cruise cabin, the best time to do it is when you’re buying. Look at any of the big online cruise agencies, and you’ll see a notice that says “upgrades available” or such on some of the listings. That means you can pay for a certain category but will be assigned a higher-classed cabin immediately, effectively giving you a free cruise cabin upgrade.

A world where everyone could sleep on command—or, simply one with more comfortable airplane seats—would be a beautiful one. But until that fantasy becomes reality, some of us will have to rely on sleep aids and accessories to help us catch some Zs.

Bidding for upgrades decreases the value of elite status for frequent flyers, but it also presents opportunities for non-elites to snag an upgrade on the cheap.

Southwest manages to succeed where most companies, and airlines in particular, fail, selling a mediocre product, at a price that is rarely the lowest, racking up an industry-leading record of profitability, all the while maintaining a firm hold on the hearts and minds of its customers. Very few companies make so many people so happy so consistently.

To the modern traveler, “living like a local” has become the name of the game. There is little patience for tourist traps, and convenient hotel restaurants fail to sate the appetites of the culture-hungry traveler. As the world becomes more connected, travelers are looking for authentic experiences and are turning to social media to find them.

Last summer I warned you about public Wi-Fi networks and the most vulnerable tourist hot spots susceptible to this scam—reminder: it’s Times Square—and this summer is no different.

In Croatia, it’s common to see clotheslines hanging between the streets and much to the confusion of the locals, there’s nothing tourists love more than photographing their laundry. The ancient walls and ruins along the Dalmatian coast tell the story of the past, but the clotheslines tell the story of the city’s living inhabitants.

Stuck paying for a timeshare you want out of? You’re not alone: Some 85 percent of the nine million timeshare owners in the U.S. are looking to get out of a timeshare contract. This is according to a service that helps people get out of timeshares, called Timeshare Exit Team—which has mixed reviews online with success stories among them, and a favorable rating from the Better Business Bureau.

Looking for a new museum to add to your travel to-do list? TripAdvisor (SmarterTravel’s parent company) has released the Travelers’ Choice Top 25 Museums of 2018, including the top 10 worldwide and the top 10 in the United States, with some surprising frontrunners. The findings also highlight bookable ways to see each winner—think VIP tours and scavenger hunts—with some offering the added perk of allowing you to skip the lines to get in.

Getting banned for life from flying a commercial airline isn’t easy, or common. In fact, I can’t recall another instance of an airline’s taking such a harsh line on passenger misbehavior, ever.

It always seems like such a great idea at first: “I’ll save $100 by booking the 6 a.m. flight! I can save money and get a jump on the day.” Fast-forward to your departure, cursing yourself for having to get up early and spend money on a taxi (since it’s too early for public transit). Are you making travel miserable for yourself? Here’s how to stop.

When Kevin Maloney started to plan his trip to Iceland, a friend mentioned a new service called ViaHero. “I knew there was a lot to see in Iceland and I had a short period of time. I didn’t want to spend a lot of personal time doing the research,” Maloney says. “My goal was to have an expert map it out for me.”

Thanks to tour deals and budget airlines, you don’t necessarily have to spend a small fortune to go on a South African safari anymore—but what if you could experience a bucket-list game drive from the comfort of your computer?

Are you one of the expected 48.5 million Americans who will drive 50 miles or more over Thanksgiving 2018? You could face up to four times the normal driving times at peak hours, AAA warns. Drivers in or out of Boston, New York City, and San Francisco will face the worst congestion, and most other big cities will also see delays.

Booking holiday travel usually means watching vigilantly for the lowest-possible fares of the busy season, but it turns out this should also be a time to look out for travel scams. As the holidays bring an uptick in online purchases like travel booking, the risk of online fraud rises as well, online travel fraud prevention company Forter reports. A new report by the company found that e-commerce fraud rose 13 percent in 2017, with travel-related fraud specifically rising 37 percent—and holiday travel scams comprising a large part of it.

You know that old saying “there’s a sucker born every minute”? Don’t be one of them. Stay ahead of these surprisingly effective travel scams to keep your vacation plans from falling apart. The schemes below may be just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to travel cons, but preparing yourself for these common swindles is a good place to start.

If you’ve ever experienced a lengthy flight delay, cancellation, or been bumped involuntarily from a flight in the past three years, an airline might owe you money. A lot of Americans don’t know that, but that could soon change thanks to one air rights advocacy group: AirHelp. August marks “Passenger Rights Awareness Month” thanks to the flight compensation company, which handles claims to airlines on behalf of customers for their consumer rights, one claim at a time.

July 4, 2018, figures to be an Independence Day for the record books. It isn’t a noteworthy anniversary of our country’s independence (though we do turn a robust 242 this year); no, this year’s distinction is far more ignominious: Record-breaking traffic.