Travel

Despite a downturn in foreign tourism and broader economic uncertainty, Frontier CEO Barry Biffle remains optimistic about the budget airline’s future.“People think that there’s some kind of Armageddon going to happen,” Biffle said in an exclusive interview with “NBC Nightly News” correspondent Hallie Jackson that airs Sunday. “I think that as we look here today, I’m optimistic.”Travel experts have been sounding the alarm amid President Donald Trump’s global trade war, warning that a year that was initially projected to be profitable for the tourism industry could instead face an economic downturn.Before Trump announced a 90-day pause on most of his proposed tariffs, Delta CEO Ed Bastian told CNBC last week that air travel has all but stalled for both leisure and business travel.“I thin...

A few Canadians are still stopping by the Blaine visitor center, said local Chamber of Commerce Secretary Carroll Solomon, but it’s often just to use the public bathroom.A few yards away one recent Sunday, Trent Arce and Gary Farrow were chatting by the welcome sign at the town entrance that reads “Blaine, Washington, the Peace Arch City,” referring to its 67-foot monument to bilateral concord. The two co-workers at a nearby cold storage facility weren’t too worried about the dearth of Canadians.Blaine’s Peace Arch commemorates U.S.-Canadian relations.David Jaewon Oh for NBC NewsTrump “is very wild with the things he says and does,” shrugged Arce, a transplant from Georgia.“People will get over it,” said Farrow, a Blaine native. “I think it will go away.”Blaine Mayor Mary Lou Steward ha...

A plane carrying five members of the U.S. House of Representatives was clipped by another aircraft on the ground at Ronald Reagan National Airport near Washington, D.C., on Thursday, officials said. U.S. Reps. Nick LaLota, R-NY, Grace Meng, D-NY, and Josh Gottheimer, D-NJ, all confirmed to NBC News they were aboard the American Airlines plane that was clipped at about 12:45 p.m.Two of those lawmakers also confirmed that U.S. Reps Adriano Espaillat and Ritchie Torres, both Democrats from New York, were also aboard that craft. Both planes were connected to American Airlines, the FAA and airline both said."American Eagle flight 5490, operated by PSA Airlines, made contact on a DCA taxiway with American Eagle flight 4522, operated by Republic Airways," American Airlines said in a statement....

Florida investigators identified a pair of teenagers whose bodies were found in an airliner's landing gear after a New York City-to-Fort Lauderdale flight back in January, officials said on Tuesday.It took the use of "extensive DNA testing" for detectives to name Jeik Aniluz Lusi, 18, and Elvis Borques Castillo, 16, according to statement by the Broward County Sheriff’s Office.Both teens were from the Dominican Republic, Sheriff's spokesperson Carey Codd added.Their bodies were found late at night on Jan. 6 after JetBlue Flight 1801 landed at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport.Flight 1801 took off from New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport that evening at 7:49 and landed in South Florida at 11:10 p.m.That particular craft had also made a stop on Jan. 5 in Puerto ...

NEW DELHI— Indian police have arrested a 24-year-old American YouTuber who visited an off-limits island in the Indian Ocean and left an offering of a Diet Coke can and a coconut in an attempt to make contact with an isolated tribe known for attacking intruders.Mykhailo Viktorovych Polyakov, from Scottsdale, Arizona, was arrested on March 31, two days after he set foot on the restricted territory of North Sentinel Island — part of India’s Andaman and Nicobar Islands — in a bid to meet people from the reclusive Sentinelese tribe, police said.A local court last week sent Polyakov to 14 days of judicial custody, and he is set to appear again in court on April 17. The charges carry a possible sentence of up to five years in prison and a fine. Indian authorities said they had informed the U.S...

A Michigan couple who were jailed in Mexico for almost a month after they disputed charges related to a Mexican timeshare have returned to the United States, their lawyers said Thursday.Christy and Paul Akeo, of Spring Arbor, "have been released from custody and have returned to Lansing, Michigan," their law firm said in a statement.The state attorney of Quintana Roo said the couple reached an agreement with the timeshare company for an amount of money it did not disclose. A judge then dismissed the criminal case and ordered their release, the prosecutor's office said.The family has said the Akeos were the victims of “a kidnapping and extortion attempt” by a Mexican timeshare company.Palace Elite Resorts, a Mexican hospitality company, previously said the couple defrauded it through $11...

Some state officials are warning about overcrowding and long wait times at Department of Motor Vehicles offices across the country as the deadline approaches for airline passengers to show a Real ID to board domestic flights.Beginning May 7, travelers age 18 and over must have Real ID-compliant identification to gain access through Transportation Security Administration security checkpoints or have a valid passport. Some other forms of identification will continue to be allowed. The requirement for a Real ID came in response to a 9/11 Commission recommendation, which prompted Congress in 2005 to pass the Real ID Act. It established minimum security standards for driver’s licenses and government identification cards to ensure people were who they claimed to be.People can apply for a Real...

Muhammed Ihsanullah was overjoyed when he received a $3,000 scholarship to spend the summer working at a camp in Minnesota.But after several travelers from Western nations were detained or deported as part of the Trump administration's crackdown on illegal immigration, the 20-year-old British citizen from Leicester, England, is planning on carrying a burner phone when he comes to the U.S. in May. That’s if he ends up going at all.“I have a very, you know, stereotypical name as well,” Ihsanullah told NBC News. He might swap out devices, he said, “just so that I have the added security of knowing that no one’s going to go through my phone.”Potential U.S. visitors such as Ihsanullah are expressing growing uncertainty about their travel plans amid the crackdown and warnings from U.S. embass...

Three American women who were discovered dead in a Belize resort hotel room last month died from carbon monoxide poisoning, their families said. A joint statement this week from their families cites the U.S. Embassy in Belize and says the women died from "acute carbon monoxide poisoning, likely caused by a faulty instant water heater."Wafae El Arar, 26; Imane Mallah, 24; and Kaoutar Naqqad, 23, were found dead in their San Pedro hotel room Feb. 22, officials said. Mayor Patrick M. Keefe Jr. of Revere, Massachusetts, has described the women as "daughters, friends and contributors to our city."From left, Kaoutar Naqqad, Wafae El Arar, Imane Mallah.Obtained by NBC NewsOn Thursday, Belize National Forensic Science Service's executive director told local news stations the women had lethal l...

A United Airlines flight headed to Shanghai, China, had to turn around over the weekend after the pilot forgot to bring a passport, the airline company said. The mishap happened Saturday afternoon on United Flight 198 from Los Angeles International Airport to Shanghai Pudong International Airport. Data on FlightAware.com showed the flight took off on time just before 2 p.m. but was diverted to San Francisco, landing just after 5 p.m. There were 257 passengers and 13 crew members onboard. United said in a brief statement that the pilot on the flight did not have their passport, so the plane had to return to California, where a new crew would take passengers to China. The plane left Saturday evening, about six hours behind schedule. The airline said passengers were given meal vouchers and...