Packing tips

If you’re packing coffee, spices, baby powder, or anything else that could be considered to be a “powder-like substance” in your carry-on, you’ll need to keep it to 12 ounces or less or be subjected to additional screening, according to a new rule from the TSA.

Still holiday shopping for your favorite traveler, or need some essentials before you set foot into a new year of jet-setting? Here’s a look back at some of the top-rated travel products we’ve reviewed this year. From comfy shoes and packable gadgets to bags that carry them all, here are the SmarterTravel-reviewed items that outranked the rest in 2016.

Stay warm and make your winter ski house rental feel like home with these ski trip essentials. From household items that’ll make your stay easier to cool new products that’ll keep you warm, this packing list for a ski trip has everything you need to bring on a ski vacation.

Spirit, the airline everyone love to hate, is tightening up its rules on carry-on bags, which were already among the industry’s most restrictive.

It’s official: Passengers flying on nine airlines non-stop to the U.S. from 10 airports (Cairo, Egypt; Amman, Jordan; Kuwait City, Kuwait; Casablanca, Morocco; Doha, Qatar; Riyadh and Jeddah in Saudi Arabia; Istanbul in Turkey; and Abu Dhabi and Dubai in the United Arab Emirates) will be prohibited from bringing electronic devices larger than cellphones on board with them.

The new year may be right around the corner, but to foresee what it might have in store for travelers, it’s useful to take a look back. Some 2017 travel industry changes were short-lived—remember the infamous laptop ban that had business travelers in a furor for a few months? But other trends from travel 2017 could have a more lasting effect.

Use Oprah’s Favorite Things list as a cheat sheet so you can be done with your “nice list” holiday shopping in a flash. Items suggested by the beloved icon are sure to sell out, so be sure to buy goods before all that’s left to give is coal.

Starting June 4, travelers on Alaska Airlines will face new carry-on bag size limits. The airline says its current carry-on bag size allowance is “larger than most other international and domestic airlines allow” and it wants to “make sure that your carry-on bag will be accepted aboard all the flights within your itinerary. This will help you avoid carry-on bag size conflicts and make connections with other airlines easier during your future trips.”

When you travel a lot for work and pleasure, you develop certain likes and dislikes with regard to your luggage. I like hard-sided bags that protect my stuff; I like spinner wheels that allow me the versatility to either pull my luggage behind me or roll it alongside me; and, most of all, I like the freedom to travel without a checked bag.

If you’re like most travelers, you’ve probably never considered shipping your luggage ahead of you instead of bringing it with you on a trip. Sure, over the holidays you might mail a few gifts to your destination to avoid having the TSA root through your suitcase and ruin your perfect wrapping job, but otherwise, it probably seems more practical, convenient, and economical to check your bags with your airline. But is this still the case? Have you ever wondered if luggage shipping is a better solution?

If you’ve ever wondered why someone couldn’t just invent a multi-purpose, comfy, and stylish dress for travel, you don’t have to wonder any longer. ZANNI’s little black dresses are everything you’ve ever wanted in a multi-functional travel dress.

Skiing, snowboarding, and heading to winter wonderlands are great ways to spend those long months that separate the holidays and spring. But cold-weather travel is hard on skin and hair, and calls for the right travel toiletries.

Comfortable and trendy shoes are a must-have in today’s footwear industry, but what if you could wear a shoe that was as stylish as it was revolutionary?

We’ve all heard of emotional support animals, but what about an emotional support suitcase? This new robot suitcase from ForwardX, a Chinese robotics company, will never abandon you. It’s the world’s first suitcase that uses artificial intelligence to track your location and roll itself alongside you as you walk, leaving your hands free to multi-task.

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.

According to a new Upgraded Points study on U.S. airlines’ baggage fees, American Airlines took in the most baggage fees overall last year, at $1.24 billion. Other lines also took in big bucks for baggage fees, though not over a billion dollars: United was second with $933 million in baggage fees, Delta took in $817 million, and Spirit hit $670 million. All took in more than a half-billion in just baggage fees. At the bottom of the baggage fees ranking is Southwest, which still offers two free checked bags, and took in $50 million in bag fees.

If you’re like many travelers, you’ve long dreamed of taking a cruise to Alaska—and for good reason. An Alaskan ocean voyage provides an enviable almost-Arctic itinerary, opportunities for adventure at every port, and a constant supply of magnificently icy views, the likes of which probably won’t exist in 50, or even 20, years. You get all this via the comfort of an ocean liner that’s stocked with restaurants, theaters, hotel-like guest rooms, and much more.

I’m sure you’ve all seen the insane immigration lines at the screening 13 airports where passengers waited hours in cattle-like lines, which definitely didn’t follow today’s protocol of social distancing. If I was scheduled to fly home, I would probably wait a few days until airports worked this chaos out.

Laptop bags aren’t just for the business traveler anymore—and they’re no longer relegated to the humble padded messenger bag. Stylish laptop bags now range from trendy backpacks to designer tote bags, and the best ones will protect your hardware as much as they complement your style.

We love idyllic fall days—those colorful leaf backdrops, crisp temperatures perfect for walking, and plenty of sunshine. What we hate is packing bulky jackets to prepare for those not-so-hot fall weather interludes (think: rain, clouds, and cold nights). We’ve rounded up the best lightweight jackets that pack easily and travel well to keep you warm and dry on all types of autumn days.

When you’re confined to a cruise ship, airplane, or other enclosed space on vacation, you’re a prime target for that dreaded (and highly contagious) vacation ruiner: norovirus. But you don’t have to let this nasty bug spoil your trip. Follow these tips to give yourself a fighting chance of staying healthy on vacation.