National park fees to be waived April 17-25

Entrance fees will be waived at all 392 national parks April 17-25 for National Park Week. Many parks have organized events, talks, volunteer clean-ups and other projects to encourage the public to visit that week. Details, including a “Find a Park” search option, are online at http://www.nps.gov/npweek/. Events include an invitation to help plant a [...]

Las Vegas picked for 2011 global travel summit

Las Vegas has been picked as next year’s site for an international tourism summit expected to attract government and industry leaders from around the world. The London-based World Travel & Tourism Council announced Tuesday that the American destination will host the 2011 Global Travel & Tourism Summit. The announcement comes the same day the primary [...]

Forget the travel agent — 4 trips you should always book yourself

Want to go somewhere? Book the trip yourself. About half of all leisure trips are reserved online — give or take a few percentage points — according to several recent surveys. The latest, a Forrester Research study which showed an unexpected drop in the number of U.S. leisure travelers who booked online (it fell from [...]

Air travel etiquette in the 21st century

Who owns the middle seat arm rests on an airplane, really? How do you break away from the marathon talker in seat 12E? And what do you do, if anything, about the angelic-looking child kicking the back of your seat? Incivility and rudeness are often the product of stress, and there are few situations more [...]

Security upgrades mean delays at Charlotte airport

Airline travelers in the Carolinas should expect longer waits as security is upgraded at Charlotte-Douglas International Airport. Multiple media outlets report that officials plan to close a security checkpoint Monday through the end of April to install full-body scanners. Charlotte is one of a new wave of airports getting the equipment as the country beefs [...]

Looking for unusual vacation spots? Sleep with King Tut

If you’re looking for an unusual place to stay while on vacation in the U.S., how about sleeping at a schoolhouse or sharing a bedroom with King Tut? Travel Web site TripAdvisor has compiled a list of 10 of the top quirkiest U.S. accommodations according to its editors and travelers. “Quirky appears to be ‘in’ [...]

Lost-bags compensation requires persistence

If an airline loses your luggage, your first stop should be the baggage claim office to report it missing. Your next move might be to buy a change of clothes. But while airlines are required to reimburse passengers for clothing and toiletries in the event of a lost or delayed bag, according to the U.S. [...]