New train and bus services are loaded with features you almost find on airplanes nowadays, including free Wi-Fi, power outlets, party lounges—and even complimentary checked baggage.
Travel
Hertz Drives to Be King of Anytime, Anyplace, Any Duration Rental Cars
In the near future, when you swing by the drugstore or home improvement center, renting a car could be as easy as picking up shampoo or a new ratchet set.
Atlantic City’s Next Big Bet: Legalized Online Gambling
Business has been on the decline in Atlantic City casinos for six years and running. To stop the bleeding, casinos are betting big on online gaming—an option that, of course, gives gamblers an easy way to avoid Atlantic City entirely.
New Attractions in Vegas Get Tourists High — Literally
If you want to see the hot new trend in Las Vegas attractions, look up. Plans are in the works for sky-high roller coasters, observation wheels, and zip lines to provide new thrills far above the Strip.
5 Summer Travel Scams to Avoid
With the summer comes peak season for scammers coming up with new ways to empty tourists’ wallets — increasingly, by getting their hands on travelers’ personal financial information. Here are five tricks to be on the lookout …
Germany Has Become the Cut-Rate Prostitution Capital of the World
The presence of thousands of brothels and hundreds of thousands of prostitutes has heightened competition and pushed prices down steeply in the German sex trade. One tourist from Florida, who visits the country three times annually to pay for cheap sex, compares the scene to a discount supermarket: “Germany is like Aldi for …
The Other Complication for Airbnb and the Sharing Economy: Taxes
Few people involved in the sharing economy know what taxes they’re supposed to pay, nor how to pay them. Because the rules are unclear, enforcement is almost nonexistent, and the feeling that “sharing” shouldn’t be taxed at all, very few people do pay them.
Four Months After the ‘Poop Cruise,’ the Carnival Triumph Sails Again — and Is Sold Out
Is it safe to go back in the water? Based on how the Carnival Triumph was fully booked last week, when it embarked on its first departure after the infamous “poop cruise” incident, plenty of cruise passengers seem to say yes.
Sharing Is Hard: Legal Trouble for Airbnb, RelayRides, FlightCar
As more consumers turn to services like peer-to-peer rental-car outfits rather than Hertz, local authorities are penalizing participants with fines and ordering the companies to cease operations. Is it still safe to share?
Why Hotels Aren’t Making a Killing on Fees Like the Airlines
Love it or hate it, the fee-based business model appears to be here to stay for airlines. But the hotel business is a different story.
Summer Camp For Grown-Ups
Like cartoons and cupcakes, summer camp is becoming one of those things adults just won’t leave to the kids anymore.
“Glamping” — that is, staying in a tent, yurt or treehouse but with butlers, electricity and luxury hotel-style amenities — was discovered by Justin Bieber and Elle magazine last year, and this year, camp fever …
Entrance to Walt Disney World Now Costs Over $100 (With Tax)
Theme parks are so predictable. Universal Orlando recently jacked up admissions prices by a few bucks, just as it did last year in the weeks before kids start their summer breaks. It was only a matter of time before Disney followed suit.