What Does Travel Insurance Cover?
By Rachael Green
From Kiplinger's Personal Finance
Travel insurance is one of those things that just feels like an added expense on a vacation that you've already spent plenty of money on—especially if you aren't even sure what it covers. But it's precisely because you've already spent that money on your vacation that travel insurance is worth it.
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USA Today
28 minutes ago
- USA Today
Want to fly in a fancy seat for less? Try this hack.
Want to fly in a fancy seat for less? Try this hack. | Cruising Altitude Show Caption Hide Caption A short flight just got more comfortable than you think Short flights could let you experience a bed in the sky for less. Passengers can experience international-style seating on short domestic flights when airlines use larger planes for these routes. Airlines utilize larger aircraft on shorter routes to maximize aircraft usage and meet high passenger demand, especially between hub cities. While these flights offer upgraded seating, the service is typically comparable to domestic first class, not the full international experience. If you want a glimpse of the sweet life at the pointy end of the plane, there's one way to do it that doesn't require a boatload of points or miles or cash. It's by taking a short domestic flight where an airline has routed one of its internationally configured planes. I'm not talking about premium transcontinental flights that are always set up for big spenders. I'm talking about one-off itineraries where airlines are trying to squeeze the most performance out of their planes, like the trip I have coming up to Atlanta later this summer, on which Delta currently has a flat-bed Boeing 767 scheduled for one of my flights. If I get an upgrade, I'll be cruising down to Georgia in style and maybe sneaking in a little nap in a fully flat bed. And even if I don't get the upgrade, I'll still benefit from a little more leg and elbow room. Why do airlines use big planes on short flights? An airplane is only making money when it's in the air, so airlines typically try to keep their planes flying as much as possible, so it doesn't become a drag on the bottom line. 'In general the reasons airlines do this is there's enough demand and they can put these airplanes, fill them up and do it, but that really only makes sense if they can pair it with the slack in the system that they have from international flying that gives them free time to play with,' Brett Snyder, author of the blog Cranky Flier and owner of the travel agency Cranky Concierge, told me. Airlines that fly only long-haul networks usually try to turn their planes around as quickly as possible, but those with more diverse routes may be trying to optimize their flight schedule more, and may find that it makes sense to fly an internationally configured jet on a short out-and-back itinerary between longer hops. In other cases, it's because a plane needs to get from its base airport to another location before its scheduled flight. 'Sometimes it's a matter of connecting the dots,' Snyder said. 'Sometimes ... it's because there's huge (passenger) demand and there's huge cargo demand and that's a great place to put that airplane.' How can I find a flight like this? In general, you're most likely to see these planes on routes between an airline's hub airports, or from one of its hubs to another location with high demand. 'In the winter you can look at Florida, Latin, Caribbean type of stuff,' Snyder said. 'Year-round, you can always look at hub-to-hub flying. That's usually where you'll find it is between an airline's hubs.' In the summer, when travel demand to Europe is higher, there are typically fewer short-haul widebody routes, because airlines surge capacity across the Atlantic. There are usually more quirky flight options like this in the winter, according to Snyder. 'More often than not they get decent usage flying it to Orlando or Cancun or someplace where there are a ton of people looking to fly,' he said. If you're not familiar with all the various airplane types, make sure to check the flight details and compare the aircraft against a site like aeroLOPA to make sure you know what you're getting. What is the service usually like? Even though you'll benefit from the nicer seat, flying a widebody on a short route won't be quite the same as it is on a longer flight. 'It can really depend on the airline and the route, but in general, you're getting a domestic first-class style service. You're not getting blankets and pajamas and multicourse meals and all of this,' Snyder said. 'They cater it to act more like a domestic first-class type of service, just with a much nicer seat.' But the service will still be a step up from what you get in regular economy. Last week's Cruising Altitude: Are US airlines becoming a 'homogenous blob of sameness?' Do widebody flights cost more? Airline pricing is famously opaque but in general, flights with better seats will usually cost the same or a little more than others on the schedule for the same day. 'If you're flying on a route with a flat bed versus a non-flat bed, there is a very good chance it will be priced higher,' Snyder said. 'They know they can get more money, it's not like the old days where they were bad at this.' For example, on the 767 flight I'm taking to Atlanta this summer, first class – which on this plane includes a flat bed – is priced at $519 one-way, while the two earlier flights are asking $444 for a standard domestic first class seat, and the next later flight, which also features a standard domestic first class seat, is going for $514. But that's not the only metric for pricing on these planes. On the 767, Delta also sells international premium economy as domestic Comfort, and it's priced the same $259 one-way as Comfort on all the nonstop flights that day. On the 767, though, Comfort passengers will get a seat more similar to the domestic first class recliner on other flights. 'There are some sweet spots on that airplane, depending on the airline,' Snyder said. Are there any drawbacks to booking widebodies on domestic flights? Mostly, it's all upside. You'll get a little more space in any cabin and will get to have a quirky experience of being on a big plane for a short flight. But there are some small snags that could be annoying, if not exactly devastating. For one, there's no guarantee the airline is going to keep your preferred aircraft on the flight. 'If you book these don't 100% count on it not changing, because there are always airline schedule changes. Depending on how far out you book, airlines may sub it out,' Snyder said. And while airlines do offer some flexibility to change your ticket if there's an equipment change, he added that those policies don't usually apply to these kinds of flights, because tickets are sold as domestic first, for example, not as business class, so you're still technically getting what you paid for. Snyder also said a bigger plane could make connections a little more annoying. 'Sometimes you will see these airplanes operating more out of the international gates if they're at terminals that segregate those because maybe they're coming in from somewhere internationally,' he said. 'For connections it can sometimes make it a little more challenging depending on where you are.' But all that is pretty minor. I say: give it a shot. What do you really have to lose? Zach Wichter is a travel reporter and writes the Cruising Altitude column for USA TODAY. He is based in New York and you can reach him at zwichter@
Fox News
31 minutes ago
- Fox News
SEAN DUFFY: Take a Great American Road Trip and rediscover our amazing country
"[W]e do not take a trip; a trip takes us." - Travels with Charley: In Search of America by John Steinbeck In 1960, American novelist John Steinbeck set out with his dog Charley in a camper on a journey to rediscover the heart of the nation. Though he had spent his career writing about our country, he understood that to truly know and love America, he needed to see America. "I had not heard the speech of America, smelled the grass and trees…seen its hills and water, its color and quality of light," he wrote at the time. Steinbeck and Charley traveled 10,000 miles across the United States, encountering farmers, drifters, Southern segregationists, and Northern suburbanites. He documented what he learned and saw in the famous book "Travels with Charley: In Search of America." His reflections — full of awe, sorrow, and empathy — become a portrait of our country and a call to see it firsthand. You'll never know America by listening to the nightly news or scrolling through TikTok or Instagram. Like Steinbeck before his journey, few of us have traced the spine of Route 66, watched the sun set behind the majestic Grand Canyon (one of the seven natural wonders of the world), stood beneath a 2,000-year-old, 300-foot-tall California redwood, or hiked the Smoky Mountains at dawn. As your secretary of transportation, I'm inviting you to rediscover America—not through a screen or a headline, but mile by mile, window down, heart open. In celebration of our nation's 250th anniversary, I am launching The Great American Road Trip—a yearlong invitation to travel, reflect, and reconnect with the people and places that define us. Transportation should be a pathway to opportunity, and road trips have always offered just that: freedom, flexibility, and a front-row seat to the American story. At the Department of Transportation, we're working to ensure that every American—no matter where they live or what they earn—can afford to get behind the wheel and explore this country on their own terms. Families are now better equipped to hit the road, thanks to lower gas prices, reduced inflation, and a renewed sense of American optimism under President Donald Trump's leadership. At the Department of Transportation, we're also eliminating burdensome regulations, such as Biden-era mileage standards, to make car ownership more affordable. No family should be priced out of owning a vehicle or exploring our beautiful country. I've taken road trips with my own family— cooler packed with snacks, long playlists, windows streaked with bug splatter, kids pointing out shapes in the clouds. Away from our routines, we reconnected and bonded—to each other, to the places we passed, and to the people we met. We learned things we hadn't expected, not just about the country, but about ourselves. Together with America250 and Brand USA, we've curated 250 destinations—some iconic, others unknown to most. We hope you'll stand in the dazzling lights of Times Square, but also take the turn that leads you to The Troll Hole Museum in Ohio, a crab meat and lobster stop in Maine, a castle hidden in the Michigan woods, and a lighthouse on a rocky New England coastline. We hope you'll visit Hemingway's home in Key West and find yourself deep inside Kentucky's Mammoth Cave. America's story lives in landmarks like the Statue of Liberty, South Dakota's Mount Rushmore and the Spanish missions of California, yes—but it also thrives in the family-owned roadside diners, the bait shop in northern Wisconsin, and the giant Paul Bunyan statue in Minnesota (a conversation starter with the kids about the tough lumberjacks who built America). We also celebrate the American-made vehicles that carry us—not just machines, but symbols of movement, freedom, and grit. President Trump's commitment to fair trade is revitalizing our auto industry, keeping factories open and producing bigger, better cars by hands that know the value of hard work and craftsmanship. In the years ahead, the world will turn its eyes to America, as we host the World Cup and the Olympics. As the spotlight turns to us, let's use this year leading up to our 250th anniversary as a nation to explore our homeland—to travel not as tourists, but as citizens eager to understand, to celebrate our freedom, and to rediscover this place we call home. As the song says, "from the mountains to the prairies, to the oceans, white with foam." This year, hit the road. Go far, go near, go somewhere you've never thought to go. And like Steinbeck, let the journey take you.
New York Times
34 minutes ago
- New York Times
Great American Wines That Stand the Test of Time
It's rare to think of American wine in terms of a pantheon. American consumers have always been drawn more to what's flashy and new rather than to established producers who have demonstrated consistent, focused excellence over the long haul. Perhaps that's because few demonstrably great and influential producers have been able to stay the course without changes in ownership that radically altered the character of the wines. Robert Mondavi Winery is one example. With producers like Mayacamas Vineyards, Diamond Creek Vineyards and Heitz Cellar, the changes in ownership have been too recent to fully understand their effect. Who does that leave? I think immediately of Mount Eden Vineyards and Ridge Monte Bello in the Santa Cruz Mountains. In Napa Valley I would single out Philip Togni Vineyard, Spottswoode and Corison, and in Sonoma Valley, maybe Hanzell Vineyards. What about in newer areas with histories stretching back just a few decades? I nominate Littorai. Few growers and producers populated the western Sonoma Coast in 1993, when Ted and Heidi Lemon made their first vintage, 150 cases of chardonnay from the Mays Canyon Vineyard. The incessant fog, the isolation that might require a 90-minute drive to pick up a part and living off the grid made the area too difficult and risky for many. But the Lemons were drawn by the geological diversity. The area they settled on, mostly around the town of Occidental and farther north along the coast, was large and varied with many nooks and crannies. Mr. Lemon, whose training and early career were in Burgundy, was searching for areas in California where he could explore the sort of differing terroirs for chardonnay and pinot noir that he found so intriguing in France. Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
