Advice and reports for families planning to travel by road, air, rail, or other means
We toured part of Utah and Colorado in a new Winnebago Boldt that was equipped with most everything — and I did bring things we’ve used everyday
“A hotel isn’t the same,” added Zach Dubey. “We get to be outside more,” cooking together, sitting around a fire. (Here, we rent a fire pit for $20 for our stay, plus wood.)
It’s easy to see why Arches National Park, just 5 miles north of Moab Utah, is the world’s largest concentration of natural sandstone arches — over 2,000 throughout the park’s more than 76,000 acres.
We’ve all been there. Long layovers, tired family members and expensive airport food. But there’s an easy fix to the boring and exhausting parts of air travel and it’s called FlightsFrom.com.
Private trips are growing more popular, whether a family wants to celebrate a 50th anniversary sailing on a Turkish gulet, go whitewater rafting, biking or to explore Italy or visit a national park
If one were to award the title for “a modern middle east” to any city in UAE, then Dubai would claim it!
Is it safe to take kids to developing nations? To fly with babies when they haven’t yet been vaccinated for measles? To let them swim in the ocean?
For busy parents, it’s the luxury of not having to organize anything for a camping trip. Someone else has shopped for the food on this five-day trip and the always cheery guides cook everything from lasagna to steaks
Until recently, the only way to get to Naples from the United States was via a connecting flight. That changed on May 22, when United launched its inaugural daily nonstop flight from Newark to Naples
When it comes to liveliness, Dubai has both outdoor and indoor activities to offer the tourists. And one of the best part of Dubai is you can visit it with both your family and friends (sponsored)
Portugal is a great family destination and TAP Air Portugal is greatly expanding its service from the USA this spring and summer
The lines to go through security were longer than usual at Denver International Airport this morning (Saturday, Jan 12, 2019). The government shutdown is having big effects on the travel industry too.
We have opted to spend two weeks on a self-guided hiking trip arranged by Alpenwild, the largest tour operator offering walking, hiking and trekking tours in the Alps
Parents and grandparents wouldn’t consider driving with a young child if they aren’t properly restrained in a safety seat. Not only is it the law, but those seats save lives. So why is it different on a plane?
As horrifying and tragic as it was, the in-flight emergency and forced landing of a Southwest Airlines flight in Philadelphia was the first instance of a passenger being killed in a U.S. airline accident since 2009
Flight cancellations still occur on a regular basis because of the weather, but these days there are more options for passengers, especially if they are proactive, starting with carefully monitoring weather, road and airport closures
If you are like me and want to pack more efficiently, especially these days when you don’t want to pay for bags for the entire family (wait at the airport for them or need a larger rental car to accommodate the bags), this column is for you.
I’m not flying business class. I’m not a high roller. But I have access to the Wingtips lounge in Terminal Four —and more than 1,000 airport lounges in 500 cities around the world.
You get to the airport for a long-planned overseas trip only to discover you can’t board your flight— because your passports expire within six months!
These days, especially, it’s important to know what to do if your passport gets lost or stolen or if you need a passport in a hurry (say for a family emergency abroad or last-minute business trip that you can bring a child along).
In expected the usual indifference of US carriers at JFK. Instead, the British Airways staff couldn’t have been nicer and I breezed through security. The gods must have been smiling on me because I got upgraded!
We’re in the middle of the Arabian Desert at a nearly 140-square-mile Desert Conservation Reserve about an hour southeast of Dubai riding in a four-wheel drive SUV up and down 6,200-foot-high sand dunes.
If you’re thinking you wouldn’t find these amenities on an American carrier, you are probably right. “In the United States, you don’t see a lot of airlines offering amenities for kids,” said Brian Sumers, who covers airlines and aviation for the travel industry website Skift.
Anyone who has flown in coach in recent years knows that from the moment you arrive at the airport departure curb there’s an indifferent vibe from the ticket agents to the gate agents, to the flight crews, to the baggage carousels
Even after midnight the lounges are busy, as Dubai is a major gateway and global connection point. (There are appealing packages from Emirates for those who want to stop over for a day or two.)
The woman is busy taking selfies at the top of the Burj Khalifa in Dubai, the tallest skyscraper in the world – 2,716.5 feet and more than 160 stories.
It’s the extra touches—the captain signing their travel journals, the chance to have their picture taken in a flight attendant’s or captain’s hat
. I know most families don’t think they need travel insurance, but it really can save the day — and lots of money as costs can run into six figures when someone must be evacuated in a medical emergency. And, as travel insurers note, that is as likely to happen at a Mexican resort as on a cruise ship in some exotic locale.
Each kid on this A&K expedition to Antarctica has many memories but distinct favorites. “Sailing by an iceberg, it was so beautiful,” said Lake, 12, from New York City.
A prominent member of the European Union Parliament is proposing that every 18-year-old receive a free trans-Europe train pass so they can get to know Europe better. We should do the same
Anyone who has flown with young kids in recent years knows it’s not uncommon to find that your preschooler has been assigned a seat half a plane away. All too often, parents are told it is up to them to ask someone to switch seats.
This morning, Delta Airlines suffered a complete shutdown for nearly 6 hours because of a power outage in its computer systems at its principal hub in Atlanta
New law will require airlines to seat any children aged 13 and younger “adjacent to the seat of an accompanying family member over the age of 13,
I didn’t meet anyone onboard during our trip who was nervous about traveling with their kids in Europe this summer, even though we were in Crete, less than 200 miles from where the Egyptair plane went down
It’s easy to see why these vacations are so popular with multigenerational families. No one is doing all the chores that typically come with a house rental.
on vacation, free is great — a lot better than paying for meals the kids don’t eat, theme park tickets when they’d rather play in the hotel pool or museum entry fees when they are ready to leave in less than an hour.
Maybe you like nothing more than exploring new places and sharing new adventures with the kids and grandkids, well aware that things may not go as planned, though that can happen wherever you go, of course. Wherever you venture in 2016, give yourselves permission to get off the tourist track, at least for a little while. You’ll be glad you did.
Is paying extra for premium economy worth the extra price? Sometimes, you get a lot for your buck; other times you wonder what you paid for.
The ship staff had warned that navigating on your own in Japan is different than elsewhere. Very few locals speak English and signs are only in Japanese. I understand now why in the U.S. Japanese tourists always move in a group with a guide.
The Mizuki Spa at the Conrad Tokyo is the largest spa of its kind in Tokyo and boasts Tokyo’s only true Hinoki bath. Treatments are inspired by the moon and the water.
Whatever the reasons, Americans failed to use 429 million days of paid time off last year, the U.S. Travel Association reports. Those who get vacation time are taking less, while a quarter of Americans don’t get any paid vacation at all
Younger campers say having a smartphone on a camping trip is nearly as important as toilet paper, according to the 2015 North American Camping Report. I’m guessing your kids would agree
It’s our lucky day! We’ve gotten upgraded to Club World on British Airways. We’re not sure how it happened but we’re not complaining.
10 original ideas from kids to help parents everywhere increase the fun while planning, packing, participating in activities and making memories for their family vacations.
This week there was news of more incidents in which air turbulence injured passengers — and one case sent a baby flying through the cabin (very luckily uninjured). The FAA and the airlines need to act — and parents need to ask themselves again: Is your small child’s safety worth not paying for the extra seat?
When the forecast got worse by the hour for the latest storm primed to hit the East Coast, I figured our flight from New York to Salt Lake City would invariably be cancelled the next morning.
Want to get whisked through security? It may be too late for Thanksgiving, but if you are flying for Christmas, you’ve got time to sign up for Global Entry, the trusted traveler network that allows you to make your way quickly through special lines and customs by using automated kiosks at 97 domestic airports through the TSA Pre-check Program.
“The passport is the new diploma,” Keith Bellows, editor of National Geographic Traveler and the father of three, told the nearly 50 influential family travel writers and bloggers who had gathered this past weekend from around the country and Canada at the TMS Family Travel Conference in Niagara Falls, NY.
You’ll be spending the Long Goodbye shuttling back and forth to stores crowded with other freshmen parents for “essentials” you didn’t bring from home. In our case, that included a tool kit needed to loft the beds in my daughter Mel’s dorm room so the girls had more floor space.
During the Great Depression, and the Dustbowl, over 250,000 people packed everything they could and set out from Arkansas and Oklahoma along Route 66, heading–they hoped—for a better life in California. Recently I got to drive part of the route in a Ford hybrid vehicle.
You can’t bring a bottle of water onto an airplane. You might get stopped at security with a container of breast milk. But you can bring a baseball bat? And small knives? Come on TSA, which announced last week that these items will be allowed as carry-on beginning April 25. How about a little common sense?
Let’s play the what-if game. What if Mother Nature derails your holiday travel plans — as it did for so many people I know earlier this month during Hurricane Sandy and during the Christmas blizzard that crippled the East Coast two years ago?
UPDATE (Wednesday, Oct 31) — It’s Halloween, but the really scary thing is now bad the damage from SuperStorm Sandy is all over the Northeast. We still have power at our house so we are one of the few lucky ones. But we lost cable, which means almost all forms of communication for us these days. I’m updating this blog from our Town Hall where they have electricity and free public wi-fi. It’s impressive the way people are pulling together and helping each other out. Just this morning my husband helped a neighbor jump-start his car. His battery had run down after he and his son tried to recharge too many electronic devices. Meanwhile… if you trying to travel, or get home, during the storm’s aftermath, check out www.johnnyjet.com for some great tips!
Yet again, an airline—this time United—lost an unaccompanied minor who was supposed to be escorted to her connecting flight earlier this summer. Some advice on how to minimize the chances of this happening to your child…
As any parent knows, when kids are involved, unforeseen circumstances can materialize at the drop of a hat. Illness can sideline the entire family, resulting in financial losses such as costs for airfare, tickets to attractions and other non-refundable deposits.
I can’t agree with the “let the market decide” when it comes to forcing parents to pay extra to sit next to their preschoolers. Even worse, we’re talking about customers who may only fly once or twice a year
Millions of children will be flying this summer. As we head into the summer vacation season, let’s all try to be nicer to our fellow passengers whatever their ages. Here are some tips for traveling parents to de-stress the experience.
Find out how the right car accessories can personalize your family vehicle. From car seats to bike racks, car accessories let you do more with your family vehicle. (sponsored content)
If you’re looking for family vacation ideas, consider taking a road trip. Driving to your family vacation destination is often more affordable than buying plane tickets for the whole family
I’m in my Virgin America extra legroom seat with no one in front of me and plenty of room to stretch on this flight from San Francisco to New York. For once the five-hour plus flight doesn’t seem interminable.