Travel tips

Reno Airport celebrates rodeo+SEA embraces Bridgerton

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The 105th annual Reno Rodeo is underway in Reno, Nevada and Reno-Tahoe International Airport (RNO) is joining with Southwest Airlines to welcome rodeo enthusiasts to town.

On Friday morning (June 21), from 10:30 a.m. to 11:15 a.m., Southwest passengers traveling to and from Denver Airport will be treated to a class in country dancing. If you’re passing through, mosey on over and join in.

SEA airport says “pay attention, gentle readers”

Have you been watching Bridgerton? Evidently the social media team at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport (SEA) has. Their feed is currently full of Bridgerton-themed travel tips. And they’re very charming.

Travel Tidbits: Where to go, what to know, stuff to buy

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Early in the week, the inbox is full of tantalizing travel tidbits, news from destinations on our “want” list and fun events in far-off cities that tempt us to jump in the car or get on a plane.

Here’s a sampling:

JetBlue & Spirit: not gonna happen

JetBlue announced on Monday that it reached an agreement with Spirit Airlines to terminate their proposed merger agreement.

That’s a win for travelers, says Going.com’s travel expert Katy Nastro. “Even if consumers don’t fly on low-cost carriers like Spirit, they help to keep fares lower by putting pressure on the legacy carriers. Cheap flight lovers across the board can breathe a bit easier knowing competition is here to stay,” she said.

Want to live and work in space? Here’s what it may be like

(Courtesy of the Museum of Flight)

Wondering what it might be like to live, work, or vacation in space?

Seattle’s Museum of Flight is putting together an exhibit that will offer on clues.

Home Beyond Earth opens June 8 and will be and will focus on space stations past, present, and future with more than fifty artifacts, models, space-flown objects, and uniforms.

Kimpton hotels will loan you accessories.

Now that checked bag prices are up, you may be trying to lighten your load and commit to traveling only with a carry-on bag.

We’ll all for that.

And so is Kimpton.

For guests who have left key fashion accessories at home, the hotel brand now has a collection of items available for loan. At participating properties, theΒ Forgot It? We’ve Got It! Anthropologie Accessories Collection includes bags, sunglasses, belts, necklaces, and other items guests may borrow and, if they like them, buy.

Travel Tips for a New Week

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To the relief of many travelers and travel groups, over the weekend the United States lifted the Covid-19 testing requirement for inbound international air travelers.

That means travelers no longer have to find a testing site a day before their flight to the U.S., wait anxiously for results and then, as happened to friends of ours, scramble to find a hotel in an already packed European city and make alternate flight and other arrangements if they get a positive test result.

Experts expect a surge in international travel now.

So look forward to packed flights and higher ticket prices. And consider keeping a mask on during those flights.

Flip sign at TWA Hotel Flips for Pride

If you’re flying out of New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK), stop in the lobby of the TWA Hotel, across from JetBlue’s Terminal 5. In addition to a rooftop pool, a roller rink, and “The Connie” – a 1958 Constellation airplane turned cocktail lounge, this month the retro-style flip board in the oh-so-60s lobby is flipping in rainbow colors to celebrate Pride.

Amazing Race winners share travel tips

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We’re just back from a great adventure on Hurtigruten Expeditions’ inaugural cruise in the Galapagos Islands, where we met iguanas and sea lions galore, and spotted albatross, blue and red-footed boobies, tortoises, and many other fantastic creatures.

Our ship, the upgraded MS Santa Cruz II, was perfectly-sized, with 50 cabins, a library and science corner, and a bar. And we were thrilled to learn that among the guests on our expedition were Will Jardell and James Wallington, the honeymooning winners of Season 32 of The Amazing Race reality TV show in which teams of two race around the world in hopes of winning the $1 million first prize.

We joined them for dinner one evening to chat about airports, of course, and to ask them to share some of their travel tips. You’ll find the full list in the story we put together for the Points Guy site. But here are some of their travel gear must-haves and some useful tips for gathering information about your destinations.

Fanny Packs

Trendy for now, Jardell and Wallington say they use Eagle Creek fanny packs to hold travel essentials such as passports, wallets, money, travel guides and documents, hand sanitizer, snacks, Chapstick, hand lotion, and extra masks.

Playing cards and games

Books and magazines are always good to have, but Jardell and Wallington always pack a deck of cards or a game they can play together or with people they meet along the way.

Smart ways to gather information

During the Amazing Race contest, Will and James couldn’t take along laptops or phones for researching a destination or plotting out routes before arriving in a city.

They said they could sometimes work around this by visiting electronics shops in airports selling phones and other gear that was on display with WiFi connections.

This is a great tip for those times we might find ourselves in an airport without a charged phone or good network access.

Flight attendants often have lots of helpful information about destinations, they told us, as do some of the short videos most of us skip over in the inflight entertainment line-up.

Eco-Friendly Tips

Meet the winning couple and pick up some eco-friendly and sustainable travel tips in this short video.

Iceland welcomes you to the Icelandverse

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We’re a few days late on the Icelandverse bandwagon. But we want to do our part to make sure everyone takes a look at how Iceland is promoting tourism with a hysterical swipe at Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg and the ‘metaverse’ concept.

In the video below, which comes to us courtesy of cheeky Visit Iceland, a β€œChief Visionary Officer” Zack Mossbergsson -a character that looks and motions like Mark Zuckerberg, extols the many real things you can see, touch, and experience in Iceland in contrast to the virtual world of Zuckerberg’s metaverse.

“Today I want to talk about a revolutionary approach on how to connect our world without being super weird,” says Mossbergsson. “Some said it’s not possible. Some said it’s out of reach. To them we say, It’s already here. Seriously. Look it’s right here,” he says pointing out the window.

If you’ve been to Iceland before or are just packing to go to the “Icelandverse,” this video reinforces the fact that the country offers “enhanced actual reality without silly-looking headsets,” “water that’s wet” and “skies you can see with your eyeballs.” And whether you’re a fan of the company formerly known as Facebook, or not, you’ll get a kick out of this video.

Visit Iceland has a long history of quirky videos. Many are part of the Iceland Academy Series, including the one below about what to pack when visiting Iceland.