Expect big crowds for the summer travel season — and big prices, too

The unofficial start of the summer travel season is here, with airlines hoping to avoid the chaos of last year and travelers scrounging for ways to save a few bucks on pricey airfares and hotel rooms.

Some travelers say they will settle for fewer trips than they hoped to take, or they will drive instead of fly. Others are finding different money-saving sacrifices.

Stephanie Hanrahan thought she’d save money by planning ahead for her daughter’s birthday trip to Disney World in Florida. Instead, it ended up costing the same as the Dallas-area family’s trip for four to California last summer, so now her husband and son are staying home.

“We just had to grit our teeth,” said Hanrahan, a writer and speaker who also runs a nonprofit, as she and daughter Campbell waited for their flight last week at Dallas Love Field.

The number of people going through US airports

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Airline seat selection fees should be banned. Until then, here’s how to avoid them

Airline seat selection fees are one of the most hated surcharges in the travel industry – and they should be illegal.

It costs an airline nothing to reserve your seat. Yet passengers shell out anywhere from $25 to more than $100 for a confirmed seat assignment or to sit next to their friends and family.

If the Fair Fees Act proposed by Sen. Ed Markey, D-Mass., passes, then seat selection fees would fly away. The law prohibits airlines from imposing fees that are not reasonable and proportional to the costs it incurs.

But airlines really went too far when they started charging families with young children for seat assignments, sometimes even suggesting parents could be separated from their kids if they didn’t pay. Earlier this year, the Department of Transportation threatened to create a new regulation to allow families to sit together on flights.

Check out Elliott Confidential, the travel

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Saskatchewan senator fourth in country for highest travel expenses

A recently released financial review placed one Saskatchewan senator fourth in the country for highest travel expenses over the course of three months.

The quarterly review done by the Senate of Canada between Oct. 1 and Dec. 31, 2022, added up the air, bus and train travel expenses paid by each senator attending the senate sittings.

“I attended every Senate sitting week in person, unlike the rest of the Senate colleagues from Saskatchewan,” said Conservative Senator Denise Batters.

Batters spent $31,733. 42 on travel expenses, including a $4,037.04 round-trip ticket to Ottawa.

“Due to Regina’s very limited flight availability servicing, I ended up having to book at a higher fare level than usual,” Batters said. “Given the frequency of weather and mechanical delays on flights at that time of year (which I did experience on that trip), I needed to ensure I would arrive in Ottawa the night before an

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NS government offers to defray some travel costs for surgery patients

Starting June 1, some Nova Scotians waiting for surgery may be eligible to help from the Nova Scotia government to defray some of their travel costs.

The travel assistance program will be available to patients who have to travel within the province for certain procedures. The aid is only available to families who earn less than $35,000 a year and won’t cover all travel-related expenses.

Tanya Penney, a senior executive director at the Department of Health and Wellness, said the pilot project was designed to encourage people to choose sites with shorter waiting lists for the procedures they need.

“What we’re hearing from people around the province is that the cost of hotels and the cost of gas has actually become a barrier for people to access care a little bit further away from home than they prefer,” said Penney. “And so this is really about helping those folks, in

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Shop Japan: Omotenashi Selection Summer 2023

If you’ve spent any amount of time in Japan you’ve probably heard the word “omotenashi” quite a few times, as it describes an idea that lies at the heart of Japanese culture. Omotenashi is a kind of hospitality that seeks to anticipate a guest or a customer’s needs, before they are even expressed.

The OMOTENASHI Selection is a collection of products and services that have been made with that same kind of thought and consideration – whether it is a piece of clothing made with extraordinary attention to detail, food or drink made in a traditional, time-honored method, or just a small household item that brings a smile to your face every time you see it.

In this mini magazine we showcase a curated collection of the items found in the OMOTENASHI Selection to help you choose the ones you like most – because
everyone should have a touch of

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Memorial Day weekend travel to be extra busy this year

Travelers walk through security at the Salt Lake City International Airport in Salt Lake City on Friday, May 19, 2023.

Travelers walk through security at the Salt Lake City International Airport in Salt Lake City on Friday, May 19, 2023. | Ryan Sun, Deseret News

Just getting back to pre-pandemic volumes is no longer the metric of reference as holiday travel over the upcoming Memorial Day weekend is projected to blow by those numbers and could come in as one of the busiest since 2000 for the traditional start to the summer travel seasons.

And while both gas prices and airline fares are down from recent peaks, travel this Memorial Day weekend, regardless of chosen mode, is going to be significantly more expensive than before COVID-19 hit. And, industry experts are projecting Memorial Day 2023 will see some of the highest travel volumes since 2000.

AAA travel in partnership with S&P Global released an analysis last month that estimates over 42 million Americans will travel 50 miles or more from

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Air Canada nearly doubles revenue, checks out profit as travel demand takes flight

Air Canada reported that first-quarter revenue nearly doubled compared to a year earlier as travelers hopped back on airplanes en masse — even as higher costs tamped down net earnings.

Buoyed by a record $4.9 billion in revenue, the quarter marked the second in a row where the carrier has turned a profit following 11 straight quarters of losses totaling $10.1 billion.

Net income amounted to $4 million, in stark contrast to $974 million in losses a year ago.

Chief executive Michael Rousseau said the results for the three months ended March 31 beat out all expectations for a traditionally weaker quarter, and that he believes demand will persist amid strong advance bookings for the rest of the year. They hit $5.3 billion at the end of March, up from $4.1 billion a year earlier.

“The winter and the start of the spring can be very challenging in North America,

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Travel Leaders Network Names Travel Agent Next Door Member of the Year

Travel Leaders Network recognized its top Affiliate Member agencies in Canada with Power of the Partnership (POP) Awards. These awards are a “people’s choice award,” having been voted on by Travel Leaders Network members in Canada.

The winners were honored during the annual EDGE conference, held from May 08-10 at the Gaylord Opryland Resort & Convention Center in Nashville, TN.

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The conference brought together travel advisors and industry partners including airlines, cruise lines, hotels and resorts, destinations and tour companies. Participants have an opportunity to stay ahead of industry trends by choosing from more than 100 classes, networking with colleagues and supplier partners and attending presentations by industry experts as well as Travel Leaders Network leadership.

“Travel Leaders Network is proud to recognize and honor these member agencies for their outstanding success, demonstrated partnerships with preferred suppliers and dedication to serving their clients,” said Christine James, Vice President of

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Travel advisories | NAACP, Equality Florida issue travel advisory urging people to avoid Florida over Gov. Desantis Woke policies

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Sunday, May 21, 2023 5:31AM

NAACP issues travel advisory urging people to avoid Florida

The NAACP Board of Directors issued a travel advisory Saturday for the state of Florida, urging people to avoid the state.

The advisory comes as a direct response to what the Board says is an “aggressive attempt to erase Black history and to restrict diversity, equity, and inclusion programs in Florida schools” by Governor DeSantis.

The formal notice from the group states, “Florida is openly hostile toward African Americans, people of color, and LGBTQ+ individuals. Before traveling to Florida, please understand that the state of Florida devalues ​​and marginalizes the contributions of and the challenges faced by African Americans and other communities of color.”

“Under the leadership of Governor Desantis, the state of Florida has become hostile to Black Americans and in direct conflict with the democratic ideals that our union was founded upon. He should know that democracy will prevail because its defenders are

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History of Karaoke in Japan

These days, karaoke is everywhere. In the West, it is rightfully considered very Japanese, although Western visitors are often surprised to find it is practiced differently in its country of origin. The Japanese are not inclined to embarrass themselves drunkenly before a considerable audience of equally drunk strangers. Instead, they find privacy in so-called karaoke boxes, where one can face the music alone or among a select number of friends and family members. That wasn’t always the case, though.

The Word Came First

It is hard to pin down the one definite point in history when karaoke, as we know it, was invented. Technical systems that might be considered predecessors of modern karaoke hardware were developed independently in at least five different parts of Japan during the 1960s. The word itself, which is a composite of ‘kara’ (empty) and a shortened version of ‘orchestra,’ had then already been in use

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