It’s not just about the price.
As the hint of summer vacation emerges on the horizon, wanna-be travelers begin sifting through travel guides, both real and online, to concoct just the right vacation getaway. Price matters hugely, especially for travelers heading overseas with anemic dollars. But just as important is getting the best value out of [...]

DUBLIN — Too good to be true.
The brochure promised an October week’s vacation in Ireland for two for about $900. For this we would get a clean room with private bath in a wide choice of lodgings for six nights, a hearty cooked breakfast each day, and a rental car.
My internal autoresponder conjured images of [...]

SAN FRANCISCO — Dale Chihuly’s first major show in San Francisco will be held at the de Young Museum June 14-Sept. 28. The show will include 11 galleries of new and past works from the popular artist, who is known for large colorful glass art.
Chihuly is creating the installations for the works, and several will [...]

WASHINGTON — AirTran and Jet Blue have taken the top spots in a national survey of airline quality.
They were followed by Southwest, Northwest and Frontier airlines. At the bottom of the list was Atlantic Southeast Airlines.
The annual Air Quality Rating survey released today found that overall the industry did a poor job last year. There [...]

NEW YORK — Is your heart set on a trip to Europe this summer despite the weak dollar and pricey plane fares?
“The Rough Guide to Europe on a Budget” ($24.99) is out in April to help you plan a trip without going broke. The book includes suggested itineraries, adventure travel options, maps, hostel listings, transportation [...]

Dinner never starts with the first bite, especially when the entree started out in the wild.
Following the opening day Saturday of Pennsylvania’s trout fishing season, tens of thousands of brook, brown and rainbow trout will arrive home in coolers instead of shopping bags. There’s nothing wrong with traditional recipes — poaching the delicate white meat [...]

A hearing on a state constitutional amendment to ban gay and lesbian marriage drew an overflow crowd at the county courthouse yesterday, where it drew passionate responses from supporters and opponents.
“I come to you today as a pastor, a pastor with a desire to testify on behalf of one of the oldest institutions of humanity [...]

SAN FRANCISCO — The 2008 Cathay Pacific Airways All Asia Pass is out, offering a chance to visit Hong Kong and up to four additional destinations over 21 days for one price.
The pass offers passengers roundtrip economy class travel from San Francisco, Los Angeles or New York, to Hong Kong, with up to 21 consecutive [...]

The abrupt shutdowns of ATA Airlines and Aloha Airlines won’t keep travelers off Hawaii’s shores altogether, but they could make an already expensive vacation destination even pricier and potentially put the leis and luaus out of reach for many.
Flights to and from Hawaii had been a key part of ATA’s business ever since the Indianapolis-based [...]

ATLANTA — Before YouTube, Katherine Lee was just another pretty flight attendant who worked for the nation’s third-largest airline.
In April, up to 80 million Delta Air Lines passengers worldwide will know her as the face of Delta’s newest safety video, in which Lee walks fliers through government-mandated safety instructions with a smile and a naughty-looking [...]