Latest Travel News tips

While its success is based principally on attractive pricing and ease of use, Uber’s business model critically depends on a ready supply of available and motivated workers. While there’s no sign that the supply of potential drivers is drying up, yet, the enthusiasm of Uber drivers seems to be eroding.

Today’s announcement that Southwest has a new marketing relationship with a rideshare company was no surprise. As rideshare services have become an ever-larger part of the travel landscape, such tie-ups have proliferated. It won’t be long before every airline and hotel loyalty program has a rideshare company on its roster of points-earning partners.

To the list of hotels that offer discounted rates to members of their loyalty programs—Starwood, Hilton, Hyatt, Marriott, InterContinental, Choice—can now be added the Carlson Rezidor Hotel Group (Quorvus Collection, Radisson Blu, Radisson, Radisson RED, Park Plaza, Park Inn, Country Inns & Suites).

The news came in a text—a link to an article announcing that “Scotland’s Leopard Man” had died. I blinked. I paused. And then I remembered the hermit who wanted cookies, and how my encounter with him 20 years earlier taught me one of the most important travel lessons I’ve ever learned.

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

Vegas has come a long way, baby. No longer a Mecca for gambling and other less licit activities, the city has become synonymous with family fun, world-class dining, and big-name entertainment.

Washington lawmakers are flyers, too. Frequent flyers in most cases.

When an airline’s own pilots call its service “outright embarrassing,” and deride the company’s corporate culture as “toxic,” you can safely say that airline has a problem.

Travel Weekly reports that the TSA is already alerting travelers to forthcoming ID requirements set to take effect in 2018.

You brought your suitcase to the airport in pristine condition, but when your checked luggage slides down the carousel, you barely recognize it—it looks like it’s been dragged behind the plane during your flight. What happens to our checked bags that make them look so beat-up when they arrive?

This week, on March 22, American’s new AAdvantage award chart takes effect, the first in a two-step devaluation of the oldest and largest airline loyalty program.

WOW Air, the Iceland-based no-frills carrier that raised eyebrows with its $99 fares from Boston and Baltimore to Iceland a year ago, now has something in common with Spirit Airlines, the U.S. carrier notorious for its nickel-and-diming and generally customer-unfriendly ways.

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

Planning a road trip this summer? For the sake of safety and peace of mind, your own and others’, add this to the pre-departure to-do list: a review of your driving habits. After all, while there’s nothing you can do to change other drivers’ bad habits, you are at least in control of your own.

Enter the Budget Travel “Iceland” sweepstakes by February 19, 2016, for a chance to win the grand prize: a trip for two to Iceland, including air, nine nights’ hotel, some meals, and local tours.

You don’t have to spend a ton to impress all of the travelers on your holiday shopping list. This year, many of the top gadgets, necessities, and comfort items all cost less than $50. Here are the best of the best.

Last week, Airbnb removed 2,233 New York based listings from its site in its latest attempt to appease New York City legislators. Airbnb has been in the news recently for fighting legal battles in its hometown of San Francisco, and New York is another major listings city for the company.

United has decided to delay implementation of its low-frills economy product, according to Skift.

Need a pre- or post-flight nap, or just a little quiet time in the midst of the airport’s hustle and bustle?

It’s been awhile since Hyatt’s last systemwide bonus promotion. That will be remedied beginning next month, with a new offer that, at least for high-frequency travelers, will have been well worth the wait.

To seasoned travelers, the words “program updates” are the ultimate buzzkill, foreshadowing a raft of customer-unfriendly changes to the loyalty programs they’re invested in.