Travel News: Renting a Car Just Got a Lot Easier, Nab a Deal at Orlando’s New Margaritaville Resort, and Voyager 2 May Be the Ultimate Traveler
From a streamlined new rental car program from Hertz to a brand-new Orlando resort tailor-made for Jimmy Buffett fans to the outer reaches of our solar system, this week’s travel news is about boldly going where no one has gone before.
RENTING A CAR JUST GOT A LOT EASIER
We don’t need to enumerate the various hassles associated with renting a car, right? But a new program from Hertz may help to sweep away some of the impediments to getting behind the wheel and leaving the lot as efficiently as possible. Hertz Fast Lane powered by CLEAR aims to speed up the rental process. In fact, the new service aims to move travelers through that exit gate in 30 seconds or less. How? Enrolling in CLEAR allows users to link their accounts to Hertz so that, thanks to biometrics, they can verify their identity and reservation information with (we’re not kidding) a look or a tap of the finger. It’s all very Blade Runner to some of us, but apparently the future is here.
NAB A DEAL AT ORLANDO’S NEW MARGARITAVILLE RESORT
If you’re still puzzling over our use of the word biometrics in the last item, that may be a sign that it’s time to chill. And the new Margaritaville Resort in Orlando is a good place to do just that. Mind you, we’re not opposed to resorts that aren’t inspired by Jimmy Buffett songs, but it sure doesn’t hurt. Guests booking a 2019 stay at the Orlando resort can nab one free night when they book three or more consecutive nights between January 15 and March 31 (and, yeah, that’s pretty much the time of year you need a warm island-inspired trip). Guests can expect island-themed decor, a lagoon pool, four restaurants, gorgeous sunset views, and, of course, plenty of those eponymous frozen concoctions.
VOYAGER 2 MAY BE THE ULTIMATE TRAVELER
The spacecraft Voyager 2 was launched in 1977, when Fleetwood Mac’s Rumours was a brand-new album and Jimmy Carter was a brand-new president, with the mission of exploring our solar system and sending back all sorts of new data about the nature of the asteroid belt, planets, and beyond. Now, with much of its gear still functioning -- including tools measuring cosmic rays, charged particles, and magnetism -- Voyager 2 has reached that “beyond” and left the solar system, entering what James Joyce called “the cold of interstellar space.” We want to salute this ultimate traveler, which has ventured 11 billion miles and followed its fellow spacecraft, Voyager 1, into truly uncharted territory.