Travel News: Last-Minute Memorial Day Deals Under $400, European Summer Savings, and SF’s North Beach Festival

From the capitals of Europe to the sands of Maui, and a stop at America’s biggest port for Memorial Day, we’re keeping an eye on some of the most trip-inspiring travel news yet. SOUTHWEST WILL START FLYING TO HAWAII Hawaii is near the top of most travelers’ to-do list. But long flights and high airfares can get in the way. That’s why we’re psyched to learn that Southwest, with its reputation for low fares and exceptional customer service, is going to start flying to Hawaii. The airline announced that it will initiate flights to Hawaii from four cities in California: San Jose, Oakland, San Diego, and Sacramento. Details remain to be determined, including certification for Southwest’s planes to make the trans-Pacific flights and, most importantly for Budget Travelers, when flights to Honolulu, Maui, Kauai, and the Big Island will begin and what the fares will look like. Given recent trends in Hawaii flights from other carriers and Southwest’s reasonable and transparent pricing to other U.S. destinations, we expect to see round-trip flights from California to Hawaii from around $400, but at this point that’s just our best educated guess. THE PORT OF LOS ANGELES COMMEMORATES MEMORIAL DAY The Port of Los Angeles and the city of San Pedro, CA, America’s largest port, are getting Memorial Day right, with events that appropriately honor those who have made the ultimate sacrifice for their country while at the same time acknowledging all there is to celebrate about this exceptional coastal community. On Monday May 28, the USS Iowa, a former WWII battleship that is now a vibrant naval museum anchored at the Port of Los Angeles (pacificbattleship.com), will hold ceremonies featuring Los Angeles dignitaries, veterans, and other VIPs to commemorate the day of remembrance as well as a host of family-friendly activities. Festivities will include the first-ever San Pedro Fish Market shrimp-eating championship, a performance by the San Pedro ballet, face-painting, and BBQ and beverages provided by San Pedro Brewing, including a special IPA named “Battleship. It’s a great opportunity to get to know the San Pedro waterfront, one of California’s most promising travel destinations. FREE EUROPEAN TRAIN RIDES FOR TEENS The DiscoverEU project, launched by the European Union, wants to give up to 30,000 18-year-old Europeans free train rides across the Continent this year via Interrail. With an ultimate goal of expanding the program over the next seven years to facilitate travel for 200,000 teens, the European Union sees this initiative as an opportunity for cultural interchange as a popular coming-of-age ritual among its young citizens. While U.S. teens will not be included in DiscoverEU, we can’t help wondering if something similar could work right here at home?

What are you biggest travel peeves? A new survey may very well echo your worst complaints. Ready to hit the road for the summer? We’ll share the hottest destinations and deals to get you there. And did you know that a theme park with a reputation (fair or not) for making your skin crawl is opening its doors again? WORLD’S MOST ANNOYING TRAVELERS We all have our nominees for the most irritating behaviors that we are exposed to when we travel. Some of us disike chatty seatmates, while others resent seatmates who are unfriendly. Some of us avoid partiers at all costs, while others are always looking for a chance to raise a glass. But Expdia has released the results of its 2018 Airplane and Hotel Etiquette Study (expedia.com) with some findings that almost all of us can agree to. According to Expedia’s new survey, the most annoying fliers are: The Seat Kicker/Bumper/Grabber (with 51 percent of survey respondents in agreement on this)The Aromatic Passenger (43 percent)The Inattentive Parent (39 percent)Personal Space Violators (34 percent)Audio Insensitive (29 percent)Expedia also notes that more than 90 percent of respondents object to passengers going barefoot on a plane. We couldn’t agree more, for reasons of safety, hygiene, and just all-around good vibes. And the most annoying hotel guests are… The Inattentive Parents (with 45 percent of survey respondents in agreement, including, we presume, a lot of attentive parents!)The In-Room Revelers and The Hallway Hellraisers (41 percent)The Complainers (29 percent)The Party-goers and The Bar Boozer (27 percent)TOP SUMMER DESTINATIONS Our friends at AAA (aaa.com) always have interesting seasonal data on the travel habits of American motorists, and we’re admittedly fascinated by the most popular summer travel destinations. Nearly two-thirds (64 percent) of American who are planning a family vacation are expected to do so via road trip this year. Based on current AAA bookings for trips June 1 through August 1, the current top domestic summer destinations are: Orlando, FloridaHonolulu, HawaiiAnchorage, AlaskaSeattle, WashingtonLos Angeles/Anaheim, CaliforniaMaui, HawaiiFairbanks, AlaskaLas Vegas, NevadaBoston, MassachusettsSalt Lake City, UtahPRICELINE’S 20 DAYS OF DEALS Speaking of summer travel, Priceline (priceline.com) is celebrating its 20th anniversary with a gift to travelers: Check out the 20 Days of Deals running through May 19, which will help travelers save more than $50 million on flights, hotels, car rentals, cruises, travel packages, and credit card rewards across much of the world, with a new deal going live each day at 6am Eastern. AMERICA’S MOST LEGENDARY THEME PARK IS REOPENING We don’t make a habit of poking fun at travel destinations. So, when we heard that Beech Mountain, North Carolina’s cyber-bullied Land of Oz theme park is reopening for six days in June, with one-hour guided tours that include live-action role-playing with guest participation, we wanted to do our part to talk it up. The park’s unfortunately creepy reputation has been largely due to years of social media photos of the empty park, which opened in 1970 and has been closed since the mid-’80s. If those old photos of ruined buildings and remnants of the Yellow Brick Road are to be believed, the tours may very well be on the creepy side. But maybe in a good way? Let’s remember that the classic 1939 movie adaptation of L. Frank Baum’s popular children’s book, with its green-faced, fire-wielding witch, talking trees, and flying monkeys, doesn’t exactly win any awards for sensitivity, does it? Tickets to the Land of Oz theme park ($25) are on sale now at landofoznc.com/journeywithdorothy.

From the quickest and easiest way to speed through airport security to a vacation that boosts not only physical fitness but also creative energy to the debut of one of the most anticipated cruise ships of the year, this week’s travel news is going to get you revved up for spring and summer getaways. SIGN UP FOR TSA PRECHECK AT STAPLES When it comes to TSA PreCheck, there’s not much to complain about. For $85, a five-year PreCheck status can speed you through airline check-in and security even on peak days at busy airports (there are more than 450 PreCheck lanes at more than 200 U.S. airports). Maybe the one beef travelers have come up with is that applying for PreCheck is not as easy as, say, buying office supplies. Well, now it is. Staples will offer 50 IdentoGo enrollment centers, which offer TSA PreCheck enrollment, starting this summer, with plans to open more soon. And while you’re at it, you’ll be able to get your passport photo and even a certified birth certificate. And, of course, office supplies. BOOK A “WALKING VACATION” If you think of travel as a way to recharge your physical and spiritual batteries, you’ll appreciate a Stanford University study that suggests that walking - even a short walk - is associated with heightened creativity. To tell the truth, Budget Travel has been sold on the benefits of hitting the trail on vacation for years, and we were psyched to see that some great destinations integrate the walking or hiking experience into a stay. Some of our favorites include: The incredible network of trails in New York’s Adirondack Mountains, where lodging ranges from modest motels and cabins to all-suite resort experiences such as Whiteface Lodge; Martha’s Vineyard island, off Cape Cod, is uncrowded and affordable in spring and offers miles of beach strolls, iconic lighthouses, wildlife sanctuaries and nature preserves, and the historic Harbor View Hotel; and CIE Tours International’s Irish Myths and Legends tour, which packs in guided walks in Galway, Limerick, and self-guided trips to the Aran Islands, Blarney, and more. THE NORWEGIAN BLISS TAKES TO THE SEAS Cruise fans will be thrilled to hear that last week, Norwegian Cruise Line took delivery of the new Norwegian Bliss in Bremerhaven, Germany, and the ship headed to Southampton, U.K. on Saturday. The ship, which the third in Norwegian’s “Breakaway Plus” class, is the first ship of its kind to be designed specifically with features and amenities for an Alaska cruise experience (including two expansive observation lounges), will arrive in the U.S. on May 3 for preview events in New York, Miami, and Los Angeles, before heading to its first homepart, at Pier 66 in Seattle, in advance of its first seven-day cruise to Alaska in early June. Onboard excitement will include a two-level electric-car race track, a waterpark featuring two multistory waterslides, the debut of Texas smokehouse - Q, a full-service Starbucks, and a bar serving local Seattle beers from Red Hook Brewery.

From an innovative new program in Virginia to literary destination all over the world and a big step forward for a major hotel brand's loyalty programs, this week's travel news combines inspiration with know-how. A VITAL NEW PROGRAM AT COLONIAL WILLIAMSBURG Colonial Williamsburg proves once again that it is home to vital, living history, with its new program, “Resolved: An American Experiment,” in which actor-interpreters and audience members help to re-create important events in Virginia history with an imaginative twist: Historical figures are “cast” non-traditionally. Translation: white male figures may be portrayed by actors, or even audience members, of other ethnicities and genders. An African-American female actor, for instance, portraying a wealthy white male from Virginia’s House of Burgesses, has a transformative effect on visitors, opening up new avenues of understanding, emotion, and education. We congratulate Katrinah Lewis, Colonial Williamsburg’s artistic director of actor-interpreters, who wrote and directed “Resolved,” in which more than two centuries melt away, bringing American history, living and breathing into the 21st century (colonialwilliamsburg.com).   CELEBRATE WORLD BOOK DAY If you love books and you love UNESCO (we sure do), you’ll be psyched to celebrate UNESCO’s World Book Day, April 23. Travelers often find that preparing for a trip by reading destination-relevant fiction - say, Willa Cather before visiting Virginia, or John Steinbeck before a trip to California - can enrich the travel experience by not only teaching important cultural and historical background about the destination but also creating an emotional attachment through characters you care about. We’ve even rounded up some beautiful U.S. travel destinations devoted to great authors. And we love that Holidu (holidu.com) has even rounded up some vacation rentals around the world where super-devoted literary fans can rest their heads in properties where F. Scott Fitzgerald, Mary and Percy Shelley, Ernest Hemingway, and others once lived or visited. GOOD NEWS ABOUT MARRIOTT REWARDS Some of you have been anxious about Marriott’s aquisition of Starwood and how it might affect your loyalty-program points. The long story is: Marriott Rewards, Ritz-Carlton Rewards, and Starwood Preferred Guest have all been, sort of, combined under the Marriott brand. The short story is: If you already belong to any of those three loyalty programs, any points you’ve earned in the past remain intact. In addition, you’ll soon (in August) be able to book rooms and earn and redeem points across more than 6,000 hotels all over the globe. And in 2019, Marriott plans to roll out a brand-new loyalty program that combines all three current programs.