Latest Travel News tips

If you’re into the latest tech and like to stay hydrated, DrinKup’s bottle is very useful. I’ve tried stand-alone hydration apps and nothing stuck until I tested this bottle.

An airport connection (or two) is often the price you pay for service to far-off destinations. Unfortunately, a connection almost always complicates your travel planning, asking you to decide where to connect and how much time to allow for the connection. There’s no easy formula answer to those questions, but there are a few choice airports to try and avoid.

J.D. Power’s annual list of the best hotel chains in the world based on its North America Hotel Guest Satisfaction Index finds that overall satisfaction with hotel chains is on the rise, with one key area of improvement across brands. The study highlights the best hotel chains for every type of trip, from economical and short stays to luxury and extended stay.

Still haven’t started your holiday shopping? No judgment and no problem, because these sites have you covered. All of the retailers below will ship your gifts in time for Christmas, for free:

Looking for the ultimate family-bonding trip? Check out G Adventures’ brand new Family Journeys, designed for multi-generational travelers.

SpaceX has announced that Yusaku Maezawa, a young Japanese entrepreneur and billionaire art collector, will be the first paying passenger to take a trip around the moon. Maezawa purchased a private journey in Elon Musk’s newest BFR spaceship, which is tentatively scheduled for 2023.

Wondering what the best airlines are according to the average flyer? TripAdvisor (SmarterTravel’s parent company) gives a good idea in its Travelers’ Choice best airline rankings each year based on real travelers’ reviews. And the results are different than most trade studies that list the “best airlines.”

Come March 29, 2019, Great Britain is due to leave the European Union. So far, the opposing sides of the change—those who favor leaving without making any border or trade deals, and those hoping international partnerships are maintained—have not reached agreement on the specific terms. And time is running out.

A new service called Wanderift has launched a new approach to booking air travel. Travelers can join the program for a one-time fee of $500, and then pay $100 to $125 each for up to 50 airfare “tokens” per year. One token can be used for a one-way itinerary anywhere in the lower 48 states and some Caribbean points, but bookings can only be made eight days in advance or fewer.

Just in time to book your summer vacation, Intrepid Travel is offering 20 percent off (almost) all of its trips. It could help you finally afford that adventure of a lifetime.

Bookings at Southwest are way down following a fatal accident this past April. The airline announced Monday that it expects revenue per available seat mile (RASM) to fall about three percent in the current quarter. Basically, RASM goes down when more seats are empty. The airline previously estimated that this number would go down by between one and three percent—suggesting April’s incident is on travelers’ minds.

Ever wonder how much of your life you’ve wasted sitting around at the airport? Financebuzz.com compiled a list of the worst delay-prone U.S. airports of 2018, with overall delay times displayed in the collective amount of years they’ve added up to for travelers overall. And the results are not encouraging: Rankings are based on a composite of total passengers, percentage of flights delayed, and the average length of delay for the top 25 airports.

Do you want to get paid to speed through airport security? CLEAR is now offering travelers a free three-month trial, $20 in Lyft airport ride credit, and a $50 LoungeBuddy credit to test its security-expediting services.

Southwest will stop serving peanuts on flights beginning in August, according to USA Today.

Every four years, soccer fans from across the globe flock to the FIFA World Cup. Most recently the games have drawn hordes to Brazil, South Africa, and Germany—which, as all destinations do, saw their fair share of travel warnings and safety advisories ahead of the games.

Wondering how hectic the high season of summer travel will make the skies? Summer air travel will raise 3.7 percent above last year’s summer travel figure to set another all-time record, Airlines for America announced, with the U.S. expected to see an average of 2.68 million air travelers per day.

Facial recognition technology is picking up steam in airports around the country. Last year, JetBlue and Delta both tested biometric scanning methods as possible replacements for boarding passes. Now comes news that Orlando International Airport will, according to the AP, “require a face scan of passengers on all arriving and departing international flights.”

Score a free gift with your Amazon order from December 11 through December 17. The complimentary items are a surprise, but will range from expensive presents like Bose speakers to more basic household items, Delish.com reports.

Southwest is quietly raising fares for thousands of flights to combat what it calls “cost pressures” it expects will impact its business into 2019. And while these increases are indeed minor—said to be only $2 to $5 one-way—the move by the low-cost line could signal the possibility that airfares will rise across the board.

CNN reports that the TSA is contemplating eliminating passenger screening at more than 150 small and medium-sized airports across the US, according to internal documents from a TSA working group. The agency currently screens passengers at 440 airports.

Want more expert tips and vacation inspiration? Subscribe to SmarterTravel on YouTube!