Pandemic tips

Live music was no more. Patrick Milando could draw no other conclusion. But maybe he could pivot.

Amtrak is adding more trains to its schedule along the busy Northeast Corridor, owing to major strides in ridership after pandemic setbacks between 2020 and 2022.

Travel advisors and analysts view new megaship orders from the world's two largest cruise lines as a sign of confidence in cruising and a signal that normal shipbuilding rates could soon return.

In the spring of 2020, at the height of the pandemic, the always bustling Dam Square in Amsterdam was deserted, silent and surrounded by concrete counterterrorism blocks. The Dutch street artist Frank de Ruwe, who goes by the name of Frankey, decided these daunting studded blocks resembled something more innocent — giant Lego blocks — and that the city needed something to lighten the gloom.

Drivers in the United States struck and killed an estimated 3,373 walkers in the first six months of 2023, for an average of 18 deaths every day. Those numbers represent a 4% decline from the same period a year before.

Chef Mario Rosero is standing beside a wood-fired grill at the back of Prudencia, the restaurant he owns in La Candelaria, Bogotá’s cobblestoned old town. The grill has three circular grates that can be adjusted to different positions. Small pieces of pork are sizzling on the one directly above the flames; a cast iron pot filled with corn is cooking less fiercely on another, higher up. Perfecting this clever, compact set-up is what Mario — a Culinary Institute of America graduate born in the Colombian city of Pasto and raised in Los Angeles — has been up to since the pandemic.  

A friend of mine has been shopping for a watch from Switzerland’s most famous brand as a college graduation present for months with no success, as stores are empty—even in Switzerland. Other top luxury brands of mechanical watches have also been disrupted by supply chain issues dating back to the pandemic.

One of America's most beloved cruise operators, American Queen Voyages, has shut down.

It's only February, but signs are already clear: It's going to be another summer of groundbreaking travel demand.

About 100 Russians flew to North Korea on Friday for a private tour, becoming the first foreign group to visit the reclusive state following the Covid-19 pandemic in a landmark trip summed up by the Russian embassy as “Pyongyang opens its door.”

Snow and freezing rain in China were disrupting travel on Monday and had already caused hundreds of rail and flight cancellations, as millions of people traveled across the country before lunar new year holiday begins this weekend.

Airline passengers who curtailed travel for several years during the pandemic are reacclimating to the airport experience and might be encountering surprising new procedures and technologies along the way, such as biometrics and new screening methods.

JetBlue on Friday said for the first time that its agreement to purchase Spirit Airlines for $3.8 billion may collapse, signaling that the New York-based airline may be looking to pull out of the deal.

Brazilian discount carrier Gol has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy restructuring.

For wealthier travelers, there are now lots of ways to fly private at both ends of the wealth spectrum—empty-leg flights are one of the cheapest ways to fly private, and at the other extreme, fractional jet programs are booming, as an alternative to owning your own private jet.

United Airlines is betting that your summer plans might include a visit to Alaska or Canada.

There’s good news for those of you who fly privately – or are considering it. The cost of flights via jet cards and memberships that offer guaranteed availability and pricing continues to drop. Moreover, more buyers are able to negotiate free hours and flight credits from providers. It’s 180 degrees from 2021 and 2022 when prominent players such as NetJets, Sentient Jet and Jet Linx shut off sales to new members, and in the case of the Berkshire Hathaway unit, even stopped renewing existing jet card clients.

JetBlue and Spirit said Friday that they will appeal a judge's decision that would block them from completing their blockbuster merger.

Amtrak has reached a milestone in the long path to get its new Acela trains onto the tracks of the Northeast Corridor.

Spirit Airlines, once a fast-growing low-cost carrier, is struggling to convince investors that it has a clear path forward after an antitrust ruling blocked the sale of the company to JetBlue Airways.

Will 2024 be a Goldilocks year for the global travel industry? We’ve gone from “too cold” during the pandemic to “too hot,” as demand for revenge travel outstripped capacity. Could 2024 be “just right?”​