Travel

Almost 80 million people will hit the roads and airways this Thanksgiving, with traveler numbers surpassing pre-pandemic levels, the AAA predicts.Journeys of 50 miles or more will be made by 79.9 million people in the holiday period — an increase of 1.7 million from last year and 2 million more than in 2019. For the first time, the AAA's annual prediction includes the Tuesday before and Monday after Thanksgiving to better reflect people's traveling habits. "Thanksgiving is the busiest holiday for travel, and this year we’re expecting to set new records across the board, from driving to flying and cruising," Stacey Barber, vice president of AAA Travel, said in a statement.The majority of trips, 71.7 million, will be by car, meaning 1.3 million more travelers will be on the road compared ...

Spirit Airlines said Monday it has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection after having struggled with losses, growing debt and a failed merger during the post-pandemic travel lull.The company said in a stock market statement that it had secured a prearranged deal with bondholders that includes $300 million in financing to keep it afloat, with the business planning to end its bankruptcy in the first quarter of 2025.Ticket sales and all other operations will continue as normal, the company said in the statement just 10 days before record numbers of travelers are expected to take to the skies over Thanksgiving.“I am pleased we have reached an agreement with a supermajority of both our loyalty and convertible bondholders on a comprehensive recapitalization of the Company, which is a str...

Traveling for the holidays this year? The answer increasingly depends on your paycheck. Households earning at least six figures a year are expected to make up the largest share of holiday travelers this season — 45%, up from 38% in 2023, according to a recent survey by the consulting firm Deloitte. And they’re on track to make up a majority of paid lodging customers, expanding their ranks as hotel guests from 43% last season to 52% now.“Travelers are looking to invest in upgrades and experiences that will make the holiday memorable,” said Kate Ferrara, vice chair for U.S. transportation, hospitality and services at Deloitte.But that’s partly a reflection of who’s traveling in the first place. While richer people are expanding their footprint in the holiday travel mix, lower-paid ones ar...

A Delta flight attendant slashed a co-worker and hotel security guard after a late night and early morning of heavy, “blacked out” drinking, officials said Wednesday.Joshua Smith, 36, remained locked up in a New Orleans jail on Wednesday and is facing one count of attempted second-degree murder and several other battery and assault charges stemming from the bloody Monday morning incident, authorities said.Smith and “several other coworkers were returning to their” riverfront hotel when he started bickering with the victim, New Orleans police said in a statement.“The victim escorted the suspect to his room at which time an argument ensued and the suspect cut the victim twice on the arm and once to the neck,” according to police. “The victim relocated to another floor of the hotel to seek...

With Thanksgiving holiday travel well underway, many have reached their destinations — but for everyone else, a storm tracking from the Rockies to the Midwest and Northeast into Thursday will bring rain and snow, likely impacting flights and packed roads.Just shy of 3 million people were expected to be screened by the Transportation Security Administration on Wednesday, and a record 71.7 million were expected travel by car over Thanksgiving — over 1 million more than last year. The storm, which dropped snow over the Rockies Wednesday morning and slowed by the afternoon, is forecast to race east throughout Wednesday to the Midwest and Northeast through Thanksgiving.It'll bring rain, with the possibility of ice and snow, that will intensify in the evening from St. Louis to Indianapolis an...

Seven foreign tourists were hospitalized in Fiji in a suspected case of alcohol poisoning at a luxury resort, Fijian and Australian officials said Monday.The guests, who, according to local media, included an American, were hospitalized after they drank cocktails at a bar at the five-star Warwick resort near the town of Sigatoka. The group also included four Australians and two unidentified foreign nationals.They were hospitalized with nausea, vomiting and neurological symptoms, The Associated Press reported, citing Fiji Health Ministry spokesperson Jemesa Tudravu. Two people remained stable in the hospital Monday, Tourism Minister Viliame R. Gavoka was quoted as saying by the AP, while five others have been discharged.The cause of the guests’ illness was not immediately clear, and offi...

Women are increasingly planning leisure trips just for themselves.Nearly 40% of female travelers voiced interest in setting out solo in 2025, the tourism market research firm Future Partners found in a recent survey — up 8 percentage points from a year earlier. While men are more likely to travel alone for leisure, women’s appetite for independent adventures is rising, and travel operators are working to cater to them.After launching “Women in the Wild” small-group nature journeys in 2023, Natural Habitat Adventures boosted its capacity by 75% over the last year and plans to double it for 2025. The Boulder, Colorado-based company, which partners with the World Wildlife Fund on conservation-driven tourism, said it has seen especially strong demand among older women.“There’s an emerging s...

Spirit Airlines customers have to don unprovocative clothes that do not expose “breasts, buttocks, or other private parts” when aboard the low-cost carrier, according to new standards posted this week.The Florida-based airline updated its “contract of carriage” terms on Wednesday with updated language covering the appearance of passengers.A customer can be taken off the flight if they are “barefoot or inadequately clothed (i.e., see-through clothing; not adequately covered; exposed breasts, buttocks, or other private parts) or whose clothing or article, including body art, is lewd, obscene, or offensive in nature,” according to Pages 9 and 10 the updated standards.Before Wednesday, the standard was more vague.Page 9 of the guidance, as it appeared on Tuesday, said only that “barefoot ...

JetBlue has agreed to pay a $2 million penalty after federal regulators charged the U.S. carrier with operating multiple chronically delayed flight routes.The penalty is the first time the U.S. Department of Transportation has fined an airline for engaging in unrealistic scheduling practices that it says can harm both passengers and fair competition across the airline industry.Half the penalty will go toward compensating JetBlue customers affected by the airline’s chronic delays or any future disruptions caused by JetBlue within the next year — with a minimum of $75 for each harmed passenger. “Illegal chronic flight delays make flying unreliable for travelers. Today’s action puts the airline industry on notice that we expect their flight schedules to reflect reality,” U.S. Transportatio...

Boeing said Friday that it had hit several internal targets on safety and quality control despite a series of deadly crashes, near catastrophes and embarrassing incidents that has seen its share price plunge and airlines around the world pull some of its planes.The company said in a news release that it had made improvements “in multiple areas including safety culture, training, simplifying their processes, and eliminating defects.”The announcement comes less than a week after the latest deadly crash involving one of its aircraft. In the worst air disaster in South Korean history, 179 people were killed when a Boeing 737-800 belly-landed and skidded off the runway at Muan International Airport. Even so, in a section titled ‘Elevating Safety & Quality Culture,’ Boeing said it has “ad...