DOT: January Flight Cancellation Rate Again Increases The January flight cancellation rate for the 10 largest U.S. carriers increased for a second month in a row, according to the U.S. Department of Transportation's latest Air Travel Consumer Report. Reporting carriers in January canceled 3.8 percent of scheduled domestic flights, higher than both the rate of ...

Advito Q2 Index: Intercontinental Airfares Down, Hotel Rates Rise Intercontinental airfares in the second quarter are declining as average daily hotel rates are having "significant" increases across several markets, according to Advito's quarterly Air and Hotel Price Index, published on Thursday. The index showed intercontinental economy fares are down year over year on flights originating ...

Executive Travel to Add NDC Price Guarantee Service Executive Travel is adding a fare assurance service to ensure clients are not missing out on lower-priced New Distribution Capability fares when booking air travel, the travel management company announced. With its NDC Low Price Guarantee, Executive Travel's staff will review all online and in-person air bookings ...

After Tumultuous 3 Years as Head of Boeing, CEO Will Depart A broad leadership shakeup is taking place at the aircraft manufacturer, capping a tumultuous period that has shaken faith in one of America's most storied manufacturers. The top executive at embattled plane maker Boeing will step down this year amid a broader shakeup of ...

Uber, Lyft Vow to Leave Minneapolis If Pay Law Enacted Ride-hailing companies Uber and Lyft will cease services in Minneapolis beginning May 1. The Minneapolis city council initially passed the measure last week, which would increase driver wages to the equivalent of the local minimum wage of $15.57 an hour, according to the Associated Press. The ...

Report: DOJ Launches Criminal Probe into Boeing Max Blowout The U.S. Department of Justice has launched a criminal investigation into the Jan. 5 door-plug blowout on an Alaska Airlines Boeing 737 Max 9 that occurred shortly after takeoff from Portland, Ore., the Wall Street Journal reported, citing documents and people familiar with the matter. Boeing declined ...

Delta Is Last of Big Three U.S. Carriers to Raise Checked-Bag Fees Delta Air Lines beginning Tuesday raised its fees for checked bags for most U.S.-originating domestic and short-haul international routes, the carrier confirmed. The checked-bag increase is the first for the carrier since 2018, according to Delta, and it applies to tickets purchased on ...

United Joins American in Raising Checked-Bag Fees A week following the news that American Airlines had raised its checked-bag fees, United Airlines has done the same, the carrier confirmed Monday. United customers traveling in North America using tickets purchased on or after Feb. 24 now must pay an additional $5 for first- and second-checked bags. The ...

10 Typical American Tourist Behaviors That Europeans Hate As a British citizen who has also lived in the U.S., I’m in a privileged position to see the tourist traps that Americans often fall for while traveling in Europe. If you want to move on from a typical tourist to a traveler exploring new countries, avoid ...

Delta Invests in Premium Lounges, Set to Open in 2024 Delta Air Lines—which along with American Airlines and United Airlines has seen a continued uptick in premium demand since the pandemic—is investing in premium lounges currently set to join Sky Club lounges at three U.S. airports, the carrier announced Thursday.  The first premium lounge is ...

Survey Sentiment 'Bodes Well' For 2024 Business Travel Most travel buyers expect business travel spending and volume to increase in 2024 compared with last year, with costs ranking as their top concern for the year, according to a poll of 707 travel buyers, suppliers and industry professionals. The survey—fielded Jan. 9-22 with respondents from around ...

The World's Busiest Airports And Air Routes In 2023 In a world reliant on air travel for global connections and economic exchanges, insights into the busiest airports and air routes play a pivotal role in understanding travel patterns. OAG, a travel data platform, has revealed its thorough analysis of the world's busiest airports and routes ...

US records highest ADR, RevPAR ever in 2023 New CoStar data shows 2023 RevPAR up almost 5%; pipeline data for December shows confidence with increases in planning stages. CoStar released new data on full-year 2023 U.S. hotel performance and pipeline status that revealed record results for ADR and RevPAR and a December increase in planning ...

Hertz to Sell 20K EVs from U.S. Fleet, Replace with Gas-Powered Cars After leading the car rental industry with purchases of electric vehicles, and partnerships to develop charging stations, Hertz has decided to sell about 20,000 EVs from its U.S. fleet and use part of the proceeds to replace them with gas-powered vehicles "to meet ...

FAA Temporarily Grounds Boeing 737 Max 9 Aircraft Inspections of Boeing 737 Max 9 aircraft remain on hold. After Boeing yesterday offered an initial version of instruction for inspections and maintenance, the company now is revising it "because of feedback received in response" to the instructions, according to the FAA. "Upon receiving the revised version ...

The World's Busiest Airports And Air Routes In 2023 In a world reliant on air travel for global connections and economic exchanges, insights into the busiest airports and air routes play a pivotal role in understanding travel patterns. OAG, a travel data platform, has revealed its thorough analysis of the world's busiest airports and routes ...

EU's Entry-Exit System Now Set For October 2024 Launch The EU's new Entry-Exit System (EES) is set to finally be launched in October 2024, according to multiple media sources. EES is an automated IT system for registering travelers from non-EU countries, including the UK, when they cross the EU's external border. It will apply to ...

Travel Weather Forecasts Scaring You? What to Know Before You Head Out for the Holidays The holidays are fast approaching and, apparently, so is severe weather, threatening many people's travel plans for Christmas. Around 115.2 million Americans are zipping up their suitcases to embark on their Christmas and New Year's travels. Some may be bracing ...

Brazil Adds E-Visa Option as Waiver Nears Expiration Brazil has launched an electronic visa platform for visitors from the U.S., Canada and Australia when the waiver currently in place for those countries expires next month. For arrivals beginning Jan. 10, 2024, visitors from those countries can apply for visas via a system developed by the ...

American Airlines Agrees to Acquire Hawaiian Airlines in $1.9B Deal Alaska Airlines has agreed to acquire Hawaiian Airlines in a deal valued at $1.9 billion, including $18 per share in cash, the carriers announces Sunday. Each airline will retain its customer-facing brand, while integrating into a single operating platform "behind the curtain," Alaska CEO Ben ...

ARC: October U.S. Air Ticket Sales Continue to Dip Following September's seasonal decline, total October 2023 U.S. air ticket sales fell 2 percent year over year and 5 percent month over month to $7.2 billion, according to Airlines Reporting Corp.'s latest report. Total passenger trips were up 4 percent year over year to 21.7 million ...

These Are the World's Safest Airlines Amid all the recent headlines about aviation safety lapses and a troubling rise in close calls, it's easy to forget that commercial air travel has never been safer. In fact, fatal crashes on a commercial jet plane are extremely rare, thanks in large part to major innovations in aircraft ...

Mistakes Travelers Make on a Long-Haul Flight On the list of ways people want to spend their time, sitting on a plane for hours on end is probably not very high. But long-haul flights are a necessary reality if you need to travel far. "A long-haul flight can certainly be daunting and stressful," Casey Brogan, ...

Enterprise Holdings Rebrands to Enterprise Mobility Car rental provider Enterprise Holdings has rebranded to Enterprise Mobility to reflect the "evolution" of its "global network of mobility solutions," the company announced on Thursday (26 October). In line with the new corporate brand, the company has also rolled out a new logo and tagline: ‘Advance the world, ...

American Airlines Discontinues Business Extra; Launches AAdvantage Business American Airlines is revamping its corporate loyalty program for small business, closing Business Extra, and launching a streamlined replacement, branded AAdvantage Business. The existing Business Extra program stopped accepting new members on Monday, and its benefits will be discontinued by January 31, 2024. In its place, American ...

3 Airlines That Aren't Always Worth It for First-Class Flights For a frequent traveler, a first-class flight can make all the difference. First class often offers extra comfort, relaxing lounges at the airport, better in-flight meals and an all-around easier experience. But is it worth it? That depends on the airline you choose. This review ...

5 Safety Tips Every Passenger Should Know Before Boarding a Plane Compared to other modes of transport like cars, bicycles, boats, or trains, flying on an aircraft has become one of the safest ways to travel - though the industry has suffered several unfortunate tragedies in the process of developing today's standards. Despite how safe ...

Most American Tourist Sites Will Close During a Government Shutdown A lot of the nation's major tourists sites are operated by the federal government. A looming shutdown in Washington could have far-reaching effects on travelers across the country, although they may not be felt immediately, "If history holds up, (travelers are) going to find themselves ...

You'll Now Be Able To Use Your TSA PreCheck With These International Airlines The list of participating airlines in the Transportation Security Administration's (TSA) PreCheck program just got longer. According to the agency it has added for more international airlines to its roster as part of its ongoing expansion efforts, a win for travelers who ...

10 Annoying Hotel Fees and How to Avoid Them Deciding on a hotel for your upcoming vacation? Comparing actual hotel prices can prove to be tricky thanks to hidden hotel fees. Hotel fees and surcharges emerged as an industry practice in 1997, and they can eat up a large portion of your vacation budget if ...

How to Get in the World's Best Airport Lounges for (Nearly) Free Tell me if this sounds familiar: You arrive at the airport only to discover that your flight has been delayed, and you now have multiple hours to fill in an overcrowded terminal before you can board your flight. I've had this happen more ...

DOT Issues Largest-Ever Fine to American Airlines for Tarmac Delays American Airlines is facing the largest-ever fine for keeping passengers waiting on board airplanes during hours-long delays. The Department of Transportation is levying the $4.1 million fine, "the largest civil penalty that the Department has ever assessed" it said in a statement, for lengthy tarmac ...

5 Worst European Countries, From Bad to Terrible Well, we asked ourselves this question, and considering how many countries are in Europe, we decided there are plenty of things not to love. It's a tough pill to swallow, but a good deal of Europe's 44 official countries (as recognized by the United Nations) have no ...

American Airlines' latest deal with workers could be trouble for travelers Consumers may be pinching pennies regarding some discretionary purchases, but budget tightening hasn't derailed interest in air travel yet. Last year, U.S. airlines carried 194 million more passengers than in 2021, up 30%, according to the Bureau of Transportation. Growth has slowed, but the ...

What to Know About the US ESTA "Visa" — When to Get it, How to Apply and How Much it Costs If you're traveling to the U.S. any time soon and you're a citizen of the United Kingdom or Europe, it's quite likely that you'll need to apply for an ESTA before you visit. Short ...

Travel Industry Unites to Help Those Impacted by Hawaii Wildfires The travel industry is stepping up and coming together to assist with recovery in Maui and other parts of Hawaii that have been devastated by wildfires worsened by Hurricane Dora this week. The American Hotel & Lodging Association (AHLA) has announced that it's partnering with ...

Americans Are Going Abroad in Droves—At The Expense of Domestic Travel The competition for travel dollars is heating up, and the U.S. is losing out. Airlines and hotel chains in recent weeks have reported a surge in bookings for international trips—along with rising prices. That's a boon to companies with global offerings, but a new ...

Wait, Do You Need A Visa To Go To Europe Now? The New ETIAS Requirements, explained. Already thinking about next summer's vacation plans? If Europe is on your short list, there could be one extra step to take before boarding that plane. Starting in 2024, American passport holders traveling to 30 European countries will need ...

Why Can't I Use My Phone or Take Photos on the Airport Tarmac? Is It Against the Law? Mobile phones are not allowed to be used while on a plane because they can interfere with the aeroplane’s navigation instruments and cause various safety and social issues. As soon as the plane lands, we’re permitted to ...

Severe Flooding in the Northeast Impacts Amtrak, Thousands of Flights – What to Know If You’re Traveling Amtrak temporarily suspended service along the popular Northeast Corridor and more than 1,000 flights were delayed across the United States on Monday as severe flash flooding hit the East Coast. Amtrak’s temporary suspension of service between New York ...

1st Look: United Debuts Its Nicest Club Yet in Newark's New Terminal A United Airlines is giving Newark Liberty International Airport (EWR) a big glow-up with the opening of its hotly anticipated new lounge in the airport’s Terminal A. On Wednesday, the airline officially opened the doors to its newest United Club outpost, welcoming (some ...

Record-Breaking July 4th Travel: What to Know and Tips to Consider With a projected 43.2 million people hitting the roads, driving remains the favored mode of transportation. Gas prices are down approximately 30% from last year, making it more affordable. Here’s how to make your road travels stress-free: plan ahead - map out your route, ...

All New U.S. Planes Will Be Required to Have This Safety Feature — What to Know The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is rolling out a new safety measure for airplanes. The FAA will require all new commercial aircraft in the United States to include a secondary physical barrier in front of the cockpit “to ...

Here's How Early You Should Get to the Airport There are two types of people: those who show up to the airport hours before their flight and those who cut it close. While we acknowledge that everyone has their own approach, we're going to have to side with the early birds if you want to ...

Limited-Time Corporate Status Match Now Available All corporate travelers now have access to Delta’s limited-time Corporate Status Match Challenge offer, which provides complimentary Status for six months with a three-month challenge component. Now through September 30, 2023, Delta is offering business travelers who are elite members of another airline’s (excluding Delta airline partners) frequent flyer ...

How to Get A New Passport As Quickly As Possible Before you plan your dream international vacation, there's one thing you'll definitely need: a valid passport. And one of your first questions might be “How long does it take to get a passport?” Right now, the process can take up to 13 weeks — plus ...

US Carriers & Airports Gear Up For Potentially Record-Breaking Memorial Day Weekend The upcoming three-day Memorial Day weekend, sometimes known as the unofficial jumpstart to the busy summer travel season, is less than a week away. But before passengers can jet off to their holiday destinations, they might be in for long queues at the ...

What Happens If I Miss My Connecting Flight Through No Fault of My Own? If you’ve ever found yourself dashing across the airport, your carry-on bumping along behind you as you try to reach the gate for your next flight, you might be wondering: “What happens if I miss my connecting flight?” While many travelers ...

Airlines May Soon Have to Pay Passengers for Delayed or Canceled Flights If you’re flying to or from destinations like the European Union (E.U.) or Canada and your flight gets delayed or canceled, you’re covered under the strict passenger rights rules entitling you to financial compensation. In the United States, passengers don’t currently have the ...

Hoteliers Slowly Test Digital Tipping As Travelers Increasingly Go Cashless As any Uber rider or latte drinker knows, digital tip jars have become ubiquitous in an increasingly cashless society. Most hotels, however, have been slow to jump on the mobile tipping bandwagon. The lag isn't due to any shortage of solutions. In the past few ...

Why flying is so expensive and likely to remain that way The worst of the pandemic has subsided, countries are accessible again, and airlines expect decent profits now that business and leisure travel has returned. Why, then, are fares still so high? For one, there’s a lack of planes. Airlines idled large portions of their ...

Delta’s International Flights Are Already 75 Percent Sold Out For The Summer If you haven’t already booked your flights for your summer vacation, better do it now before everything sells out. Summer flights are rapidly filling up - Delta Air Lines has already sold out nearly 75 percent of its seats on international flights for ...

What to Expect at Airports & On Planes This Summer Sayonara, winter. See ya next year, spring. Summer travel is almost here. After slowly climbing back to normal, summer 2023 is poised to be the biggest season of travel we've seen in years – maybe ever. Americans are coming out of the woodwork, dead-set on ...

United Will Fly Non-Stop to 100+ International Cities This Summer To Meet Soaring Overseas Travel Demand United Airlines will fly to 114 different international cities this summer and has expanded its flying by 25% versus last year to meet the sharp increase in demand for travel outside of the U.S. The airline is already the ...

These Are The European Cities Charging A Tourist Tax Tourist taxes, also known as hotel taxes or visitor charges, are increasingly being implemented in European cities. Manchester is the latest addition to the list of cities charging a tourist tax in the UK. The new visitor charge, set to begin on April 1, 2023, will ...

What To Do If You Get Sick Abroad Whether for work or play, international travel requires plenty of planning. And while that’s true for the details of your trip—where you’ll go and what you’ll do—it’s also true for the “what ifs,” including: What if I get sick? Fortunately, there’s a lot you can do both ...

Going To The UK? You Will Need A Travel Permit Soon The land of tea, biscuits, and sometimes rules I don’t quite understand (I still don’t know why they drive on the left side). Since Brexit, the UK has had quite the shake-up with its border and travel rules, and now they have announced the ...

Flying Without An ID: How To Get Through TSA When You’ve Lost Your Identification Navigating the process of flying without an ID is one of the greatest nightmares for novice travelers and intrepid globetrotters alike. You pack your bags, get to the airport early, check into your flight, and then it hits you—your ID is ...

Why Flying Has Turned Into A Nightmare Of Delayed Flights, Lost Bags, And Tiny Seats It all started with one dumb law. A plush hotel in New York's John F. Kennedy Airport seems to be haunted by the ghost of aviation's good times. The TWA Hotel offers guests a luxurious stay with 500 rooms, a ...

United's New Family-Friendly Booking Policy United Airlines said Monday that new technology will open up more seats on its flights so children can sit with an adult in their party without paying a fee, a type of charge that’s drawn scrutiny from the Biden administration in recent months. United will show parents or other adult ...

FAA To Conduct Sweeping Safety Review After Multiple Incidents Citing a series of recent aviation safety incidents, the head of the Federal Aviation Administration has ordered a sweeping review of the agency. “We are experiencing the safest period in aviation history, but we cannot take this for granted,” Billy Nolen, the acting FAA administrator, wrote ...

Buy Your Airfare Now, Price Expected To Increase In The Spring And Summer Airfare prices are once again on the rise as travel heads into the spring and summer months but are expected to remain well below last summer’s peak prices. Domestic airfare is forecast to rise about 5 percent this month to an average ...

The U.S. Will End Public Health Emergency For Covid In May The Biden administration plans to let the coronavirus public health emergency expire in May, the White House said on Monday, a sign that federal officials believe the pandemic has moved into a new, less dire phase. The move carries both symbolic weight and real-world ...

FAA Accidentally Deleted Files That Grounded Thousands Of Flights Contractors unintentionally grounded thousands of flights last week when they deleted files while working on the Notice to Air Missions (NOTAM) system, the Federal Aviation Administration says. The agency said in a statement Thursday that a preliminary review found the shutdown happened as the contractors worked ...

The Rule Change You Need To Know When Traveling To Europe In 2023 Starting in late 2023, the European Commission will roll out a U.S.-style electronic travel authorization system for visitors from countries that are currently not part of the EU. These visitors have been granted visa-free access to the EU and Schengen member countries ...

AA System Outage Causes Thousands Of Flight Delays And Cancellations Across The US The airline industry slowly resumed service after a Federal Aviation Administration system outage caused thousands of flight delays and cancellations across the United States Wednesday. The FAA briefly halted all domestic flight departures across the US Wednesday morning, lifting the ground stop ...

What Every Traveler Needs To Know About Flight Refunds An operational meltdown at Southwest Airlines led to the cancellation of more than 15,000 flights at the end of December, disrupting travel for hundreds of thousands of passengers. Many of those people are now scrambling to recoup their losses. Whether you were on Southwest or are ...

Thousands Of Flights Cancelled As Cold Sweeps The US The storm has come during the busiest travel days of the year. The Transportation Security Administration said it expects holiday travel volume to be close to pre-pandemic levels, with the busiest day on Thursday. More than 5,300 flights in the US have already been canceled on ...

One-Way Flights To Hawaii As Low As 13,000 Miles With Delta And United While booking your flights before the holiday rush is always best, you can still book a last-minute bargain trip to Hawaii on miles. Delta Air Lines and United Airlines are both offering deals right now for last-minute trips. With these deals, you ...

REAL ID Enforcement Is Delayed Again To 2025 More than 14 years after the original deadline, the enforcement of REAL ID-compliant driver's licenses or IDs has been pushed back once again. The Transportation Security Administration and other federal agencies were expected to only accept the nationally approved IDs starting May 3, 2023. But on Monday, ...

United Airlines' MileagePlus Program: What Are The Hidden Perks? MileagePlus is the mileage and status program from United Airlines. It is popular for earning and redeeming miles, and obtaining status benefits, with United Airlines and other Star Alliance partners. There have been major changes to MileagePlus (and other loyalty programs) in recent years - making ...

TSA PreCheck Enrollment Is Now Less Expensive Travelers looking to minimize stress at the airport got some good news on Friday: The TSA has reduced the enrollment fee for TSA PreCheck, just before the hectic holiday travel season starts to ramp up.  The fee to join the program has been lowered to $78 for a ...

Visit US National Parks Today For Free The U.S. Forest Service and the Department of the Interior are waiving fees for the country’s national parks, forests, and grasslands on Nov. 11 in honor of Veterans Day. All visitors will be allowed to enter any of the country’s 423 national parks free of charge during the ...

2022 Readers' Choice Awards: Best Cities In The World The numbers prove what we already knew: Enthusiasm for travel has never been higher, as demonstrated by the nearly quarter of a million of you who filled out this year’s survey. The top large and small international cities are a testament to the staying power of ...

How Long Does It Take To Renew A Passport? International travel is reopening in a major way, with vaccinated Americans now able to visit a host of different countries around the world. But as travelers dust off their passports, they might notice something panic-inducing: the expiration date. Earlier in the pandemic, renewing passports was a ...

Lufthansa Awkwardly Abandons AirTag Ban After Baffling Face Plant It was a strange fate that Lufthansa and its customers should suffer so much fear and doubt for something as small as an Apple AirTag. But suffer they did, because the German airline Lufthansa, seemingly misreading an International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) regulation, positioned itself this ...

Are RFID-Blocking Wallets Worth It? Protect Your Credit Cards Concerns about RFID credit cards have been raised as more NFC-reading devices make it into the hands of the general population. NFC is essentially a special type of RFID. This is how tap-to-pay credit cards work. So what’s to stop someone from using their phone to ...

CDC To Drop COVID-Related Travel Advisories For Individual Countries The United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) announced it would no longer maintain a country-by-country list of coronavirus-related travel advisories. CDC officials said it would only post notices for nations if it is experiencing a concerning COVID-19 variant or other situation that would ...

Americans Can Renew Their Passports Online Beginning In October American travelers are another step closer to being able to renew their passports online: In October, the State Department will reopen its online U.S. passport renewal service. It's a pilot of a new online renewal system that is slated to fully open to the public early ...

North American Airport Satisfaction Drops 25 Points As fewer people traveled during the pandemic, air traveler satisfaction with North American airports reached an all-time high in 2021, according to J.D. Power. But with passenger volumes now growing to near pre-pandemic levels and “rampant flight cancellations” due to labor shortages and other factors, there has been ...

You Will Be Able To Renew Your Passport Online Next Year Renewing a US passport is an archaic process. You have to obtain a printed photo, write a check, and then package up all your forms and old passport and go to the post office to mail it—and then cross your fingers that your important ...

U.S. Airlines Take Top Spot In Passenger Rankings Major US carriers made a clean sweep of the top four places as aviation analytics firm Cirium revealed its 2021 World Airline Passenger Rankings. American Airlines stays on top of the ranking again in 2021, followed by Delta Air Lines, United Airlines and Southwest Airlines, demonstrating the strength ...

U.S. Consumer Air Travel Complaints Up 35 Percent In June Over May The number of consumer air travel complaints in June increased nearly 35 percent month over month to more than 5,860 and were nearly 270 percent above pre-pandemic levels, the U.S. Department of Transportation announced Friday. The month-over-month increase should not necessarily come as ...

What Do Airlines Owe You For Flight Delays, Cancellations? New DOT Dashboard Will Show You It's about to get easier to find out what airlines owe you when your flight is canceled or delayed. The U.S. Department of Transportation is creating a new interactive dashboard where travelers will be able to find "easy-to-read, comparative summary information ...

CDC Drops Quarantine, Distancing Recommendations For COVID The nation's top public health agency relaxed its COVID-19 guidelines Thursday, dropping the recommendation that Americans quarantine themselves if they come into close contact with an infected person. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) also said people no longer need to stay at least 6 feet ...

Act Fast: Americans Can Renew Their Passports Online For A Limited Time If you’ve been putting off renewing your U.S. passport, now may be the time to do it, thanks to the launch of a pilot program on for a limited number of applicants to renew online without having to mail in or bring in ...

New Airline Refund Rules May Be Coming. Here’s What It Would Mean For You The Department of Transportation has proposed new rules to better protect travelers in case their flight is delayed, canceled or otherwise significantly changed — a response to the “flood of air travel service complaints” the department has received since the coronavirus ...

JetBlue Finally Wins Spirit Over With $3.8 Billion Bid After a bidding war lasting over three months, JetBlue has officially won over Spirit Airlines executives with their multiple bids. A merger agreement with the low-cost-carrier valued at $3.8 billion, including a prepayment and ticking fee for Spirit shareholders until the deal is consummated. JetBlue & ...

US Extends COVID-19 Public Emergency - What It Means For Travel The Biden Administration has decided to extend the public emergency in the United States for another three months until at least October 13. The decision came in the wake of a rise in positive cases of the BA.5 variant of the COVID-19 virus. "The ...

Disabled Fliers Now Have A Bill Of Rights Amid the summer travel surge, the Department of Transportation is putting pressure on airlines to provide more reliable and equitable services to all passengers. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg announced two initiatives meant to give all travelers a better experience in the air: A bill of rights for ...

The U.S. Will Stop Honoring Expired Passports As Of July 1 — What To Know The State Department will no longer honor expired United States passports next month, ending a pandemic-era practice implemented due to delays in processing. Travelers will no longer "be permitted to use your expired U.S. passport to return to the United ...

Travelers Face More Flight Cancellations And Delays Over July Fourth Weekend This Fourth of July weekend, more than 3.5 million people will travel by air. But many of those passengers are probably wondering whether they’ll actually make it onto the plane for their holiday trips, as flight cancellations and delays continue to surge. So far ...

Short-Term Surge In US Travel But Headwinds On Horizon Days after the United States repealed its Covid-19 testing requirement for inbound air travelers, U.S. Travel Association released its full biannual forecast for travel through 2026 - including both travel spending and volume - which projects that all segments of travel, in spite of rising inflation, ...

How Lifting Testing Requirements Impacts Travel Plans For Americans A new survey highlighted the positive impact the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) lifting coronavirus testing protocols for incoming international travelers will have on the tourism industry. 36 percent of Americans are more likely to travel outside the U.S. within the next ...

Airlines Step Up Push To Get U.S. To Drop International COVID-19 Testing Rule U.S. airlines are stepping up their efforts to end COVID-19 pre-departure testing requirements for international air travel. American Airlines Chief Executive Robert Isom said on Friday at a conference the testing requirements were "nonsensical" and were "depressing" leisure and business travel. Airlines ...

Where Can Americans Travel Right Now? A Country-By-Country Guide The last two years may not have brought an immediate end to the coronavirus pandemic, but it brought a renewed sense of hope when it comes to traveling. And many Americans are taking advantage of that feeling, looking ahead, and planning their next vacations. The options ...

Why Flights Are So Expensive Right Now “Please pack added patience.” That was one of the tips offered by David Pekoske, head of the TSA when he was recently asked about the upcoming summer travel season. Vacationers face a perfect storm this summer. People are venturing out again, many for their first real summer vacations ...

The Latest COVID-19 Entry Requirements For The World's Most Visited Countries International travel is making a major comeback more than two years into the COVID-19 pandemic and while entry restrictions continue to vary based on the destination, the vast majority of the world's most popular places have reopened to tourists from overseas heading into summer ...

TSA Is Expanding Use Of Screeners To Help At Busy Airports The chief of the Transportation Security Administration said Tuesday that his agency has quadrupled the number of employees who could bolster screening operations at airports that become too crowded this summer. TSA Administrator David Pekoske said nearly 1,000 employees have volunteered to be sent ...

Where You Can Travel Now Without A Covid Vaccine Or Test The U.K. doing away with all coronavirus-related travel restrictions on March 18 was major news—that is, until six more European countries (and counting) followed suit since. Whether they’re vaccinated or not, travelers entering the region now have even more destinations in which they won’t ...

These Are The U.S. Airports That Require (or Don't Require) Masks The federal government is no longer enforcing a transportation mask mandate and some airports have taken the opportunity to ditch mask rules. That said, not every airport is on board. Many public transportation services from airlines to trains have ditched masks after a federal ...

TSA No Longer Enforcing Transportation Mask Mandate A federal judge in Florida has ruled against the federal mandate requiring facial coverings on all forms of public transportation, including on airplanes and in airports. United States District Judge Kathryn Kimball Mizelle in Tampa voided the mask mandate, saying the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) ...

Mask Mandate Extended For Air Travel And Public Transit Through May 3 Masks will continue to be required until at least May 3 when flying commercially and in other transportation settings, including on buses, ferries, and subways, while health officials monitor an uptick in coronavirus cases, the CDC said Wednesday. “In order to assess the ...

Delta Makes Two Policy Changes That Benefit Frequent Flyers Delta SkyMiles members can now permanently earn credit toward Medallion status when flying on award tickets. This had been a Covid-era policy that was set to expire at the end of the year. Delta flyers qualify for the various Medallion status tiers through a combination of ...

U.S. Citizens Can Travel Home With An Expired Passport Through June 30 American citizens can now return from abroad on expired passports through June 30, the State Department has announced. The temporary measure, which last extended in December, had been set to expire on March 31. "This extension will lessen ongoing travel difficulties created by ...

Top Destination Travel News Stories From February 2022 It's easy to miss getting important news in between your busy life, so we put together a list of the biggest news about destinations worldwide from February, so you can stay up-to-date easily. From reopening borders in New Zealand and Australia to easing testing requirements in destinations ...

Will Airline Travel Finally Get Back To 2019 Levels? A little more than two years ago, on March 11, 2020, the coronavirus was officially declared a pandemic. What was once just an endemic disease that began in Wuhan, China suddenly became a worldwide catastrophe, and the travel world – particularly airlines – was devastated by ...

These Popular Destinations Are Removing COVID-19 Travel Restrictions Major cities, states, islands, and countries are easing or removing COVID-19 entry requirements entirely as public health metrics continue to improve around the world exactly two years into the pandemic. The start of spring is typically one of the busiest times for travel, and 2022 will be ...

A Saddened Travel World Adjusts To Russian Invasion Of Ukraine With anger, frustration, and heavy hearts, the travel world has reacted strongly to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine this week and is adjusting accordingly to the impact it has caused. Many cruise lines have already revised their itineraries and canceled scheduled stops in Russia and Ukraine. ...

EU Lifts Non-Essential Travel Ban For Vaccinated & Recovered Travellers From Third Countries From March 1 Starting from March 1, 2022, the European Union Member States are advised to remove the ban on non-essential travel for citizens of third countries who have been vaccinated against COVID-19, as well as for those who have recovered from ...

Travel’s Theme for 2022? ‘Go Big’ As governments across the world loosen coronavirus restrictions and shift their approach to accepting Covid-19 as a manageable part of everyday life, the travel industry is growing hopeful that this will be the year that travel comes roaring back. Travel agents and operators have reported a significant increase in ...

5 Common Mistakes Travelers Make Returning To The U.S. Before the pandemic, you just had to worry about remembering your passport in order to make it back to the United States. Now, with new travel regulations restricting re-entry into the country, travelers have to be extra careful that they’re doing everything right if they don’t ...

CDC Adds Another 12 Destinations, Including Mexico, To Its Highest Warning Level The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is warning Americans against traveling to Mexico along with nearly a dozen other destinations, adding the vacation hotspot to its highest travel advisory list. The agency classified Mexico as a "Level 4" destination, indicating there is ...

Airfare Is Set To Rise, So When Is the Best Time To Buy Plane Tickets Now? According to experts at the price-tracking app Hopper, domestic airfares will tick up 7% every month between now and June. That's a head-turning rate. It's normal for airfares to increase between the nadir of the low travel season (January) ...

The Latest Face Mask Guidance For Travel: N95s, Double Masking, And More In the early days of the pandemic, face masks went from being exclusively reserved for healthcare workers to a blanket recommendation for the general population in a matter of months. Now, nearly two years later, our understanding of which types of face masks ...

Thousands Of U.S. Flights Cancelled Due To Weather And Omicron Airlines in the United States have been forced to postpone more flights than usual during the holiday season because of a winter storm that hit the mid-Atlantic coast last week; this, along with a pandemic-related shortage of airline workers, has caused unprecedented disruption. According to ...

Where Do American's Want To Travel Internationally In 2022? Just as countries have started to lift pandemic travel bans and Americans begin to at least think about booking vacations abroad, the spread of the delta and omicron variants of Covid-19 has thrown the tourism industry’s fortunes to the wind again. With the pandemic playing a ...

White House Calls For Online Passport Renewals An executive order issued Monday by President Joe Biden will direct the State Department to make passports renewable online. "Americans will be able to renew their passports securely online, saving time from having to wait and the effort and cost required to print, go to a post office, ...

Omicron Variant: What Travelers Need To Know The Omicron variant is the newest COVID-19 variant to gain worldwide attention when it was discovered last week, prompting governments worldwide to close international travel to and from Southern African countries, its region of origin. Already, the U.K. changed its entry requirements for all international travelers, requiring a ...

U.S. Tightens International Travel Protocols, Extends Mask Mandate The White House announced this morning via a fact sheet posted on its website that the United States would strengthen testing protocols for incoming international travelers, regardless of citizenship status, vaccination status, and regardless of the country of origin. Starting "early next week," according to the release, ...

Time To Turn Your Phone On Airplane Mode The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) sent a special information bulletin on Tuesday alerting manufacturers, operators, and pilots to the potential dangers of 5G telecommunications. In the bulletin, the FAA explained, "there have not yet been proven reports of harmful interference due to wireless broadband operations internationally," however, ...

The U.S. Officially Reopened Its Borders To Vaccinated International Travelers — And The World Is Celebrating Travelers throughout the world celebrated on Monday as the United States reopened its borders to vaccinated travelers from all over the globe for the first time in nearly two years. Airlines took to social media to mark the occasion, ...

Countries Requiring American Travelers Be COVID-19 Vaccinated for Entry Every COVID-19 vaccinated individual has his or her own set of reasons for getting the jab. You or someone you love may be immunocompromised, or maybe you just dread the idea of getting profoundly sick for an extended period. But, after 19 months of staying close ...

US Announces Rules For Reopening International Travel Children under 18 and people from dozens of countries with a shortage of vaccines will be exempt from new rules that will require most travelers to the United States be vaccinated against COVID-19, the Biden administration announced. The government said Monday it will require airlines to collect contact ...

The New COVID-19 Travel Restrictions Map You Need to Bookmark A new COVID Travel Map, powered by SHERPA, takes the confusion and stress out of planning international travel during the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. With the easy-to-use interactive tool, users can simply enter their travel details, including their passport-issuing country, departure and arrival countries, and COVID-19 ...

U.S. to Open Land Border With Canada, Mexico for First Time Since March 2020 The United States will ease travel restrictions on its land border and ports with Canada and Mexico starting in November, the Department of Homeland Security announced Tuesday. "In alignment with the new international air travel system that will be implemented in ...

UK Eliminates Pre-departure Testing, Quarantine Requirement for Vaccinated Travelers Starting Monday, vaccinated travelers heading to the UK from most destinations — including the United States — won't have to get tested before departure or quarantine upon arrival. Additionally, the UK has streamlined its traffic light entry system on the same day, moving to a single ...

Covid Test Shortage Puts Stress On Travelers Waiting For Results As demand for Covid testing outstrips supply in the U.S., advisors are keeping a close eye on test kit shortages, lab delays, and the potential impact on the travel sector. Jean Newman Glock, managing director of communications and public affairs for Signature Travel Network, called ...

United States Ends Travel Bans, Requires Vaccination The Biden administration has revealed that the United States will finally be ending its nonsensical travel bans, instead replacing them with a new vaccination requirement for foreign visitors. Furthermore, unvaccinated Americans who are traveling internationally will be required to undergo more testing. The United States’ current travel bans ...

TSA Just Doubled Fines For Passengers Who Refuse To Mask Up On Planes TSA, on Friday, doubled the penalty for travelers who refuse to wear masks on planes as reports of unruly passengers have painted a grim picture this year. Passengers who violate the federal mask mandate will be charged $500 to $1000 for a ...

Where Can Americans Travel In Europe? A Country-By-Country Guide While the news of Europe's reopening to American travelers is causing excitement among travel advisors and their clients, each country is able to set slightly different entry requirements, causing complications for would-be travelers. To add to the complications, the EU signaled a move to reinstate travel ...

CDC Raises Travel Warning For Puerto Rico, Switzerland, And Others The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has raised its travel warning level for seven destinations, including Switzerland and Puerto Rico, to its highest risk designation. Switzerland and Puerto Rico, along with Azerbaijan, Estonia, Guam, North Macedonia, and St. Lucia, are now on the ...

CDC Advises Vulnerable Travelers to Avoid Cruising, Regardless of Vaccination Status The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is warning older travelers or those with underlying conditions against going on a cruise, even if they are fully vaccinated. The latest guidance warns passengers who would be "at increased risk for severe illness," to avoid cruises. ...

Masks Will Be Required On Planes, Trains, And In Airports Until At Least January 2022 The Transportation Security Administration on Wednesday extended a federal transportation mask mandate until January 2022 as the highly contagious delta variant continues to spread throughout the United States. The mandate has been extended until at least January 18. The mandate, ...

These U.S. Airlines Are Requiring Vaccines for Employees - Here Are Their Policies Hawaiian Airlines and Frontier Airlines have become the latest United States carriers to require employees to get vaccinated against COVID-19, following the lead of United Airlines. On Monday, Peter Ingram, the president and CEO of Hawaiian Airlines, said all U.S.-based employees would ...

Delta Variant Travel Restrictions: The Safest Countries To Visit Right Now The emergence of the COVID-19 Delta variant has many travelers seeking out safe destinations with low case numbers to close out summer. While there's no way to eliminate risk entirely, travelers can limit their likelihood of contracting the virus and becoming severely ill by ...

What The Revised CDC Guidelines Mean For Travelers On Tuesday the CDC recommended fully vaccinated individuals once again wear face masks in public indoors settings when in areas of “substantial or high” rates of COVID-19 transmission. This includes cities and regions that are popular with summer tourists: Southern California, New York, New Orleans, and destinations throughout the entire state ...

Passport Application Wait Times Are Taking Up To 18 Weeks Passport applications are currently taking up to 18 weeks to process and the State Department says it "will take time" before that long waiting period eases. The State Department currently has an application backlog of between 1 and a half million to 2 million applications, ...

Executive Travel Pledges To Plant 1 Million Trees In Local Communities As travel picks up across the country and flights return, the environmental impact can become a concern as you board your next flight. Air travel is a great way to stay connected to long-distance family and friends, and gets us quickly to our vacation ...

Here's An Easy Way To Earn 100k Points and Finally Get Your Dream Vacation The Chase Sapphire Preferred is offering a sign-up bonus of 100,000 Chase Ultimate Rewards, what most people consider the most valuable credit card points available. This is Chase's best offer ever and has a minimum redemption value of $1,250 through the ...

Hawaii Lists Testing Requirement for Fully Vaccinated U.S. Travelers The state of Hawaii will no longer impose strict pre-entry testing and quarantine requirements for domestic travelers fully vaccinated in the U.S., Governor David Ige's office announced on Thursday. From July 8, U.S. visitors will only need to submit proof of, and carry with them, a ...

Coronavirus and Summer Travel: Everything You Need to Know The arrival of summer has marked a new chapter in the pandemic. Many Americans are fully vaccinated. Testing and quarantine requirements, stateside and abroad, have continued to ease. And the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) just relaxed its travel guidelines for over 100 destinations ...

EU Members Agree to Lift Travel Restrictions on U.S. Tourists The European Union is recommending that its 27 member countries start lifting restrictions on tourists from the United States. EU members agreed Wednesday to add the U.S. to the list of countries for which they should gradually remove restrictions on nonessential travel. The recommendation is ...

Hawaii To Lift All Travel Restrictions as Vaccination Rates Rise Hawaii has been one of the world’s strictest destinations during the coronavirus pandemic, but Gov. David Ige sees light at the end of the tunnel. Ige said Friday that as long as COVID-19 vaccination rates in Hawaii continue to rise, he will end travel restrictions ...

State Department Will Honor Expired Passports for Americans Abroad American citizens who are currently abroad can return to the U.S. without having to renew their passports, if it has expired, until the end of the year. Passports that expired on or after Jan. 1, 2021 will be honored for re-entry into the U.S. through Dec. ...

Where Can Americans Travel Right Now? A Country-by-Country Guide This year may not have brought an immediate end to the coronavirus pandemic, but it brought a renewed sense of hope. And many Americans are taking advantage of that feeling, looking ahead, and planning their next vacations. The options for those who want to add another ...

EU Takes A Big Step Toward Relaxing Travel Rules For Those Vaccinated The European Union on Wednesday took a step toward relaxing tourism travel for visitors from outside the bloc, with EU ambassadors agreeing on measures to allow fully vaccinated visitors in. They also agreed on easing the criteria for nations to be considered a ...

Airlines Are Actually Reducing Potential COVID-19 Exposure by Returning to Pre-pandemic Boarding Methods, Study Suggests Airlines including Delta, JetBlue, and United temporarily switched to back-to-front plane boarding during the pandemic to cut down on unnecessary close contact between passengers. But a new study says this method — filling aisles one-by-one from the back — could ...

Airlines Reinstating Change and Cancellation Fees Remember those warm-and-fuzzy, feel-good moments of the last year when the airlines went out of their way to accommodate passengers? Like when they stopped charging fees to change tickets? Yeah, well, those halcyon days are coming to an end. With COVID-19 numbers regressing for much of the country, and ...

Airlines and Hotels Are Keeping Loyalty Perks as Travel Restarts Vaccinations are giving people hope and confidence in their ability to safely return to travel. This means airlines and hotel brands are jockeying to be in a position to stay top of mind for travelers. Loyalty program benefits help them do just that, and members ...

How Safe Are You From COVID When You Fly? As vaccines become widely available and restrictions are eased, millions of people are flying again, raising questions about just how safe it is now to board a flight. To understand how risky it may be to board a flight now, start with how air circulates in ...

Southwest Rapid Rewards Devalues Points With No Notice Southwest Rapid Rewards is a revenue-based frequent flyer program, so the number of points required for a ticket is directly correlated to the cost of a ticket when paying cash. Historically points values have been roughly as follows: Southwest Airlines Wanna Get Away fares cost 76-78 points ...

New York Debuts Nations First Vaccine Passport-Here's What You Need to Know Consider it a fast pass of sorts: A safe and efficient way to return to Broadway theaters, concert halls, sporting arenas, and other big group settings by simply presenting a QR code as proof of either full COVID-19 vaccination or a recent negative ...

Thinking About Traveling? An Expert Gives Tips for Planning Ahead Are you thinking about traveling? The pandemic has prices fluctuating from every aspect of how you get to a location and how much it costs to stay there. Paul Glenn with Executive Travel says the prices are going to shuffle as more people get vaccinated and ...

Why You Should Book A Post-Pandemic Trip Now The COVID-19 pandemic has upended the travel industry for over a year but there is hope in sight. A third vaccine has now been approved by the FDA to be distributed in the U.S. and the country is currently administering over 2 million shots a day. If ...

A Car Rental Apocalypse Is Coming: Here's What You Need To Know Remember the good old pre-pandemic days, when you could plan a trip somewhere, then show up at the airport car-rental counter upon arrival and find a cheap last-minute vehicle for your trip? Or even during the pandemic, when there was a virtual fire ...

World's First Space Hotel Scheduled To Open In 2027 If you're daydreaming of future travels while stuck at home during the pandemic, why fantasize about the beaches of Bali or the canals of Venice when vacationing in space could be in your future? Back in 2019, the Californian company the Gateway Foundation released plans for ...

CDC Implements Travel Restrictions for Countries With Ebola Cases While the world is still grappling with the coronavirus pandemic, another threat has started to emerge again. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) announced on Friday that it's taking swift action to prevent the spread of the recent Ebola outbreak in two African countries ...

Airline Industry App Could Open Up Quarantine-Free Travel A new app to help travelers store and manage their certifications for Covid-19 tests and vaccines is set to launch next month. The IATA Travel Pass is being developed by the International Air Transport Association (IATA), the global trade association of which 290 airlines are a member. ...

United's New Routes Are About to Make Your Hawaii Dreams Come True United Airlines is providing another way for its passengers to head to Hawaii. Starting May 6, United will be launching a new route from Orange County, Calif. to Honolulu, Hawaii "Given the requirements that have been put in place for people that are ...

Where Can Americans Travel Right Now? With the seventh most powerful passport in the world, Americans are used to the privilege of access to almost any country on demand. Before the pandemic, Americans could travel to 185 of the world’s 195 countries visa-free, or with a visa on arrival. But due to the high coronavirus ...

Everything You Need to Know About COVID-19 Testing at All-Inclusive Resorts International travel comes with new obstacles in the time of COVID-19 and in the wake of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's (CDC) latest requirement that all U.S.-bound air travelers test negative for coronavirus within 72 hours of departure. However, many popular destinations ...

American Airlines to Expand Mobile Health Passport App Availability American Airlines this month will expand the availability of a mobile health passport app to cover all international travel, the carrier announced. For the past several months, American has made the VeriFly app, which lets travelers digitally store such health documentation as negative Covid-19 tests for ...

American Airlines Extends Waiver for Change Fees American Airlines announced it would continue to waive change fees for customers booking tickets for any new travel purchased by March 31. The carrier is providing customers with additional travel flexibility as part of its efforts to mitigate the impact of COVID-19 on the airline industry. These fees are ...

CDC To Require COVID-19 Testing of All Air Travelers Entering US The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) announced that it will start requiring a negative COVID-19 test from all air passengers who are entering the United States, beginning January 26. Since the U.S. is already in the midst of a nationwide surge, testing ...

The Safest Places to Travel in 2021 The COVID-19 pandemic hampered international travel for much of 2020 but as vaccines are distributed and more countries reopen their borders to foreign tourists there's hope that Americans will regain a sense of normalcy in 2021. Safety will be the top priority for many and while conditions can ...

How Will the COVID19 Vaccine Impact Travel In the past decade, the world has seen a steady rise in travel and tourism that undoubtedly influenced the trajectory of the Covid-19 pandemic. People flew in and out of China six times as much on a daily basis in 2018 than in 2002—the year SARS, the first ...

'COVID- Tested' Flights Between Italy, U.S. to Begin in Mid-December Delta Air Lines and Alitalia will begin operating "Covid-tested" flights between Rome and the United States that allow select travelers to avoid quarantine requirements upon arrival in Italy. In the trial phase, approved by Italy's Ministers of Health, Transportation, and Foreign Affairs, passengers arriving from ...

December U.S. Travel Restrictions by State-Christmas Quarantine and COVID-19 Test Requirements Travel restrictions have hardened across the U.S. over the past two weeks just as the demand for travel has increased. Christmas travel is expected to be much bigger than Thanksgiving, so whilst these restrictions are subject to change on a week-by-week basis, they provide ...