U.S. TRAVEL NEWS
One-Stop Security. The U.S. is unveiling a new program starting with American Airlines for passengers from London Heathrow to Dallas-Fort Worth, which will allow them to clear customs at the arrival gate and go straight to their connecting flight without having to collect and recheck their bags. If all goes well, this will hopefully be rolled out in other airports, airlines, and routes.
Family screening lane. TSA in the U.S. will launch a new family screening lane in Charlotte and Orlando airports, later to roll out at more airports. TSA will also offer a discounted PreCheck rate for families.
Six Flags closures. Six Flags America in Bowie, Maryland will close later this year, and Six Flags Great America in Santa Clara, California will close sometime in 2027.
Amtrak Mardi Gras service. Amtrak has revived a previous train service between New Orleans and Mobile, Alabama along the Gulf Coast of Mississippi. It’s the first time this service has been available in 20 years post-Hurricane Katrina. It will launch on August 18th.
Waldorf Astoria reopening. After being closed for 8 years, New York City’s iconic Waldorf Astoria Hotel reopened on July 15th. The original hotel contained more than 1,400 rooms. Now, it only has 375 hotel rooms and 372 residences, to make all rooms larger. No room is now smaller than 475 square feet.
$250 fee to visit the U.S.? Yep, that’s the plan. The “visa integrity fee” will be charged to visitors to the U.S. who need a nonimmigrant visa. With tourism to the country already down considerably, this will only hurt the travel industry more.
Los Angeles sues Airbnb. The city of Los Angeles filed a lawsuit this month against Airbnb, alleging that the company allowed price gouging after the recent catastrophic fires. The lawsuit claims that Airbnb’s rental prices rose more than 10% in January after the fires.
Mountain lion attack. A four-year-old child was attacked by a mountain lion on July 20th in Olympic National Park in Washington state near the Victoria overlook on Hurricane Ridge. The child survived the bite and was taken to a trauma center in Seattle.
INTERNATIONAL TRAVEL NEWS
More ETIAS changes. The European Travel Information and Authorization System (ETIAS) that has been delayed by the European Union will go into effect in late 2026, but at triple the originally planned price. It will cost about $24 to travel to EU countries when the ETIAS fee starts.
UNESCO news. UNESCO has added 26 new sites to its list. Check them out here.
New Viking cruise in India. In 2007, Viking will launch its Brahmaputra river cruise in India with 40 cabins for 80 guests. The 15-day cruise will visit Delhi, Agra, Jaipur, and Kaziranga National Park.
World’s tallest hotel. The Ciel Hotel in the Dubai Marina will open later this year and will be the tallest hotel in the world at 1,197 feet high. It will have 360-degree views of the Persian Gulf, 82 floors, and 1,004 rooms.
Women-only Uber drivers. In Saudi Arabia, women can now specifically request female Uber drivers. Women were only given the right to drive in Saudi Arabia in 2018, but I applaud this program and hope it expands to other countries.
Unified GCC Visa. Later this year or early next year, Gulf countries will start a visa that’s similar to the Schengen visa in Europe, allowing travelers to easily move between Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates during short visits.
New rules in Malaga. To deal with bad tourist behavior, Malaga has instituted new rules, including to cover up and dress appropriately and to be quieter. Littering and public drunkenness could incur fines as high as 750 Euros.
Boat capsizes in Ha Long Bay, Vietnam. This is really disturbing. A tourist boat capsized in Vietnam’s famed Ha Long Bay on July 19th, killing 34 people, including children. There were just 11 survivors. For some reason, the vessel was in the water during a storm.
Avoid the crowds this summer. Christopher Elliott suggests avoiding the most crowded destinations this summer, which include Thailand, Croatia, and Greece, as well as the major European cities. He suggests visiting “secondary” cities instead like Berlin, Helsinki, or Stockholm.
Tourist tax in Wales. The latest country to institute a new tourist tax will be Wales in 2027. It will be 1.50 pounds sterling per night, but some regions may not charge it. The money will be used to teach more people the Welsh language in the country.
Cruise will take you to Norway’s smaller villages. Hurtigruten’s Signature Line voyages now offer an “Open Village” experience that takes passengers to three secluded villages in Norway. These are smaller cruises that take no more than 500 passengers. Hurtigruten will pay the villages an amount per traveler as an income generator for the people there.
American Express Centurion lounges. Amex is opening new Centurion lounges in several airports. A new one has already opened at Tokyo Haneda Airport and will open in 2026 at Amsterdam Schiphol Airport. Between now and 2027, they will open lounges in Salt Lake City, Newark, and Boston.
AIRLINE NEWS
Delta co-pilot arrested. On July 26th, a Delta co-pilot was arrested just after landing in San Francisco from Minneapolis. Passengers told press that about 10 federal agents boarded the plane upon arrival for the arrest for charges related to the possession of child sexual abuse material.
Delta jet barely avoids collision with Air Force B-52. On July 18th, SkyWest flight 3788 from Minneapolis to Minot, North Dakota was cleared to land when it had to go around an Air Force B-52 that suddenly appeared in its flight path. Luckily, the pilot’s quick maneuvering averted disaster. There is now an investigation as to how it happened.
Significant turbulence. Delta again! On July 30th, a Delta flight from Salt Lake City to Amsterdam had to divert to Minneapolis-St. Paul after bad turbulence caused a lot of people to hit the ceiling multiple times. Twenty-five people were transported to local hospitals. The food carts also hit the ceiling and went flying, injuring people. Those who weren’t wearing seatbelts were especially vulnerable, so keep those belts fastened!
Southwest flight drops 500 feet. A flight headed to Las Vegas from Burbank on July 25th dropped 500 feet shortly after taking off because it received alerts of another plane nearby. Passengers hit their heads on the ceiling, and two flight attendants were injured.
American Airlines plane evacuated. An American Airlines plane at the airport in Denver (set to fly to Miami) started to smoke on July 26th. It was a Boeing 737 Max 8 plane carrying 173 passengers and 6 crew members. All were safely evacuated. The smoke was apparently caused by a “mechanical issue” involving a tire.
JetBlue partnerships. As of September 30th, JetBlue will end its partnership with TAP Air Portugal. After that, passengers will no longer be able to earn or redeem TrueBlue points on the Portugal airline. But it will soon enter into a new partnership with United Airlines.
Melanie Votaw is the Publisher and Executive Travel Writer of LuxuryWeb Magazine. She has visited more than 50 countries on 6 continents and written for such magazines as Executive Travel, Just Luxe, Business Insider, South China Morning Post, Travel Mindset, and more. She is a member of the International Food, Wine & Travel Writers Association, New York Travel Writers Association, and International Travel Writers Alliance. Melanie's photography has won awards, and she has also written 43 nonfiction books as either the author or ghostwriter.
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