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Travel Troubleshooter: Road Scholar Downgrades Traveler From Business To Economy
British Airways cancels Maureen Kelleher's flight from Cairo to Boston and rebooks her on a different airline. But it also downgrades her from business class to economy class. Is she entitled to a refund?
Q: I just completed a Road Scholar trip to Egypt, but on the trip home, British Airways canceled my flight four hours before its ...Read more
Travel Troubleshooter: Budget Charges Me A $125 Cleaning Fee For The Wrong Vehicle!
After Budget finds animal hairs in Bernard Sia's rental car, it charges him a $125 cleaning fee. But Sia doesn't have a pet -- and that's not the only problem.
Q: Budget charged my credit card a fee of $125 after finding animal hair in a rental car that I returned. I do not have any pets, and the people I stayed with on my trip to Austin...Read more
Rick Steves’ Europe: Ravenna, Italy gets better with age
Ravenna is on Italy's tourist map for one reason: its 1,500-year-old churches decorated with best-in-the-West Byzantine mosaics. While locals go about their business, busloads of tourists slip in and out of this town near the Adriatic coast to bask in the glittering glory of Byzantium, the eastern Roman Empire.
Imagine … it's AD 540. The city...Read more
Celebrity Travel: Go away with CIX
After debuting in 2019, the K-pop quintet CIX has had the opportunity to travel around the world, which the group acknowledges as a fun perk of their job. “I try to explore each city as our schedule allows,” group leader and rapper BX told us. “A tour allows us to take a look at various cities. In that sense, the [North American] tour ...Read more
Travel Troubleshooter: Expedia Said It Would Refund My Tickets Four Years Ago. Help!
Keith Dawe has been waiting for his refund from Expedia since 2020. But neither the online agency nor his airline can find the missing money. Where is it?
Q: I need help getting a refund from Expedia. I booked two round-trip Air Transat tickets from Toronto to Paris through Expedia back in 2020. I had to cancel the flights, and under the...Read more
Michelin Guide awards its first hotel 'keys' in the US
Last year, when World’s 50 Best issued its first global ranking of hotels, only two properties in the U.S. made the cut: the Equinox and Aman New York hotels, both in Manhattan.
Now Michelin has arrived stateside, in its second-ever presentation of “keys” — a new system from the eponymous tire maker that’s doling out one, two or three...Read more
Taking the Kids: Visiting the Smithsonian museums
The next time you visit Washington, D.C., say a big thank you to James Smithson.
Who? The British scientist never even visited the United States, but when he died in 1829, he left a huge pot of gold to establish a museum here ...Read more
Rick Steves’ Europe: Glimpse the ancient past in northeast England
While southern England gets most of the glory – and the tourists – the country's far northeastern corner harbors some of England’s best historical sights. Hadrian’s Wall serves as a reminder that this was once an important Roman colony, while nearby Holy Island is where Christianity gained its first toehold in Britain. And both can be ...Read more
Celebrity Travel: Go away with Wilson Cruz
Thirty years ago, Wilson Cruz made history as the first openly gay actor portraying a gay role on a television series. The critically-acclaimed “My So-Called Life” jump-started a career that would include the films “Nixon” and “After Louie,” as well as shows such as “Grey’s Anatomy” and “13 Reasons Why.” The first half of ...Read more
Taking the Kids: Heading to less visited national parks
I’ve been there. No parking places left at the trailhead at Rocky Mountain National Park. Trails as busy as a New York Street at rush hour at Zion National Park in Utah. Bear Jams (tourists stopping to view bears by the side of the road) in Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks in Wyoming.
It’s no wonder. The National Park Service ...Read more
Flights to Haiti won't be starting any time soon; visas to come to the US are on hold
Travelers who have been been waiting to fly in and out of Haiti’s volatile capital ever since international flights were canceled on March 4 shouldn’t make any travel plans before May. U.S.-based commercial carriers are still staying out of Port-au-Prince.
American Airlines, which had announced it would restart its daily service on ...Read more
Rick Steves’ Europe: Helsinki and Tallinn are Pearls of the Baltic
Helsinki and Tallinn are two great capitals in Northern Europe. Just 50 miles and a two-hour ferry ride apart, these two cities – facing each other across the Baltic Sea from their respective countries of Finland and Estonia – are not only neighbors, but soul sisters.
Finns and Estonians share a similar history – first Swedish domination,...Read more
Celebrity Travel: Go away with Crystal Hana Kim
Six years after she won critical acclaim for her debut novel “If You Leave Me Now,” Crystal Hana Kim has published her second book “The Stone Home” (William Morrow). The novel centers on a homeless mother and daughter who, in the 1980s, are sent to live in a South Korean reformatory center designed to break down their will to survive. ...Read more
Taking the Kids: Traveling more sustainably
Ready to take the challenge? Earth Day is coming up April 22 and EarthDay.org is urging all of us to join the #plasticdetox challenge and reduce plastic use.
That’s easy to do when you travel. Use reusable water bottles. Encourage the kids to slap stickers on them from the places you have visited. Carry ...Read more
Rick Steves’ Europe: Athens on the rise
I used to think of Athens as a big ugly city with obligatory ancient sights, fine museums, the Plaka (an extremely touristy old quarter), and not much else. “The joy of Greece is outside of Athens,” I wrote. “See Athens’ museums and scram.”
But while updating my guidebook one summer, I enjoyed the city more than ever before. I ...Read more
Celebrity Travel: Go away with Babs Olusanmokun
Babs Olusanmokun is having an incredible year. After returning to the “Dune” franchise as Jamis in “Dune: Part Two,” the actor will next be seen in Guy Ritchie's “The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare”, which opens in theaters on April 19. The Nigerian American actor is also a cast member of the “Star Trek: Strange New Worlds” ...Read more
Taking the Kids: To Barbados
Different strokes for different folks. That certainly applies to the Caribbean Island of Barbados, which we explored recently. It’s famous for its African/British heritage and history (it gained independence from Britain in 1966), white sand beaches, food, and adventures from caving to surfing.
I ...Read more
Rick Steves’ Europe: Saints and sustenance in Spain’s Santiago de Compostela
Whenever I’m in Santiago de Compostela, in the northwest corner of Spain, I have a three-part agenda: See pilgrims reach their goal in front of the cathedral, explore the market, and buy some barnacles in the seafood section – then have them cooked for me, on the spot, in a café.
I make a point to be on the town square facing the towering ...Read more
Celebrity Travel: Go away with Ashley Versher
Writer, filmmaker and actress Ashley Versher said she has tackled many interesting jobs in the past. But working with Jennifer Lopez on the Amazon original film “This is Me…Now” remains a highlight. “I think my favorite scene was the intervention scene, which we shot in a beautiful Bel Air mansion,” said Versher, who splits her time ...Read more
Taking the Kids: Get ready for the eclipse
Mark your calendars! There will be a rare solar eclipse on April 8. People plan to travel to see the moon’s shadow totally block out the sun — for less than five minutes in the afternoon.
In the U.S., the path of the eclipse will run in an arc from southwest Texas to northern Maine. You can see it if you are in the path on this homeandleisure/travel/takingthekids/s-3181511">Read more