Facial scanning coming to an airport near you, raising some concerns
It’s only a matter of time before New England air travelers join others across the country in experiencing a new airport screening method that seems ripped straight from the pages of Philip K. Dick’s “The Minority Report.” My own tired face blinked back at me from a monitor late last...
Spirit Airlines bringing new nonstop service from Pittsburgh to Newark
Low-cost airline carrier Spirit Airlines will start nonstop service between Pittsburgh International Airport and Newark Liberty International Airport on June 22. The company announced Wednesday that the new service will connect Pittsburgh to the New York City area with one-daily roundtrip flight between the two airports. The new Pittsburgh service...
Spend a beautiful day in Mister Rogers’ Florida neighborhoodVideo
WINTER PARK, Fla. — Drive into this community northeast of Orlando’s theme park mecca and it quickly becomes clear you’re in a Mister Rogers neighborhood: A mural of Latrobe native and long-time PBS children’s show host Fred Rogers adorns the exterior wall of Floyd’s 99 Barbershop, a few blocks from...
One of the most basic hotel amenities is disappearing
Whether out of necessity due to staffing shortages, out of respect for social distancing or perhaps just to save money, one of the primary amenities that sets a hotel apart from your home — daily housekeeping — is disappearing. The days of returning to a wrinkle-free duvet are likely gone....
Plane ticket prices will continue to go up, experts say. Here’s why — and how to save
Another mode of transportation has been impacted by the fallout over Russia’s invasion of Ukraine as gas prices soar — and it might affect Americans’ vacation plans. The cost of jet fuel for commercial airplanes has also spiked, with prices per gallon rising above $4 at one point since the...
Chicago blues, rock ‘n’ roll landmark easily overlooked
CHICAGO — As we make our way up the narrow, windowless, wooden stairway, we hear the jangly opening beats of The Rolling Stones’ “2120 South Michigan Avenue” playing from a portable speaker behind us. Our tour guide encourages us to “rub a little mojo” from the banister as we make...
A trip inside the new ‘Star Wars’-themed immersive hotel at Walt Disney WorldVideo
ORLANDO, Fla. — We knew this would be a different kind of Walt Disney World vacation when we bit the bullet and packed an extra suitcase … for costumes. While Universal Orlando once used the tagline “ride the movies,” Walt Disney World’s new Star Wars: Galactic Starcruiser experience (otherwise known...
6 ways technology is evolving travel in 2022
For the athletes at the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing, travel entailed … robots. Everywhere. These machines prepared and served noodles, rice and burgers, and roamed hallways to take the temperatures of passersby. They even passed the Olympic flame underwater. Yet even if you’re not an Olympian, your travels these...
Road trip with a dog? Tips for making you both happy
San Francisco dog owner Ben Lowenstein loves to travel — and he never leaves his dog, Javi, behind. Together, the pair has taken road trips to Chicago, Lake Tahoe and Los Angeles. They have hiked the trails of New Mexico, explored Utah’s national parks, and gallivanted through Colorado snow banks....
Disney World: No more masks indoors for vaccinated visitors
ORLANDO, Fla. — Starting this week, the masks are coming off for vaccinated visitors to Walt Disney World in Florida. The theme park resort announced Tuesday that face coverings will be optional for fully-vaccinated visitors in all indoor and outdoor locations, with one exception. Face masks still will be needed...
Sparse yet inspirational, Fort Mose is site of nation’s 1st legally sanctioned free Black settlement
ST. AUGUSTINE, Fla. — Behind every state park, there is a story. Sometimes it’s a crazy story, really, like that of Fort Mose, almost hidden away in a tangled forest of scrub palmetto, oak and pine along U.S. Highway 1 just north of St. Augustine. Crazy, in that not many...
Delta asks Justice Department to put unruly passengers on national no-fly list
ATLANTA — Delta Air Lines is asking the U.S. Justice Department to create a national no-fly list of passengers who have been convicted for on-board disruptions. Ed Bastian, CEO of Delta, wrote a letter to U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland this past week saying such a “national, comprehensive unruly passenger...
As omicron peak passes, airfares surging for spring and summer travel
The covid-19 era of cheap flights is swiftly coming to an end, and travel firms are seeing signs that airfares will likely reach 2019 pre-pandemic levels as soon as April. With the wost of the omicron variant waning across the country, airlines struggling to ramp up flight schedules are set...
American Airlines reports $2 billion in losses for 2021 as omicron weighs on near future
American Airlines lost $931 million in the fourth quarter to finish a 2021 year that was as much about surviving the covid-19 and its variants as it was about recovering from the devastating pandemic, the company reported Thursday morning. American’s losses totaled $2 billion for the full 2021, a vast...
19-year-old woman sets record for solo global flight
BRUSSELS — Home! And no longer alone. The 19-year-old Belgian-British pilot Zara Rutherford set a world record as the youngest woman to fly solo around the world, touching her small airplane down in western Belgium on Thursday — 155 days after she departed. She made it count for herself, her...
Pittsburgh RV Show sees high attendance, continued interest in recreational vehiclesVideo
Ken and Katie Wakal recalled their early days of camping. “We put up a tent, which was fine 30 years ago. But now we have a recreational vehicle — which we love,” said Katie Wakal. “We don’t have to sleep on the ground anymore or worry about bears in the...
New year brings more canceled flights for air travelers
For air travelers, the new year picked up where the old one left off — with lots of frustration. By late morning Saturday on the East Coast, more than 2,400 U.S. flights and nearly 4,200 worldwide had been canceled, according to tracking service FlightAware. That is the highest single-day toll...
CDC warns against cruises, regardless of vaccination status
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention warned people on Thursday not to go on cruises, regardless of their vaccination status, because of onboard outbreaks fueled by the omicron variant. The CDC said it has more than 90 cruise ships under investigation or observation as a result of covid-19...
Omicron, storms disrupt air travel for 4th consecutive day
Flight cancellations that disrupted holiday travel stretched into Monday as airlines called off thousands more flights because crews were sick with covid-19 during one of the year’s busiest travel periods, and storm fronts added to the havoc. Flight delays and cancellations tied to staffing shortages have been a constant this...
Holiday travel on Pennsylvania Turnpike expected to jump by 40% over last year
Officials predict more than 5.4 million motorists will take to the Pennsylvania Turnpike between the 2021 Christmas and 2022 New Year’s Day holidays, approaching pre-pandemic travel figures. “Our holiday traffic projections are coming close to matching those of 2019 with an increase of 40% over last year,” PA Turnpike CEO...
Nonstop flights from Pittsburgh to London return in 2022 via British Airways
British Airways will return to Pittsburgh International Airport next year, after the covid-19 pandemic grounded the transnational flights in 2020, officials said Monday. Tickets for flights to London’s Heathrow Airport, which resume June 3, are available now. The airline re-upped service in Pittsburgh in 2019 after a two-decade hiatus. British...
Utah’s Arches National Park to require timed tickets as visitation swells
A Utah national park famed for its otherworldly sandstone arches will require visitors to get timed entry tickets during its high season next year, the second Utah park to implement such a system as visitation swells. Arches National Park officials said Friday they’re not trying to decrease the number of...
Famously soggy Seattle sees its wettest fall on record
Seattle, a city known for soggy weather, has seen its wettest fall on record. The National Weather Service says 19.04 inches of rain fell between Sept. 1 and Nov. 30, breaking a record set in 2006. A series of wet storms caused by so-called “atmospheric rivers” pounded the Pacific Northwest,...
Omicron unravels travel industry’s plans for a comeback
Tourism businesses that were just finding their footing after nearly two years of devastation wrought by the covid-19 pandemic are being rattled again as countries throw up new barriers to travel in an effort to contain the omicron variant. From shopping districts in Japan and tour guides in the Holy...
Egypt unveils renovated ‘Avenue of the Sphinxes’ in Luxor
Egyptian authorities were unveiling Thursday a renovated ancient promenade in the city of Luxor dating back 3,000 years, the latest government project undertaken to highlight the country’s archaeological treasures. Egypt has struggled to revive its tourism industry, battered by years of political turmoil following the 2011 popular uprising that toppled...
