American Airlines wants you to get on the plane earlier.
08.02.2025 - 10:13 / insider.com
Denise Godreau knew next to nothing about Eswatini before 2022.
To be fair, the tiny southern African country formerly known as Swaziland is not exactly around the corner from her hometown of Orlando.
Godreau, a 60-year-old executive at private equity firmKSLCapitalPartners, loves to travel. After moving from Puerto Rico to Florida in the 1990s, she worked in hospitality, theme parks, and hotel development, which took her around the world.
Still, Eswatini wasn't a destination she ever gave much thought to.
But when she got a message on her Home Exchange account from Jenni Hammond, 54, inquiring about a 12-day simultaneous home swap, her curiosity peaked.
"I told my husband, OK, we have this request from a family in Swaziland," Godreau told Business Insider. "He looked at the home, the location, and everything, and he was like, 'Yeah, that's a nice home.'"
Situated on a mountain on a roughly 64,500-square-foot property within a lush green nature reserve, Godreau wouldn't just have access to Hammond's house and its infinity pool but also the help of her staff, including a housekeeper and driver.
"Everybody was saying, 'You are crazy,'" Godreau said. "Nobody goes to Africa without a tour, without security, without someone telling you where to go and where not to go."
Godreau and Hammond were drawn to home exchanges during the pandemic, as they were searching for alternatives to booking long-term stays through Airbnb or at hotels.
There are several home swap platforms, but Godreau and Hammond are fans of Home Exchange, which offers several tiers of membership starting at $220 a year.
Within the platform there are different types of house swaps; users can book stays in people's homes using GuestPoints that they accrue from the location, size, and amenities of their homes. They can get more GuestPoints by hosting.
Hammond, for example, told BI she has 30,000 GuestPoints, or enough to book a "three-month holiday.
There are non-simultaneous swaps in which users swap homes on different dates. The third type is reciprocal swaps, à la "The Holiday," which are the hardest to arrange.
"It takes a lot of back and forth," Godreau said. "You're asking a complete stranger, like, 'Plan your getaway the same dates I want to plan mine'."
Users can charge cleaning fees in addition to the membership, but it's not mandatory, and some don't bother. Hammond, for example, doesn't charge a cleaning fee because she has staff, which means the only travel costs Godreau incurred going to Africa were flights, food, and activities.
Hammond, who has completed more than 70 exchanges, said the way she travels has helped her save thousands in travel costs when visiting the US.
In 2018, she took a 10-day road trip from Chicago to New
American Airlines wants you to get on the plane earlier.
Hilton's partnership with Small Luxury Hotels of the World just keeps getting sweeter: The duo announced 30 new hotels that are now integrated into the Hilton Honors ecosystem.
There's some positive news for long-time American Airlines flyers: New lifetime elite levels and perks are now live.
There has been a flurry of new, and exciting, airline routes launched over the last several months. From Icelandair’s Miami to Reykjavík route, to American Airlines’ New York City to Charleston, SC, there are new routes for every type of traveler. However, despite the new routes, some airlines have been cutting back services Avelo Airlines, a Houston-based discount carrier, recently confirmed to Travel + Leisure that it would cut back service from Connecticut's Bradley International Airport. The airline will exit its routes to Wilmington International Airport in Wilmington, NC (ILM) as well as Concord-Padgett Regional Airport in Concord, NC (USA). Both routes will end on March 30, 2025, and passengers with tickets after this date can contact the airline for rebooking. The changes come as Avelo says it will refocus their efforts on only international departures from the Bradley International Airport, and operate domestic flights from New Haven, CT at the Tweed-New Haven Airport (HVN). The airline will also end routes from Wilmington Airport (ILG) in New Castle, DE to both Concord, NC (USA) and Atlanta, GA (ATL). All four of the routes generated low demand, according to an airline spokesperson.
Quick take: Qantas first class delivers unrivaled comfort when flying nonstop to Australia. However, the Flying Kangaroo is a hop behind the world's best and needs to take a bold leap to stay in the game.
Legend of the Seas, the third ship in Royal Caribbean’s Icon Class, will launch in July 2026and spend its first summer cruising the Mediterranean. It will then journey to Fort Lauderdale, Florida, from where it will sail year-round to the Western and Southern Caribbean, the cruise line announced today.
The future is here — and on the streets of some major American cities. San Francisco has been allowing autonomous vehicles on its streets for years now, but fully driverless rides are a fairly new phenomenon. So I was eager to try out the driverless taxi service from the best-established company, Waymo One, on a recent trip to the City by the Bay.
Avianca Airlines is adding a new route that will connect travelers from Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport to Colombia’s capital city, Bogotá. The new route will take flight on May 26, 2025, and operate four times per week on an Airbus A320 The flight will depart Dallas at 2:50 p.m., and arrive in Bogotá at 8:15 p.m. The return flight departs at 7:30 a.m., and arrives back in Dallas at 1:20 p.m.
Food and travel go hand-in-hand. When you get out and explore the world, you should taste all the flavors your new destination has to offer. However, the U.S. is a pretty big place with lots of diverse food offerings. So, to help you narrow down the best places to tickle your tastebuds in America, Clarify Capital created a list of the top food destinations in the country.
February is the perfect time to book a last-minute getaway or get ahead on planning your spring break trip. This month, there are tons of amazing travel deals to take advantage of, whether you're seeking a warm island vacay or an exhilarating ski weekend. Book a trip with Exoticca and see savings of up to 50% off on tours in gorgeous countries around the world. Wave season is still in effect, so don't miss out on major cruise deals—like Celebrity Cruises' savings of up to 75% off on cruise fares for the second guests in a duo, on top of free room upgrades. There are only a couple of days before Valentine's Day, and if you're looking to impress a special someone this year, plan a spontaneous Valentine's Day staycation through Marriott at one of our readers' favorite hotels across the country. Plus, some of these Valentine's Day deals run past February 14. When it comes to these amazing February travel deals, you simply can’t lose.
Losing your luggage to the mysterious labyrinth of an airport baggage system is every flier's worst nightmare—especially when nobody at the airline can tell you where in the world it ended up. That's why many travelers have decided to take things into their own hands in recent years by attaching tracking devices like Apple AirTags to their checked luggage.
If Miami and Palm Beach had a love child, it would be Fort Lauderdale. Quickly shedding its image as just a spring break destination, the city is redefining itself as a place that lacks the formality of its neighbor to the north (Palm Beach), but has all the trappings of the vibrant metropolis to the south (Miami). And while Fort Lauderdale is quickly catching up on the five-star luxury-resort front, the real-estate (and therefore hotel) prices have not yet approached the levels of Palm Beach's on Worth Avenue. Fort Lauderdale lacks pomp and doesn’t take itself too seriously: It’s a place that still feels accessible thanks to an abundance of public beaches, a lack of gated communities, and a culinary scene that won’t break the bank.