Rights tips

Southwest Airlines will start assigning seats to passengers, ending its longstanding policy of allowing passengers to pick their seats once they have boarded, the airline said on Thursday.

There are few things better in life than a summer vacation and enjoying the sunshine, school breaks and generally slower pace of the season. However, the reality right now is that things can be expensive, and some travelers are tightening their belts and keeping a closer eye on budgets this summer.

This past June, New York City’s hectic energy (as well as its humidity) had gotten to be too much for me; I needed a weekend away—time to rest and restore. Thankfully, after a quick surf on Airbnb’s site (one of my favorite pastimes), my partner and I found ourselves heading to “The Upstate A,” a newly renovated and uber-fabulous A-frame cabin in the Hudson Valley.

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This summer has been tough for vacationing travelers, with overcrowding, heat, hurricanes, fires, you name it. But if you’re still looking to get away, there are places where the weather right now is great, the crowds palatable and the destination itself is at its best. Here, six off-the-beaten-track spots around the world for an end-of-summer vacation.

Southwest Airlines is ditching open seating, one of the hallmarks of its brand over the last half-century. Southwest is moving forward with plans to add assigned seating, the airline announced Thursday. It's also planning to add extra-legroom seats to its cabin for the first time.

One of the most popular cards among TPG staffers and readers alike is the American Express® Gold Card.

The Biden administration is opening up an investigation into Delta Air Lines as the carrier's operational meltdown stretched to a fifth day of mass cancellations in the wake of an IT outage affecting industries worldwide on Friday.

On July 19, an IT outage caused thousands of flights to be canceled or delayed across the world, including flights with major carriers like Delta, United, and American Airlines. While it certainly caused a headache for the airlines, it absolutely wrecked the travel plans for countless passengers. However, this experience did teach us all one thing: It's critical to have easy access to your flight information. And there's no easier way than this iPhone hack. 

Jul 20, 2024 • 8 min read

A global Microsoft outage disrupted IT systems around the world on Friday, canceling over a thousand US flights and delaying hundreds more. As a result, major US airlines including American Airlines, United, and Delta requested global ground stops on all flights Friday morning, per the FAA. As of 11 a.m. Eastern Time on Friday, there were 1,692 canceled flights from US origins, out of 3,861 flights cancelled globally, according to data from Cirium, an aviation analytics company.

Last September, my husband and I flew to New York City and headed to the Ridge Hotel on the Lower East Side to spend a few days before a cruise. Since the Ridge had “contactless check-in,” we had received two codes to get in the front entrance and our room. When we arrived after midnight, we had no problems getting into the hotel with the first code. But we couldn’t get into our room with the second code. There were no staff on duty, so we called the hotel’s number. But the woman who answered could not help and subsequent calls went to voice mail. I also sent messages through the Booking.com app, the online travel agency with which we made the reservation, but the staff there couldn’t solve the issue. So we spent the night in the hotel’s breakfast room, where the restroom also required a code that we did not have. The next morning, the hotel staff sent an apologetic message with the right code, and promised us a refund for that night, about $215. But we never got the money, even though the hotel insists they returned it to Booking. Can you help?

While Amazon’s Prime Day may have deals for just about everything, travel brands are jumping in on the excitement with deals of their own. Frontier Airlines recently introduced a “Primetime Deals” fare sale with a fun nod to the shopping extravaganza. Travelers can take advantage of the fare sale by purchasing tickets on Frontier's website and using the promotional code PRIME.  Travelers can save 75 percent on base fares of tickets through August 18, 2024, and then also save 50 percent on base fares for flights through November 13, 2024, which makes it a great option for booking a fall or early winter getaway.  The fare sale ends at 11:59pm EST on July 18, 2024, and the fare sale has limited days that the tickets can be purchased for, such as travel only on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Saturday. Frontier also excluded several popular routes from the promotion including Atlanta to/from Las Vegas, Dallas to/from Seattle, Fort Lauderdale to/from Philadelphia, and others listed on the sale's page.Travel + Leisure spotted a variety of deals when using the promotion code including:

It's the most anticipated sales event of the year: Amazon Prime Day. Amazon has been holding its massive two-day sale since 2015, while scores of other retailers have recently hopped on the bandwagon, offering their own alternatives to Prime Day. Sure, there may be two million deals across Amazon today, July 17, but some of the sweetest deals are being offered directly on other brands’ sites—and many last longer, too.

When I learned the annual fee for my Delta SkyMiles® Reserve American Express Card was increasing a full $100 (from $550 to $650; see rates and fees), I faced a tough decision — was this premium travel card still worth it?

It's the most anticipated sales event of the year: Amazon Prime Day. Amazon has been holding its massive two-day sale since 2015, while scores of other retailers have recently hopped on the bandwagon, offering their own alternatives to Prime Day. Sure, there may be two million deals across Amazon on July 16 and 17, but some of the sweetest deals are being offered directly on other brands’ sites—and many last longer, too.

Zartico appoints Regine Lawton as CTO and expands Nicole Brownell’s role to CXO and CPO, reinforcing its commitment to technological advancement and diversity in leadership.

Jul 15, 2024 • 6 min read

Get your shopping carts ready: Amazon Prime Day is almost here! This year, the highly-anticipated two-day savings event will commence on Tuesday, July 16, and run through Wednesday, July 17. There's no better time of year to stock up on travel-friendly accessories, comfortable clothing and shoes, luggage and bags, outdoor gear, home goods, and more. Amazon will be offering some of its biggest discounts of the year across all categories, meaning you can even save on big-ticket items like best-selling tech essentials and luggage sets. While we're still a few days away from the annual event, Amazon has already starting rolling out early deals on everything from noise-canceling headphones and portable chargers to weekender bags and popular hair tools. To make sure you don't miss out on any of the best early Prime Day deals, we rounded up our top picks below, with some items as much as 60 percent off. Keep scrolling for 40+ can't-miss deals travelers can shop right now.

U.S. travelers have a new option when it comes to the rapidly growing extended-stay hotel market.

When I planned a trip to Rome for my family in late July last year, I knew it was dubious timing, and I could expect the destination to be hot and crowded.