Delta completes deal to acquire Northwest Airlines

Delta AirLine completed its $2.8 billion acquisition of Northwest Airlines on Wednesday, turning two of America’s most storied airlines into the world’s biggest carrier. Delta and Northwest closed the deal just hours after the Justice Department said it had no antitrust objections. The company will keep Delta’s name, Atlanta headquarters, and chief executive Richard Anderson, [...]

Paris doesn’t have to be expensive

Paris may be the most visited city in the world, yet it’s also one of the most expensive. “This city is worth the price,” says veteran tourist Alex Wadkin, 71, a retiree from Dublin, Ireland, sipping a $6 cup of coffee on the Champs-Elysees. “If you avoid expensive neighborhoods — like this one — you’ll [...]

Thanks to the flat economy, travel deals abound.

Vacation, tours, cruises, Hawaii — they’re all within reach this fall and winter. The stock market is swooning. The economy is wobbling. An election is pending. The future is foggy. Sounds like a great time to take a vacation. What better way to relieve stress? In fact, tourists who scrape up the cash this fall [...]

36 Hours in Charlottesville, Va.

Arriving in Charlottesville from the lush, rural Virginia countryside, you almost feel like you’ve stepped back into ancient Rome. The Rotunda, the centerpiece of Thomas Jefferson’s design for the University of Virginia, was of course built to resemble the Parthenon and the neo-Classical facades of the college buildings seem to be right out of Caesar’s [...]

Full names required to fly in 2009

Airline passengers starting next year will be barred from boarding planes if they refuse to provide their full name and birth date, the government said Wednesday. “You have to give this information,” Transportation Security Administration chief Kip Hawley said. The rule will “dramatically reduce” the number of people hassled at airports because their name resembles [...]

Tips for holding down business travel costs

With fuel surcharges, baggage fees and rising ticket costs, flying employees around the globe is more expensive than ever. American Express Business Travel has cash-saving tips for companies and road warriors: Confirm travel plans before booking; airlines often charge $150 or more for flight changes. Check as few bags as possible: Overnight delivery of presentation [...]

A walk on the moon, in Turkey

“These are the fairy chimneys,” our guide Alec said, pointing to a hill covered in large, strangely shaped rocks. “This one is a camel. That one over there is the Virgin Mary.” After driving from the Kayseri airport for an hour surrounded by sunflower fields on a flat, two lane road traversing Turkey’s Anatolian plateau, [...]