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The latest travel news, vacation tips & advice, travel apps, and more

Archive: December 2007
dec 30

It's lights out in Paris

Paris, France will go smoke-free in all public spaces, including cafés and restaurants, starting January 2, 2008.
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23 by Steve Merrill France, Paris
dec 28

Which destinations are on your radar?

Time to take stock of where you're headed this year—and we're here to help.
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98 by Budget Travel Questions and Opinions
dec 28

Fort Worth goes smoke-free

The Texan city is kicking the habit for New Year's, with a stricter smoking ban.
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0 by Kate Appleton Texas
dec 28

Orbitz fine tunes its Traveler Update

Text messaging is the newest way for those on the go to share and receive real-time information about everything from flight delays to tortuous check-in lines.
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0 by Kate Appleton Airfares & Flying, Airport Check-in, Safety and Security
dec 28

Best New Year's Eve parties worldwide

You'll find 'em in our handy roundup.
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3 by Budget Travel
dec 27

Video: London flight simulator

Hidden inside of Google Earth's version 4.2 is a flight simulator, which allows you to feel like you're piloting an airplane over satellite images of the Earth's surface.
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1 by Budget Travel Helpful Websites
dec 26

Hotwire cuts its fare booking fees

Hotwire has dropped its $6 a ticket charge, whether you're buying a standard airfare or one of the website's signature "blind bookings" where you don't know the name or time of your flight.
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0 by Budget Travel Airfares & Flying
dec 26

32 more readers plan to skip W. Europe

More opinions on whether to go to Europe or not—where in the world will you end up in '08?
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4 by Budget Travel Questions and Opinions
dec 21

The Future of Travel

Trip Advisor continues to place greater trust in the hands of its users—could this be the way travel is moving?
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1 by Steve Merrill Questions and Opinions
dec 21

Thanks from Budget Travel

And a wish for happy holidays ...
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0 by Budget Travel
dec 21

35 readers say: "Anywhere but Europe"

Find out where your fellow readers will be headed in 2008. Maybe you'll see them there!
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76 by Budget Travel Questions and Opinions
dec 21

Kayak.com and Sidestep.com to merge

It's a merging of the minds, if you will; the two searching sites will share their best features.
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1 by Sean O'Neill Airfares & Flying, Helpful Websites
dec 20

New cargo ship uses sail power

Why blame travelers for their carbon emissions when there are other, more effective ways of cutting down on pollution?
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1 by Budget Travel Cruises
dec 20

Greyhound rolls out priority seating

Greyhound now lets passengers pay $5 each way for priority seating on bus rides departing from more than 30 cities.
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1 by Budget Travel Local and Public Transportation
dec 20

Solo travel: Readers sound off

We recently invited readers to share their tips on solo travel. Here are some highlights.
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1 by Budget Travel Questions and Opinions, Solo
dec 19

Can you still afford Europe?

Today, the U.S. dollar buys about half as much in western Europe as it did in 2001.
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127 by Budget Travel Questions and Opinions
dec 19

Travel news roundup

TripAdvisor gets a facelift, Virgin America news, and more in today's roundup.
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0 by Sean O'Neill
dec 19

Gov't to limit flights to NYC

Under new rules, JFK will only be allowed 82 or 83 flights per hour at peak times, down significantly from the 90 to 100 that had been scheduled this past summer.
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2 by Budget Travel Airfares & Flying
dec 19

A real life Pushing Tin at JFK

Get a closer glimpse at a moment in the life of an air-traffic controller—it's not for the weak of heart!
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0 by Sean O'Neill Airfares & Flying, Airport Check-in
dec 19

Google adds flight status info

In a new feature, Google invites you to type your airline name and flight number into its search box, and it will fetch the latest flight stats, such as whether your flight is delayed.
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1 by Sean O'Neill Helpful Websites, Innovations
dec 18

An artist depicts her Iranian childhood

The dramatic animated black-and-white film will get you thinking about Iran.
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0 by Laura MacNeil Pop Culture and Travel, Iran, Questions and Opinions
dec 17

USAirways.com slaps fees on its fares

Last week, The Cranky Flier noticed that the fares offered on USAirways.com are $5 higher than available elsewhere.
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4 by Sean O'Neill Airfares & Flying
dec 17

A new food hall in NYC?

Local/sustainable food types are trying to get a new food market.
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0 by Erik Torkells Food + Drink
dec 17

Gas prices likely to rise in '08

The cost of getting around is probably going to keep rising.
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0 by Sean O'Neill Eco-Green
dec 17

Spill your secrets about Knoxville

Fan of Knoxville? Help one of our staffers out by telling her the best things to do and see.
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17 by Budget Travel Questions and Opinions
dec 17

Dollar forecast for 2008

Today, you need $1.48 to buy a euro, but within a year's time, you may only need $1.39—or roughly 6 percent less.
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27 by Sean O'Neill
dec 14

R.I.P., Windjammer?

As an earlier blog post noted, Windjammer Barefoot Cruises ceased sailing operations in September.
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13 by Sean O'Neill Cruises
dec 14

Hotels '08: The Bjorn Prediction

The most respected forecaster in the hotel industry is Bjorn Hanson of the accounting firm PricewaterhouseCoopers.
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0 by Sean O'Neill Hotels
dec 13

Spain was 2007's hottest spot

Could it be the bull-riding? The romance? No one is certain, but Spain is surely a hot spot.
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2 by Sean O'Neill Spain
dec 13

Vote on new Travel Channel shows

Viewers can offer feedback on eight TV pilots that The Travel Channel is considering.
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3 by Sean O'Neill
dec 13

It seemed like a good idea at the time?

Here's the bad idea of the day, from AP/Yahoo.com.
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3 by Erik Torkells
dec 12

Airship to Europe wins funding

Unlike airplanes, airships are lighter-than-air vehicles—similar to blimps but faster.
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16 by Sean O'Neill Innovations
dec 11

Which routes will come to your airport?

A new forecasting website claims it's the Magic 8 ball of nonstop routes.
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0 by Sean O'Neill Helpful Websites
dec 11

Fares to NYC likely to rise

The Transportation Department is limiting flights to JFK, and passengers will feel the pinch.
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2 by Sean O'Neill Airfares & Flying, Airport Check-in
dec 10

Travel personality quiz

So, which personality are you? Find out with this fun website—and you might learn a little bit about better ways for you to travel.
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1 by Budget Travel Helpful Websites
dec 10

What's your New Year's travel resolution?

Hopefully it'll be easier (and more fun) to keep than "losing 10 pounds."
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16 by Budget Travel Questions and Opinions
dec 08

Is bad behavior ever acceptable?

Nice guys finish last, especially at airports—but does that make it ok to cheat the rules?
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31 by Erik Torkells Questions and Opinions
dec 07

Rage in the skies

Intense anger at airline delays and other travel woes is pulsing in online forums.
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0 by Sean O'Neill Questions and Opinions
dec 07

JetBlue offers free Wi-Fi on some flights

Starting on one plane on Dec. 11, will begin offering free inflight e-mail and Yahoo instant messaging services via a broadband Wi-Fi network.
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2 by Sean O'Neill Airlines
dec 07

Americans visit Ireland in record numbers

This is remarkable, given that the dollar has weakest buying power there in decades. The government credits its marketing campaign.
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0 by Budget Travel Ireland
dec 06

Going Solo More--But Who to Go With?

The New York Times ran an article yesterday about explosive growth in solo travel.
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16 by Steve Merrill Questions and Opinions, Solo
dec 06

Movie Quest: Atonement

See some of the sights in the movie with our guide—it's quite dashing.
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1 by Sean O'Neill Pop Culture and Travel, United Kingdom
dec 06

Are airport checkpoints getting worse?

The TSA has logged a record number of complaints in past months—but you'll be surprised to find out why.
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28 by Sean O'Neill Airport Check-in, Safety and Security
dec 05

Pod hotel lands at Heathrow

Finally, a bit of style for the budget-minded; a 32 room-hotel has landed in London's Heathrow airport, offering free Wi-Fi and other perks.
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3 by Sean O'Neill Airport Check-in, Hotels
dec 04

When nature calls, use your cell phone

It can be hard to find a clean bathroom when you're traveling.
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1 by Sean O'Neill Helpful Websites
dec 04

L.A. tips from the city's Blogfather

When Tony Pierce became editor of LAist.com, he pumped up the site's metabolism by tapping a lot of great writers.
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5 by Sean O'Neill Los Angeles
dec 04

Houston allows check-in by cell phone

It could be the future of checking-in—if successful, the program could spread nationwide.
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1 by Sean O'Neill Houston, Airfares & Flying
dec 04

Orbitz to offer hybrid cars

By the end of the year, Orbitz.com and Cheaptickets.com will offer hybrid rental cars from Avis and Budget locations nationwide.
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0 by Sean O'Neill Rental Cars, Eco-Green
dec 04

See sunsets at any time of day

Images from hundreds of west-facing webcams worldwide can be seen at the website Eternal Sunset.
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2 by Sean O'Neill Travel Photography
dec 03

Travel news roundup

Fly straight to the Caribbean, Broadway is back, the EU might owe you money, and more in today's edition.
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0 by Sean O'Neill
dec 03

Spill your secrets about the Caribbean

Help one of our staff plan a winter getaway—minus the mosquitos.
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36 by Budget Travel Questions and Opinions
dec 03

Investigating carbon offsets

The FTC is taking a look at the companies and organizations you can pay to "offset" carbon emissions from flying, according to Travel Weekly.
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0 by Sean O'Neill Eco-Green
dec 03

Free bikes in Turin, Italy

This Just In has been tracking the spread of bike-sharing programs, and we've got the latest.
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0 by Budget Travel Italy, Turin