What to Do If You're Stranded by Winter Storm Athena

You don't have be in one of the zones damaged by the storm to be feeling Sandy's effects. Air travelers have been hit especially hard. The New York Times reported this morning that 19,500 flights have been suspended and the airports are still not up and running at full capacity (JFK and Newark are open for limited flights; LaGuardia remains closed). Even one of our editors was affected and is currently stranded in San Francisco. The airline industry stands to lose $100 million from this event. Out of curiosity, I reached out to FlightStats.com to see where Sandy ranked among natural events in terms of flight delays. They went into their data archives as far back as 2005 to give us the most disruptive weather events of the last decade. In terms of percentage of flights cancelled, Sandy is the second worst storm since 2005. It ranks behind the Icelandic volcanic ash cloud, which grounded over 65 percent of flights in April 2010. The New York Blizzard was third on the list, grounding over 16 percent of flights back in the December of 2010. Interestingly enough, Hurricane Katrina only grounded 2.45 percent of flights, probably because New Orleans is less of a travel hub than the New York/New Jersey area. Of course, the numbers for Sandy may change over the coming days as fliers continue to experience delays. In order, the natural events that caused the worst flight delays: 1. Eyjafjallajökull Volcano Eruption & Ash Cloud (April 2010): 65.94% flights cancelled 2. Hurricane Sandy (October 2012): 18.99% flights cancelled 3. New York Blizzard (December 2010): 16.45% flights cancelled 4. Southeast Ice Storm (January 2011): 13.44% flights cancelled 5. Winter Storm (February 2010): 10.41% flights cancelled 6. Hurricane Irene (August 2011): 8.53% flights cancelled 7. Valentine's Day Ice Storm (February 2007): 5.43% flights cancelled 8. Hurricane Katrina (August 2005): 2.46% flights cancelled If you're still struggling to get home, read our advice on how to navigate the delays. Have a story to tell about your travels during the hurricane? Tell us here.

Studies show that travelers visit an average of 12 websites before booking a trip. Part of our job is to introduce you to new and interesting sites that can help make trip planning easier. But what are the travel sites that rank the highest? Curiosity got the better of me so I turned to Experian Hitwise, which lists the most visited websites by category. While they do update the list every month, it doesn't appear that the list changes much over time.   What came up in the travel category was interesting. Some of the big players you'd expect to find were there (Expedia, for example). I certainly was surprised, however, to see a single airline (Southwest) creep into the top five. Here's the list: 1. Google Maps: 169 billion visits per monthI'm not surprised in the least that Google Maps made the list. I personally don't ever book a hotel without Google Maps open in a tab on my browser so that I can see just how far my hotel is from the places I want to visit. 2. MapQuest: 88.6 billion visits per monthMapQuest can't even begin to approach the popularity of Google Maps, but it's holding steady as the number two maps provider. 3. Expedia: 36.3 billion visits per monthThe world's largest online travel agent is the only dedicated booking engine that made it into the top five. 4. TripAdvisor: 36.2 billion visits per monthSay what you will about TripAdvisor and the danger of false reviews—it's still one of the most popular destinations for travelers looking to plan a trip. 5. Southwest Airlines: 33.3 billion visits per monthThe only airline to make it in the top five is Southwest, one of the few budget airlines left in the business. Now that we know which sites everyone is using to book a trip, I'd like to know which sites you use—and in what order you use them?  

If you're planning a trip to South Florida anytime soon, especially the greater Miami, Palm Beach, and Fort Lauderdale areas, keep your eye on Destination Meals, a website that offers meal vouchers to help visitors cut down on dining expenses. The website targets out-of-towners with $15 vouchers good for $30 worth of food and drinks at select restaurants in 17 cities including Boca Raton, Coconut Creek, Fort Lauderdale, Miami, Miramar, and Pembroke Pines. You can purchase the vouchers through the website or from your travel agent. What I like about it: You don't need to choose which restaurant you want to use the voucher for, since it will be accepted at any of the places listed on the Destination Meals website, so it's up to you where to cash it in. What I don't like about it: Certain restaurants tack on additional requirements like minimum spending amounts—Fort Lauderdale's upscale Catalina Restaurant says you must spend at least $60 at lunch and over $100 at dinner, for instance—or that vouchers may only be accepted along with a regular purchase—The Melting Pot says vouchers are valid with the purchase of a four-course fondue dinner for two. The fine print: In order to use the vouchers, you must live at least 100 miles outside the Greater Miami and Fort Lauderale area (and show ID at the restaurant to prove it). Meal vouchers last for six months and you can only use one per table. They are non-transferable and non-refundable. Like any typical meal voucher you may see on Groupon or Living Social, if the amount you spend exceeds the $30 voucher, you pay the difference, but don't expect to receive change if your bill is less than the $30 limit. Also note that they cannot be used towards taxes and tips—the website asks that you please tip your server on the entire bill amount—and it's always a good idea to make reservations first, as area restaurants can fill up quickly.

We love souvenirs as much as you do, and we'd never suggest that you skimp on keepsakes that you'll always treasure (though we'll try to find you bargains whenever we can!). But there are a few no-no's that U.S. customs will confiscate if you try to get them past the border—some for health reasons, others for complex economic and cultural reasons. In the interest of saving you time, money—and embarrassment!—here are 10 you should be wary of. Absinthe Try as you might, seeing the green fairy probably isn't going to happen these days: Modern absinthe is different from the low-quality, toxic sort made with poisonous metal salts associated with hallucinogenic properties back in Vincent van Gogh's day; however, it's still illegal to bring certain kinds of absinthe in from other countries due to lack of regulation. In particular, bottles that claim to contain 10 parts per million or more of the chemical thujone are Food & Drug Administration no-nos. (Trivia: If a bottle says it has a lot of thujone, it probably doesn't—absinthe makers who emphasize the alcohol's supposed "mind-altering" properties have their eye on taking tourists' money.) Travel Tip: If you're thirsty for your very own bottle regardless, in addition to double-checking that the booze is "thujone-free," ensure that the stand-alone word "absinthe" or any "psychotropic" image isn't on the bottle. (Rule of thumb: If the label looks like it could double as a Grateful Dead album cover, don't try to bring it on the plane.) To ensure you're getting a quality brand, and not just green food coloring, visit wormwoodsociety.org. Certain plants (and crafts made from plants) Gardening enthusiasts, prepare to present any plant item that you want to bring into the States—even crafts made with straw—to a customs officer for inspection. You'll need a permit even for innocuous-sounding items like cut flowers with berries attached, nursery stock, and seeds. Other fauna, like "noxious weeds," aren't allowed, period. (Even if some do sound quite pleasant, like apricot cape tulip.) Travel Tip: To be safe rather than kiss your prized plant goodbye at check-in, apply for a USDA Plant Protection and Quarantine permit online (aphis.usda.gov) to bring acceptable plants into the states—or check if they're prohibited. Permits take 30 days or more to process and are good for up to three years. Ivory (including jewelry made from ivory) It's safe to assume that you'll need a permit from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (fws.gov/permits) to bring any ivory into the country, due to the Endangered Species Act. (Unless the item in question is from a warthog, but, really, who wants that?) You can import an antique ivory item if you have special documentation showing it's more than 100 years old, but thanks to rampant poaching, any object that's younger is generally not allowed. Travel Tip: If you want to make a jewelry or a trinket haul, but the stuff you want appears to be made from tortoiseshell, ivory, whalebone, or skins, give the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service a buzz at 800/358-2104 to be sure they're okay to purchase and bring home. Ancient artifacts So many items have been stolen from museums and churches that any ancient artifact (like pre-Columbian objects, Native American artifacts, Byzantine items, culturally significant Iraqi property, etc.) requires an export permit—and a real one at that: There are many fake certificates floating around. The U.S. National Stolen Property Act prevents individuals from legally owning a swiped item, regardless of how many people have since possessed it. Travel Tip: If you want to bring back a ruin or antique to keep—not to, for example, exhibit in a museum—you'll need an export permit from the country you're taking it out of. And even then, you could face U.S. import restrictions, depending on the item and the country. (Your historical find might be considered a "pillage.") Peruse the U.S. State Department's Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs's website for information on what's not allowed (exchanges.state.gov/heritage/culprop.html). Meat-based products (even soup mix) Bush meat made from African wildlife and anything imbued with meat products—like bouillon, soup mixes, etc.—from most countries could introduce serious pathogens into the U.S. and spread unpleasant conditions like foot-and-mouth disease, African swine fever, mad cow disease, and the avian flu. That goes for canned and dried meats too. Travel Tip: There are a few countries deemed acceptable to export certain meats from—scan the USDA's website to make sure: aphis.usda.gov. Big souvenirs from Cuba, Iran, or much of Sudan Economic sanctions prevent visitors from bringing items back from these countries (Cuban cigars, for example). You can apply for a license from the Office of Foreign Assets Control if you wish to import something, but it's rare that you'll actually get one. Travel Tip: A few exceptions to this rule exist: Books, magazines, films, photographs, posters, art, and music are okay, as are small gifts worth less than $100. Most fruits and vegetables One teensy piece of fruit carried onto an airplane caused the great California Mediterranean fruit fly outbreak of the early 1980s. The pestilence threatened the state's agriculture—and set the federal government back $100 million to eliminate. (Think about how bad that person must have felt.) If you're determined to bring fruit back, the USDA has a long list of what's permissible (aphis.usda.gov/favir)—nearly every fruit and veggie (possibly with the exception of an apple you bought in an airport, for example) requires a permit. Travel Tip: Be aware that you'll have to show your fruit to a customs officer for inspection, especially if it's something exotic, like pomegranate. Fail to report your produce, and you could be hit with a $300 fine. Designer knockoffs and cartoon-character paraphernalia Tempting as it might be to stock up on faux labels when you're out of the country, goods like fake Chanel bags and nearly real Mickey Mouse knickknacks are subject to U.S. copyright and trademark protections. The government is so serious about enforcing this that your haul of "confusingly similar" trademarked merchandise could be seized. Travel Tip: If you just want one fake bag to use for yourself (and not sell on Canal Street), that's okay: You can be granted an exemption by the government. But know that you can only bring one item of its kind into the country—so a pair of sunglasses, a purse, and a pair of jeans are okay, but three purses are not, regardless of whether they have three different labels. Another note: You can only get this exemption once every 30 days. More than $10,000 cash To make it rain on the plane, you'll have to report the cash first. Smuggling "bulk currency" (an offense under the Bank Secrecy Act) is the kind of thing drug traffickers are known to do, therefore U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement doesn't take kindly to it. Money orders, travelers' checks, and foreign coins—not just paper bills—count too. Travel Tip: To bring your money in legally, obtain the exhaustively named "Report of International Transportation of Currency of Monetary Instruments" from a customs officer. If you don't, you could face up to five years in jail. Some Haitian Goat Hide Drums Hauling an animal-skin drum through an airport seems ripe for a comedy of misunderstanding anyway (the ceremonial snake bowl that Renée Zellweger brought back from Thailand in the second Bridget Jones movie didn't do her any favors), but some goat-skin drums aren't treated properly, and have been tied to a cutaneous anthrax case, putting them on the Centers for Disease Control's restricted list. Same goes for some African drums. Travel Tip: If getting your mitts on your own personal drum is in your plans, ensure it's been tanned, as that means it's non-infectious.