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America's Newest Budget Airline Just Launched With Fares Under $20

Last week, Avelo Airlines, the first new mainland airline company to arrive in the U.S. in 15 years, opened its online ticketing gates and began selling seats on 11 nonstop routes. Current one-way introductory fares are going for as low as $19—taxes and fees included. The catch? The ultra-budget carrier is only flying out of Burbank’s Bob Hope International Airport, at least to start. Likewise, its destinations are all smaller, secondary airports. But that’s kind of part of the mission. Current
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Princess Cruise Ships Will Relaunch With “Land-Like” Wi-Fi Strong Enough to WFC

The pandemic has redefined cruises and our work-from-home status, so it’s only fitting that Princess Cruises recently announced it would be upgrading the onboard Wi-Fi on its global fleet of ships. According to the cruise line, the new MedallionNet will bring “land-like” internet speeds to the seas, which, if you’ve ever tried to do anything substantial online on a cruise ship, is a pretty dang big deal. Forget working from home. If Princess’s new MedallionNet lives up to the hype, you’ll be ab
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Florida Is Suing the U.S. Government Over Cruise Restrictions

State governor Ron DeSantis announced Thursday, April 8, 2021, that he was suing the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, along with the Biden administration and the Department of Health and Human Services, to get the government to allow U.S. cruise sailings to resume ASAP. It’s been a long year and some change for the U.S. cruise industry. Despite pleas from several cruise lines and the Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA) asking the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (
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Hotels.com Wants You to Write Off Your 2020 Travel Losses for a Travel Credit

It’s tax season, and chances are your expenses look a little different in 2020 considering we all barely traveled, had significantly fewer meals and drinks out with friends, and just generally shook up what we spent money on during lockdown. Well, Hotels.com is asking you to add up your “only in 2020” expenses in order to win something even better than a tax break—some spending money for your next trip. A survey by the site showed that 85 percent of people are planning to use some of their tax
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After Months of Silence, CDC Finally Releases Next Steps For Return Of U.S. Cruises

It's been a while, but the long-awaited next steps in the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Conditional Sailing Order have finally been released, roughly four months since the agency’s last update in December 2020. In a nutshell, the new technical guidelines require cruise lines to amp up the testing frequency of crew and passengers, incorporate mandatory vaccines for crew and port personnel, and work out COVID-19 contingency plans between ships and any ports they’ll visit durin
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This Resort Will Fly You Home on a Free Private Jet if You Test Positive for COVID-19

The Baha Mar Resort in Nassau, Bahamas, has officially won the one-up game for COVID-19 quarantine care amenities. After the CDC announced all entries into the U.S. would require a negative COVID-19 test taken within 72 hours of travel, several hotels in popular U.S. vacation hotspots began offering free on-site rapid testing—and even free rooms for 14 days for any guests who test positive. Well, Baha Mar has upped the ante by offering guests with positive tests a free flight home. And we’re no
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Every Day Is A Day-At-Sea With Disney Cruise’s Limited New "Staycation" Sailings

While some cruise lines have safely started sailings and others plan for Caribbean summer sailings from new homeports, Disney has decided to chart a different course—make the journey the destination. In a clever spin on the cruise to nowhere, Disney has just announced that starting this summer, the Disney Magic will begin limited edition “staycation” sailings from select European ports starting this summer. Voyages will be short (either two, three, or sometimes four nights long), close to home
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CDC Says to Avoid Non-Essential Travel Even If You’re Vaccinated

Even though roughly one in five U.S. adults have now been vaccinated, experts are warning against non-essential travel—in fact, they are pleading for you not to do it, even if you’re fully vaccinated. During today’s White House COVID-19 briefing, U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky went off-script to share her concerns over “continuing concerning trends in the data” of rising COVID-19 case numbers in the United States. According to the latest CD
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The Cruise Industry Wanted To Get Back Into U.S. Waters Early. The CDC Said No

After suffering through over a year of cruise bans, changing protocols, and other uncharted setbacks, the cruise industry is fed up, eager to get back to sailings in the United States—but the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention just told them no. Last October, when the CDC announced it was finally letting the seven-month-long No Sail Order expire, it used the same breath to introduce a new Conditional Sailing Order (CSO). Under the new year-long order, the CDC announced their plan to hav
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As Air Travel Begins To Rebound, Airlines Are Already Making Big Changes

Earlier this week, we reported on the first substantial twinklings of an air travel recovery—and airlines have already begun taking their cue by announcing policy changes. For better or worse, these changes are an early signal that many airlines may believe this comeback is the real deal. Last year, to appeal to wary travelers and adjust for the pandemic's constant unpredictability, almost every U.S. airline axed change fees regardless of fare class—even for basic economy. Sadly, this convenien
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Hoping To Travel To Japan To Watch The Summer Olympics? We’ve Got Some Bad News

Good news: Tokyo's 2020 Olympics and Paralympics are set to take place on schedule this summer after being postponed a year because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Now, the bad news: Japan has recently announced that to keep the event safe, and presumably avoid any further postponement, no one outside Japan will be able to watch from the stands. Whether or not the rescheduled games would accept overseas spectators has been up in the air since a December 2020 statement made by the Five Parties, which
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The Cruise Comeback Date Is Now Even Closer Thanks To These Two Cruise Lines

Remember when we said that you only had to wait until July for the much-anticipated cruising comeback? Thanks to Royal Caribbean and Celebrity Cruises, you can actually get back in your cruise groove even quicker with their newly-announced cruises that will leave the docks as early as June. As with the first-announced comeback cruises for Crystal Cruises, the new sailings from Royal Caribbean and its sister line Celebrity Cruises will be sticking to the Caribbean. Starting on June 12, 2021, Ro
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Air Travel Is at Record Highs Since the Pandemic Started—But Is It a Comeback?

After a year of crippling losses, U.S. airlines believe they can finally see the light at the end of the runway. According to the Transportation Security Administration, TSA screened 1,357,111 passengers on Friday, March 12, 2021. The last time passengers numbers were that high was back on March 15, 2020—two days before the first official stay-at-home orders were executed. Fast forward a year later and, as of this writing, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports that the U.S
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Two Cruise Lines Are Offering Land-Only Alaska Itineraries This Summer

It looks like cruise ships have finally run aground, at least in Alaska anyways. Holland America and Princess Cruises (both members of the Carnival Corporation family) have announced that they will indeed offer Alaska itineraries this summer—but with a big catch. Instead of welcoming people aboard ships at sea, the cruise lines’ new itineraries are all land-based, with no cruise ship required. The inaugural summer tours will take advantage of being land-based and focus on Alaska’s interior and
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Wyndham Hotels' New Giveaway Wants to Pay Someone to Take Two Weeks Vacation

Know someone who has worked their tail off over the last year with nary any OOO time to recuperate? Good news! Wyndham Hotels is on the hunt to “hire” one lucky, overworked soul to go out of office for two weeks—and they’ll pay them handsomely for the privilege. In 2020, Americans worked longer hours yet only cashed in on about two-thirds of their paid time off, according to reports from the United States Travel Association. To add insult to injury, more Americans than ever began working from h
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After a Year of No Cruises, We Finally Have a Comeback Date

Vaccinate, suit up, and get ready to hit the high seas, baby! It’s almost been a full year since the CDC first announced its "No Sail Order" for most ocean cruises operating in U.S. waters and ports. After months and months of extended orders, voluntary no-sails, and a bunch of cancelations, cruises have yet to make their comeback or even give a hint at when they expect to get back in the water—until now. On March 11, 2021, Crystal Cruises announced via a joint virtual press conference with th
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You Can Now Book a Stay at the Universe’s First Space Hotel

They haven't even begun to break ground on the project yet. Still, the folks behind Voyager Station have already announced they expect to start welcoming overnight guests at the world’s first— nay, the universe’s— first space hotel as early as 2027. Reservations are being accepted—and, yes, the rates are astronomical. Entry-level stays in a two-person suite can be booked with a three-night minimum for around $5 million. Luxury villas, which can accommodate up to 16 people, can be rented out by
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This Amtrak Auto Train Sale Has Private Rooms for Just $109

Riding the rails with your car has never been cheaper. Amtrak’s famed Auto Train—the only Amtrak that allows passengers to bring their cars onboard—has a sale so good, you just might want to plan a trip around it, even if you don’t have a car. Until March 12, 2021, Auto Train-goers can book into coach for as little as $9 each way or go for the splurge and snag a private room for just $109. So how sweet of a deal is this? Pretty dang sweet. Coach tickets on the Auto Train usually go for $89, wh
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The World’s Longest River Cruise Itinerary Was Just Announced

It hasn’t been an easy year for the cruising industry, but AmaWaterways isn’t letting that hold them back. Instead, they’re aiming to make waves and break records. Yesterday, the company announced a new 46-night luxury river cruise itinerary that will float passengers to 14 different countries. Specially curated by AmaWaterways President Rudi Schreiner, the sprawling new itinerary is officially the longest river cruise itinerary in the world. “At AmaWaterways, we continually anticipate the need
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London's Camden Highline Park Just Got One Step Closer to Getting Off the Ground

London’s most talked-about park project? The Camden Highline. The adaptive reuse project plans to temporarily transform an old railway viaduct that has been disused for 30 years and turn it into a 3/4-mile (1.2km) of public green space that stretches overhead from Camden Gardens to York Way. Adaptive reuse is a functional, eco-friendly design trend that’s (luckily) been taking over public spaces for years now. Some of the most successful examples take something once great but now crumbling and
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