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What's A Delta Skymile Worth In The Case Of A Refund?
After American Queen Voyages changes Terrance Hardy's arrival port, the cruise line agrees to cover his additional flight expenses. But more than a year later, there's still no refund. What's going on?
Q: My wife, Judy, and I booked a cruise on American Queen Voyages two years ago. The trip was scheduled to depart from Chattanooga, Tennessee,...Read more
Taking the Kids: Visiting an Irish castle
It was all in the wrist. And I learned this the hard way at Ireland’s School of Falconry. The school is the oldest in the country — at Ashford Castle in western Ireland. The castle dates back to 1228 on the shores of Lough Corrib, the largest lake in Ireland, and the River Cong, which is reputed to have the best salmon and trout fishing in ...Read more
Rick Steves’ Europe: Embrace Hygge and Save Cash in Copenhagen
Copenhagen is known for happy people and hygge (pronounced HEW-geh), which means enjoying the cozy simplicity of everyday life, like walking along the beach, or sharing a picnic of smørrebrød (open-faced sandwiches) with a friend. Where else would Hans Christian Andersen, a mermaid statue, and lovingly decorated open-face ...Read more
Celebrity Travel: Go away with Adrian Sutherland
For Adrian Sutherland, touring gave him an eye-opening opportunity to experience life outside of his Cree community.
“When I started traveling more for my music, my family still lived in a very old house, which had mold in it at the time,” the musician said. “We've had no clean drinking water flowing into homes in my community for my ...Read more
Travel Troubleshooter: Lyft Surprised Me With A $150 Cleaning Charge. Is This Allowed?
Jared Hakimi finds a $150 charge on his credit card after a Lyft ride. Is that allowed? And will the charge stick?
Q: I took a Lyft recently in New York. I did not do any damage to the vehicle, but after the ride, Lyft charged me a $150 damage fee.
Initially, my bank flagged the charge as fraud. But when I contacted Lyft and asked for ...Read more
Taking the Kids: Spring fun and games on mountain slopes
Blue skies, stellar mountain views, sunshine, music and plenty of swag. Welcome to spring festival season at mountain resorts. At Copper Mountain Resort in Colorado, about 75 miles from Denver, on a recent Saturday, everyone was smiling, grooving to the music of the Lil Smokies — the adults, the kids...Read more
Rick Steves’ Europe: In the Swiss Alps, nature rules
I learned to respect the power of nature in the shadow of the Switzerland's towering Jungfrau, just south of Interlaken in the Lauterbrunnen Valley.
Avalanches are a part of life here – where humble yet tough mountain huts are built on the downhill side of giant and protective boulders. Hikers, hearing rivers of falling snow rumble in the ...Read more
Celebrity Travel: Go away with Raymond Lee
For “Quantum Leap” star Raymond Lee, acting came about in a circuitous way. “I dropped out of high school, I landed at a community college and I haphazardly took an acting course and I liked it,” Lee said in a Zoom interview from his Los Angeles home. “Then I graduated from a community college, went to a state university and I somehow ...Read more
Travel Troubleshooter: I Paid Extra To Get To My Cruise. Why Can't I Get Reimbursed?
After Elaine Simmons' flight reservation is lost, she pays an extra $1,796 to get to her cruise on Norweigan Cruise Line. Why won't the cruise line help her recover the money?
Q: I recently took a Western Mediterranean cruise with my family, which included flight arrangements made through NCL. On the morning before our scheduled ...Read more
Taking the Kids: Visiting a local museum this spring -- 18 guaranteed to please
Maybe you need a break from the beach … or the slopes. Maybe you’ve seen enough historic monuments for one trip. Wherever you are going this spring, add a museum or two to the itinerary. Of course, you want to hit the biggies – the Smithsonian Museums in Washington, D.C., t he American Museum of Natural History and the Metropolitan Museum ...Read more
Celebrity Travel: Go away with Debi Derryberry
Voiceover actress Debi Derryberry is best known for voicing the cartoon character Jimmy Neutron. But she is also a musician. Her latest children’s album, “Gotta Go Green,” will be released on March 8. “’Gotta Go Green’ is a collection of songs specifically targeted to caring for our environment, climate change, carbon footprint … ...Read more
Rick Steves’ Europe: History lives in Prague
Prague is one of Europe’s best-preserved cities, having been spared from last century’s bombs. Nowhere is this more evident than in the hilltop Castle Quarter, which looms above the city and dominates the skyline. Filled with high art and grand buildings from the past 1,200 years, this area is packed with history. Even today, you feel like ...Read more
Taking the Kids: Planning your first multigenerational cruise
Maybe this is the year to go on a family cruise.
Maybe it’s finally time that you gather the extended family for a multigenerational adventure, even if cruising is something you never thought you’d do.
That was the case of an Ohio grandmother who told me on a ...Read more
State picks up travel tab for migrants who want to leave Chicago
On a recent Tuesday morning, a family of three packed up their duffel bags outside a migrant shelter on the Lower West Side en route to El Paso, Texas, where they said they had relatives waiting. They had been in Chicago for four months.
Moises Sanchez, 24, had been a barber in his home state of La Guaira, Venezuela. He had the word “family�...Read more
US lawmakers arrive in Taiwan as tensions in strait simmer
A delegation of U.S. lawmakers led by Republican Mike Gallagher arrived in Taiwan, a visit that may exacerbate an already fraught relationship between the island and China.
The group will meet with President Tsai Ing-wen, Vice President and president-elect Lai Ching-te and the incoming No. 2 Hsiao Bi-khim during their three-day trip, the ...Read more
Celebrity Travel: Go away with Keeho
After spending most of 2023 and this past January on a world tour that took them across five continents, P1Harmony leader Keeho said he is already looking forward to hitting the road again. “When we first started touring, I was a little scared that I would get tired of it,” the bilingual Korean- Canadian singer said in a Zoom interview from ...Read more
Rick Steves’ Europe: Cold War memories in today’s Berlin
Whenever I travel to Berlin I can’t help remembering my spooky Cold War visit back in 1971. I vividly recall how, after we’d toured East Berlin, our tour bus was stopped and emptied at the border so mirrors could be rolled under the bus before we returned to West Berlin. They wanted to see if anyone was trying to hitch a ride to freedom with...Read more
Taking the Kids: A spring break to please everyone
We all know that traveling with kids (and grandkids) can be messy, aggravating, expensive and, of course, wonderful. Lots of memories are a big bonus.
Planning a trip that will please everyone can be just as difficult. It’s important to realize — and remind everyone — that everyone will need to compromise, that no one will get their pick ...Read more
Rick Steves’ Europe: Buoyant Bratislava
Bratislava, capital of Slovakia and just an hour by train from Vienna, is the comeback kid among European capitals. A generation ago, the city was virtually a ghost town. Today, Bratislava is not only thriving – bursting with colorfully restored facades, lively outdoor cafés, and swanky boutiques – but it’s also growing at an incredible ...Read more
Celebrity Travel: Go away with Aliyah Turner
Some people love filming on location so much that they return there for a vacation. Actress Aliyah Turner took it one step further. “I traveled to New York to work on ‘Power Book III: Raising Kanan’ and I enjoyed the city so much that I made it my new home,” Turner said. “The vibration of the city provides a fun and refreshing contrast...Read more