Packing light can be a challenge for even the most seasoned travelers. It’s too easy to justify overpacking: You need a pair of heels just in case you dine at a fancy restaurant, or you have a favorite brand of sunscreen that you can’t live without. Many of us have succumbed to these and other overpacking pitfalls. The truth is – in the rare event you ever need something you forgot to pack, you can probably buy it at your destination. And, shopping for it may actually be part of the fun. Breezing through security lines and denying airlines of their new checked baggage fees are just a couple benefits for keeping your luggage size and weight down. In a new article on Bing Travel...
When you think of national parks, what comes to mind? We’re guessing that at the forefront are some of the classic parks, such as Yosemite in California, the Grand Canyon in Arizona, and Shenandoah in Virginia. But the National Park Service is much bigger than that, encompassing nearly 400 parks, historical parks and monuments, and they’re all worthy of a visit. A new Bing Travel slide show presents some of the country’s best national parks and monuments that are a bit off the beaten trail — places that offer stunning scenery and a rich experience, without the crowds you’re likely to find at the more popular venues. The 16 parks and monuments in the slide show span...
It’s time once again to sound off on what you think about airlines and the experience of flying. A couple of just-released studies provide food for thought on the issue: As it does each year, J.D. Power and Associates surveyed passengers’ satisfaction with North American airlines . The results weren’t all that pretty: Overall satisfaction is at a four-year low, largely due to unhappiness with fees and in-flight services. There were a few bright spots, though, with on-time arrival rates increasing to 78 percent. Alaska Airlines was the highest-rated traditional carrier for the second year in a row, followed by Continental Airlines and Delta Airlines. For low-cost carriers, JetBlue...
In big cities and small towns across the country, Americans will be “oohing” and “ahhing” this Fourth of July weekend as fireworks displays light up the sky. Cities like New York, Boston and San Francisco are renowned for their star-spangled spectaculars, but this new article on Bing Travel lists a dozen more sites recommended by the American Pyrotechnics Association. With this year’s holiday falling on a Saturday, many places are hosting festivities throughout the weekend. On Friday, July 3, Addison, Texas (a suburb of Dallas), becomes KaBOOM town, while Columbus, Ohio, will host an event it calls “Red, White and BOOM!” And in Stone Mountain, Ga., spectators...
Travel doesn’t just help increase your knowledge of the world; it also can boost your geography chops. So we thought it’d be fun to put our readers to the test by asking a series of travel trivia questions. How many of these can you get right? If you’re a regular reader of our articles , slide shows and the Bing Travel blog , you may already know the answers to many of these questions. Or, you can search Bing to figure them out. Leave your answers in the comments section (but no peeking until you’ve taken a stab at them yourself!). We’ll randomly select one entrant with the most correct answers, and will announce the winner and reveal the answers next week. The prize...
In anticipation of the upcoming holiday weekend, I thought it’d be useful to take a look at what happened with Fourth of July airfares this year. For most people, it’s probably too late to make air travel plans for this weekend. But what happened this year might provide useful information that we can take advantage of in 2010. This year, July 4 falls on a Saturday, and last year it was on a Friday. In both 2008 and 2009, Friday is the most common work holiday, which makes Thursday the most popular departure day for long-weekend trips. I’ve plotted out the average airfare for these Thursday departures for the last two years: As you can see, throughout the spring the average airfare...
Scandalous! The mobsters, the illicit trysts, the dramatic deaths, the luxury car in the pool ... a new reality series called “Stars Behaving Badly”? Nope, it’s Bing Travel’s new slide show from Travel+Leisure showcasing some of the world’s most infamous hotel accommodations. Grand hotels always take on a certain mystique from the high and mighty who pass through their halls, but these lodgings have entered a whole new realm of notoriety thanks to their occupants’ hanky-panky. Take a gander through rooms where Eliot Spitzer and Jim Bakker conducted nefarious affairs, Al Capone ran a speakeasy, Sid Vicious awoke in the company of his girlfriend’s corpse...
We’re back with another roundup of Blinks : the Bing editors’ favorite links to travel-related stories from around the Web. If you’re planning a trip or dreaming about an upcoming adventure, check the Bing Travel blog regularly for more Blinks. Share your discoveries or feedback in the comments section. And then, be sure to subscribe to our RSS feed and become a fan on Facebook . Here are some of our recent favorites: Luxury resorts have some great deals this year, but once you arrive, overpriced mini-bars and dining options can quickly eat up all that money you thought you saved. Over at Gadling, there’s advice on how to save money on your resort vacation. ( Gadling ...
Happy Friday, everyone! I know you’ve been itching to find out what’s new in the world of fareology. Here’s the weekly graph of the Bing Travel 100 airfare index: As you can see from the blue line, domestic airfares haven’t moved a whole lot in the last couple of weeks. That’s because all the action’s been going on in the U.S.-to-Europe markets. After being astonishingly low throughout the spring, prices for these international trips have jumped back up over the past couple of weeks. Below you can see the trends in airfares to London, Paris and Rome: This hits procrastinating summer travelers the worst. July trips have jumped the most, while prices into September...
If you’re taking a road trip this summer, why not plan for some sightseeing during your journey? Along America’s highways and byways, travelers can find plenty of roadside attractions — or distractions — to break up the monotony of a long drive. In a new photo gallery on Bing Travel, we’ve highlighted our 15 favorite roadside distractions . There’s nothing that says “American road trip” like a 26-foot tall waving rabbit or a 9-ton ball of twine. Many of these sights are just a short detour from the highway, but a long way from your run-of-the-mill roadside rest stop. What are some of your favorite places for a roadside distraction? Share your suggestions...
In his life, Michael Jackson evoked both feverish devotion and fascination: He was an enigmatic figure, mesmerizing us with his electric performances and baffling us with sometimes bizarre behavior. But there was no doubt that his music gripped us: Jackson’s 1982 album “Thriller” is still the best-selling record of all time, and he put out hits for decades. Jackson’s fans began creating memorials to him within hours of his passing on June 25 at age 50. A new Bing Travel slide show presents some of the best places to pay tribute to the “King of Pop,” including Gary, Ind., his boyhood home; Cleveland, where Jackson is enshrined at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame...
We don’t really know whether South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford arranged his recent, um, vacation at the last minute, but the governor’s now-infamous jaunt to Argentina does raise questions for the rest of us about the implications of last-minute travel (regardless of the reasons for your trip). Since spur-of-the-moment vacations can often net you the best deals , we thought it’d be a good idea to mention a few things you’ll probably want to think about before booking: • Got your passport? If you’re heading out of the country — even just to Canada, rather than all the way to South America — in almost all cases you must have a passport. If you don’t...
As a travel writer and television host, I specialize in Europe. But last summer, I went to Iran for 12 days to produce a public television special, “Rick Steves’ Iran: Yesterday and Today.” It was the most surprising and fascinating land I've ever visited. I knew next to nothing about Iran when I started. I learned plenty. Early in the trip, it was clear that the people of Iran would be the biggest joy of my visit — everyone was mellow, quick to smile and very courteous. I saw pride and dignity in the people on the street. And I discovered that, while they might not agree with American foreign policy, Iranians were welcoming to American people. In a country that supposedly...
I recently spent 10 days in one of the ultimate jet-set destinations: Morocco. "When did you get rich?" my sister asked. I didn't. Neither did I run up my credit card bills. Unless you're looking to party on Jay-Z's yacht, it's easier — and cheaper — to see the world’s most exotic places than you might think. All in all, this trip was considerably less expensive than the one I recently took to Florida. My four-step plan: 1. Fly cheap. I flew on points to London with Virgin Atlantic, which has one of the industry's fairest, most accessible frequent flier programs. It's linked to my American Express card, which I use instead of cash at every opportunity. Round-trip price: under...
In the “things that make you say ‘aww!’ ” department, does it get any better than baby animals? It’s doubtful, we say — and a new Bing Travel slide show from Budget Travel may send you into cuteness overload. Behold: zoo babies ready for their close-up! Zoos and animal parks, particularly those with special breeding programs, are some of the best places to get your cute-and-cuddly fix. This slide show presents some of the sweetest little creatures to debut at U.S. zoos recently, including a button-eyed panda cub in Atlanta, a tiger-kitten trio in San Diego and a lovable baby tree kangaroo in the Bronx. It goes without saying, though, that zoos are about much...
