Whenever people ask me what my favorite destinations are, I have to fudge the answer. The truth is I'd rather go somewhere new than revisit a place, and every destination is as unique as a fingerprint, with its own pleasures and disappointments. But even though I go to many travel conferences in the course of…
Where is Everybody? “Humanless” Customer Service is Dominating Travel. Can We Be Heard as Consumers?
• DINING. Yeah, we all know about the upgraded LaGuardia Airport in New York. I grew up seven blocks away from LGA, and I worked there for two years, so I can appreciate the array of restaurants, bars, and shops as well as anyone. But last week, en route to my departure gate, I stopped…
Americans might be watching their spending amid persistent inflation, but it's not deterring many of them from traveling this summer — especially those with higher incomes. Morgan Stanley and AlphaWise polled about 2,000 U.S. consumers in May and found that 60% of consumers are preparing to take a summer trip. Among consumers who earn between…
Bhutan may reconsider its controversial $100 daily tourism fees if the country's tourism industry recovers soon, Bhutan's Prime Minister Tshering Tobgay told CNBC on May 10. But the fees are likely to go higher, he said. Bhutan reopened its borders in September 2022 with an increased "Sustainable Development Fee" of $200 per person per day…
Klaus Vedfelt | Digitalvision | Getty Images If you plan to spend money on travel as the days get longer, sunnier and warmer, be careful: It could leave you with high-interest debt you will still be paying off through the fall and winter. Almost half (45%) of Americans plan to take a summer trip requiring…
An Emirates Airlines plane Karim Sahib | AFP | Getty Images DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — Dubai-based carrier Emirates airline on Monday reported record annual profit of 17.2 billion dirhams ($4.7 billion) for the 2023-2024 financial year, up 63% from the year prior. The flag carrying airline of the UAE's glitzy commercial capital has enjoyed…
You can use the iPhone's ability to understand what's depicted in images to help clarify and organize your memories of your vacations. For example, if you took a picture of a major landmark as you fly by in a taxi but you don't remember or know what it was called, you can often find the…
Responding to angry customers is one of the hardest parts of her job, Natasha said. Finding the right words, conveying the appropriate level of contrition — especially when the hotel isn't at fault (read: rain complaints) — is a tedious and time-consuming process, said the director of a five-star resort, who asked that CNBC not…
Most casual theme park fans would agree that checking out a major new ride is a great reason to travel. Are you such a Disney die-hard that you feel the same way about shows? Disney has also introduced a brand new nighttime spectacular, Wondrous Journeys. We've long since passed the point of calling Disney's popular…
This travel tip is so simple you may smack your forehead once you learn you could have been using it all along. There's an easy method for avoiding some cancellation fees and getting a refund on supposedly nonrefundable reservations. To illustrated the hack, we'll take an example from the Disney parks. Sit-down restaurants inside…