Smart Traveler

  By Larry Olmsted Neos is not a new airline, but if you live in the U.S. it is new to you. And it is relatively new in any case, launched in 2002, giving it one of the youngest airline fleets in the sky, including six latest-generation Boeing 787-9 Dreamliners.

  By Everett Potter When the term medical flight is mentioned, most people envision some unlucky climber being airlifted from Everest Base Camp. They don’t think of someone like my father-in-law, who contracted Legionnaire’s Disease in his late 70’s while traveling in Estonia a decade ago. Yes, he did have

By Larry Olmsted As the Pfizer, Moderna and additional coronavirus vaccines continue their global rollout, most in the travel industry see a light at the end of the COVID-19 tunnel and a slow return to travel normalcy. But personally, I expect a few of the pandemic induced changes to stick

By Monique Burns  With the opening of the new Berlin Brandenburg “Willy Brandt” Airport, the German capital adds yet another stylish leaf to its portfolio. In design–forward Berlin, with cutting–edge galleries, hip fashion boutiques and chic shops, the new airport showcases a sleek Bauhaus aesthetic of glass and steel accented

By Larry Olmsted Face masks, along with handwashing and social distancing, are the best safety protection you have against the coronavirus and risk of contracting COVID-19 in the current pandemic. Wearing a mask also protects the rest of society. The World Health Organization (WHO) puts it bluntly: “People wearing masks

By Ann Abel Remember when we used to talk about high-touch service at five-star hotels? That used to be a major selling point. Today I cringed just typing that phrase. Now the goal is contactless everything. It’s not that cleanliness is the new luxury—cleanliness should have been and generally was

By Everett Potter As travelers canceled their travel arrangements with the onslaught of the coronavirus and sought to get refunds, travel insurance became a major part of the discussion. While having such a policy helped some travelers, others found that there were restrictions on what it could do. I asked

By Larry Olmsted Reaching higher tiers of airline loyalty programs has traditionally required flying a couple of times each month – but right now hardly anyone is flying anywhere. Hotel programs are similar, and for example, to reach Hilton’s highest tier Diamond status usually requires 30 separate stays totaling 60

By Everett Potter When will we be able to travel again? What might the post-coronavirus travel landscape look like? I put these questions and others to Jennifer Tombaugh, President of Tauck, the blue-chip company that offers escorted and guided tours around the world. Everett Potter: I realize you don’t have a