Latest Travel News tips

IHG Rewards today released its latest list of PointBreaks hotels that are available for booking for just 5,000 points per night.

There’s been a lot of talk lately about discount airlines providing low-fare flights to European cities. London, Amsterdam, and Copenhagen are now an inexpensive Wow Air or Norweigan Air flight away from the U.S.—that is, if you’re willing to forego an in-flight meal and deal with a layover. But many business travelers and membership-savvy flyers aren’t looking for a cheap, lengthy flight sans free food.

Thanks to the DOT, U.S. airlines are required to allow customers who book non-refundable tickets more than seven days in advance to either 1) hold the reservation for 24 hours before being charged for it, or 2) pay for the reservation but cancel within 24 hours and receive a refund.

Just a week after Hilton announced decidedly benign changes to its award pricing, Hyatt is doing the same.

Airlines for America is the organization that is paid to represent the interests of U.S. airlines. So when it forecasts record numbers of passengers traveling this spring, it’s meant to be taken as a compliment to the industry, a positive reflection on the airlines’ ability to deliver air travel at an attractive price. In A4A’s view, “The continued growth in passenger volumes can be attributed to the accessibility and affordability of air travel today. To meet the extra demand, airlines are deploying new and larger aircraft on many routes.”

Following is our regular summary of the latest travel news and best frequent traveler promotions reviewed during the past week.

Danny Meyer is a restaurateur’s restaurateur. As the founder of both high-end eateries like Grammercy Tavern and the affordable Shake Shack chain of burger joints, he’s one of the country’s most successful and acclaimed food purveyors. So he knows a thing or two about service.

Sale season is in full swing—which means now is the time to stock up on travel accessories and essentials. Whether you’re on the hunt for gifts or need to prepare for an upcoming trip, the hottest travel products on Amazon are the perfect place to start. Here are this year’s must-have items.

Fly roundtrip to or from select Asian destinations for as few as 50,000 Delta miles in coach.

This year’s ongoing security difficulties (read: long TSA wait times) are about to get a multi-million dollar fix. Earlier this month, Congress approved $28 million in funds to convert 2,784 part-time officers to full-time, which will open an additional 53 security lines nationwide. The funds will also expedite the hiring of 600 new officers before the end of September.

This morning, my inbox and social-media feed were chock full of messages from and about Virgin America. And they had nothing to do with the airline’s rumored merger with JetBlue or Alaska Airlines, a developing story that concerns the company’s very existence.

The TSA is usually a traveler’s worst nightmare, but thanks to the @AskTSA Twitter account, the TSA it turns out can actually be funny. The customer-service Twitter account answers travelers most absurd questions (no, you cannot travel with liquid mercury) about what they can and cannot carry onto a plane. And while this article is all in good fun, some questions and responses are actually useful, especially when it comes to holiday travel—it prefers if you don’t wrap your gifts, by the way—and traveling with food, liquids, and electronics.

Spirit’s widely disparaged leader, Ben Baldanza, may be gone, but the airline’s cheeky, cheesy marketing flies on without him.

Cuba’s swing from “It” destination to last year’s Caribbean wannabe has been nothing less than breathtaking, an unprecedented turnaround in the annals of tourism marketing.

From deceptive pricing to excessive fees to too-tight seating, here’s how to deal with the biggest concerns.

United has come in for more than its fair share of criticism lately, from travelers, from employees, from Wall Street. Now, the Department of Transportation can be added to the list of United-bashers.

Good news, kids! Your parents were wrong: You can have chocolate for dinner. Well, so long as you’re flying British Airways.

IHG Rewards members can make their points go farther when redeeming for award stays at 21 hotels in Mexico, Latin America, and the Caribbean.

Part of what has made Uber the undisputed leader in ride-share services is its no-tipping policy. As recently as a year ago, the following promise was featured front and center on the company’s website: “No cash, no tip, no hassle … When you arrive at your destination, just hop out—we’ll automatically charge the credit card on file. And there’s no need to tip.”

I worked for the airline industry for close to 20 years, in the 80’s and 90’s, and during that time I can recall only one instance of a fellow airline employee breaking the law. That was American CEO Bob Crandall’s ill-fated attempt, in 1982, to persuade his counterpart at Braniff to collude on price hikes. No doubt other airline workers were breaking other laws during that period, but their transgressions never rose to the level of media interest or coverage. The airline business felt like a pretty law-abiding place.

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.