Vacation costs

China extends visa-free policy to 9 more countries — including South Korea
Travel

China extends visa-free policy to 9 more countries — including South Korea

From Friday, citizens of nine more countries can enter China without needing a visa to visit. Holders of ordinary passports from eight countries in Europe — Slovakia, Norway, Finland, Denmark, Iceland, Andorra, Monaco and Liechtenstein — as well as South Korea can visit for business or leisure purposes for up to 15 days without needing […]

Read More
Is this the world’s ‘coolest hotel room’ for baseball fans? Go inside to see the view
Travel

Is this the world’s ‘coolest hotel room’ for baseball fans? Go inside to see the view

The 2024 World Series may be over, but that won’t stop baseball fans from searching for their next ballpark fix. But forget touring a stadium — this one lets you sleep inside it. Es Con Field Hokkaido is a stadium on the Japanese island of Hokkaido with a grass field, retractable roof and space for 35,000 spectators. But […]

Read More
Interest in ‘Travel Tuesday’ soars, with more consumers saying they prefer travel to shopping
Travel

Interest in ‘Travel Tuesday’ soars, with more consumers saying they prefer travel to shopping

First there was Black Friday — then Cyber Monday. Now deal-thirsty consumers have a reason to shop online one day longer. “Travel Tuesday” — the first Tuesday after the American Thanksgiving holiday — targets those looking for discounts on trips, rather than flat-screen TVs.   Search interest for “Travel Tuesday” rose more than 500% from […]

Read More
Major airlines are cutting services to China or quitting entirely amid low travel demand, high costs
Travel

Major airlines are cutting services to China or quitting entirely amid low travel demand, high costs

British Airlines, Qantas and Finnair are some of the airlines that are reducing services to China. Nicola Economou | Nurphoto | Getty Images Major global airlines are reducing services and, in some instances, withdrawing from China altogether as longer routes to Asia following the closure of Russian airspace have raised operational costs, while demand has […]

Read More
He’s British, she’s Australian. Here’s their trick to traveling 10,000 miles — with kids in tow
Travel

He’s British, she’s Australian. Here’s their trick to traveling 10,000 miles — with kids in tow

I’m proud to call the tiny sugarcane farming community of Ingham, Australia, my hometown. It boasts blue skies, sandy beaches and Australia’s longest single-drop waterfall. But its location — at the northern end of the state of Queensland — is a problem for me. Lured by the desire to explore Europe, I left for London […]

Read More
He flies business and first class multiple times a year — all on credit card points
Travel

He flies business and first class multiple times a year — all on credit card points

For most travelers, flying in business and first class, especially on international flights, is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. A business class ticket can cost up to five times more than an economy ticket on Singapore Airlines — and a whopping 13 times more for a first-class one. As a result, these cabins are often booked by […]

Read More
Starlink to end the days of spotty Wi-Fi on planes, says Air New Zealand CEO
World

Starlink to end the days of spotty Wi-Fi on planes, says Air New Zealand CEO

The days of spotty — or worse, no — Wi-Fi on airplanes are numbered, said Air New Zealand CEO Greg Foran. Reliable and fast Wi-Fi will become “ubiquitous” on full-service carriers, he told “Squawk Box Asia” Friday. But not just any Wi-Fi will do. As airlines race to entice passengers with fast — and ideally free […]

Read More
A private island for ,000 per night — for those who are willing to get there
Travel

A private island for $1,000 per night — for those who are willing to get there

When Richard Kvech first set foot on Pinang four years ago, a dilapidated bungalow used by passing fishermen was the only sign of human life on the island. Kvech and three friends, all from the Czech Republic, slept in hammocks and cooked on the beach, while dreaming of creating an eco-retreat on the 50-hectare Indonesian […]

Read More
‘Golden Week’ bookings show Chinese travel preferences are evolving
Travel

‘Golden Week’ bookings show Chinese travel preferences are evolving

Outbound travel from China is set to receive a much-anticipated jolt as “Golden Week” bookings show changes in where and why Chinese people are traveling. Buoyed by falling airfares, Chinese travelers are booking more overseas trips for the National Day holiday period, which extends from Oct. 1 to 7, according to Fliggy, a major travel […]

Read More
‘Coolcations’ had another big summer. Here are the places travelers went
Travel

‘Coolcations’ had another big summer. Here are the places travelers went

Extreme temperatures are driving travelers to seek cooler destinations. And there’s a term for the trend: “coolcations.” Heat waves — which are increasing in frequency, duration and intensity, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency — are affecting where people are choosing to vacation, especially during the hot summer months. “Often, when we think of vacation, […]

Read More