Someone pass the coffee, please.
There’s a lot going on this week: tons of COVID-19 updates around the world, cruises are starting up again, and we’re helping you fight FOMAD. Plus, we just launched our annual Travel Awards – so you can get the tea on the top airlines, hotels and rental car companies rated by travelers like you. Grab your PSL, a cozy blanket and sink into your couch to get the latest travel stories.
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The pre-check
With COVID-19 requirements everchanging, top-rated mega airports, and a gas shortage underway, here is your weekly check-in for the world of travel.
- Another country’s easing up? No(r)way! You got that right. On Friday, Norway announced it was hopping on the whole lifting-COVID-19-restrictions bandwagon. But we wouldn’t encourage Nordic travel enthusiasts to get excited just yet. The CDC also announced on Friday that traveling to Norway and Bulgaria should be avoided…not that US citizens are allowed in any way. It’s fine, we don’t even care…more on that here.
- Ready to seas the day? Norwegian certainly is – the Cruise Line officially resumed operations on Sunday with ships departing from both New York and Los Angeles. Though there are plenty of COVID-19 precautions in place, including vaccine mandates for all passengers, this is the first time Norwegian cruises have set sail since March 2020. That ship’s crazy, more here.
- Looking to go MIA? Here’s another reason to escape to the 305: In a recent J.D. Power Survey, the Miami International Airport ranked the highest in customer satisfaction among other mega airports in North America. Philadelphia International Airport, on the other hand, was not so lucky. More on these rankings here.
- Speaking of feeling lucky… Ireland is resilient and ready to mingle. On Saturday, Ireland’s health minister ended the mandatory hotel quarantine for travelers. Which is great timing considering it just earned the #1 spot in COVID-19 resilience ranking. More on this fabulous title here.
- Gas me up, fam. Britain’s petrol stations could use a little love, too. Currently, the UK country is facing a shortage of fuel in gas stations across the country. Some are seeing this and recent supply shortages as a potential result of Brexit. It’s always hard to say
cheeriogoodbye… Good to know, too, if you’re planning a London trip and expecting to rent a car to get around. More on that here.
Trending travel
Here’s what is trending according to our data and how it can help you make the most of your trip.
The moment we’ve been waiting for: KAYAK’s 2021 Travel Awards have arrived.
For those of you who are unfamiliar with said awards, here’s the sitch: We looked at reviews and ratings over the past several months to find out which airlines, hotels and rental car companies our travelers deemed the best.* You made the call, and we gathered the data.
New for this year: The State Superlatives map
In addition to the top-rated travel brands, we added something new to the Travel Awards this year: our State Superlatives map. Spoiler alert – travel habits over the past year look different than they did in 2020 and especially 2019.
We analyzed billions of search queries, determined how travel search behavior has evolved from state to state across the country and gave each behavior a superlative. Which state was most likely to have the most searches for morning flights? Which state had the most queries for long-term stays? It’s all on the map – take a look to see if your state made the cut.
Tricks of the trade
Where we share tips or hacks that might’ve been missed in your prior KAYAK experience.
Put that flight on ice: Insider tip of the week
If you’re anything like us, when searching for flights you may suffer from FOMAD – Fear Of Missing A Deal. It can be hard to know when to pull the trigger on tickets. How can you be sure this will be the best price? What if it changes for the better or worse? Fear not, flight opportunists. This week, we announced the latest travel hack to hit KAYAK: the Price Freeze.
As an added feature to the KAYAK app, we’re giving you the option to “freeze” your flight search results for a small fee. If you find a great deal but you’re not ready to commit, tap the Price Freeze icon. We’ll direct you to our partners at Hopper so that you can freeze the results for a select number of days. The best part? If the price goes up, you pay the price you see now. If it goes down – you pay the lower price (cue the best of both worlds theme song). For best results, we recco using this setting in conjunction with a KAYAK Price Alert so we can keep an eye on prices while you sit back and relax.
Wish we were here
Special shoutout to @karlmosque for this photo of Lençóis Maranhenses National Park in Sao Paulo, Brazil.
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*Methodology: KAYAK’s Travel Awards highlights the ways our partners are going above and beyond for travelers, according to reviews from the travelers themselves. All award recipients have not only met our standards of excellence, but enjoy highly favorable reviews and ratings. To qualify, we looked at more than a full year of reviews left or accumulated on KAYAK. See here for full methodology.
