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October 26, 2018 In Air, Business Travel, Land, travel trending

The Best Airline Stopover Programs

Instead of spending all day in an airport waiting for your connecting flight, take advantage of these eight airlines’s stopover programs, where you can spend up to a week exploring a new city, often for no extra fee. From Toronto to Dubai, happy exploring.

Lisbon
Buoyed by its new partnership with JetBlue, Portugal’s TAP is offering great deals on flights between the U.S. and Europe, with up to three-day-long stopovers in Lisbon (which Condé Nast Traveler named the continent’s most underrated city) to sweeten the deal.

How to Book It: Head straight to TAP’s “Discover Portugal” page, where you can book flights, pick from a list of hotels that offer discounts for people taking part in the stopover program, and download TAP’s branded app full of tips for your visit.

Panama City
If you’re heading to the Caribbean or South America, why not stretch your vacation out just a little bit longer with a stopover in Panama City? Flights between those two regions and the United States qualify for Copa’s complimentary stopover program, and since Copa is part of the Star Alliance you can also bank additional miles to use on airlines like United, Lufthansa, Air Canada, or Singapore Airlines.

How to Book It: While you can look for flights via Copa’s special stopover website, you have to make the actual booking over the phone. If you’ve already booked a Copa ticket and want to change it to include the free stopover, you’re unfortunately too late as the whole package must be arranged at the same time.

Reykjavik
Icelandair’s famous stopover program in Reykjavik is the grandfather of these programs. Conceived in the 1970s as a way to boost tourism to then-largely unknown Nordic capital, the program—which lets North Americans en route to Europe (or vice versa) spend 3-7 days in Iceland for free—is so successful that it was credited with making Reykjavik a major tourist destination to this day.

How to book It: The layover program is such a core part of Icelandair’s business that it has its very own website. Plug in your dates, specify whether you want to do the stopover on the way to or from your final destination, and go from there.

Toronto
Air Canada’s free Toronto stopover program, which launched in early 2016, came out of two goals: to encourage people to take advantage of flight deals to Europe and Asia, and to boost tourism for Canada’s biggest city. Travelers can spend up to one week in Toronto on their way to or from another destination, and the biggest market so far is Americans.

How to book it: Head straight to the Toronto stopover microsite. On top of booking your flights, you can also buy tickets for the UP Express, an express train that connects the airport with downtown Toronto and pick up a City Pass, which will get you free entrance to most major attractions in the city.

Helsinki
Never flown FinnAir? Now’s your chance. The Nordic airline is sweetening the deal for trips to Europe and Asia via Helsinki by offering free layovers in the Finnish capital. You can stay for up to five days on either side of your trip, so choose wisely, and Helsinki’s location makes it easy to pop over to Tallinn or Stockholm if you want to squeeze in another city break.

How to book It: FinnAir’s easy-to-use stopover page should have everything you need. You can also sign up for one of several approved package tours (themed around Northern Lights spotting, reindeer petting, an authentic sauna trip, or simply exploring the city) at the same time.

Abu Dhabi
If you’re flying on Etihad and connecting in Abu Dhabi, take a break and stretch your legs in town. You can stay for up to 96 hours without a visa, and the airline offers a deal where you can get two nights in a hotel for the price of one. It’s not free, but it is very affordable: rates begin from $37 USD per person. Etihad also has relationships with local vendors, and you can get two-for-one deals on lots of local activities, like city tours or a round of golf at Yas Links Golf Course.
How to book It: Head to the Etihad stopover page to do everything at once, or opt for the multi-city booking page if you are more flexible with your flight schedule.

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Bangkok
If you’re considering going to Australia this fall or winter, break up those crazy long flights by booking on Thai Airways and taking a free layover in Bangkok. The airline’s new limited-edition program only works on flights from Oz, but it’s a great way to extend your trip.

How to book It: Once you’ve booked your flights, fill out Thai Airways’s online form for stopover passengers and give the company up to three business days to get in touch with you about arrangements.

Shanghai
One potential headache when visiting mainland China is filling out visa paperwork. But you can sidestep that process by booking an Air China stopover that gives you up to 96 hours (the max amount of time you can spend in the country sans document) in either Shanghai or Beijing. Still, despite the lack of a visa requirement, you’ll still have to sign up for an approved tour and book into a hotel on the airline’s list, so consider this a way to get a first glimpse of China rather than a full-on vacation.

How to Book It: Contact Air China directly to book the whole shebang, from flights to packages. The airline doesn’t list layover package prices online, so definitely ask for rates first.

Dubai
Not only is Emirates consistently rated one of the best airlines in the world, it also offers a great way to see its hub city of Dubai. The airline sells a range of stopover packages that can be booked as little as 48 hours ahead of your flight, which is great for impulsive travelers, and an agent can book your hotel or apartment for you at the same time. An airline rep will greet you at the airport, and you’ll get a free booklet with info about what to do in town. Bonus: any hotel included in the package offers 24-hour reception for Emirates guests, because jet lag is for real.

How to book It: Once you’ve nailed down your flight details, contact Emirates online or by phone. There’s a huge online catalogue of layover options, but absolutely zero prices—you’ll need to ask an agent for quotes.

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October 26, 2018 In Air, Airlines

Strangers on a plane – To Talk or not to Talk?

Talking to people on planes is a hotly debated topic. Some stick with their plan to stay silent: wine, window seat, eye mask. Others open themselves up to conversation, and even end up meeting their soulmates. Bottom line? Most people have a story about meeting someone on a plane—good or bad.READ MORE

August 8, 2018 In travel etiquette

Made-Up Travel Words We Love to Hate

Brexit. Snowmaggedon. Twerking. These words were unknown—uncoined even—just ten years ago. By one expert estimate, we add 1,000 new words, or neologisms, to the printed English language every year, The Guardian reports. Compared to most major world languages, English is particularly prone to such coinages, says Kory Stamper, former associate editor at Merriam-Webster and author of Word by Word: The Secret Life of Dictionaries.

“Unlike French or Italian or Spanish, we don’t have an academy to tell us what’s right and what’s wrong or whether or not something is a proper word,” she says. “We figure that out on our own. It’s very democratic.”

She believes that the new, hashtag-driven era has accelerated this trend even more. No other sector seems to be more susceptible to it than travel. Unfortunately, not all neologisms are as adorkable as, well, adorkable.

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STAYCATION
noun, stay·ca·tion, \ ˈstā-ˈkā-shən
A vacation spent at home, or in the nearby area. See also: mancation or brocation (a guys’ trip), momcation (moms only, please), citycation (a vacation in an urban destination), and traincation (self-explanatory, we hope).

“People hate blended words, or portmanteaus, because they think of them as being stupid kitschy marketing,” says Stamper. Staycation embodies that wince-inducing sense of artifice. But this word, which boomed in the wake of Great Recession of 2008, wasn’t coined recently—in fact, she says this neologism is more like an AARPism. It was first used in 1944 by Felsenbrau beer in an ad in its local paper, the Cincinnati Enquirer, encouraging locals to ditch trips and spend money locally as part of the war effort.

BABYMOON
noun, ba·by·moon, \ˈbābēˌmo͞on
A romantic vacation taken by couples before a baby is born. See also: mini-moon (quick honeymoon), weddingmoon (a combination destination wedding and honeymoon), or moneymoon (a vacation taken after lottery winning or inheritance)

We can thank (or blame) author Sheila Kitzinger for this word, which she first used in her 1979 book Birth at Home. For the British childbirth expert, though, its original meaning was different: It referred to the glow-filled three or four weeks after birth when parents spend time with their child (just as honeymoon is a 16th-century word spotlighting the idea that the first month of marriage is the sweetest). Stamper says “babymoon” began to shift to its current meaning in the early 1990s. The backlash, she says, is two-fold. “It seems kind of frivolous and classist, because not all of us can afford to take that time off or spend the money to go to St. Tropez. And then there’s the fact that something that’s supposed to be sexy—a honeymoon—is now too closely tied to the product of your sexy time.”

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TOURON
noun, tour·on, \ˈtôrˌän
An annoying or stupid tourist. From tourist and moron.

Some words—like this slang term—remain niche. Stamper says it does have its adherents: Yellowstone park rangers are said to use it as a code word for the visitor who gets out of the car to take a selfie with stampeding bison. “Yes, I know it sounds like a new French car company,” Stamper says, “but this goes back to the mid 1980s, and it pops up occasionally [in writing] every couple of years. It’s always defined in running text, which is a signal to a lexicographer that is hasn’t really settled into the language, because you have to explain it to people.” Perhaps that’s the point: Derogatory slang is only useful if it can be deployed, unnoticed, in daylight.

JETIQUETTE
noun, jet·i·quette, \ˈje-ti-kət
The standard of acceptable behavior among passengers in an airplane or an airport.

Like staycation, Stamper believes this word will stick around in our lexicon. “It’s linguistically transparent—people instantly know you’re talking about manners of some kind,” she says. The rise in bad behavior airside means we need this term more than ever, even to address eternal travel quandaries: If you’re in the middle seat, is it good jetiquette to claim both armrests? The first usage Stamper found was in 1995, in a Vanity Fair article about private planes; usage and meaning expanded to general air travel within a couple of years.

VOLUNTOURISM
noun, vol·un·tour·ismˌ\ välənˈto͝orizəm
Form of tourism where visitors participate in voluntary work, usually for a charity.

The word, first used in a tourism brochure in the early 1990s, stands apart from the others, per Stamper. It’s the verbal equivalent of good intentions gone awry, and may be one of the most divisive travel words. “We don’t have a problem with the word itself but with the concept behind it,” she says. “What brought it into broader awareness wasn’t people complaining about what an ugly word it was, but think pieces about whether voluntourism was a valid form of service, or just tourism.”

BLEISURE
noun, blei-sure, \ˈblē-zhər
A business trip onto which a traveler adds a vacation. From business and leisure.

Is there any worse travel word than this one? Stamper thinks not (though among neologisms as a whole, we reckon that brogurt—that’s ordinary yogurt, but specially packaged for dudes—surely just beats it over the finish line to that title). “When a colleague of mine first mentioned it at Merriam-Webster three or four years ago, I grimaced. It’s horrifying. I don’t even have to say it. I see it and I cringe,” she says. Indeed, the earliest citation Stamper can find—from the U.K. newspaper The Independent in 2010—is fittingly meta: in a think piece begging tourism marketers to stop dreaming up awkward words. Though it might not be common parlance stateside or in the U.K., bleisure has normalized in much of Asian English, in Singapore, India, and particularly Malaysia, says Stamper.

July 30, 2018 In Air, Airlines

Worst Airlines for Overbooking – And remember: just because you bought a ticket, it doesn’t mean you’re guaranteed a seat.

United Airlines caused itself a PR nightmare by having a passenger violently dragged off a plane after overbooking a flight earlier this week. And while lots of variables coalesced for this disaster, it also sparked a discussion over the industry’s practice of overselling and involuntary denials of boarding (IDBs). Bad for United; good for consumers. Despite all the current negative press, however, United can take solace in one fact: it’s not the worst major U.S. airline when it comes to booting people off planes.

According to the Department of Transporation’s most recent Air Travel Consumer Report, the unfortunate crown goes to Southwest Airlines, with a rate of 0.99 IDBs per 10,000 passengers in 2016. Effectively, that means for every 10,000 people who get on Southwest planes, one is getting kicked off. Hawaiian Airlines had the best rate, at 0.05 IDBs per 10,000 passengers, while United earned fifth place, at 0.43 IDBs per 10,000 passengers. Additionally, United’s rate actually dropped 55 percent from 2015, when it had 0.77 IDBs per 10,000.

Overall, Southwest had the highest total IDBs last year, at 14,979, about a third of the 40,629 passengers across 12 carriers. To be fair, Southwest also had the most domestic passengers of any airline, at 150,655,354, while United had 86,836,527 and Hawaiian had 10,824,495. Still, not the best look for Southwest.

The monthly study from the Office of Aviation Enforcement and Proceedings (OAEP) “is designed to assist consumers with information on the quality of services provided by the airlines,” by tracking statistics such as consumer complaints, flight delays, and, of course, oversales, the topic du jour. Two regional carriers, ExpressJet and SkyWest, were also included in the study.

Here’s the full list of the worst airlines and their rates, in terms of oversale IDBs. And remember: just because you bought a ticket, it doesn’t mean you’re guaranteed a seat.

Southwest Airlines 0.99
JetBlue Airlines 0.92
American Airlines 0.64
Frontier Airlines 0.58
Spirit Airlines 0.58
United Airlines 0.43
Alaska Airlines 0.40
Virgin America 0.12
Delta Air Lines 0.10
Hawaiian Airlines 0.05

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July 27, 2018 In Europe, Land

A casual aperitivo with Italian soccer legends

The world has been collectively huddled around a TV during June and July, beers in hand, as the World Cup waged on. Grown men shed tears as Neymar and Messi showed they were merely demigods, not actual gods, and Brits and Croatians screamed over penalty kicks.

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How much would you pay to hang out with your favorite World Cup player? Could you even put a price on it? Family-run Baglioni Hotels, a luxury Italian line, is banking on that fervor as it rolls out its new Assoluto Signature Programme—a set of VIP experiences that gives guests of select Rome and Milan hotels the chance to hang out with Italian soccer legends (along with a dozen other behind-the-velvet-rope-type outings). By checking into a Signature Suite at Baglioni Hotel Regina in Rome, pictured, or Baglioni Hotel Carlton in Milan (rates start at €2,500 for two nights), soccer fans have access to the Baglioni’s Rolodex (what’s the modern Rolodex—iPhone contacts?) of friends, starting with World Cup heroes Andrea Pirlo and Alessandro Del Piero, who helped lead Italy to a FIFA world championship in 2006, and “beautiful Antonio” himself, Antonio Cabrini, who played on the 1982 World Cup–winning team. If you want to have an aperitivo in your suite with the guys, or play a round of golf, or check out Pirlo’s winery, Baglioni can help with that. (Price available upon request, but assume it’ll be more than your plane ticket over.)

The Assoluto experiences don’t stop at soccer—they also deliver access to artists, musicians, designers, and chefs. You can ask for a private concert by Italian opera-pop trio Il Volo, a look inside the Versace atelier in Milan, or a session with one of Italy’s oldest watchmaking families. You can even ask well-known portrait photographer Claudio Porcarelli how he got Harrison Ford to sit for him. The suites are no joke, either, complete with shades of cream and gold, chandeliers and chaises, and terraces perfect for a setting sun and a debate with legends over who’s the GOAT.
LAURA DANNEN REDMAN

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July 5, 2018 In Business Travel, Travel Tips

Reason to Smile in Your Passport Photo

While “natural” smiles (whatever that means) are good to go in passport photos, non-neutral facial expressions are a no-go—and might even cause your application to be denied. But murky rules be damned: A study published last week by the University of York suggests that a smile might actually be more effective at preventing identity fraud, as reported by the The Independent—take that, TSA.

Here’s the science behind it: Researchers took a group of some 40 people and asked them to look at pictures of strangers: each person was shown with both a close-mouthed smile and a big, toothy smile. The study found that it was easier for participants to identify someone by a smile, both when looking at two pictures of the same person with different expressions, and comparing two pictures of similar looking people. Even when images only displaying the lower half of the face were used, the big grin prevailed. Thus, when it comes to airport security, the researchers believe using these types of photos in passports could help cut down on travel-related identity fraud, per the study.

Though smiling is—again, with stipulations—allowed, there are still a few things that aren’t. You’ll have to leave your beanies and hats at home, and glasses still aren’t allowed, so be sure to wear contacts unless you’ve got a prescription. Wearing a costume is also prohibited, unfortunately (save the left shark onesie for another time), as are goofy facial expressions. We’re still patiently waiting for those study results to come in.

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July 1, 2018 In Travel Tips, travel trending

More: 5 Trips Inspired by Your Favorite Authors

There are some authors that are forever tied to specific locations: Jack Kerouac: North Beach, San Francisco. Maarten Troost, Vanuatu. Ernest Hemingway, Havana, Cuba and Hunter S. Thompson, Aspen, Colorado. And there’s no better way to pay tribute to these luminaries than by following in their footsteps—literally. Visit home towns, tour cities of inspiration, or walk the steps of fictional characters to breathe new life into these writers’ timeless words.

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Julia Child: Rouen, France

Paris is the perfect starting point to feel Julia Child’s presence. It was here that she studied at Le Cordon Bleu, and you can attend one of their many culinary workshops during your visit. Another activity? Exploring the narrow aisles of E. Dehellerin, where Child often shopped for kitchen supplies. But it was in the smaller French city of Rouen where she first found her fondness for fine foods. As described in My Life in France, the lunch she and her husband shared at La Couronne upon arriving in 1948 was “the most exciting meal of my life.”

J. Maarten Troost: Vanuatu

J. Maarten Troost spent two years in Kiribati, when his then-fiancé accepted a position on the island, during which time he wrote The Sex Lives of Cannibals. He ended up returning to the Pacific, this time landing in Vanuatu and penning Getting Stoned with Savages: A Trip Through the Islands of Fiji and Vanuatu. To experience Vanuatu Troost-style, you’ll need to immerse yourself in the culture of the island and stay a bit off the tourism grid. Head to the capital city of Port Vila and immerse yourself in the daily markets. Of course, if you are looking for beautiful beaches and adventure, Fiji won’t disappoint either.

“No one who claims this to be a small world has ever flown across the Pacific.” —J. Maarten Troost, The Sex Lives of Cannibals: Adrift in the Equatorial Pacific

Jack Kerouac: North Beach, San Francisco

Although he never resided in the city, Jack Kerouac, a pioneer of the beat generation and forefather to the hippie generation, features San Francisco in one of his most widely read books, On The Road. Today, the city’s North Beach neighborhood is essentially a Kerouac temple—you’ll see artwork and window displays at every turn. It is home to The Beat Museum, where you will find memorabilia and original manuscripts of the author’s. Don’t leave the neighborhood without seeing the 60-foot-long, pedestrian-only thoroughfare, Jack Kerouac Alley. You can follow the poetry-inscribed bricks to City Lights Bookstore, where Kerouac would often hang out with the likes of Neal Cassady and Allen Ginsberg.

“Nothing behind me, everything ahead of me, as is ever so on the road.” —Jack Kerouac, On the Road

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Ernest Hemingway: Havana, Cuba

With the ability for Americans to travel to Cuba comes comes a new way to experience a piece of Ernest Hemingway, as he penned seven of his books there (including For Whom the Bell Tolls and The Old Man and the Sea). Ten miles outside of Havana is Hemingway’s former home, now a Cuban government-run museum called Finca Vigía (“Lookout Farm,” named by Hemingway). It is here that he wrote his Pulitzer Prize- and Nobel Prize-winning novel, The Old Man and the Sea. The 23-karat gold Nobel Prize medal resides at the Sanctuary at El Cobre, where it has been (with the exception of a short period when it was stolen and returned) since Hemingway gifted it to the people of Cuba. While on the island, you would be amiss not to pick up a fishing pole—or at least be a spectator at the fishing event that Hemingway founded, the annual Ernest Hemingway International Billfish Tournament, one of the oldest fishing tournaments in the world (usually held in May or June). After a long day casting lines, head over to one of Hemingway’s two favorite watering holes, La Floridita or La Bodeguita, and enjoy a cocktail.
“Then he looked behind him and saw that no land was visible. That makes no difference, he thought. I can always come in on the glow from Havana.” —Ernest Hemingway, The Old Man and the Sea

Hunter S. Thompson: Aspen, Colorado

To understand Hunter S. Thompson, author of Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas and father of gonzo journalism, head straight to Aspen. First stop: Hotel Jerome. The hotel’s J-Bar served as Thompson’s official campaign headquarters when he ran for sheriff, and his unofficial mail sorting area after his daily stop at the post office. He had late-night parties in the hotel pool, and the first of his two funerals was held in the Grand Ballroom (the second was at his ranch). For those looking to pay a more spiritual homage to the writer, a shrine dedicated to Thompson is located near the Gunner’s View run at Snowmass. Updated each President’s Day, it features magazine covers, Tibetan prayer flags, and bottles of his favorite whiskey. After searching for the shrine, warm up with your own drink at Woody Creek Tavern, Thompson’s former watering hole, which is adorned with pictures and press clippings of him.
“At the top of the mountain, we are all snow leopards.” —Hunter S. Thompson, Kingdom of Fear: Loathsome Secrets of a Star-Crossed Child In the Final Days of the American Century

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by MEG REINHARDT