From the yearly archives:

2009

New screening measures in the wake of Northwest flight 253. Plus, a Christmas miracle and a visit to Seaside, Fla.

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If you live in the Midwest, I don’t need to tell you that you’re having a white Christmas. A very white Christmas.

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It just happened to me.

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So long, Planhandle.
We’ll be making the tedious six-hour drive back to Orlando tomorrow morning, but already I’m thinking of an excuse to visit Northwest Florida again. My friends in Pensacola are interested in hosting a remote broadcast of the radio show, maybe this spring. That would be fun.
In the meantime, you’re probably wondering why Erysse [...]

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Here’s a deeply troubling trend: Hotels, eager to lift their historically low earnings, are introducing more “nonrefundable” rates. Guests often have no choice but to pay them.

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It’s the sand. It’s white, like snow. Not quite a white Christmas — but close enough.

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When you buy a travel package through an online travel agency, you expect the price to be significantly less than if you booked each item separately, right?

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In this issue. Trips you shouldn’t ever book [...]

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Our friends at the Transportation Department have unleashed a blizzard of airline rule changes on us this morning. They’re being characterized as an early Christmas present for air travelers — particularly those with lengthy tarmac delays. And the government is not done yet.
But read the actual rule, and the DOT’s nuanced discussion of its final [...]

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This weekend’s snowstorm in the eastern United States shut down several major airports and stranded tens of thousands of airline passengers. Most flights are operating normally this morning, but there’s always the trip home. I asked Howard Altschule, a meteorologist with Forensic Weather Consultants, what to do when weather threatens to ground your next flight.

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Here’s the view that greeted us when we checked into the Hilton Pensacola Beach Gulf Front yesterday afternoon.
Beautiful? Yes. But it’s also 40 degrees, not counting the wind chill factor.
Maybe that’s why there’s no one here. But you know us — we’re contrarian travelers. We go where no one else does. And when no [...]

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When Judy Galliher of Silver Spring sent me her hotel horror story, I had a reflexive, Scrappy Doo-like reaction: Lemme at ‘em!

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This was supposed to be a feel-good column for the holidays, where I asked readers what kind of presents they wanted from the travel industry, and all of the resulting good tidings left us warm and fuzzy. And then I talked with you.

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Vanessa Thompson checks into what she thinks is an all-inclusive hotel before her cruise. Then she discovers she doesn’t have a reservation. When she’s allowed in, she discovers there’s nothing all-inclusive about her room. Is she entitled to a refund?

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When I asked my kids if they wanted to see ICE at the Gaylord Palms in Orlando, I heard a groan from the back of the car.

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