Mixing Cruising with Independent Travel

I used to think there were independent travelers and cruise passengers -- two mutually exclusive categories. But now, with cruising shedding its newlywed and geriatric stereotypes, all kinds of tourists are finding shipboard travel to be appealing

8 Insider Secrets to Booking Cheap Airfare

Save big on your next flight with these insider tips

Polynesian Odyssey Voyage to the Marquesas Islands

The Marquesas Islands. This is the most northerly archipelago in French Polynesia, just south of the equator, and farther from a continental landfall than any other group of islands on earth -- as far as you can get from so-called civilization

The Magic Of Bora Bora

Greetings from Bora Bora -- that tiny piece of heaven in the South Pacific. The water is impossibly blue, except for those improbable shades of green, and everywhere you turn, it is -- snap, snap, snap -- picture postcard perfect. James Michener, author of 'Tales of the South Pacific,' thought Bora Bora was the most beautiful island of all. No wonder.

Bora Bora an Exotic Place That Loves Kids

Who says kids and romance don't go together? Even in a place as famous for honeymoons as Bora Bora, families' rule, especially as Air Tahiti Nui continues to offer kids free deals on flights. There are also great hotel deals.

Sailing Around the Tahitian Islands

We are in paradise -- really. The fish literally eat out of our hands, the water is so clear I can see seashells in the sand six feet below us and the island nearby is ringed by lush, green trees, some dripping with exotic fruits.

The Best Travel Rewards Credit Cards

Whether you're a frequent flyer or just seeking a generous rewards program, there's a card for you. Here's the skinny on some of the best travel rewards credit cards

Do Airlines Give Best Fares to Search Engines?

Airfare monitor Airfarewatchdog recently posted a report showing that search sites promising to find the 'lowest fares' often don't make good on this promise

Need a Flight? Just Google It

When Brittany Laughlin needed to fly from Chicago to San Francisco last month, she tried something new. Instead of visiting an online travel agency or an airline website, she headed over to Google Flight Search, the newest and most controversial travel site to launch since Orbitz opened its doors a decade ago

5 Online Tools for Managing Airline Miles

Several websites offer mileage tracking, which could prevent you from letting miles expire or getting so frustrated you give up on mileage programs altogether. Here's a look at five mileage-tracking sites and their features

What You Need to Know About Travel Credit Cards

With travel-linked rewards program cards, points are exchanged for airline tickets, hotel stays, and merchandise. In some cases, points can be turned into cash. These cards reward spenders, but watch the fees and terms

Are Loyalty Programs Worth It?

Quitting a frequent-flier program looks easy: You cut up your card and donate the miles to charity. And that's it. But, I realized that there's a little more to it. Living miles-free in a world that's polluted with points is exceedingly difficult -- and for some, impossible.

Led by No-Frills Carriers, Airlines Improve Service

Maybe you can have your salted peanuts and eat them, too. According to a new study, the airline industry had its best performance in decades, and so-called discount carriers led the pack

How to Stop Ear Pain on a Plane

Here's how to stop ear pain when flying

Photography Tips for Travelers

Here are some tips and lessons that I've learned from the photographic school of hard knocks

Travel with a Purpose

When you start planning your 2012 travels, consider a trip with some definite purpose. Having a specific goal is lots more interesting than just checking off the main mountains, temples, and museums off the list and eating in the recommended restaurants. Purpose travel can be either individual or in groups, and you have a wide range of alternatives

4 Reasons Your Brain Needs a Vacation

Research shows the right vacation boosts your brain's health. Optimize your time off -- whether or not you get away

How to Stay Healthy on Vacation

Even a minor health problem can spoil a vacation. And a major one can make you regret ever leaving home. Of course, there are no guarantees, but taking the following precautions can improve your odds for a medically uneventful trip

Have a Healthy Vacation

You've packed the bags. You've dog-eared and highlighted the travel guides. With everyone excited for the family vacation, someone getting sick is the last thing you want. Here's how to keep the family healthy while you're away -- plus what to do if sickness does strike.

Travel Apps for Your Smart Phone

Priceline just announced its compilation of the 10 most popular free travel apps for the industry-leading iPhone (some of which are also available in other phone systems)

Are Travelers Overloaded By Social Media?

Are travelers overloaded by social media? It's a timely question, given the release of 'The Social Network,' which topped the box office for several weeks in October, and is about the origin of Facebook, the most successful social network on the planet.

VIP Airport Lounge -- Oasis at a Big Airport

Airports are among the world's most hostile environments. Crowds, noise, long lines, inadequate seating, and garbled announcements are the norm. Fortunately, even occasional travelers can avail themselves of the road warriors' refuges: VIP airline lounges. Mostly, you'll have to pay, but an oasis of calm can be worth a few bucks

Low Airfares That Vanish in a Click

When you find a fare online, it isn't actually there -- it's cached on the site. Caching, or storing a copy of the fare information, is cheaper and makes everything run faster. But there's a price to be paid for the speed and convenience: A small number of fares -- usually less than 5 percent -- may no longer be available when you try to book them.

Air Travel: Buying Extra Legroom

If you don't want to pay the exorbitant price for a first-class ticket, your only chance to avoid the bone-crunching crowding of the airlines' coach/economy cabins is to wangle a coach seat with extra legroom. Rather than dole out those choice seats first come, first served, more and more airlines have taken to selling access to them.

Travel Health: How to Fight 7 In-Flight Ailments

Traveling, whether for work or play, can take its toll on your physical condition. Here are seven health problems you might encounter in transit along with tips for avoiding them

Polynesian Odyssey Voyage to the Marquesas Islands

The Marquesas Islands. This is the most northerly archipelago in French Polynesia, just south of the equator, and farther from a continental landfall than any other group of islands on earth -- as far as you can get from so-called civilization

Travel Essential: Suitcase Guide

Don't be the slowest passenger on the security line -- or the one who sets off buzzers or is pulled aside and searched. This simple suitcase guide will help make your future travels a cinch.

How to Ensure Your Luggage Survives a Trip

There are no statistics on luggage failures of the type I encountered -- broken handles, busted wheels, screwed-up zippers -- but plenty of stories. Here are four luggage horror stories, and some tips on how to cope with them.

Advance Baggage Shipment: Does it Make Any Sense

You travelers tell us that 'Baggage Fees' have risen near the top of your lists of airline annoyances. Certainly, the fees are getting ever more widespread. And UPS just got into the act with a new 'luggage box' it would love to ship for you. But does this development mean shipping your stuff ahead makes any sense?

5 Ways Travelers Have Lost Their Manners

What is it about travel that makes people jettison their manners? Whether it's the Ugly American or the Entitled Elite, travel has no shortage of unflattering stereotypes. They've always been with us. They'll always be with us. But are their numbers growing?

Travel Complaints That Fail

At the right time, these are all perfectly reasonable ways to complain to a travel company. At the wrong time, they can doom your customer service request to failure at the hands of a dreaded form response. What kind of a complainer are you?

Do You Really Want to Take Your Pets Along?

Lots of you, I'm sure, enjoy your vacation more when have your longtime dog or cat companion along with you. But traveling with a pet can be dangerous to the pet's health. -- a fact vividly demonstrated by the recent story about the death of seven puppies on an airline flight. Here's what you need to know

How Much Should We Tip These Days?

Over the years I've been traveling, tipping has become a lot more confusing -- and a lot more expensive. Moreover, long established customs around the world have changed, mostly for the worse. Here are some highlights from the most recent worldwide tipping guide

Can't Use Your Miles? Give Them Away!

By now most of you know the current mantra of frequent flyer miles: 'Easy to earn; impossible to use.' If you can't use your miles yourself, consider giving them away to a relative or friend -- especially someone who might be a bit more flexible about travel dates than you are. Here's the best ways to give your miles away

Frequent Flyer Miles: Currency, not Loyalty

Frequent flyer miles no longer have much if anything to do with loyalty: Instead, they've become a strange sort of currency that you don't really own and has value that is at the whim of the airline. Unless you fly a lot, it's time to re-think your frequent flyer plans.

Frequent Flyer Payout -- Great to Lousy

How likely are you to find a 'free' seat with your miles when and where you want to go? That depends, says a recent study, on the airline you fly. Among the 22 programs in the study, the range of success rates runs from 'almost every time' to 'hardly ever.' The following results provide some useful conclusions and guidance

Anatomy of a Travel Scam

In a jumbled mess of phony invoices, misappropriated trademarks, and concocted credentials, New York businessman Joseph Ehrenreich's elaborate scam has come crashing down over the course of the past year. Like most intricate travel-related frauds, Ehrenreich's scheme began with a simple premise: heavily discounted vacations

5 Common Travel Mistakes and How to Fix Them

I'm dedicating this column to travel mistakes, a topic that will be familiar to anyone who reads this feature or follows my misadventures. So here it is, mistakes you should avoid when you travel and how to fix them

Another Argument For Travel Insurance

You should consider trip-cancellation insurance (TCI) any time you make a big upfront deposit or prepayment, on any travel service, that is either nonrefundable or carries a big cancellation penalty. Whenever your exposure is larger than you can afford to ignore should you have to cancel, you probably need insurance. Here are my rules for travel insurance

The Biggest Travel Gouge

Quick quiz -- what's today's biggest travel gouge? Airline baggage fees? Hotel 'resort' fees? Full-fare coach? Foreign exchange fees on credit cards? Yes, those are all gouges. But my current nominee is inflated beverage prices in restaurants and on cruise lines amongst other rip-offs

Hotels Don't Always Change the Sheets Between Guests

Glenn Robins is grossed out. As a frequent traveler, he assumed the sheets on hotel beds are changed between guests. But a new TV ad by the Hampton Inn chain calls that assumption into question. It shows housekeepers changing sheets in hazmat suits, at what appears to be a competing hotel chain

Tour Packages a Better Deal -- Really?

My take is that tour packages are occasionally cheaper than putting your own trip together, but usually they aren't. Even so, however, they may be better deals, but for the service they provide rather than cost. Here's a case in point

Paying Up Front for Rental Car Nicks and Scratches

Best 'Value' Destination Cities

Which major world destination city offers the best 'value' in hotel accommodations? Prague, says a recent survey; not a great surprise, given the almost universal reputation that worthy city has earned in the last decades. And other Eastern European cities also fare well

4 Things You Should Take -- and Leave -- When You Travel

It's normal for travelers to pocket a 'physical representation' of their vacation. But before they snatch up that porcelain figurine or sombrero, she advises that they remember the acronym CUTE, which stands for 'Can't Use This Ever.'

Vacation Rentals: 9 Things to Know

Renting a reliable vacation home isn't easy. And not just because there are a seemingly endless number of rental resources to turn to -- everything from local sites that list a few condos to big listing services like HomeAway.com or VRBO.com. I asked experts to identify the biggest challenges when renting a home. Here's what they told me

Honest Guest's Guide to Free Hotel Amenities

Where's the line? When you're staying at a hotel, is it OK to pocket the bottles of shampoo and lotion? How about the magazines? Bathrobes? Furniture? It depends on the traveler.

Four Secrets for Upgrading Your Next Vacation

While the travel industry seems hell-bent on downgrading your next trip, (and I have to be careful here not to single out my friends in the travel agency community -- you're the victims here, too) there are a few things you can do to make sure it doesn't happen. You can upgrade your trip. How? Here are a few tips I've picked up as a consumer advocate

Tips for Traveling Solo

Solo travel gives you complete freedom and independence. You never have to wait for your partner to pack up. You decide where to go, how far to travel, how much to spend, or when to call it a day. If ad-libbing, it's easier for one to slip between the cracks than two. Of course, there are downsides to traveling alone

What You Can Learn From First-Time Air Travelers

It isn't just fear that's keeping many of us away from a plane, but common sense. Flying has become such an unbelievably humiliating experience, it's no wonder there are still people out there who haven't flown. If anything, I'm amazed there aren't more of them out there

How to Save on Summer Vacation Travel

11 Rules for a Cheap Summer Vacation

Americans appear ready to spend a little more on summer fun -- as long as they're still landing good deals. Top destinations include countries that have slashed their prices, domestic cities considered less desirable to foreign tourists, and old-fashioned, multi-family beach houses. If you're still looking for the perfect summer getaway, here are 11 strategies to consider

Smile! It's Summer Vacation

As summer starts, it's the perfect opportunity to clear your head -- and your calendar -- for a much-needed getaway. Jennifer Oberstein, a director with Leading Hotels of the World and an avid traveler for both work and play, offers the following pre-trip tips for planning the perfect vacation

What Are the Best Summer Vacation Travel Tips?

Nothing -- not higher gas prices, not soaring airfares, not climbing hotel rates -- seems to be keeping travelers off the road this summer. Offering them useful travel advice? That's something of a roadblock it turns out

Lessons Learned From Your Worst Travel Gaffes

If I could generalize about the types of screw-ups most common to travelers, I'd say they're not errors of commission as much as they are errors of omission: leaving something out, forgetting to verify a reservation, or just making an incorrect assumption. Here are some of my favorite travel mistakes

Camping Vacations: Sleeping Under the Stars

While I've camped in the western United States and in Europe as well, most of my experience is on the East Coast, and I firmly believe going on a camping trip an activity every city slicker should try at least once. Regardless, here's some wonderful campsites in the United States plus Camping tips

Small-Ship Cruises: Intimate Unusual and Expensive

Cruising in a small ship -- typically accommodating fewer than 500 travelers, with many carrying only 50 to150 -- can take you places those behemoths couldn't get near. On a small-ship cruise, you typically get to know everyone else traveling along with you. The downside, however, is a big one: Small-ship cruises cost far more than megaship mass-market cruises.

Crazy Cruise: 7 Absurdities of the Sea

There's something for everyone on a cruise. And I don't mean that the same way your travel agent or cruise line does. Whether it's a silly upsell, like asking you to pay extra for fine dining on your 'all-inclusive' vacation, or dumb laws that prevent you from boarding or disembarking your vessel, you won't fail to find something absurd at sea