People seem to love or hate Sun Country Airlines. Travel + Leisure and Conde Nast Traveler have ranked the low-cost carrier one of the top 10 domestic airlines, but online reviews seem to be mostly negative, with one suggesting that “the sun has set on Sun Country Airlines.”
There are two major airport lounge programs, Priority Pass and Lounge Club, that have credit card partners that subsidize the cost of membership. There are also credit cards that can get you access to the lounges, but they come with hefty annual fees, so you should weight the cost against the benefits to see if any of these cards are a good fit for you.
Chengdu is the fifth largest city in China and a booming economic center. More than 250 Fortune 500 companies have opened outposts in the city. But that’s not why tourists are flocking there.
Istanbul, founded in 657 B.C. as Byzantium, is an ancient transcontinental city. The historic city center lies in Europe, while a third of the city’s population of 14.4 million lives in Asia. Because of its unique location, it’s the largest city in both the Middle East and Europe. Located between the Sea of Marmara and the Black Sea, Istanbul straddles the Bosphorus Strait in Northwestern Turkey.
For many people, spending extensive time at an airport can be miserable. Overcrowded restrooms, overpriced food and seat shortages at gates add to the general stress of flying. Fortunately, there is a more civilized way to spend your layover: in an exclusive oasis of peace and tranquility called the airport lounge.
Rotterdam is both an historic city and a dynamic, modern metropolis. The Netherlands second largest city, it’s known as “Manhattan on the Maas” for its high rises and impressive architecture. The city also boasts more than a dozen museums dedicated to architecture, contemporary art, natural history, maritime history and ship building.
Founded in 1859 and featured in Travel and Leisure’s Best Places to Travel in 2015, Fez has been called the “Mecca of the West” and the “Athens of Africa.” It is Morocco’s second largest city and home to more than a million people.
Chip credit cards—also known as EMV, for Europay,
However, U.S. cards typically use chip-and-signature technology, not chip-and-PIN. Chip-and-PIN is the standard in most of the rest of the world. Having a card with chip-and-PIN technology can make traveling abroad much easier. So what’s the difference and where can you get one?
Abu Dhabi is the capital of the United Arab Emirates and the second biggest city in the country. As a travel destination, it is usually eclipsed by its more glamorous cousin Dubai, with its grandiose architecture and burgeoning travel industry.
Airberlin’s days as a budget airline appear to be over. Today it is one of the staples of oneworld and has several partners outside the alliance as well. With all these connections, members of its frequent flyer program Topbonus have the option of spending their miles on a variety of carriers all over the world.
Airberlin once positioned itself as a budget airline, but it seems they have reconsidered. Now their transatlantic flights feature in-seat entertainment in economy and lie-flat seats in business. If you’re looking for comfortable flights and good award seat availability between North America and Europe, then consider joining airberlin’s loyality program, topbonus.
You may have never heard of Mons, Belgium, but that’s about to change. The latest CNN report on top travel destinations puts it in the spotlight as one of the prime places to visit in 2015, and for a good reason.
While Spirit will never win a popularity contest, it’s hard to argue with its financial success. It was profitable even in the hardest of times, when every other airline was struggling to stay afloat. Spirit Airlines has only one competitive angle: low price. And for that price, it provides only one service, transporting you from point A to point B. Everything else costs extra.
Free Spirit, the frequent flyer program for Florida-based budget carrier Spirit Airlines, is very controversial. On the one hand, it is very restrictive. Your miles expire after only three months of inactivity, unless you have the Bank of America Spirit Airlines World MasterCard (see below). Most programs give you at least a year, and some up to two years. On the other hand, Free Spirit miles can give you amazing and unbeatable value if you’re in the right place at the right time.
Bolivia was once largely cut off to travelers due to endless transportation strikes and general dysfunction. But that’s changed, and thanks in part to recent investments in tourist-friendly infrastructure it’s number eight on the New York Times’ 52 Places to Go in 2015.
If you’re collecting miles and playing the frequent flyer awards game, you’re probably already familiar with the airport taxes, fuel surcharges and other fees that often get added to your ticket. So when you finally earn that “free” flight you’ve been saving up for, you don’t expect it to be completely free.
The incredible clear skies, high altitude and remote location of the Elqui Valley in Chile have long made it the ideal environment for large research telescopes. But it has recently also become a hotbed for astrotourism. Small, private observatories now dot the landscape, along with quaint hotels catering to stargazers.
There are good reasons why Costa Rica is a prime ecotourism destination for North American tourists. It has hundreds of breathtaking waterfalls, peaceful lakes, and roaring rivers.
