Posts

Hotels.com is on a mission to turn a couple of losers into real winners. In July, the company announced it is giving away a stay at its “No Trophy Case” suite in New York City to any fan of a losing NBA team this month. Courtesy of Hotels.com “There is no deeper despair than seeing your ride-or-die team make it all the way to the championship only to take an L,” the company explained in a statement....

This could be the season for the all-inclusive. With ever-changing restrictions — and troubling news about variants — travelers aren’t scrapping their trips entirely. They’re just reconsidering what “vacation” means. This winter, it seems, the safe bet is a resort where everything happens under one roof. At least, so says Hyatt CEO Mark Hoplamazian, whose company recently took over dozens of resort properties across the Caribbean, Europe, and Mexico. “People have been through a tough 20 months,” said Hoplamazian in a one-on-one interview with Travel + Leisure in November, before the omicron variant once again upended the travel plans of many....

Thanksgiving is one of the busiest times to fly in America as hordes of people head home for some turkey, stuffing — maybe a pumpkin spice latte? — and good, old-fashioned family time. But Thanksgiving also happens to be one of the cheapest times to plan that international vacation you’ve been dreaming of. If you’re willing to forego the traditional Thanksgiving dinner, traveling over this weekend happens to be one of the best-kept-secrets among travel experts....

United Airlines was forced to cancel hundreds of flights after about 3,000 employees in the United States tested positive for COVID-19, the carrier’s CEO said on Tuesday. To cope, United is working “to get ahead of the impact by acting early to cancel flights when necessary and notifying impacted customers in advance of them coming to the airport – we’re also reducing our near-term schedules to make sure we have the staffing and resources to take care of customers,” CEO Scott Kirby said in a letter to United employees, adding, “The Omicron surge has put a strain on our operation … Just as an example, in one day alone at Newark, nearly one-third of our workforce called out sick....

United Airlines will be working with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to collect contact tracing information for its passengers, the airline announced on Wednesday. Starting this week, during mobile check-in or at the airport, passengers will be prompted to share contact information like an email address, phone number, or address of their final destination. The form is completely voluntary. Once the information is collected, it will only be shared with the CDC if necessary....

Madame Clicquot, the “Grande Dame of Champagne,” made major strides in the 1800s by creating the first vintage champagne, inventing the riddling table process to clarify the spirit, and becoming the first to blend still red and white champagne wines to create rosé. Now, hundreds of years later, Veuve Clicquot is honoring this trailblazing woman with the help of an equally audacious woman: Yayoi Kusama. Kusama has been called the most successful living artist, leading the way with the signature dots she implements in her art, sculptures, and immersive experiences....

Cell phone use on planes has been heavily debated as the airline industry attempts to keep up with ever-changing technology. It’s standard practice to be told by flight attendants to switch devices to airplane mode during transit; but what happens if you don’t follow directions? Unfortunately, the answer isn’t that clear. Let’s start with some of the initial research. The reason for potential safety concerns is due to the fact that when you’re more than 10,000 feet in the air, your cell phone signal bounces off multiple towers and sends out a stronger signal....

San Franciscans take coffee and breakfast very seriously. Travelers can watch the city’s top chefs swarming the Ferry Plaza Farmers Market, located on the Embarcadero, every Saturday morning. In addition to fresh produce, the market also sells breakfast sandwiches (order one with salty lox) and house-baked pastries. A number of fun things to do in San Francisco take place (unsurprisingly!) on the Bay. Sailboats and luxurious catamarans can whisk you under the Golden Gate Bridge, while ferries and speedboats zip you over to Alcatraz....

“Tokyo brings out my inner tourist,” said American designer Tory Burch, who recently returned from a whirlwind trip to the Japanese capital. The New York-based designer was in the city for the opening of her new flagship store — a blowout event that drew celebs like Rashida Jones and Zoey Deutch — and to celebrate the launch of a limited-edited capsule collection with textile company Buaisou. Here, her guide to the city — shopping picks and packing tips included....

The mere thought of getting on a plane to surf a few perfect waves in my favorite destinations around the globe makes the hair on my arms stand up and tingle with excitement. Getting to run into new waters (preferably of the warm variety) and paddle out to different breaks brings on a sense of glory surfers the world over know well. The one thing that can knock us all down a peg?...

If you woke up late, slipped on a patch of ice, or dropped your mitten in a slush puddle this morning, you might have something to blame: astrology. Astrologists have predicted that the winter solstice, or December 21 in the northern hemisphere, will be a generally bad day. Of course, astrology is a pseudoscience defined by Merriam-Webster as “the divination of the supposed influences of the stars and planets on human affairs and terrestrial events by their positions and aspects....

The global gender pay gap has women making 77 cents for every dollar a man earns, according to the United Nations. The organization adds that we likely won’t reach gender pay parity until 2069. Women represent just 24% of C-suite jobs in the U.S. and Canada. There are fewer women in CEO positions at Fortune 500 companies than there are men named James. And due to the global pandemic, approximately one in five women say they were pushed out of the workforce....

You’ll soon be able to take in California’s majestic redwood trees — the tallest in the world — on another level. On June 4, Sequoia Park Zoo in Eureka will debut the Redwood Sky Walk, allowing visitors to wander along a quarter-mile route that’s 100 feet off the forest ground. Even with that boost, the upper canopy of trees stretches about 250 feet high, providing a truly immersive sense of being among nature....

Anyone who has had a friendly encounter with an elephant can tell you how magnificent they are, but of course they can also have a destructive side. A video taken at the Khao Yai National Park in Thailand captured the bizarre and harrowing moment when a bull elephant decided to lay down on the back of a visitor’s car. Luckily, the driver and passengers were unharmed. Their car, however, sustained large dents and even a completely shattered back window....

Move aside Elsa and Anna, an Austrian man has redefined what it truly means to be frozen. Last Saturday, Josef Koeberl sat in over 400 pounds of ice — wearing only swimming trunks — for two hours, 30 minutes, and 53 seconds in the town of Melk, Austria, located about 55 miles west of Vienna. The reason for his chilly feat: to attempt to break the Guinness World Record for longest duration of full-body contact with ice, currently held by China’s Songhao Jin, who sat in an ice box for one hour, 53 minutes, and 10 seconds on the set of a CCTV special in Xiamen, China, on Sept....

A commute and a cubicle have been a reality for many workers for decades, but the notion that you have to stick to the same routine and strap yourself to a desk for eight (or more) hours day-after-day is becoming outdated. Today, work is more flexible than ever, with employees opting to clock-in from home, on the road — and in some cases, from a beach bungalow in Thailand. Gallup’s 2017 State of the American Workplace report found that 51 percent of employees would switch jobs for flextime, and 37 percent would make the change for a job that allows them to work off-site at least part of the time....

Most boutique hotels are much more than a place to lie your head at night. But the Literary Man Hotel in Obidos, Portugal—a medieval village that dates back more than 700 years—takes its book collection seriously. In fact, the entire hotel is a bookstore. At every turn, there’s a wall stacked with titles. Courtesy of The Literary Man - Óbidos Hotel The hotel currently boasts more than 45,000 books, according to the owner....

Carnival Cruise Line has delayed the inaugural journey of its new ship, the Mardi Gras, for the second time. The cruise line initially pushed the launch back to Feb. 6, 2021, however the ship, equipped with a roller coaster, will now set sail on April 24, 2021, Carnival announced Thursday. It was originally scheduled to sail in November. “We continue to assess the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on global commerce, public health and our cruise operations,” President of Carnival Cruise Line, Christine Duffy, said in a statement at the time of the first delay....

We’re a disabled couple, and we were nervous about how that might affect our experiences in Marrakesh. James, my husband, has walked with a cane ever since his scoliosis surgery — he also has a prosthetic leg and type one diabetes. I have a coordination and sensory disability called dyspraxia—the part of the brain that reacts to and coordinates movement is impaired. However, it gets a lot worse when I’m tired or stressed....

Photographer Ian Shive has shot hundreds of our nation’s wildest spaces, many of which appeared in The National Parks, Our American Landscape (Earth Aware). The only trouble: they’re often overrun with visitors. Here, Shive reveals five of his favorite experiences in parks both familiar and unsung. National Parks: Maine Acadia National Park: Scrambling up the granite rocks of Cadillac Mountain is a classic, but Shive recommends staying after sunset to watch the town of Bar Harbor light up....