Latest Travel News tips

The Dominican Republic has been in the news a lot lately, but not for the reasons its tourism industry would like. The tropical island getaway, home to miles of fabulous beaches and countless resorts, grabbed headlines recently following a spate of suspicious Dominican Republic deaths and one very high-profile shooting.

Black Friday has come and gone, but you get a second chance at discounts on travel gear, hotel stays, trips, and more on Cyber Monday 2019. Here are Cyber Monday 2019 bargains perfect for travelers.

On Wednesday, the United States and Canada joined almost every other country and dozens of airlines in grounding Boeing’s 737 MAX 8 planes closely following the second deadly crash of the brand-new aircraft model in recent months. A tragic Ethiopian Airlines crash that killed everyone onboard Sunday followed the deadly October Lion Air crash the went down near Jakarta. Both planes went down without warning, just after takeoff, and in both crashes, all passengers and crew were killed.

Applying for or renewing a passport in a timely fashion might be easier said than done thanks to a massive surge in applicants that happens between January and August every year, but following some little-known passport rules might help.

Travel to Europe is going to get slightly more complicated in 2021. Starting that year, visitors from the U.S. will need to get an ETIAS (European Travel Information and Authorization System) approval before entering countries in the Schengen zone. According to the delegation of the European Union to the U.S., the measure is not a Europe visa, but an authorization that “will enable us to get more comprehensive information from travelers coming from visa-exempt, third-country [nations] arriving at the Schengen external borders.”

Whenever Disney unveils something new, it’s a big deal. Galaxy’s Edge, Disneyland’s new Star Wars-themed land, officially opened on Friday after more than three years of construction, and it’s literally the biggest thing that’s ever happened at the parks. At more than 14 acres, it’s their largest expansion yet.

The cost of a typical day in one of Europe’s most visited cities ranges from $47 in Prague to $132 in London. A new report from the hotel booking agency AlphaRooms breaks down the costs per city.

AAA is out with its annual Memorial Day travel forecast, which outlines not only how many people will hit the road this year, but when.

Your visit to the City of Light can either be a checklist of guidebook suggestions or something so much more special. See Paris like a local and design your trip around these unique Paris experiences.

Looking for a reliable source of Brexit travel information? You’re not alone—the U.K.’s own lawmakers are still asking questions about the issue of borders and free travel after Brexit. As of January 31, 2020, the United Kingdom officially has left the European Union. But what’s to come still remains unclear: For the rest of the year, the U.K. will remain in a “transition” period, meaning nothing will change between now and 2021 in regards to borders and other travel-related items. Meaning, if you have a summer vacation planned to the U.K. or Europe, you shouldn’t worry about anything changing.

Fair warning: You have to act FAST and be really lucky, but it’s possible to get a $100 flight to Australia. To celebrate Qantas’ 100th year, the airline is offering a very limited-time sale from now to November 21. The deal is that Qantas will release 100 airfares each day for $100+ each way when purchased as a round-trip. The origin and destination are kept a mystery until the day the fares are released at 2 p.m. PST (5 p.m. EST).

These days, the post-security departure areas of most big international airports look more like shopping malls than transit hubs. Often, you can’t avoid a long trek past a meandering duty-free shopping area before you get to your departure gate.

By now, you’ve undoubtedly heard that Thomas Cook Group, the British travel operator—which encapsulates retail travel agencies, wholesale tour packagers, and even airlines—has shuttered under bankruptcy. This is the largest tour operator failure in not-so-recent memory; it’s left some 600,000 travelers stranded at their foreign destinations, and many tour buyers who haven’t started their trips yet are unlikely to see the tours they bought or any money they prepaid. The issue raises the question: What happens to customers when a tour operator they paid shuts down; are there any legal guarantees of reimbursement? The short answer: only for some people.

This shopping season, skip the mall and spend your money on travel instead. G Adventures’ big sale is offering up to 35 percent off of some of its best trips.

If there’s one thing Disney knows how to do, it’s build anticipation for a coming attraction. Whether it’s a Marvel movie trailer or the opening of a new theme park, the Mouse is no slouch at generating buzz. So maybe I shouldn’t have been surprised when an Adventures by Disney package arrived at my home a month before my family trip to Iceland with Disney’s high-end group vacation company.

As I dragged my suitcase past the dozens of purple signs and arrows pointing to the new “Rideshare App” pickup at Boston Logan, I realized everyone around me was just as confused about the new process as I was. Here’s what I experienced recently with the new Uber/Lyft changes at Boston Logan Airport. Spoiler alert: It wasn’t good.

Renewing a passport, like most official government matters, is a long process. The State Department’s expedited passport service costs an extra $60 and still takes a cool six weeks. Faster expedited service (three weeks or fewer) requires an in-person visit to a passport center. And standard passport renewal is subject to ever-changing processing times. Which is why horror stories of travelers discovering their passport expired (or is about to expire; some countries require passport validity of three to six months for entry) the weekend before an international trip are so cringe-worthy—there’s never been much you can do about it. But a new and fast passport renewal service via FedEx is aiming to change that.

A solar eclipse is a rare event—not just on Earth, where a total eclipse only occurs in the same location once every century or so, but also in the whole universe. Thanks to the relative size and distances of both the sun and the moon, the fact that we can experience an eclipse at all is a cosmically improbable coincidence. So, if you’re feeling bad for missing a chance to watch 2017’s solar eclipse that spanned across the U.S., I’m here to validate your FOMO.

In recent years, travel providers have attempted to ride the consumerist tailwinds of Black Friday and Cyber Monday with a shopping day all their own: Travel Tuesday. Observed on the Tuesday after Thanksgiving (also the charitable day of Giving Tuesday, for what it’s worth), Travel Tuesday aims to sling travel deals with the same sort of once-a-year urgency as its more established holiday-shopping counterparts. But, is it actually worth participating?

American citizens are pretty fortunate in terms of passport power, but your little blue booklet may not be quite as powerful as you think. The list of countries that require visas for Americans includes some travel hotspots, for example Australia, Brazil, Cuba, and China.

Given the climate-change activism that’s intensifying around air travel’s dependence on fuel, you’ve probably seen a lot about “carbon neutral” flights lately, along with reports of planes that can be powered entirely by something called “biofuel.” The idea behind both is obvious: People want to add as little carbon as possible to the atmosphere. And the idea that we can take carbon neutral flights is true—but it’s more nuanced than you might think.