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The summer travel season is upon us. From foot-kicking neighbors to an overly-talkative seatmate, it’s always a gamble when you step aboard an aircraft. Flying can be exhilarating, stressful, boring, and downright scary at times. Here are a few simple tips to ease the burden when you take to the skies and possibly even make your travels downright enjoyable! Prioritize Comfort Sure, you may want to step off the plane in New York looking fabulous in your jeans or new dress – but you don’t want to sit for an extended period in them. Think comfort and ease, ......

Record sales days The cruise industry is rapidly recovering from nearly two years of Covid travel closures and restrictions. This doesn't mean smooth sailing yet, but it does point to a strong recovery for the industry. Royal Caribbean experienced two record sale days during end of March and early April, when it achieved the highest number of bookings in a single day, as well the highest booking volume in a single week.  In another positive sign for the industry, during the 1st quarter of 2022, Royal Caribbean's ships held 1.5 million passengers. Ruther, Carnival Cruise Line had its busiest ......

US citizens are allowed into most of the EU without a required 5-day quarantine. For instance, if you are traveling to Italy, a 5-day quarantine isn’t required if: 1) you have been fully vaccinated with an approved vaccine, 2) you have completed and present upon entry to Italy your EU Passenger Locator Form, 3) you have a certificate showing a negative molecular or antigenic test carried out within 72 hours prior to entry, and 4) you present your CDC Covid-19 vaccination card. US CDC approved vaccines meet EU requirements.  Types of Covid-19 tests  There two types of Covid-19 tests ......

On Monday, the European Council passed a recommendation which removed the US from the "Safe Country List." Tourists from countries on the "Safe Country List" are allowed to enter the EU regardless of their vaccination status. This reverses a June recommendation which allowed any US tourist to visit the EU. What does this change mean for US travelers? The new recommendation states ONLY vaccinated US travelers should be allowed to enter any EU country and only those which allow vaccinated tourists to visit. However, individual member states can choose to allow unvaccinated tourists, regardless of this non-binding EU recommendation. ......

Let's talk about Covid-19 coronavirus doodle illustration dialog speech bubbles with icon. The European Union is set to consider new Covid-19 travel restrictions on US travelers as US cases soar. The US growth rate hit 507 cases per 100,000 inhabitants during the first two weeks of August. The EU’s own guidelines set a limit of 75 per 100,000. The EU guidelines also require that the trend of new infections in a country must be stable or decreasing. Whether the EU will re-impose restrictions isn’t clear. Tourism is vitally important to the economy of several EU member states. ......

Travel is back. Several cruise lines are experiencing record bookings. Land tours sales are rising. Vaccinations are making many of us feel safe traveling again. So why are we getting more questions from our readers wondering if they should travel outside of the US. Over the last couple of months our advice has changed. Airlines aren’t reliable First, air reservations have become unreliable. Airlines, especially American Airlines, has been cancelling flights and leaving customers stranded. While it is frustrating when US flights are cancelled, it is worse for overseas flights where re-booking options are more limited. Every customer we’ve ......

Let’s be clear, as a travel agency owner, I book my own travel. BUT, I use the same tools, resources and contacts that I use to book my clients travel. Here is why those resources are so valuable and only available from some travel agencies. Here’s my story: We had booked a Crystal cruise of the Bahama islands in April. The cruises were promoted and sold as a vaccinated guests only sailing of the Bahama islands. My best guess is that for foolish financial reasons, in late July (after final payment and after cancellation penalties kicked in) Crystal decided ......

NOTE: Italy no longer requires the digital Passenger Locator Form (dPLF). Check with the countries to see if they require it. Or if they re-instate it.Travelers to the EU may be wondering what a Passenger Locator is and why I need to complete it. Where do I find it and how do I complete it. This blog post will help to answer those questions.Recently EU  member countries required all travelers entering the EU to complete a Passenger Locator Form as part of their Covid-19 health regulations. It is  a system that facilitates EU countries in contract tracing cases ......

After nearly 18 months of quarantining, Americans are ready to travel again and boy are they booking reservations. Pent-up demand is boosting bookings to near record highs for many companies. Since Americans haven’t traveled for over a year, they have funds available to book those dream and bucket list vacations. As Europe opens up, river cruises start sailing again, cruise lines are re-starting their fleets, and airlines are near capacity, it is not surprising that bookings across the travel industry are approaching record levels. American Express said its May bookings were at 95% of May 2019 sales. As demand ......