Many travelers are wondering how to safely get back out into the world, so they can explore new destinations and revisit old favorites. One tour company, Tours By Locals, may have the answer. Tours By Locals enlists the help of reliable and knowledgeable locals to lead private tours. The company has guides in over 183 countries and thousands throughout North America alone. Better yet, with private, personalized tours, you can ensure your trip will be socially distanced. On top of this, the company also has their guides follow many safety procedures, such as wiping down all touchpoints of vehicles after…
Author: Keith Langston
In order to help passengers feel safer while traveling, Amtrak is now offering a live, real-time seating capacity index for each train. It’s now easy for passengers to see how full each train is while booking, enabling them to choose the train that they feel most comfortable riding in. These new measures are on top of Amtrak’s current commitment to guest safety, which include increasing the amount of cleaning and frequency of disinfecting surfaces, seamless gate and track info delivered to your phone to reduce crowding in terminals, lowered passenger capacity per train (families can still sit together), and touch-free…
These days, it’s normal to meet someone with special dietary needs: gluten-free for health reasons, Kosher for religious reasons, or vegetarian for environmental reasons. Everyone with a special diet, however, still loves to dine out, and they especially love dining out at restaurants that cater to their culinary requirements while still creating stunning, delicious meals. Luxury travel operator, Scenic, has put together a list of the best cities for those dining out with special dietary needs. Can you guess which city took the #1 spot? 9.) Amsterdam Vegetarian options: 1823 ~ Gluten-free options: 667 ~ Kosher options: 4 While…
One of Las Vegas’ newest resorts, the Park MGM, will be reopening on September 30th, and it will be smoke-free, marking the first time a Las Vegas resort has totally banned smoking. However, guests can expect to find some of the newest amenities and most pristine rooms in Vegas. They’ll also be able to visit the Las Vegas installment of the popular culinary destination, Eataly. The Park’s luxurious pool, casino, and numerous restaurants will also be open. Inside the Park, the “hotel within a hotel” the NoMad, will also reopen as a smoke-free space. The NoMad is famous for being…
According to an article by USA Today, the US will no longer be performing widespread COVID screenings for international passengers. Instead, airports will be turning to a “symptom-based” screening regimen. The new screening protocol will include things like pre-departure and post-arrival health education (what this means has yet to be announced), voluntary electronic contact information collection, and post-arrival recommendations for self-monitoring, including self-isolating; in short, the new screening protocol involves no real screening whatsoever. What all this means is less testing and less effective ways of preventing COVID transmission from incoming visitors. The biggest problem is that many people may be…
Lindt, famous for its award-winning chocolate and scrumptious truffles, is unveiling the world’s largest chocolate store. Located in Zurich, Switzerland, the Lindt, Home of Chocolate will open on September 13th. The Lindt, Home of Chocolate complex will house a museum, tasting room, a “chocolateria” where visitors can take a chocolate-making class, and it will even have the world’s largest chocolate fountain. It’s set to be over 65,000 square feet, and the museum will hold interactive exhibits that explore things like the origin of the cocoa bean, the history of making chocolate, and the ongoing legacy chocolate has made to the…
The 4 largest airlines in the USA have officially discontinued change fees. United was the first of the legacy carriers to ditch the fee, joining Southwest which never charged. Delta and American soon followed. This has been a long time coming. After 9/11, legacy carriers cut back on almost all amenities on domestic flights, citing low-passenger numbers and diminished profits. A few years later, the Great Recession began and further knocked the airline industry into a tailspin. Hubs were closed, mergers happened, and Frontier even turned itself into an ultra-low-cost airline in order to survive. After all was said and…
The Toyota-backed company SkyDrive just had the first successful test flight of their new flying car. The car, named the SD-03, launched inside the Toyota test facility at the end of August. Amazingly, SkyDrive was founded only two years ago, and already has a working prototype. And the SD-03 isn’t meant to just be a showpiece. They want their product to be available to the general public, stating, “The company hopes that its aircraft will become people’s partner in the sky rather than merely a commodity.” SkyDrive’s SD-03 is the world’s first true flying car. While other companies like PAL-V…
To help calm the nerves of wary flyers, Richard Branson’s Virgin Atlantic is offering free coronavirus insurance for all passengers. The deal is being retroacted to any flight that’s already booked, and is automatically added to any flight booked between now and March 31, 2021. The program is created by an alliance between Virgin and insurer, Allianz. The plan covers up to 500,000 pounds (or $659,000 USD) and can go towards a variety of things, including medical and/or quarantine costs that may arise from COVID-related issues. The plan includes: Up to £500,000 necessary and emergency medical expenses incurred due to Coronavirus…
Governor Andrew Cuomo says that New York City will be setting up COVID-19 testing stations inside the airport terminals for visitors entering the city. At a press conference on Monday, August 24th he stated that the stations will be created at JFK International and LaGuardia. However, even though Newark is one of NYC’s largest airports, because it sits in New Jersey, Cuomo has no jurisdiction over it. New Jersey has yet to announce any testing plans for the state’s largest international hub. According to the New York Daily News, the testing won’t be mandatory, but it will be free to…
The CDC has begun asking for recommendations from both cruise operators and employees, as well as the general public, on how to best return cruise ships to active service. So far, more than 2,000 responses have been submitted, and over 1.7k are available for the public to read. The CDC’s No Sail ban is in place until the end of September, and the Cruise Lines International Association has vowed not to sail until at least November. The good news is that some cruise operators are working hard to figure out real, tangible ways to make cruising return. For example, Virgin Voyages…
Boom Supersonic, a Denver-based aeronautics company founded in 2014, is currently developing the aircraft Overture, set to be the world’s fastest commercial jet ever. The jet will surpass the Concorde in speed, flying over 1,000mph and cutting hours off transoceanic flights. The Overture is also going to be flying higher than any other jet around. The average cruising altitude is around 35,000-40,000 ft, but the Overture will by flying at a whopping 60,000 ft above sea-level. One of the most interesting aspects of the airplane is that the company is hoping it will only be used on routes over the…
On August 6th, the US State Department lifted its global Level 4 travel warning, returning to country-specific warnings and advisories instead. The department says that the decision was made in close coordination with the CDC, stating that the dangers of the virus in many countries around the world have lessened. A spokesperson for the Department of State said in a statement, “With health and safety conditions improving in some countries and potentially deteriorating in others, the Department is returning to our previous system of country-specific levels of travel advice (with Levels from 1-4 depending on country-specific conditions), in order to…
Austrian Airlines is the latest airline (joining others, like Lufthansa) demanding that a comprehensive COVID-19 testing strategy replace travel bans and entry quarantines. In a statement, Austrian Airlines CEO von Hoensbroech stated, “The freedom to travel is an important cornerstone of our modern-day society which should not be curtailed in the long term. Whoever is healthy and not infected should also be allowed to travel…” Various airlines sent a letter to US Vice President Mike Pence and Ylva Johansson, the EU Home Affairs Commissioner, demanding that a cost-effective, efficient testing plan be established so that travel between the European continent and…
You no longer have to dive into the ocean’s depths in order to learn about sunken treasures. Today, Malta announced that they have launched their new Underwater Malta museum in collaboration with the prestigious University of Malta. The initiative is the first interactive underwater museum in the Mediterranean. By combining photography, 3D modeling, video, and a VR experience, history buffs from around the world can now explore Malta’s depths straight from their computers. The initial collection, launched today, includes sunken submarines, fighter planes, shipwrecks, and even the artillery from an old military base. Many, like the destroyer HMS Maori, have…
Last week, we examined the promising results from Moderna’s vaccine trials, but stated that the US-based Pharmaceutical company had some competition, namely from the UK’s Oxford University. Now, the BBC has released new information that proves the Oxford University Covid-19 vaccine could soon overtake Moderna’s and become the first vaccine to hit the market next year. The Oxford vaccine, given the extremely easy-to-remember-name “ChAdOx1 nCoV-19” has just completed a round of testing involving over 1,000 people. In the study, it was revealed that subjects developed antibodies and T cells from the vaccine, which is critical for creating a suitable immune…
This week, Moderna, the pharmaceutical company based in Cambridge, MA, released their findings from the initial phase of their vaccine trials. Back in March, 45 volunteers were given the vaccine. They all ended up developing neutralizing antibodies, which help block infection. In fact, the subjects developed as many antibodies as those who have recovered from the COVID-19 illness. No major side effects were reported, but some subjects complained of mild flu-like symptoms, such as fatigue or a headache, both of which went away after a day. Because of the success of the trials, Moderna is moving into the final phase…
Hailed as one of the meccas of art and food in Mexico, the town of San Miguel da Allende reopened yesterday to tourists. The town has a bustling city center, filled with restaurants, local bars, markets, boutique shops, and even independently-ran ice cream and chocolate shops. At the center of town is the famous Parroquia de San Miguel Arcangel, a towering cathedral that rivals the awe-inspiring splendor of its European counterparts. All around the city you can find small lodgings, historic hotels, and luxurious resorts. Further out of San Miguel, you can find artist retreats, vineyards, hot springs, and even…
As America’s COVID rates continue to spike higher than any other country in the world, nations around the globe have started to clamp down on visitors from the USA. Most notably, these include travel bans throughout Oceania, Asia, and the EU. However, some countries have started welcoming US citizens. As long as travelers follow entry requirements, pay attention to social distancing, and wear a mask when necessary, there’s nothing stopping them from enjoying a great international vacation. Here are some of the places welcoming visitors from the USA right now. MEXICO Mexico, one of the most-visited countries in the…
There are few industries that the coronavirus pandemic has hit as hard as travel and tourism. Not only did the outbreak bring the global tourism industry to a complete standstill, but the impacts from the COVID-19 crisis is likely to be felt for a long time. For instance, the TSA has adopted numerous changes that will help keep travelers safe, and not just from the coronavirus. These changes will also help lessen the spread of colds and the flu in the fall and winter. Below is a list of the new changes you can expect the next time you enter…