Travel

Alaska Airlines said it has requested a ground stop for its fleet and that of regional subsidiary Horizon Air amid a computer system outage Sunday night.The request to federal authorities would keep Alaska and Horizon flights out of the air until the system is returned to normal operations, Alaska said in a statement.It said the outage involves its information technology network. It is "impacting our operations," Alaska said.“We are experiencing issues with our IT systems. We apologize for the inconvenience and are working to resolve the issues," read a message on the airline's website.Even if the problem is resolved Sunday, there could be lingering effects as the airline tries to get flights back on schedule, Alaska said."There will be residual impacts to our operation throughout the e...

Over 140 passengers and crew members aboard a Royal Caribbean International cruise ship were sickened by a gastrointestinal illness that led to vomiting and diarrhea, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The outbreak happened on the Navigator of the Seas ship during its July 4 to 11 voyage, the CDC said. The ship sailed from Los Angeles to a few stops in Mexico, including Cabo San Lucas, and back again, according to Gangwaze, which tracks cruise routes. The outbreak was reported on July 11 to the CDC's Vessel Sanitation Program, which works to prevent and control the spread of gastrointestinal illnesses on cruise ships. Cruise ships are required to report such outbreaks to the CDC. According to the CDC, 134 out of 3,914 passengers onboard reported being ill durin...

Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem announced on Thursday that the TSA will open security lanes dedicated to families and military service members.“Families on the Fly" will create dedicated security lines for families with small children and give families a $15 discount for TSA pre-check enrollment, Noem said at a press conference at Nashville International Airport. The new policy has already begun a pilot program at an airport in Orlando, Florida, home to Disney World, Noem added.“This means that when families come into our airports and enter our TSA security checkpoints, they will have dedicated lanes specific for families,” Noem said. “They’ll be expanded areas that will give them the benefit of recognizing that they have children with them, and will help make sure that we ha...

A Delta jet experienced engine problems on what was supposed to be a trans-Atlantic flight and landed on an island in the middle of the ocean, where the nearly 300 travelers and crew had to spend the night, officials said Thursday.Flight 127 left Madrid on Sunday, bound for New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport, when it had "to divert to Lajes, Azores (TER) after indication of a mechanical issue with an engine," according to an airline statement.A satellite image of the Azores, a Portuguese archipelago in the Atlantic Ocean. Planet Observer / Getty ImagesThe Airbus A330 had 282 customers and 13 crew members on board, Delta said.The passengers and crew "deplaned via stairs at TER" and "were accommodated overnight in area hotels and provided meals," the airline added.They were ...

It’s now OK to keep your shoes on at some airports.The Transportation Safety Administration will allow passengers at selected airports to keep their footwear on as they go through security checkpoints, a senior government official tells NBC News.People in screening lanes will have to keep their shoes on at selected airports, but the source said the relaxation of the rules could expand nationwide in the near future.The TSA has yet to announce the move formally, but stated in a Monday press release that it is "exploring new and innovative ways to enhance the passenger experience and our strong security posture." Shoe removal has been part of the airport experience since 2006, when the TSA instituted the requirement, citing intelligence indicating a "continuing threat" of explosives.The ru...

Indeed, Tourism Economics found travel spending by U.S. residents abroad rose 8.6% in the first four months of the year from the same period a year earlier. “This indicates continued U.S. outbound demand,” the firm said.While the economy and household finances always influence travel demand, “today those factors are looking to have more of a negative impact than positive one,” said Nicki Zink, deputy head of industry analysis at the market research firm Morning Consult.In the group’s recent survey, 31% of consumers said both the state of the U.S. economy and personal financial pressures are reducing their interest in leisure travel in the next three months, “higher than any other factor we survey about,” said Zink.For its own part, the tourism market research firm Future Partners found ...

Travel woes are likely for Fourth of July revelers with planned trips starting Thursday due to stormy weather. Thirty-nine million people from Philadelphia to Maine in the Northeast corridor are at risk of extreme weather as severe storms are forecast today.The storms could see 60 mph wind gusts and hail up to one inch in diameter. The turbulent weather is forecast to develop after lunchtime on Thursday and last through the evening, potentially lingering overnight.The National Weather Service’s Storm Prediction Center said there’s a slight risk level of severe thunderstorms over parts of the Northern Plains, Northeast and mid-Atlantic on Thursday. New York City will see scattered storms from 2 p.m. to 10 p.m. ET, Philadelphia from 4 p.m. to 11 p.m., and Boston from 3 p.m. to 9 p.m.In Ne...

A Chicago-area mansion once owned by all-time NBA great Michael Jordan is now listed on Airbnb, offering high-end travelers the chance to vacation like a six-time champion. According to the Airbnb listing, Champions Point is a seven-bedroom, 17.5-bath estate on 7.39 acres that can accommodate 14 guests.The home, located in Highland Park, Illinois, has a stunning price tag and requires a minimum seven-night stay. For example, a week-long respite over Labor Day weekend, checking in on Aug. 29 and out on Sept. 5, would cost $120,920.The grand entry to the mansion in Highland Park, Ill.Champions Point LLCThe mansion features a movie theatre, commercial gym, cigar lounge, wine cellar, pool tables, bars, salon, saltwater aquariums, and — of course — a full-size basketball court. “This estate...

How much will it cost to visit a museum, zoo or aquarium this summer? The answer, increasingly, is: It depends.John Linehan can rattle off almost two dozen factors that Zoo New England’s dynamic pricing contractor, Digonex, uses to recommend what to charge guests.“It’s complicated,” said Linehan, president and CEO of the operator of two zoos in eastern Massachusetts.Before adopting dynamic pricing, the organization was changing prices seasonally and increasing entry rates little by little. “As we watched that pattern, we were afraid some families were going to get priced out,” he said of the earlier approach. “I’m a father of four and I know what it is like.”Now, Zoo New England’s system provides cheaper rates for tickets purchased far in advance. That, coupled with the zoo’s participat...

There appeared to be no survivors among the 242 passengers and crew aboard an Air India plane that crashed near a major international airport in the western Indian city of Ahmedabad, the city's police commissioner said Thursday.Footage posted to social media shortly after the crash and verified by NBC News, shows plumes of thick black smoke rising into the sky from a civilian location to the south of the airport. “It appears there are no survivors in the plane crash,” G.S. Malik, police commissioner for Ahmedabad told The Associated Press, adding that “some locals would have also died” when the plane crashed into a residential area where offices were also located.“Exact figures on casualties are being ascertained,” he said.The flight crashed midday local time shortly after takeoff from ...