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As you might have noticed, many of the lowest fares we find are offered through an Online Travel Agency (OTA) aggregator such as Momondo or Skyscanner. 
If you've previously booked all of your flights directly with the airline, you might be wondering if it's both advisable and reliable to book your flight with smaller, lesser-known OTAs found on Skyscanner and Momondo. 
To address this, we've put together this set of FAQs to give you our take.
<h2>1. What are flight fare aggregators, and how do they work?</h2>
Momondo, Kayak and better-known websites like Skyscanner all function as flight fare aggregator engines. 
These tools collect and display the best fares for any particular flight route by comparing prices offered both by the airline and by the various Online Travel Agencies (OTAs) selling tickets for the same flight.
This is not dissimilar to what Google Flights does. The difference is that while Google Flights compares only fares offered directly from the airlines and other major booking sites (such as Expedia and eDreams), these aggregators compare fares from smaller booking sites as well.
These smaller sites are the ones that are more likely to sell flights at a discount to the price offered by the airline itself. They also sometimes include routes that Google Flights doesn't.
<img src="https://cdn.jacksflightclub.com/id/ce08872475107063e61d69c2daa88994b9092537" style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;">
<h2>2. Is it safe to book with these smaller Online Travel Agencies?</h2>
This question comes up a lot, and we remember how confused we were when these websites first began to pop up. Here's how we see it:
The biggest fear for some travelers is that an Online Travel Agency will take your payment and keep it, without ever issuing a ticket for your purchased flight. Based on our experience, this is an incredibly rare occurrence that only occurs as the result of an error. 
The OTAs listed on Skyscanner or Momondo are vetted for legitimacy to some degree before being listed on these aggregators, and do not do this on purpose. That's not to say that they are all ethical, pro-consumer companies, but they do not try to scam people in this way.
Online Travel Agencies are lawfully required to issue a ticket for the price at which you made the purchase in order to process your payment. Many OTAs in the United Kingdom are also<a href="https://www.caa.co.uk/atol-protection/"> ATOL protected</a>, which means you have an extra layer of consumer protection against any wrongdoing. EU countries have similar protection schemes.
If you want to be extra certain, simply google: "Booking site name + ATOL" to make sure they are ATOL Protected. You should see a verification similar to this:
<img src="https://cdn.jacksflightclub.com/id/b8b77033f2f4d52ee8c92be6689b7bfc67670c36">
Or you'll be able to find this in the company's Ts &amp; Cs:
<img src="https://cdn.jacksflightclub.com/id/1d881fd56d6cea92d65aa5fc9b3840f5001feaea">
In the US, though, there is no agency that booking agencies can register under like the ABTA (for rail, cruise and coach holidays) or ATOL to protect consumers in case a company goes insolvent. But check out our guide on what happens<a href="https://members.jacksflightclub.com/travel-hub/what-happens-when-flights-from-the-united-states-are-canceled"> when flights to or from the United States are cancelled</a> if you are in search of some guidance on what else you can do to protect your booking.
<img src="https://cdn.jacksflightclub.com/id/3e95fc6bb418eac711142fec72c534da3aa27a77" style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;">
<h2>3. Are there other OTA tricks I should be looking out for?</h2>
Indeed, some of these sites are known to try and squeeze a few extra fees out of you in other ways. Here are the most common tricks to look out for:
<h4>Avoid booking over the phone </h4>
Most of these booking sites offer a phone number if you'd like to avoid booking online. When possible, I advise using the online portal instead. Phone agents, who often earn a commission, will sometimes see that you're trying to book a cheap fare and will try to find another way to increase the price you pay. Calling over the phone also opens you up to the next two items as well.
<h4>&lsquo;Fare no longer available&rsquo; trick </h4>
Every now and then, an Online Travel Agency will call you within a few minutes of your booking to tell you that the price you booked at is &ldquo;no longer available&rdquo; and you must accept a refund or agree to pay a higher fare. If that does occur, don't panic! Simply decline their new fare, accept the refund, and go on to book with another agency offering the next best fare.
<h4>&lsquo;Extra bag fees&rsquo; trick </h4>
Keep an eye on the bag rules throughout the booking process. While rare, we have heard of agencies claiming that you have to pay extra to add a checked bag, even on routes where bags were definitely included in the fare. Again, this generally only happens over the phone.
<h4>Extra service fees </h4>
Make sure you double-check all the passenger details you enter when booking tickets via an Online Travel Agency. Many of them will find ways to charge extra, often high, service fees for tiny changes.
<h2>4. Are there ways to save on airline baggage fees when booking with an Online Travel Agency?</h2>
<img src="https://cdn.jacksflightclub.com/id/4c176c96077bfeb5fc5b2f2e40416251bf4f88d7" style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;">
In 2022, airlines will now charge you anywhere between 0 and 140 pounds or euros return, or as much as $180 RT from the US, to add a checked bag to your itinerary. The actual amount varies wildly by route &amp; airline.
Online Travel Agencies will often get incentives to sell bag-inclusive tickets and are able to sell you a checked bag at a cheaper fare than the airline. Some OTAs choose to do this, while others choose to keep the price the same or even mark it up in order to earn a higher margin on your ticket.
For this reason, it's important that you always compare the bag fee charged by the OTA you are booking with against the fee charged by the airline itself (or even other OTAs).
If an Online Travel Agency is offering the cheapest fare but is pricing up checked bags, you can always just buy the ticket from the OTA and add a checked bag directly with the airline after the ticket has been issued.
Note: It's also not uncommon for some OTAs to sell economy-standard ticket class fares, which include early seat selection, meals, checked bags, and other perks, for only slightly more than the airline itself sells economy-basic tickets, and the savings can be quite significant. We often see this with Virgin Atlantic, for example.
<h2>5. How are smaller Online Travel Agencies able to offer cheaper fares than the airlines themselves?</h2>
Firstly, many airlines - primarily major international carriers - offer incentives and discounts to third-party agencies to market their tickets. This allows OTAs to pass some of those savings on to you in order to secure your business.
That said, not all airlines will do this, and there are other ways Online Travel Agencies can generate revenue, some of which are less consumer-friendly:
<ul>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Fees - Expect hefty service fees for making any future changes to your booking. That includes name changes, date changes, cancellations, etc.</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Reselling reserved tickets - OTAs are able to reserve a number of seats months in advance. Many will often hold a certain number of seats on popular routes at a low price, knowing that they'll be able to sell them at a higher rate later in the year.</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Poor customer support - They tend to outsource customer support to third party companies in order to save on costs.</li>
</ul>
<img src="https://cdn.jacksflightclub.com/id/4268bb876f66e76a4f0ab97669ad7346adb91e97" style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;">
<h2>6. What about all the bad reviews Online Travel Agencies have?</h2>
It's true that most OTAs, even well-known ones like Expedia, have plenty of negative reviews online. As a rule, customers will generally go further out of the way to report a negative experience than leave a positive review when everything goes as expected, resulting in a high rate of negative reviews.
While it can be a sign of poor customer service, it doesn't mean you won't get the ticket you purchased. As you've read above, some OTAs can be clever about trying to make as much as possible from each customer, but they won't (usually) take your money and run. You can find our reviews of the most popular OTAs <a href="https://members.jacksflightclub.com/travel-hub/reviewing-the-most-popular-online-travel-agencies">here</a>.
<h2>7. When should I book directly with the airline vs. booking with an agency on Momondo?</h2>
This just depends on your situation. We reckon it&rsquo;s worth booking with an agency and saving the extra cash if your travel dates are set in stone, but here are some general guidelines for like-minded travelers:
<h3>Book with an Online Travel Agency if:</h3>
<ul>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Savings exceed at least &pound;/&euro;20-&pound;/&euro;30 or $50-$60 for a long-haul fare.</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">You are 100% certain you will be taking the trip on these dates.</li>
</ul>
<h3>Book directly with airline if:</h3>
<ul>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">You're the type of traveler who is more likely to extend your trip later on or change travel dates.</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">The flight is with a budget or charter airline, such as Spirit, easyJet, Wizzair or TUI, none of which offer discounted fares to OTAs.</li>
</ul>
For more information on Momondo, Skyscanner and Online Travel Agencies, take a look at our <a href="https://members.jacksflightclub.com/travel-hub/reviewing-the-most-popular-online-travel-agencies">reviews of the most popular OTAs</a>, or visit our<a href="https://members.jacksflightclub.com/travel-hub/find-cheap-flights-to-anywhere/"> ultimate guide</a> to finding cheap flights to anywhere.
. . .
Still have questions? Feel free to drop us a message on
support@jacksflightclub.com and we'll be happy to help.
Please note, while we do have links to other websites in our articles, none are affiliate links and we do not benefit from you clicking on them, we just think they are a good resource :-)

Is it safe to book with online travel agencies (OTAs) on Momondo & Skyscanner?

Read First

Here's a collection of our featured articles - highly recommended reading and inspiration for what's hot and trending at the moment in Jack's world.

Featured Articles You MUST read

The ultimate guide to finding cheap flights to anywhere

United States

I&rsquo;ve had an anxiety disorder for a pretty long time. It&rsquo;s not an easy problem to solve, but most articles mention things like breathing exercises and positive affirmations. When you have severe, debilitating anxiety, that can feel like suggesting a Band-Aid for a broken leg.
Anxiety can hold you back, especially when you throw traveling into the mix, with all its triggers: it&rsquo;s uncomfortable, sometimes risky, and often full of unwelcome surprises. And it doesn&rsquo;t help to see folks on social media travel the world, seemingly with ease, in situations that you know would leave you ill.&nbsp;
This is my story about how I learned to balance anxiety with an incessant need to explore, with <a href="#real_advice">some tips at the end</a> for conquering these struggles yourself.
<h3 dir="ltr">So, you&rsquo;ve got an anxiety disorder.&nbsp;</h3>
The first time I had a panic attack, I didn&rsquo;t understand what it was.
My dad and I had been planning to drive out into the California desert to see&nbsp;<a href="https://www.visitcalifornia.com/experience/salvation-mountain-slab-city/">Salvation Mountain</a>, the psychedelic painted monument that marks the entrance to the hippie haven of Slab City. I was into both artsy hippie stuff and the desert as a teenager, so this was a holy grail location for me.
But rather than being excited to finally make it out to Slab City, I was laying on my bedroom floor, wondering if I was about to die.&nbsp;
If you&rsquo;ve never had a panic attack, it&rsquo;s hard to understand how it feels. It&rsquo;s like drowning. The first sign is a blood rush to my ears, and then I lose my hearing. My face and hands go numb. Usually I feel nauseous; always I feel faint.
When this happens to me now, I can think myself through it.&nbsp;You&rsquo;re having a panic attack. It&rsquo;s okay. It will pass.&nbsp;
But for the first half dozen panic attacks or so, I didn&rsquo;t know what was happening. I actually thought I was having a severe medical emergency. I also thought it was triggered by fear, so I found it embarrassing and impossible to admit.
So when I had a panic attack that morning before going to Salvation Mountain, I didn&rsquo;t really know how to explain myself to my dad. I just told him I didn&rsquo;t feel well. He was obviously frustrated, but agreed we could go another time. (We never did.)
It wasn&rsquo;t until college that I realized that these were panic attacks, and that I had an anxiety disorder. An actual&nbsp;disorder. A diagnosed chemical imbalance in my brain was causing this to happen. Not some random bout of cowardice.
Categorizing this problem as a disorder made it easier to deal with. Where I used to wallow in self-loathing at my inability to cope, now I said, &ldquo;Okay, you have this disorder. What are you going to do about it?&rdquo;
<img src="https://cdn.jacksflightclub.com/id/5c9d9bcad5edcf4149b8860b00b02d5641fa85b6">
<h3 dir="ltr">Pushing through the pain.</h3>
I didn&rsquo;t travel very far from home prior to working for Jack&rsquo;s Flight Club, but when I did travel, the anxiety traveled with me. It followed me through hotel rooms all across the western US. I panicked in Sedona, in Idaho, in Salem, Oregon. All over Washington state. In nice hotels and not-so-nice hotels.&nbsp;
For the first half of my twenties, sleeping in a hotel room meant spending hours on the bathroom floor, feeling like I was dying. And that was a trade I was willing to make, over and over and over again if it meant I could visit somewhere new.
I eventually started to make peace with these panic attacks, more or less. I learned that getting angry with myself, or being upset that I was ruining my trip, or worrying that I&nbsp;might have a panic attack, all made it worse. It was better to just accept it. I&rsquo;d be on edge, and then I&rsquo;d feel the sickness in my stomach and the blood rush in my ears, and I&rsquo;d think Well, here we go. Let&rsquo;s get this over with.&nbsp;
By the time I turned 25, I could spend all night panicking, and then get up the next morning like everything was normal. I had it down to a science.
I needed to travel. Even if it wasn&rsquo;t far. I didn&rsquo;t want to have panic attacks, but I couldn&rsquo;t stand to stay at home. What&rsquo;s a rough night or two, compared to the benefit of seeing the country?
I could cope with it. I learned some of the triggers and the tricks to getting around them. Food has always been a big trigger for me. If I am in a hotel room in an unfamiliar place and I don&rsquo;t have access to bland, digestible foods that I can eat with an unsettled stomach, I am practically guaranteed to spiral.&nbsp;
Thus entered the emotional support tortillas: they&rsquo;re cheap, don&rsquo;t need refrigeration, and can slide flat into my bag. Best of all, I can eat them even if my stomach&rsquo;s upset. I have not gone on an overnight trip without tortillas in years, and they have kept my typical anxiety from ballooning into panic more times than I can count.&nbsp;
If it works, it&rsquo;s not stupid.&nbsp;
So after having panic attacks in several of western America&rsquo;s finest motel rooms, what does an inexperienced traveler with a panic disorder decide to do?&nbsp;
Go to Alaska. Alone.
Naturally, I brought multiple packs of tortillas.&nbsp;
<h3 dir="ltr">Maybe my anxiety ISN&rsquo;T some horrible curse?</h3>
This part of the story&nbsp;ought to see me hyperventilating in the Alaskan wilderness somewhere. It ought to end in disaster.&nbsp;
But it didn&rsquo;t. And contrary to what I&rsquo;d feared, it was my anxiety that saved me.
<img src="https://cdn.jacksflightclub.com/id/492ebc156606c1dc67876edae11a0603a15e7200">
I didn&rsquo;t panic on that trip, but I sure did panic beforehand. I had several sleepless nights in the days leading up to it. I memorized not only the address of where I was staying, but the entire layout of the area. You could have dropped me anywhere within two miles and I could have walked home. I memorized the locations of hospitals and police stations. The address and phone number of where I was staying. All the bus routes. Anything that could have helped in a crisis.
This was, I thought, &ldquo;crazy person behavior.&rdquo; It was driven by pure panic. I planned for every possible contingency, and I berated myself the entire time.&nbsp;You&rsquo;re insane. No one else would need to do this. Normal people don&rsquo;t memorize entire neighborhoods before a trip.
It seemed crazy riiiiiight until my phone died on the way back from a hike. I couldn&rsquo;t get a taxi, so I would need to take the bus. It was raining. It was dark. I had no phone. I was not staying in an area with stores that were open late. It&rsquo;s not like there were payphones, or hordes of other folks around to give me directions. I was completely alone, in Alaska, in the dark and the rain, with no cell phone or car or map and no one in a 500-mile radius who knew that I was there.&nbsp;
So I just&hellip; went home. I knew the way. I knew where the closest bus stop was, and I knew how to get back to my room from my own bus stop. And I only knew these things because I was &ldquo;crazy&rdquo; enough to prepare for such a situation.
This was the first time I thought of my anxiety as anything other than a burden. It had&nbsp;saved me. This thing that I had spent the last twenty years HATING myself over, with which I was getting into constant mental arguments. The thorn in my side. My cross to bear. It saved me.
This situation made me see my anxiety differently. It was always just the thing that was holding me back from fully enjoying traveling, and it offered nothing in return. But that trip to Alaska made it click for me &mdash; my anxiety is the part of my brain that wants me to stay safe.
It&rsquo;s sort of like an overzealous parent. You might resent them. They might be wrong. They might even be harmful sometimes. You can&rsquo;t listen to it every time, or even most of the time. It&rsquo;s wrong more often than it&rsquo;s right. But&hellip; at the end of the day, it just wants to keep you safe.
Understanding that my anxiety was a survival reflex and not a character flaw changed how I approach it. We&rsquo;re less combative now, me and it.&nbsp;
I was already learning how to live with my anxiety, but now I was beginning to accept it too.&nbsp;
<h3 dir="ltr">So&hellip; now what?</h3>
Like any normal person with an anxiety disorder triggered by travel, I began traveling full time as a digital nomad.&nbsp;
And believe me, there are times when I want to shriek about the little personal hell I have created for myself. Every single time I go anywhere &mdash; a day trip, a move to my next apartment, a flight, a train, you name it &mdash; there is a little voice in my head screaming at me: I can&rsquo;t do this.
A few years ago, I would have gotten angry with that voice. I would have let it drown out my own thoughts until I was ill. But now I just say, &ldquo;Yes, you can. You&rsquo;ve done it a dozen times. And we&rsquo;re going to do it again, and it&rsquo;s going to be fine.&rdquo;&nbsp;
And every single time, I am glad I did not listen to that little voice. I sometimes take its advice, and plan a little more or take some extra precautions. I can always use those reminders. But I refuse to listen to it when it wants me to just run and hide. I am happy to say that since that panic attack before Slab City, I have not bailed on a single trip due to anxiety.&nbsp;
I eventually did get to Salvation Mountain, having been haunted for years by the fact that I&rsquo;d missed out on it the first time. So I drove there by myself and stood in front of it, ten years later. I was waiting for some kind of epiphany, I guess, but that epiphany never came. It&rsquo;s a lovely place maintained by some fascinating people, and I had a great time in Slab City. But that sort of cosmic, now-the-balance-has-been-restored feeling didn&rsquo;t come. It was just a nice day.
<img src="https://cdn.jacksflightclub.com/id/38dd107bdde019993c0abb060d5479273c76e1da">
Sometimes you simply grow beyond the need for that feeling. I am not the same kid who broke down over a day trip to the desert.&nbsp;
<h3 dir="ltr">I promise I wrote all of this for a reason.</h3>
You can't sugarcoat the psychological effect that a disorder like this can have on you, even when you&rsquo;re not actively experiencing an episode. It colors your world, and wreaks havoc on the way you perceive yourself.
But here&rsquo;s what I actually came here to say: If you&rsquo;re reading this, and any of that tedious description of my various panic attacks sounds familiar, then I&rsquo;m talking to you. I could have just written a list of advice for traveling with anxiety, but I know it&rsquo;s more complicated than that. This is a full-on internal battle for some of us, and winning it goes deeper than just checking off tips in a listicle.
So I want you to know that I get it. You&rsquo;re not alone, even if it seems like everyone else around you can &ldquo;handle&rdquo; more than you can.&nbsp;
I&rsquo;m not gonna lie and say that &ldquo;anxiety is a gift!&rdquo; or &ldquo;focus on the positives!&rdquo; because that&rsquo;s empty and flat. But I will throw at least one motivational quote at you: you are probably tougher than you think you are.
If you really, truly want to travel and anxiety is all that holds you back, you can overcome it. It might suck&nbsp;a lot of the time. It might be harder for you than it is for your loved ones. It might limit the sort of trips you can take and dictate what you need to bring. But it doesn&rsquo;t have to stop you.&nbsp;
I went from being on the floor, incapacitated, over a day trip, to successfully traveling through a good chunk of North America and Europe. It took me ten years, but I did it. And so long as that infectious &ldquo;travel bug&rdquo; is worse than your disorder, so can you.

<h3 dir="ltr"><a id="real_advice"></a>Some actual, concrete tips for travel anxiety.</h3>
Start small. Your comfort zone is expanded in baby steps. Spend a weekend just a few hours&rsquo; drive or train ride away, then a few hours flight away, and THEN go bigger. Don&rsquo;t jump straight into Indiana Jones-esque adventuring. Book tour groups, and stay in safe and comfortable places. You can work yourself up to more daring stuff later if you really want to.
Get to the root of your triggers. Mine are mostly food and sleep, so I tackle those needs individually (with safe snacks and white noise apps, mostly). Don&rsquo;t try to pack light if you need comfort items to assuage your anxiety. That extra money for a checked bag is a small price to pay if everything in there goes towards keeping your head together. I know some people pride themselves on packing light, but you don&rsquo;t need to be one of them.
Let yourself go a little nuts before the trip. Make that massive list. Make that spreadsheet. Do that research. And for the love of all that is good &mdash; buy whatever travel insurance or free-cancelation upgrades you need to calm yourself down.
At the same time, do your best not to overbook. Schedule in rest days, which is good advice for anyone anyway, but especially important if you might be out of commission for a day or two and still want to see everything.&nbsp;
Make peace with the fact that it&rsquo;s going to be uncomfortable. You will probably never become a light and breezy traveler, and that&rsquo;s okay. What you can do is get lighter and breezier about the fact that you&rsquo;re internally freaking out. You&rsquo;re gonna be nervous, possibly even ill for part of the time. And that is okay. Even for all my horrible motel experiences, I still remember the incredible things I did on those trips more than I remember how hard those nights were.
But&hellip; you can take all this advice, and you might still end up hyperventilating on the floor. So what? It&rsquo;ll pass.&nbsp;
And in the midst of your panic, I hope you look back and remember that it used to take much less to put you there.&nbsp;

What’s it REALLY like to travel with anxiety

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Chile

Hey there, Travellers,
I'd like to kick off by wishing a very happy Thanksgiving to all our American readers! However you celebrated, I hope your bellies were full and your hearts warm&hellip; and that you had five minutes free to check over all the bargain Flights landing in your inbox.
No doubt your emails have been overflowing this past week, so you may have missed some rather amusing "news." The US transportation secretary has been urging travellers to <a href="https://www.independent.co.uk/travel/news-and-advice/sean-duffy-transport-secretary-air-travel-thanksgiving-request-b2869798.html">wind back the clock and dress with respect</a>, as though we were in the golden age of travel.&nbsp;
When you're embarking on a 20-hour journey across continents, or hopping on a budget flight with nothing more than a backpack and randomly allocated seat, does anyone truly expect you to care about more than comfort?&nbsp;
Sure, we can debate the <a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/DBdqR-5qhVD/?hl=en">merits of jeans on a plane</a>, and we can probably all agree that shorts involve too much skin-seat contact. But, we're not living in&nbsp;that&nbsp;Golden Age of Travel. We're in our own, modern, slightly tarnished age with even more opportunity than ever before.&nbsp;
I'd love to hear your thoughts on the dos and don'ts of "respectful" travel garb. Should we bring back collars and dresses? Or are leggings and hoodies perfectly reasonable? <a href="https://members.jacksflightclub.com/articles/detour-214-ultimate-carry-on-respectful-dressing#comments">Jump into the comments</a> or reply to this email.
Happy travels and safe landings,

Katy - Editor of The Detour

Your Top Recommendations for Underseat &amp; Carry-on Bags

The Detour Editor Katy is a budget travel aficionado who has already travelled to more than 50 countries. Whether she's at home or on a foreign adventure, she has a particular talent for stumbling upon tasty Georgian restaurants.

By Katy

I knew when I asked for backpack recommendations last week that frequent travellers like yourselves would have some strong opinions. Thank you so much for all the bag reviews, suggestions, and links, lovely readers!
The ideas came rolling in, and a few loyal camps became clear. To be honest, I'm actually pretty concerned that some of you may have joined a particular multicoloured cult&hellip;
With my trusty Herschel nearing the end of its life, I've spent this week researching all your suggestions and trawling the Black Friday sales. Frankly, I'm only a little closer to pulling the trigger, and time is ticking on those discounts.&nbsp;
But without further ado, here are the top recommendations from you, the wonderful Jack's Community:
<h2 dir="ltr"><a href="https://www.osprey.com/">Osprey</a></h2>

&ldquo;I've had an Osprey Farpoint 40 for the last few years, and so far it's passed every test with flying colours. It's had dozens of work trips, backpacking in Japan, hiking in Iceland, travelling around Europe visiting 28 countries in 28 days with 100s of buses, coaches and trains, numerous trips to the US &amp; Canada and here's the thing: nothing has broken 😱😱 no broken zips, no frayed ends, no rips, nothing. And I have not been careful!
It also opens up fully laid down which is a great plus. If the 40 is a little big, Osprey have brought out a smaller Sojourn backpack in the same style, which I bought my gf and she loves. The Farpoint is probably a 4/5 on comfort when carrying but easily a 5/5 on endurance. I think there is a "trek" version they've recently brought out that is presumably more comfortable. I've also gotten away with it as cabin baggage on easyJet many times, even though it's technically too big (only been fined on 2 occasions out of maybe 25?). Hope this is useful for people!&rdquo;&nbsp;-&nbsp;UninhibitedBackpacker38333
<hr>
&ldquo;I bought my Osprey 40 litre Fairview pack 3 years ago and have been using it nearly year round ever since. It opens flat so I can see everything inside, has enough compartments and easy access whilst on the move. I have travelled for several 3 month trips and it takes everything I need and more, and is comfortable for a nearly 60 year old like me to carry!&nbsp;
There are no signs of wear and tear. 100% recommended.&nbsp;
Good luck, it's a tricky and important decision!&rdquo; - Claire

Pros: Osprey bags are practical, supportive, and clearly have staying power. There are a few nice colorways to choose from, for those who like their functionality served with at least a little pizzazz.
Cons: They&rsquo;re not the cheapest; Navigator Lauren&rsquo;s fave Fairview is currently clocking in at around &pound;115/$140/&euro;150. And while they do come in different colors, they&rsquo;re hardly serving up that enduring <a href="https://www.fjallraven.com/eu/en-gb/bags-gear/kanken/">K&aring;nken</a> style. Maybe more for the outdoorsy types than purely savvy travelers?
Next up, the zero frills, zero fuss crew:
<h2 dir="ltr"><a href="https://cabinmax.com/">Cabin Max</a></h2>

&ldquo;The cabin max bird and stars is amazing, I&rsquo;ve used it for a few trips and I also use it at work!&nbsp;
It easily fits clothes and toiletries in for a whole week for one person, with room to spare for a drink and snacks. Though I haven&rsquo;t tried to fit a proper jacket in there yet as it&rsquo;s only been used for warmer trips.&nbsp;
But it still looks brand new after being used almost every day since the start of May. It even has a clip on bit for you to pop glasses/goggles/sunglasses into, and the front zip up pocket has extra compartments and a tether that clips onto items for extra security. It has a little padded slot for a tablet or such and buckled straps in the main section to hold items in tight for you to fit in extra! I love it.&rdquo; - Danielle
<hr>
&ldquo;Another Cabin Max fan here, especially the Metz 20L that fits the Ryanair bins. Sturdy and it fits a huge amount of stuff!&rdquo; - DauntlessHolidaymaker17406

Pros: Cabin Max cater to nearly every airline&rsquo;s dimensional whims. It&rsquo;s all in the name: you&rsquo;ll get the max cabin space possible (without paying extra). Plus, they&rsquo;re super affordable and come in a variety of jazzy colors and styles, some even a little more stylish than purely functional.
Cons: Not ideal for lugging around on your back all day &mdash; the shoulder straps are all you&rsquo;ve got in the way of support, so don&rsquo;t bring the kitchen sink. And yes, they are on the cheaper side, so pay close attention to design elements like laptop padding and secure closures.
And now we&rsquo;ve got a PSA from Navigator Fran, who, surprisingly, is not being sponsored for this rave review:
<h2 dir="ltr"><a href="https://www.cotopaxi.com/">Cotopaxi</a></h2>

&ldquo;So I have a couple of Cotopaxis, but the ones that I use the most are the Cotopaxi Allpa 28L and the Cotopaxi Allpa 35L. The thing that I love the most about them is that they open fully like a suitcase, but they&rsquo;re backpacks. That&rsquo;s the key thing for me because I hate having to put my hands inside a backpack without seeing what I&rsquo;m touching. Everything gets messy, whereas if your backpack opens completely like a suitcase, it makes everything much more orderly.&nbsp;
Another thing that I love is the material. The external material, especially the front, has a kind of waxy feel, but it&rsquo;s not actually wax, so you don&rsquo;t need to treat it. Even though it&rsquo;s a soft backpack, it's made with sturdy materials, so even if it gets thrown around, it feels like the things inside won&rsquo;t get hit too hard.
<img src="https://cdn.jacksflightclub.com/id/a4a6e696d247b91ff1b2f8c198c762c9f99997cd" width="501" height="626" style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;">
I really love all the pockets inside and outside. That&rsquo;s important for me for storing things properly and for accessibility. The Allpa 28L I have is the new model, and it comes with a side pocket, which I absolutely love. I use it for my water bottle, flip-flops, thin sneakers &mdash; whatever fits. That pocket only exists on the newer version Cotopaxi released last year. My 35L is the older model, so it doesn&rsquo;t have it, and I really miss it. I&rsquo;m honestly considering upgrading my 35L just for that pocket (lol Cotopaxi I love you pls send me one).
Another key thing is: the 35L one has back support, which is crucial for me. It has the adjustable chest buckle and the waist strap, while the 28L doesn't have the waist strap. I&rsquo;ve walked endless kilometres with it, and it&rsquo;s essential that the weight sits on my hips and not fully on my back.
I also love the little loops on the outside where you can attach a lock or hang things. Anything with a carabiner can go there &mdash; a portable speaker, flip-flops, whatever. I really love the colours too. They&rsquo;re veeeeeeery fun and stylish.&rdquo; - Fran

&ldquo;The Cotopaxi Allpa is AMAZING. I will not have another bag, ever. The 35L one is still Euro airline friendly, and I've lived out of it for months.&rdquo; - Layla

Pros: Cotopaxi bags are clearly super reliable and practical. Plus, you gotta love their <a href="https://uk.cotopaxi.com/collections/del-dia-collection">&lsquo;Del D&iacute;a&rsquo; collection</a>, made from a patchwork of leftover fabrics. That means you get a completely one-of-a-kind bag, which can come in pretty handy during the shuffle of international travel.
Cons: That price, though. You&rsquo;re looking at &pound;140-&pound;200 new on the Cotopaxi website. If you dig around online, you&rsquo;ll no doubt be able to find them a little cheaper, but they&rsquo;re still far from a budget-friendly option. More of a long-term investment, perhaps.&nbsp;
Also, you might be joining a cult that it&rsquo;s really hard to leave if you buy one.
Now, not to be confused with the Max competition above, the Jack&rsquo;s Community is also fond of&hellip;&nbsp;
<h2 dir="ltr"><a href="https://www.cabinzero.com/">Cabin Zero</a></h2>

&ldquo;Hello! I love my cabin zero. The 28L one is small enough for under Ryanair seats, and you can get them in a variety of sizes. Happy bag shopping!&rdquo; - Daniella
<hr>
&ldquo;I absolutely adore my Cabin Zero military backpack. I used it for 6 months to travel through Asia next to my larger backpack, used it as hand luggage while making short trips. Very roomy, holds a bottle, can be locked and has a separate space for a laptop.&rdquo; - BoldHiker86402

Pros: Once again, we&rsquo;ve got bags designed to beat airline restrictions. Looking for a carry-on that&rsquo;ll fit under the seat in front of you? Just filter by &lsquo;Underseat&rsquo;. They&rsquo;re functional, affordable, and they come in pretty much every color. 
Cons:&nbsp;What they offer in color, they kind of lack in actual style. Maximizing functional bag space is key here, and every model appears to be a cuboid bag designed to fit perfectly in a bag sizer.
<a href="https://members.jacksflightclub.com/articles/the-best-underseat-and-carry-on-bags-for-travel">Keep reading...</a>

Travel Tips

All the important (or silly, or strange) travel news from across web this week.
<ul>
<li>From next year, National Parks in the USA will begin charging <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c1kpnxvpgy2o">higher entry fees for foreign visitors </a>than US residents. </li>
<li>Inside the Swiss village where <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/travel/article/20250314-murren-the-stunning-car-free-village-reached-by-cable-car">the only cars are cable cars</a>. </li>
<li>Move over salmon sperm facials, there's an island in Patagonia where <a href="https://www.afar.com/magazine/the-rare-potato-revival-in-patagonia-chile">potatoes are the key</a> to a youthful glow. </li>
<li>Here's how to make that <a href="https://www.thetimes.com/travel/destinations/europe-travel/norway/how-i-did-a-once-in-a-lifetime-norway-journey-for-a-fraction-of-the-price-8lmfnss9h">bucket-list cruise of the Norwegian fjords</a> into a reality without breaking the bank. </li>
<li>US passport holders can now save a <a href="https://www.afar.com/magazine/can-apples-new-digital-passport-be-used-for-travel">digital version of their passport</a> to their Apple Wallet. But can you actually use it on your next trip? </li>
<li>It's official: <a href="https://news.sky.com/story/jakarta-and-dhaka-topple-tokyo-to-become-worlds-biggest-megacities-13475419">Jakarta has overtaken Tokyo</a> as the most populous city in the world. </li>
<li>And finally, while Fodor's list of <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/alexledsom/2025/11/19/overcrowded-travel-destinations-in-2026-as-per-fodors-no-list/">over-touristed destinations to avoid</a> may not have thrown up many surprises, their <a href="https://www.fodors.com/news/photos/10-destinations-begging-for-more-visitors">10 spots crying out for more visitors</a> certainly will. From Palau, to Pakistan, to regional Japan, there's always somewhere new to discover without adding stress to the local community.</li>
</ul>

Travel News

Our Ultimate Carry-On Backpacks & Respectful Dressing On Board

Frequent travelers tend to be pros at efficient packing, and you just know that means they have opinions on the best carry-on bags available. When we asked the Jack&rsquo;s Flight Club Community for their ultimate cabin bag, the kind that still passes as a &ldquo;personal item&rdquo; on budget airlines, the opinions came rolling in, and the camps became clear.
Personally, I love my Herschel backpack for work and play &mdash; it&rsquo;s got good volume, inside pockets for water bottles, toothbrush, cables etc., and a delightfully furry, padded laptop sleeve. The inside lining is water-resistant, so it&rsquo;s super easy to clean when your moisturizer explodes. And then there&rsquo;s the handy zip-closure front pocket for those little things you want easy access to.&nbsp;
But, alas, my favorite red rucksack is nearing the end of its life. Like any good Millennial, I&rsquo;ve checked Vinted for replacements. But when a second-hand bag in great condition costs nearly the same as a brand-new one in the style you actually want, it makes you think twice.
So, where does the Jack&rsquo;s Community recommend I invest my backpack budget? The loudest voices sing an avian chorus:
<h2 dir="ltr"><a href="https://www.osprey.com/">Osprey</a></h2>

&ldquo;The cabin max bird and stars is amazing, I&rsquo;ve used it for a few trips and I also use it at work!&nbsp;
It easily fits clothes and toiletries in for a whole week for one person, with room to spare for a drink and snacks. Though I haven&rsquo;t tried to fit a proper jacket in there yet as it&rsquo;s only been used for warmer trips.&nbsp;
But it still looks brand new after being used almost every day since the start of May. It even has a clip on bit for you to pop glasses/goggles/sunglasses into, and the front zip up pocket has extra compartments and a tether that clips onto items for extra security. It has a little padded slot for a tablet or such and buckled straps in the main section to hold items in tight for you to fit in extra! I love it.&rdquo; - Danielle
<hr>
&ldquo;Another Cabinmax fan here, especially the Metz 20L that fits the Ryanair bins. Sturdy and it fits a huge amount of stuff!&rdquo; - DauntlessHolidaymaker17406

Pros: Once again, we&rsquo;ve got bags designed to beat airline restrictions. Looking for a carry-on that&rsquo;ll fit under the seat in front of you? Just filter by &lsquo;Underseat&rsquo;. They&rsquo;re functional, affordable, and they come in pretty much every color. 
Cons:&nbsp;What they offer in color, they kind of lack in actual style. Maximizing functional bag space is key here, and every model appears to be a cuboid bag designed to fit perfectly in a bag sizer.

<h2 dir="ltr">Honorable mentions</h2>

&ldquo;My Decathlon Quechua NH500 is a dream. Survived my Lupine Racing trip!&rdquo; - DauntlessVacationer96089
<hr>
&ldquo;I swear by my Eastpak Travelpack. Two separate compartments, laptop sleeve, functions as a rucksack or carry bag. Full rectangular form so you can max out the space. Comes in a bunch of colourways, even a few waterproof.&rdquo;&nbsp;- WayfaringHopper65951
<hr>
&ldquo;I absolutely love my <a href="https://solgaard.co/products/lifepack-venture-backpack-with-closet?variant=42373594448045">Solgaard</a>. It's durable, eco-friendly, and comes with a warranty and collapsible closet.&rdquo; - Britny
<hr>
&ldquo;Herschel is hard to beat in terms of price &amp; fun colours. My two suggestions are:&nbsp;
<ul>
<li dir="ltr" role="presentation"><a href="https://bellroy.com/products/lite-travel-pack?color=clay&amp;material=dura_lite_nylon&amp;size=30l#slide-0">Bellroy travel bags</a>. The water proofing is no joke!</li>
<li dir="ltr" role="presentation"><a href="https://www.incase.com/collections/backpacks/products/arc-travel-pack">Incase travel bags</a>. Unlimited pockets for everything, but zippers could be better.</li>
<li dir="ltr" role="presentation">Bonus suggestion for&nbsp;<a href="https://uk.beistravel.com/collections/backpacks">cute styles &amp; functionality</a>. The backpacks don't have padding, though.&rdquo; - Ramir</li>
</ul>
<hr>
&ldquo;Came across the shop &ldquo;<a href="https://thepropertyof.com/collections/backpacks">Property of</a>&rdquo; during a layover in Amsterdam. Such a fantastic blend of style and practicality. It was next for me after my Herschel. I used the Karl on my 6-week South America trip (hand luggage only: and included a suit). Also completed the 5 day Salkantay trek with it, so comfortable for all day. The back completely zips open; a detachable hip belt, looks unreal&hellip; works for me.&rdquo; - TrailblazingTripper71477
<hr>
&ldquo;I am currently in Bali. I&rsquo;ve travelled with <a href="https://www.samsonite.co.uk/backpacks-with-wheels/">this hybrid carry-on wheeled backpack</a> since at least 2011. I first bought it in an outlet store, then when the telescoping handle failed after 8 years.&nbsp; I purchased a replacement from Amazon in 2019. At that time, it was $73.
For me, it's well worth it. Soft like a backpack but constructed of rugged water-resistant nylon, it's backpack straps are hidden in the back zipper compartment, waiting for you to hit that rocky dirt road that doesn't take the wheels well. It has many compartments, including a good computer sleeve.&rdquo; - Nancie

If, like me, you&rsquo;re in the market for a trusty new travel bag, hopefully the wise words of the Jack&rsquo;s Community have helped you. Whether you&rsquo;re looking for an investment, or just something to get you through the next long weekend getaway, you have plenty of options here.
The winner? Personally, I&rsquo;ve already got a larger rucksack with waist straps that's suitable for a week of Interrailing. What I&rsquo;m really looking for is that handy under-seat bag fit for a weekend away, which may incidentally also look a little bit cool. Right now, I&rsquo;m torn between a cheaper Cabin Max and sticking with my fave &mdash; only time (or a really good offer) will tell.
Let us know below if we've missed anything. Or if you have a favorite full-sized, wheeled cabin bag that fits in the overhead bins, share your tips in the comments.

The Best Underseat and Carry-On Bags for Budget Travel

Military perks run the gamut from a hearty &ldquo;thank you for your service&rdquo; (nearly useless) to discounts on tickets at Six Flags (pretty good). But when it comes to air travel, it&rsquo;s weirdly difficult to find out what cool things you can get with a military ID&mdash;other than early boarding, of course.
That&rsquo;s why we scoured the internet, poked around labyrinthine airline websites, and even managed to get some actual customer service folks to pick up the phone, all to put together this comprehensive list of military perks and benefits. There are some standard military discounts in there, but also a ton of other freebies you&rsquo;ll definitely want to take advantage of. We&rsquo;ll even tell you which ones are really worth your time!
Let&rsquo;s dive right in:

Our tour starts with American Airlines, which offers some pretty solid perks! Maybe the name inspired a little extra patriotism over there.
First things first: If you bring your active duty military ID, you and your family can board the plane early as part of group 1. You don&rsquo;t even have to do anything special when booking your ticket; just show your ID at the gate and you&rsquo;re all good. This is a pretty standard perk in the US, even among budget airlines.
American also offers free checked bags to members of the military. Just bring your ID to the check-in counter when you arrive at the airport, and you can check three bags of up to 50 lbs. If you&rsquo;re traveling on orders, showing the agent your paperwork will get you five free checked bags of up to 100 lbs each. This one doesn&rsquo;t apply to codeshare flights, however, so make sure every leg of your itinerary is with American and not a partner airline like British Airways.
I know what you're thinking: What about discounted tickets? Unfortunately, the closest you'll get with American is if you book a special military or government fare. But these are an entirely different fare class, so the price could be lower or higher than regular tickets. You also can&rsquo;t book them online&mdash;you have to call AA&rsquo;s reservation line at 1-800-433-7300, give them your starting point and destination, and hope they have some military fares available. Kind of a pain.
My advice? Find the flights you want online, but give the line a call before you complete the transaction. You might get lucky and save 5-10% with a military ticket, and if you strike out, you can just book the fares you had already picked out.
We did manage to track down another discount (<a href="https://www.wesalute.com/offer/20281-american-airlines?g=military">10% off vacation packages</a>), but it comes with a caveat: You have to subscribe to a service called <a href="https://www.wesalute.com/">WeSalute+</a> to snag this one. WeSalute is a private company that negotiates perks for veterans and active military members, with paid plans <a href="https://www.wesalute.com/plans">starting at $60 a year</a>. They have a handful of travel-related benefits, including an impressive 15% discount with <a href="https://www.wesalute.com/offer/51846-breeze-airways?g=military">budget carrier Breeze</a>, but reports vary on whether the service is&nbsp;worth the cost.

Delta&rsquo;s offers are&hellip; pretty similar to American&rsquo;s! You&rsquo;ve got the same preboarding opportunity with your military ID, so that&rsquo;s nice. Anecdotally, we&rsquo;ve heard some Delta gate agents will let veterans board early as well, but it&rsquo;s not an official policy&mdash;so don&rsquo;t quote us on it!
With Delta, those free checked bags will depend on your fare class. If you&rsquo;re in Basic Economy, Main Cabin, or Delta Comfort+, you get two free bags of 50 lbs or less. If you&rsquo;re in Delta Premium Select, you get three. And if you have First Class or Delta One tickets, you get three free bags up to 70 lbs each. Military members traveling on orders can check five bags of 100 lbs or less, same as American.
If you&rsquo;re flying to a new home on transfer orders, Delta will let you check your pets for free as well, up to two kennels per flight. As far as we can tell, they&rsquo;re the only airline that won&rsquo;t make you pay for bringing your furry friends on board, so that&rsquo;s a nice little bonus.
Like American, Delta offers <a href="https://www.deltavacations.com/corporatepromo/index;jsessionid=ioaFPBziefgPiFzT55KsjbHPuS6-QV4Iz0YQ7keW.716b5b-757765f8ff-2jvv8?corporatePromoId=USMILITARY">military discounts on vacation packages</a>, but they don&rsquo;t require you to go through WeSalute+. Another plus for Delta!
The phone number for Delta&rsquo;s military fares is 1-800-221-1212, if you want to give that a try when booking your next trip. It&rsquo;s always worth a shot!

Next up is United with some standard options. You&rsquo;ve got your preboarding. You&rsquo;ve got your free checked bags&mdash;three bags of up to 70 lbs, or five bags up to 100 lbs if you have orders.
Here&rsquo;s something new, though: United is our first airline to offer a straight-up 5% discount on fares! Unfortunately, you have to be a <a href="https://www.wesalute.com/offer/18931-united?g=military&amp;queryID=fd798c5863c30fed7d76fa3d194c15c3">WeSalute+ subscriber</a> to take advantage of this one, which is a bit of a drag. It also only applies to destinations in North America, Central America, the Caribbean, or Europe, so you&rsquo;re out of luck if you&rsquo;re flying across the Pacific or down to South America.
United will also let you hang out in their <a href="https://www.united.com/en/us/fly/travel/airport/united-club-and-lounge-locations.html">United Club airport lounges</a>, but their new policy is a little complex. Access to the lounge is free if you&rsquo;re traveling on an official government or military fare, and costs $29 if you&rsquo;re flying for leisure. We&rsquo;ve heard that there&rsquo;s a little bit of confusion surrounding the updated policy, so you might be able to talk your way in with just a military ID. We wouldn't count on it, though.

Frontier is the first budget airline on our list, and you can definitely tell by these perks. Aside from the standard preboarding, they're offering free bags for you and your spouse (two checked bags, one carry-on) and&hellip; not much else.
Seriously, that&rsquo;s about it. Frontier (and Spirit, assuming they make it through their most recent bankruptcy) will sometimes run military-only sales on Veteran&rsquo;s Day, but other than that, no discounts.

Okay, now we&rsquo;re talking! JetBlue has a slightly less impressive preboarding policy (you&rsquo;ll go between Group A and Group B), but they make up for it with an across-the-board 5% discount for active-duty military and their families&mdash;no subscription service required! Just be prepared to show your DoD ID at the check-in counter.
You&rsquo;ll also get two free checked bags up to 50 lbs, or five free bags up to 100 lbs if you&rsquo;re flying on orders. Pretty typical.
Veterans can get the same deal with an active WeSalute+ subscription: <a href="https://www.wesalute.com/offer/18576-jetblue?g=military&amp;queryID=c62ed003bb6456836beeef7ebf101a6e">5% off fares, two free checked bags</a>. Sadly, subscribers who are still on active duty can&rsquo;t double up on the discounts. Trust us, we checked.

Southwest may have just downgraded their baggage policy for us civilians, but their military options are pretty dang generous.
If you show your active duty ID at the check-in counter, you don&rsquo;t have to pay for any of your checked bags. As long as you keep each bag under 100 lbs, you can keep piling them on until you reach the single-customer limit of 20. And that applies whether you&rsquo;re flying on orders or for leisure. Good one, Southwest! They also offer military and government fares, so give their customer service line a call at 1-800-435-9792 before you finalize your booking. You might get lucky.
That&rsquo;s about it for their perks, but do you really need more?

Alaska Airlines has the strangest collection of perks on our list. You&rsquo;ve got:
<ul>
<li>Preboarding, always a classic.</li>
<li>Military fares if you call them at 1-800-252-7522.</li>
<li>Two free checked bags per passenger, up to 70 lbs, or five bags up to 100 lbs if you&rsquo;re traveling on orders.</li>
<li>A <a href="https://www.wesalute.com/offer/19396-alaska-airlines?g=military&amp;queryID=961820d8060dac60eb1ba032ace0af41">5% discount</a> for WeSalute+ subscribers.</li>
<li>Free access to their Alaska Lounges if you&rsquo;re on orders, or a $30 lounge day pass if you&rsquo;re traveling for leisure.</li>
<li>15% discount on in-flight snacks, which is a new one.</li>
</ul>
You know what? We&rsquo;ll take it, Alaska.

<h3 id="w">Which discounts are worth it?</h3>

As nice as some of these perks are (looking at you, discounted snacks!), waived baggage fees are easily the most significant benefit for military travelers. Government/military fares are a total crapshoot, and those 5% discounts can make a small dent, but skipping baggage fees can save a family hundreds of dollars, especially if you&rsquo;re traveling internationally.
To get the most out of this one, you&rsquo;ll want to avoid booking codeshare flights, since the benefits don&rsquo;t extend to partner airlines. Not sure how to tell? Check out this screenshot for a round-trip ticket from Boston to Riga:

You can book the whole itinerary through Delta, but that doesn&rsquo;t mean you'll be taking Delta flights the whole way. If you click on the departing flight, you&rsquo;ll see this:

While the first leg is on a Delta plane, the second leg is with Air Baltic. So you&rsquo;ll just end up having to pay to get all those checked bags from Amsterdam to Riga. Compare that with this flight from Boston to Amsterdam:

Since both legs are with Delta, you&rsquo;re free and clear. No baggage fees here!
And if you want to really save some cash on your travels, your best option is to sign up for <a href="https://jacksflightclub.com/us-ws">Jack&rsquo;s Flight Club</a>!&nbsp;
Whether you&rsquo;re a free or premium member, we keep you in the loop on all the best deals in the sky. No long layovers, no high fares, just the cheapest and most convenient flights delivered straight to your inbox.

Which Airlines Offer Military Discounts?

Portugal

Mauritius

Spain

Hey there, Travellers!
The time has finally come for me to face a hard truth; my favourite carry-on backpack is on its way out. The straps are fraying, bits are falling off, and it now opens of its own volition.
I picked up my trusty Herschel about 5 years ago for a bargain price, and it's been on nearly every trip with me since then. It's the perfect size for a long weekend, there's a lovely, padded laptop sleeve inside, and it is actually a nice colour (or was, before I got it all mucky).
So now I need your help, readers! Since this is the prime time of year to snap up new gear, I'm looking for your carry-on backpack recommendations. Do I stick with my beloved Herschel, or is there a new kid on the block?
Let me know <a href="https://members.jacksflightclub.com/articles/winter-on-the-glacier-express-winter-sun-escapes#comments">in the comments</a>, or reply to this email!
Happy travels and safe landings,

Unlock every Flight we find. Upgrade with up to&nbsp;25% off.
One Flight booking covers the cost of&nbsp;Takeoff. Don&rsquo;t miss out!

Black Friday Promo

Window Wonderland: Winter on the Glacier Express

Navigator Akasha finds phenomenal Flights faster than you can decide where you want to take a trip to next. A pro at finding the best of the best fares, she's also a master at sharing must-visit spots for when you land.

By Akasha

Some winters are best seen in motion, and Switzerland&rsquo;s panoramic train promises just that.
Winter. My spirit does not gleefully jump at the fading light, soggy gloves, and single-digit temperatures on either side of zero.
Nor does it dance with the bare-naked trees when I picture gusts of tiny needles hitting my face. Or the sting of the cold in my ears that haunts me long after I&rsquo;ve slammed the door to the frozen world outside.&nbsp;
Yet for every scratchy woollen layer, stiff finger, and runny nose, there exists a winter worth savoring. The one from the warmth of a window.&nbsp;

Windows offer an intimate glimpse of the outside world when we step inside, away from the hustle. They serve as a projector, reeling back micro-moments of &ldquo;humanness&rdquo; that we might not necessarily catch on a check-box trip; a dog leaping through a fresh blanket of snow, waddling toddlers bundled in bulky snowsuits, a street vendor meticulously hanging the last strand of tinsel on their awning. 
Call it travel voyeurism. The joy of a quiet, captivating secret beyond the glass.&nbsp;
There may be no better window from which to watch the season unfold than on the Glacier Express&mdash;and that&rsquo;s exactly where I found myself earlier this year.
The world&rsquo;s &ldquo;slowest express train,&rdquo;&nbsp;<a href="https://glacierexpress.ch/en">the Glacier Express</a> winds unhurriedly through some of Europe&rsquo;s most iconic winter scenery, linking the ritzy resorts of Zermatt &amp; St. Moritz.

With 360 panoramic windows, it&rsquo;s a photographer&rsquo;s dream, though you&rsquo;ll want one hand free for a glass of champagne and the extravagant meals provided onboard.&nbsp;
Chugging through alabaster valleys, alpine villages, and towering mountains, the journey takes eight hours to complete. Pine forests and pastures peel back in slow motion, revealing wooden hamlets and steeples tucked into the valley below.

Inside, the carriage felt like a cocoon: warm air hissing through the vents, windows fogging then clearing with every shift in altitude. I spotted someone two rows up wrapping their hands around a warm mug.
An elderly couple to the left were speaking about the construction of the route; entire teams lived in alpine huts for months, blasting through rock metre by metre with picks and dynamite.&nbsp;
 <a href="https://members.jacksflightclub.com/articles/winter-through-a-window-glacier-express">Keep reading</a> for Akasha's essential Glacier Express tips...

Travel Tales

As soon as the temperatures begin to drop, the requests for winter sun recommendations start piling up in our inbox. And we don't blame you at all; sunny trips are about the only thing that get us through those dark and dreary months!
Some of you are just in need of a quick, cheap winter break, while others are on the hunt for good spots to combine a vitamin D top-up with a bit of remote working.&nbsp;As a general rule, we&rsquo;d suggest you head south for extra daylight and temperatures above 16 &deg;C.&nbsp;If you want a little more to go on, we&rsquo;ve drawn up a short-list of exciting winter sun spots beloved by the Jack's team and Community alike.
<h2 id="cadiz">Cadiz, Spain</h2>

Temperatures: 16-18 &deg;C in January - March
Why should I visit?&nbsp;It's supposedly the oldest city still standing in Europe, dating back to the 12th century. Beautiful cathedrals, Roman ruins and authentic&nbsp;<a href="https://www.manvsglobe.com/best-taps-restaurants-bars-where-to-eat-cadiz-spain/">tapas bars</a>&nbsp;are tucked away around every corner in the narrow alleyways of the Old Town.
The locals also know how to throw a party, rehearsing all year for their world-famous&nbsp;<a href="https://theculturetrip.com/europe/spain/articles/everything-you-need-to-know-about-the-cadiz-carnival/">Carnival</a>&nbsp;that takes places over 11 days in late February - March.
<h2 id="mauritius">Mauritius</h2>

Temperatures:&nbsp;22-27 &deg;C in November - March
Why should I visit?

"What&rsquo;s not to like with Indian and East African influences mingled in with British and French culture? People are hospitable, weather is great (remember it&rsquo;s summer in January) rum tastes good, and I&rsquo;d be happy to return tomorrow!" - Avril

Temperatures&nbsp;- 16-17 &deg;C in November - March
Why should I visit?&nbsp;- You'll find it hard not to rush outdoors and breathe in the Azores&rsquo; fresh mountain air. The islands are <a href="https://www.muchbetteradventures.com/magazine/hiking-in-the-azores-a-guide-to-the-best-hikes-in-azores/">made for hiking</a>, with trails leading you to waterfalls, around volcanic craters, and along the craggy coastline. And although you may never have heard of a&nbsp;<a href="http://grutadocarvao.amigosdosacores.pt/en">lava tube</a>, we bet you&rsquo;ll want to snoop around inside one now that you know it&rsquo;s possible on S&atilde;o Miguel Island.
We&rsquo;d also recommend&nbsp;<a href="https://www.winetraveler.com/portugal/azores-islands/">visiting a local winery</a>&nbsp;or two - just for science, of course. Despite the extreme growing conditions out there in the middle of the Atlantic, wine has been made there for hundreds of years.
<a href="https://members.jacksflightclub.com/articles/jacks-top-winter-sun-destinations">Keep reading...</a>

<ul>
<li><a href="https://www.facebook.com/reel/2760939580766771">Polar night has begun</a> across the northern Arctic. This week, parts of Alaska and northern Norway joined Svalbard in a months-long nighttime. The sun won't show its face again there until mid-to-late January. </li>
<li>Travelling to watch sports is nothing new, but 2026 may see <a href="https://www.cntraveller.com/article/the-rise-of-sumo-travel">an unexpected sport </a>inspiring trips far and wide. </li>
<li>No trip to Istanbul is complete without considering scooping up a friendly local feline. Not quite strays nor pets, the city has a truly <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/travel/article/20251118-istanbul-turkey-inside-the-city-where-cats-rule-the-streets">unique relationship with cats</a>. </li>
<li>And finally, would you <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2025/nov/17/high-art-the-museum-that-is-only-accessible-via-an-eight-hour-hike">hike eight hours up an Alp</a> to reach a museum? No? Me neither. Even a really good one.</li>
</ul>

Winter on the Glacier Express & Winter Sun Escapes

Gambia

South Africa

Cambodia

Thailand

Vietnam

Costa Rica

Laos

As soon as the temperatures begin to drop, the requests for winter sun recommendations start piling up in our inbox. And we don't blame you at all; winter sun holidays are about the only thing that get us through those dark and dreary months!
Some of you are just in need of a quick, cheap winter break, while others are on the hunt for good spots to combine a vitamin D top-up with a bit of remote working.
As a general rule, we&rsquo;d suggest you head south for extra daylight and temperatures above 16 &deg;C (well known for being the point at which it becomes&nbsp;<a href="https://www.taps-aff.co.uk/#search">&ldquo;Taps Aff&rdquo; weather</a> here in Scotland). If you want a little more to go on, we&rsquo;ve drawn up a short-list of exciting winter sun spots beloved by the Jack's team and Community alike.
<h2 id="cadiz">Cadiz, Spain</h2>

Temperatures&nbsp;- 16-17 &deg;C in November - March
Why should I visit?&nbsp;- You'll find it hard not to rush outdoors and breathe in the Azores&rsquo; fresh mountain air. The islands are <a href="https://www.muchbetteradventures.com/magazine/hiking-in-the-azores-a-guide-to-the-best-hikes-in-azores/">made for hiking</a>, with trails leading you to waterfalls, around volcanic craters, and along the craggy coastline. And although you may never have heard of a&nbsp;<a href="http://grutadocarvao.amigosdosacores.pt/en">lava tube</a>, we bet you&rsquo;ll want to snoop around inside one now that you know it&rsquo;s possible on S&atilde;o Miguel Island.
We&rsquo;d also recommend&nbsp;<a href="https://www.winetraveler.com/portugal/azores-islands/">visiting a local winery</a>&nbsp;or two - just for science, of course. Despite the extreme growing conditions out there in the middle of the Atlantic, wine has been made there for hundreds of years.
<h2 id="c">Costa Rica</h2>

Temperatures&nbsp;- 16-27 &deg;C in January - March, depending on the area
Why should I visit? Sorry to be clich&eacute;d, but there genuinely is something for everyone in Costa Rica. Sun, sea, surf, and sand? Check. Mountains, rainforests, volcanoes, and lakes? Check. Colourful birdlife, howling monkeys, and <a href="https://www.slothconservation.org/blog/with-a-little-help-from-my-friends-sloths-moths-and-algae">green-tinged sloths</a>? Also check.
Plus, the Jack's team is&nbsp;obsessed&nbsp;with <a href="https://puravidamoms.com/what-is-salsa-lizano-from-costa-rica/">Lizano Salsa</a>!

&ldquo;We enjoyed Costa Rica this past January, although we only stayed in Tamarindo for a week. If we had more time we would travel to other areas in Costa Rica. In January, we had little rain if any and it was hot. Perfect time to go on boat cruises and lounge around the pool.&rdquo; - Sharrie

Temperatures&nbsp;- 32-34 &deg;C in January - March
Why should I visit?&nbsp;- For one thing, the people of Gambia are famously friendly, earning it the nickname &ldquo;The Smiling Coast of Africa&rdquo; (okay, that may have something to do with the&nbsp;<a href="https://face2faceafrica.com/article/ever-wondered-why-the-gambia-is-called-the-smiling-coast-heres-why">shape of the country</a>, too).
Despite being reliant on tourism, the country&rsquo;s&nbsp;<a href="https://www.gambia.co.uk/blog/a-beach-lovers-paradise">beaches remain uncrowded</a>, and you don&rsquo;t have to hike for hours to find a secluded spot. You can have all the luxury of a Caribbean resort for much less. Then again, it&rsquo;s easy to immerse yourself in local life by staying in&nbsp;eco lodges&nbsp;and hitting non-touristy spots like Tanji, with its <a href="https://www.mewithmysuitcase.com/2022/09/tanji-fish-market.html">fish markets</a>.
Word to the wise: if you&rsquo;re not into fish guts and strong aromas, sit this one out.
<h2>Cape Town</h2>

Temperatures&nbsp;- 25-29 &deg;C in November - March
Why should I visit?&nbsp;

&ldquo;It has everything. We used to spend three months there for many years. Cape Town has masses of things to do apart from 1000 wine estates to visit. Then there are amazing safaris to go on. The food and wine scene is fantastic.&rdquo; - Christine

Oh, and the <a href="https://onegirlwholeworld.com/africa/boulders-beach-foxy-beach-penguins-south-africa/">tiny penguins</a>, obviously!
<h2 id="s">South East Asia</h2>

Temperatures&nbsp;- 15-30 &deg;C in November - March
Why should I visit? Okay, okay, we know this is a whole region, but we find it hard to pick just one spot. Northern regions of Thailand, Laos, and Vietnam will offer cooler jungle vibes, while central areas will be a little warmer, just right for checking out some temples. And then there are the coastal spots, and all those famous Thai beaches.&nbsp;
If we had to choose, we'd say: don't! Take your time, and work in some winter sun on the beach as well as the jungle fun.

&ldquo;Thai beaches are always a good idea, especially in January. It certainly isn't the rainy season in, e.g., Phuket then! Koh Lanta and other nearby islands, plus beaches North of the airport, have a slower pace than the racier party beaches in the South, near Phuket town. Or for cheaper, more developing options: Cambodia or Vietnam.&rdquo; - Catherine
<hr>
"Asia is a very good option to spend January in! Countries like Vietnam (the only one I have been to Asia so far, which I absolutely loved), Thailand, Indonesia, the Philippines, see temperatures around 30C which can make it appropriate for swimming! The other perk of Asia compared to other areas in the world is it's cheap!"&nbsp;- Marilena

There you have it, readers - our top suggestions for trips to wash away the winter blues.
Where's your favourite winter sun destination? Let us know in the comments!

Jack's Top Winter Sun Destinations

Some winters are best seen in motion, and Switzerland&rsquo;s panoramic train promises just that.
Winter. My spirit does not gleefully jump at the fading light, soggy gloves, and single-digit temperatures on either side of zero.
Nor does it dance with the bare-naked trees when I picture gusts of tiny needles hitting my face. Or the sting of the cold in my ears that haunts me long after I&rsquo;ve slammed the door to the frozen world outside.&nbsp;
Yet for every scratchy woolen layer, stiff finger, and runny nose, there exists a winter worth savoring. The one from the warmth of a window.&nbsp;

With 360 panoramic windows, it&rsquo;s a photographer&rsquo;s dream, though you&rsquo;ll want one hand free for a glass of champagne and the extravagant meals provided onboard.&nbsp;
Chugging through alabaster valleys, alpine villages, and towering mountains, the journey takes eight hours to complete.&nbsp;

With the Matterhorn hidden in the early morning haze, we depart Zermatt. This time of day is quieter&mdash;most groups choose to catch the later train.

Pine forests and pastures peel back in slow motion, revealing wooden hamlets and steeples tucked into the valley below.
The staff on board tell me that the Glacier Express wasn't always luxurious. It launched in 1930, and originally it was a mixed-use mountain train, hauling milk, mail, and livestock along with passengers. Back then, the journey used to require swapping locomotives&mdash;steam here, electric there&mdash;so early passengers had to wait while the locomotives were changed multiple times.&nbsp;

For a moment, I watched my reflection blend into the snow outside, like winter was trying to borrow me for a second.&nbsp;

Inside, the carriage felt like a cocoon: warm air hissing through the vents, windows fogging then clearing with every shift in altitude. I spotted someone two rows up wrapping their hands around a warm mug.
An elderly couple to the left were speaking about the construction of the route; entire teams lived in alpine huts for months, blasting through rock metre by metre with picks and dynamite.&nbsp;

The train slowed just enough for passengers to wander toward the space between carriages, the unofficial photo spot where the windows opened. Winter rushes in, threatening to color our cheeks rosy.

Chugging forward, a flurry of snow and sepia welcomes us into a world of monochrome. Frozen tundras, powdered hills, and just a hint of alpine blue.
I find myself wondering how many travellers before me stared out this same window, spiralling into their own frost-fed musings. If you bottled every mid-winter epiphany that's happened on this train, I bet you could probably power a whole extra carriage.

From behind the warm glass, watching this lone skier felt almost intimate. A small figure moving with a kind of stubborn calm.&nbsp;

What struck me the most was the contrast. Inside the carriage, my world hummed along effortlessly. Outside, someone was earning every metre with breath, sweat, and muscle. Two different winters unfolding at once, separated only by a sheet of glass.&nbsp;

<h2 id="if-you-go-a-few-glacier-express-notes-worth-tucking-away">Essential Tips For Your Glacier Express Trip</h2>

Seats book out early - and they&rsquo;re mandatory
The Glacier Express requires a paid seat reservation&nbsp;on top of your rail pass or ticket. Reservations open about three months ahead, and winter departures fill quickly (especially window seats in panoramic cars).
You can get your ticket and seat reservations at a steep discount by <a href="https://www.seat61.com/trains-and-routes/glacier-express.htm#fares:~:text=First%20some%20explanation.%C2%A0%20Listen%20up%2C%20I%27m%20going%20to%20save%20you%20some%20money.">following the instructions here</a>. Tested it myself!

Light and views change with direction
If you&rsquo;re heading&nbsp;Zermatt to St. Moritz, the right-hand side gets the soft morning light and wider views approaching the Oberalp Pass. Going the opposite way, flip that.
Winter = warm carriages, cold glass
The sun turns the panoramic cars into a cozy greenhouse. Wear layers you can shed, and bring a microfiber cloth &mdash; fingerprints and mist gather on the glass faster than you&rsquo;d think.
Meals are served in 1st &amp; 2nd class. Food is freshly prepared onboard and served at your seat. Both 1st and 2nd class passengers can buy meals on board (or pre-order if you&rsquo;re picky), but feel free to bring snacks if you&rsquo;d rather nibble. Payments on board are card only.&nbsp;
The vestibule windows open
At certain slow sections, the little space between carriages becomes the unofficial photography spot. The windows open there &mdash; perfect for a breath of fresh air without stepping into a blizzard. Some Swiss passengers got angry at me when I stuck my head out the window to take pictures, but the train crew confirmed it was okay. Watch out for tunnels, though; I almost got decapitated... twice.&nbsp;
The route has a rhythm
The Oberalp Pass is the showstopper, but the descent into Andermatt and the clustered villages afterward are just as magical. Don&rsquo;t try to capture everything. Some scenes are better absorbed than saved.

Next up:&nbsp; I&rsquo;ll be swapping the Glacier Express for the Bernina, travelling from St. Moritz across the Alps to Tirano and continuing on to Milan.

Winter Through a Window: The Glacier Express in 15 frames

Ireland

Canada

United Kingdom

Hey there, Travellers,
My friend Rachel was recently telling me about her alter ego, Airport Rachel. Airport Rachel and Everyday Rachel are not the same person; one is caring, patient, and up for a laugh, the other has no time for your nonsense, and will see you at the gate.&nbsp;
And she's not alone. Those of us who regularly navigate airports on our own have our system worked out, and throwing someone you care about into the mix might not be the fun start to a trip that you'd hope for.&nbsp;
Enter: <a href="https://www.thetimes.com/travel/inspiration/comment-inspiration/airport-divorce-travel-trend-huw-oliver-7jgs8kncs">the airport divorce</a>. A temporary parting of ways in an overstimulating environment that's often full of people you might perceive as utterly bonkers.
What do you think? Is an airport divorce the secret to happy transit? Or do you have another trick to calm the turbulence before you take off? <a href="https://members.jacksflightclub.com/articles/detour-212-sale-predictions-travel-blunders#comments">Let us know in the comments</a>.
Happy travels and safe landings,

Over the past few years, airlines have been dropping sales left, right, and center as that pandemic hangover has worn off and travel numbers have soared to pre-2020 levels and beyond. But, are these sales actually worth it?&nbsp;
We&rsquo;ve rounded up the best Black Friday deals from the most popular airlines we&rsquo;ve seen in the past, to shed some light on what you can expect from this year&rsquo;s sales.
Round-trip flights to Europe under $300, Tahiti at $644 including a checked bag, and five-star flights to Osaka at $690 only scratched the surface of Black Friday deals we've found from across the United States.
Since demand has remained high in the years since the pandemic, it&rsquo;s highly likely that prices might be a smidge higher across the board than a few years back. We&rsquo;re keeping our fingers and toes crossed that 2025 will be another year of (good) surprises!&nbsp;
<img src="https://cdn.jacksflightclub.com/id/e3235eb3eee4b5ad8ff76d7b46cdbccd250b74da" width="524" height="315" style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;">
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<h2 id="h_7267660882881698760985610">Southwest Airlines</h2>
Free bags, open seating, and a generous change policy once made Southwest our favorite &ldquo;no-frills&rdquo; airline, hands down. But a lot has changed over the past year, and they've recently embraced the same cost-cutting methods used by other low-cost carriers, putting an end to the generous policies they were known for. Free checked bags, we hardly knew ye!
Their Black Friday sales have traditionally focused on domestic trips under 100 buckaroos, but anything goes with the new Southwest.
<h4>What we expect in 2025</h4>
Southwest has ignored Black Friday in favor of Cyber Monday for the last four years, and we expect that to continue. They're not the only ones, either&mdash;we saw an overall shift to Cyber Monday in 2024. But hey, as long as the sales are good, it's all the same to us!
We figure Southwest's sales are likely to go in one of two directions this year. Either they'll continue to cut costs and deliver some lackluster discounts, or they'll make up for the new lack of perks by slashing their fares even lower. Either way, they'll be the first place to look for domestic flights in 2025.
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<h2><img src="https://cdn.jacksflightclub.com/id/bb8231d8276f64dd3a212d3189f33458ffb83cfc" width="524" height="353" style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"></h2>
<h2 id="h_3436739416281698761090755">American Airlines</h2>
We had low expectations for American Airlines last year, after they completely skipped Black Friday in 2023. But they surprised us with some&nbsp;killer discounts this time around, landing at the top of 2024's nice list. Great job, guys!
American is the world&rsquo;s biggest airline and has the most robust network, so seeing them drop a BF sale is always a good thing. Especially as they usually tend to shy away from sales just like their friends at Delta, positioning their product on that more premium tier.
When they do offer sales, they typically focus on short-haul domestic routes. But American has an enormous international network with flights all over the globe, so there's always the chance for some top-tier fares to the rest of the world too.
<h4>What we expect in 2025</h4>
We're riding high on last year's great sale, so we have great expectations for American in 2025. We're guessing they'll probably focus on domestic routes again, especially since that's been a trend all this past year. But they might choose to leverage their global network and surprise us with some great international ones too.
We'll be keeping an eye on their Asian routes this time around&mdash;while American's reach is pretty limited in that part of the world, flights to Asia have been super popular in 2025. Could they be looking for a bigger slice of the transpacific pie?
<section id="turkish airlines">
<section id="avianca">
<section id="spirit airlines">
<img src="https://cdn.jacksflightclub.com/id/3fdb1ccf7e4d05669598ec646a11fba1c0c8a9f6" width="523" height="392" style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;">
<section id="alaska airlines">
<h2 id="h_68266749033301698761151853">Alaska Airlines</h2>
Alaska has had a big year since last Black Friday, completing a merger with Hawaiian Airlines and solidifying themselves as the premier carrier for the western US. They've also turned their eyes to Asia, launching new non-stop flights from Seattle to Tokyo, with a Seoul route coming in September.&nbsp;
An Alaska Black Friday sale is almost a certainty - they absolutely love doling out discounted fares across their domestic and regional routes every holiday season.
<h4>What we expect in 2025</h4>
Alaska is one of the most consistent US airlines when it comes to Black Friday sales, so we're expecting the same from them yet again. We're sure to see some really terrific discounts on domestic routes, including to rarer spots like Bozeman or Redmond.
There's also the possibility of better deals on flights across the Pacific this year, falling in line with yearly trends and Alaska's new focus on Asian travel. Could this be the year we get crazy cheap fares to Tokyo?
<section id="sas airlines">
<a href="https://members.jacksflightclub.com/articles/black-friday-flight-deals-usa-what-to-expect-in-2025" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Read more Black Friday predictions for the US...</a>
</section>
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Black Friday Predictions

Over the past few years, airlines have been dropping sales left, right, and center as that pandemic hangover has worn off and travel numbers have soared to pre-2020 levels and beyond. But, are these sales actually worth it?&nbsp;
Canadian airline prices might be a bit higher than other markets, but there are still fantastic deals to be found. We&rsquo;re talking round-trip flights to Europe for under $400 RT, non-stop to Japan in the $600s RT, and&nbsp;five-star&nbsp;seats to Phuket for $894 RT &mdash; and that&rsquo;s just scratching the surface.
We&rsquo;ve rounded up the best Black Friday deals from the most popular airlines we&rsquo;ve seen in the past, to shed some light on what you can expect from this year&rsquo;s sales.
<h2 dir="ltr">Air Canada</h2>
On average, Air Canada&rsquo;s prices tend to be higher than the rest of the Canadian airlines, but with them comes better service and&nbsp;usually a cushier flying experience.&nbsp;
Unfortunately, as of January 2025, they&rsquo;ve nixed the free carry-on for their lowest short-haul fares. But they&rsquo;re still the largest airline in the country, and have an extensive flight network around the world. Plus, they offer nice amenities like seat-back entertainment and a focus on comfort.
We frequently see minor sales on routes within Canada and the US, but they also offer some bigger, rarer sales to Europe and Central/South America too.&nbsp;
<h4>What we expect in 2025</h4>
Air Canada left us hanging last Black Friday. Their 2024 sale was pretty underwhelming, and honestly, we&rsquo;re bracing for a repeat this year.
But don&rsquo;t despair just yet! In the past, Air Canada has come through with better discounts on both Cyber Monday and Boxing Day &mdash; and we think that&rsquo;s where the best deals will be again this year. So, if you&rsquo;re hoping to snag a bargain, keep your eyes peeled for those sales instead.
<img src="https://cdn.jacksflightclub.com/id/9afb0063c1a1e892b7a2153c532345b47cafbf35" width="526" height="351" style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;">
<h2 dir="ltr">WestJet</h2>
Another Canadian favourite, WestJet also has an extensive flight network. Although we don&rsquo;t see quite the same level of coverage as their big brother Air Canada, their consistently lower fares are good enough. Similarly to Air Canada, they don&rsquo;t offer a free carry-on for their lowest fares unless you&rsquo;re flying to Europe or Asia.&nbsp;
You&rsquo;ll see consistent &ldquo;sales&rdquo; throughout the year, but the biggest ones tend to be Cyber Monday, Boxing Day and random September sales (don&rsquo;t ask us why). The sales tend to be best for Canadian destinations, so don&rsquo;t expect to find any dramatic deals for the rest of the world.&nbsp;
<h4>What we expect in 2025</h4>
WestJet knows how to throw a <s>party</s> sale. It might not have been the widest-ranging collection of destinations, but we did see their lowest prices of 2024 last Black Friday. That being said, we didn't get a random September sale this year, so fingers crossed that means they're going to toss it all into one massive BF extravaganza!&nbsp;
Whatever they decide to do for Black Friday, we expect to see the absolute best deals on Cyber Monday again.&nbsp;
<a id="alaska-airlines" style="position: relative; top: -100px; display: block;"></a>
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<h2 dir="ltr">ZIPAIR Tokyo</h2>
Not to beat this dead horse, but if Flair is the Flair of Canada, and Arajet is the Flair of South America, then ZIPAIR must be is the Flair of&hellip; ok, you get it.&nbsp;
ZIPAIR is a low-cost Japanese airline connecting Canada to Asia (just Tokyo). Although it is no-frills, they offer free in-flight entertainment and, shockingly, free wifi too! Even with consistently low prices,&nbsp; from time to time they offer sales with really low prices, so it&rsquo;s definitely worth holding out.&nbsp;
<h4>Last year</h4>
2024: Their Black Friday sale saw non-stop routes to Tokyo at $678 RT. They were the lowest prices of the year, so well worth the wait!
<h4>What we expect in 2025</h4>
ZIPAIR keeps things simple with its Vancouver&ndash;Tokyo route, but that&rsquo;s exactly what makes this one to watch for Black Friday. Demand for Japan trips is sky-high right now, and ZIPAIR consistently offers some of the lowest fares you&rsquo;ll find. 
We expect a solid BF sale, including the cheapest ways to get to Tokyo this winter &mdash; perfect for anyone itching for sushi, ramen, and neon lights!
<a href="https://members.jacksflightclub.com/articles/black-friday-canada-airline-flight-sales-what-to-expect" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Read more Black Friday Predictions for Canada...</a>

Black Friday and Cyber Monday are on their way once again&hellip; but is it all hype, or do airlines really make it worth the wait?
Last year, we saw a higher concentration of sales during the actual week of Black Friday. This differed to previous years when we noticed the first &lsquo;Black Friday&rsquo; sales pop up much earlier in the month.&nbsp;
For the first time, there were even a few airlines who, despite announcing a sale on or around Black Friday, attempted to distance themselves from the label of &lsquo;Black Friday&rsquo;&mdash;yet they still held a sale. Go figure! Maybe they wanted to try to stand out from the crowd?&nbsp;
We also noticed a decline in the &lsquo;one and done&rsquo; type of sale, with many airlines advertising multiple sales over the period, or even a different sale every day in the lead up to Friday. You can probably expect to see this again in 2025.
Read on to find out what kind of flight deals we&rsquo;ve seen in past Black Friday sales, and see more of our predictions for what to expect in 2025.
<h2 id="aer-lingus">Aer Lingus</h2>
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Ireland&rsquo;s airline isn&rsquo;t just for trips from Ireland. Their connecting flights to airports across the UK make them a compelling way to fly to the US &amp; Canada, especially thanks to the <a href="https://www.dublinairport.com/flight-information/travelling-to-usa/usa-preclearance/us-customs-and-border-protection-video">security preclearance in Dublin</a>.
They&rsquo;ve focussed their Black Friday sales mainly on their routes to the US, Canada, and the Caribbean over the past few years.
Considering they&rsquo;ve previously been one of the earliest to announce their BF sale, we were a little surprised they held off until 3 days before Black Friday last year. Along with plenty of long/short hauls from Ireland, their non-stop route from Manchester to Barbados was a standout.
<h4 dir="ltr">What to expect in 2025</h4>
In 2023 they launched early, in 2024 they launched (relatively) late, so maybe this year they'll go back to being early birds? They were one of the first airlines to announce their end of summer sale this year, so maybe that's a sign.
And speaking of summer sales, their Black Friday offering last year was essentially a re-branded version of what they'd previously offered at the end of August. So if you want a hint at what you'll be seeing this time around, it'll likely be <a href="https://members.jacksflightclub.com/tip/europe-canada-barbados-and-the-us-in-60s-520s60s-390s-rtn?utm_source=JFC-Deals&amp;utm_medium=share&amp;utm_campaign=%5BJFC%5D-deal-sharing&amp;utm_content=deal">similar to this</a>.&nbsp;
<h2 id="british-airways">British Airways</h2>
<img height="81" src="https://cdn.jacksflightclub.com/id/ac825bb482c6b11664c3733095f8ec020af8af09" width="518" style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;">
If you live in the UK, and especially if you live in London, the British Airways sale is always one to watch out for. They fly to pretty much everywhere you&rsquo;re interested in travelling to.
If you&rsquo;re looking to go to any major US or Canadian city or to one of their many Caribbean island destinations, their Black Friday sale is likely a good time to book, too.
They usually have sales at the end of August and from Boxing Day on, but British Airways jumped into the Black Friday game properly in 2018 to bridge the gap between their main sale seasons.
Last year, the main bulk of the UK sale was made up of short-haul flights, with the unexpected exception of a pleasantly cheap route from Newcastle to Boston. Discounts from mainland Europe seemed a little more diverse, but still very USA-heavy. The stand-outs were a sprinkling of India and Mexico.
<h4>What to expect in 2025</h4>
British Airways holding a Black Friday sale is definitely something you can count on. Bagging an actually decent bargain, on the other hand, now that's a different story.
While you can safely assume to see reductions on their short-hauls across Europe, and long-hauls (mostly focused across the USA &amp; India), the prices appear to be getting increasingly underwhelming with every sale.
That being said, last year they just about pipped Virgin Atlantic to the post with a slightly stronger sale offering &mdash; a winning title they held on to during the battle of the end of summer sales. So, if we had to put our faith in one of the two airlines this Black Friday, it'd still be BA.
<h2 class="MuiTypography-root MuiTypography-h2 mui-lqgaod" id="sas">SAS</h2>
<img height="290" src="https://cdn.jacksflightclub.com/id/6d284f748a3cb43854bfd2cf057525ad5e2bba71" width="515" style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;">
While 2023 was all about business class, 2024 was all about short-haul economy.
But what really made SAS stand apart from the other Scandi airline sales were the routes on offer. We don&rsquo;t often see spots like Lule&aring; (AKA Swedish Lapland) and S&auml;len go cheap from the UK. Plus, they came with a huge span of dates up until June.
Don&rsquo;t forget that SAS has a pretty decent year-round&nbsp;<a class="MuiTypography-root MuiTypography-inherit MuiLink-root MuiLink-underlineAlways mui-1broqmw" href="https://www.flysas.com/en/sas-young/">youth discount scheme</a>, offering at least 10% off all economy fares for anyone under the age of 26.
<h4 class="MuiTypography-root MuiTypography-h4 mui-1nst6g4">What to expect in 2025</h4>
Honestly if we could have a mix of the previous two years, with long-haul, short-haul, economy, and business, that'd be great!&nbsp;
SAS often delivers on cheap US flights, from Scandinavia in particular, but judging by what we've seen this year, we'll also be keeping an eye out for some bargain fares to Svalbard, and maybe some routes to Asia too.
<a href="https://members.jacksflightclub.com/articles/black-friday-uk-ireland-airline-flight-sales-what-to-expect">Read more Black Friday predictions for the UK and Europe...</a>

Travel Mistakes We'll&nbsp;(Hopefully)&nbsp;Never Make Again

We&rsquo;ve all been there. Wide-eyed, in a foreign land, full of glee. You no longer feel the sharp ache of life&rsquo;s shackles, those burdens feel a million miles away. The butterflies in your stomach remind you that you&rsquo;re on your path. You&rsquo;re doing you. You&rsquo;re alive!
And damn, is that not the most intoxicating feeling? That's what travel is about.
But then there are those moments in travel that we don't always talk about, when those butterflies suddenly turn into a giant pit.
Missed flights, forgotten passports, ten years on a secondary security screening list&hellip; Our members and the team at Jack&rsquo;s recently shared those travel mishaps they hope never to repeat. And honestly, some of these are a masterclass in exactly what&nbsp;not to do.&nbsp;
Except our Editor, Katy, that is. When asked, she simply said:&nbsp;&ldquo;I&rsquo;m really a very good traveller, so not much stupidity to offer.&rdquo; An admirable stance. A suspicious one, but admirable&hellip;
Here are some of our favorites (and a handful of lessons we&rsquo;ve learned right alongside you).
<h3 id="from-bali-to-frostbite">From Bali to&hellip; Frostbite?</h3>

&ldquo;When our visa for Indonesia couldn&rsquo;t be extended, I booked a week in Shanghai in February. While it was 25&deg;C in Indonesia, we arrived in Shanghai to 0&deg;C and frost!
Also, it was Chinese New Year &mdash; everything closed, no food stalls, not even local eateries. We made the best of it and booked tourist excursions until we could go back to Indonesia.&rdquo; - Elisabeth

Going from beach vibes to freezing winds wasn&rsquo;t quite the mid-trip refresh Elisabeth had in mind&mdash;but hey, at least she got to experience a very different side of Asia - sans dumplings.&nbsp;
Our takeaway: Always check the weather and the national holidays before booking that spontaneous side trip.
<h3 dir="ltr" id="never-again-gambia">Never again - Gambia.</h3>

&ldquo;Never go to Gambia ever again - rubbish on beaches, sea too rough to swim in, and constant harassment by locals asking for money.&rdquo; - Kaminee

Our takeaway: Sometimes a destination just doesn&rsquo;t click - and that&rsquo;s okay. Not every beach is a paradise, and if you&rsquo;re looking for just a quick sun holiday with your creature comforts, there might be better places. But we wouldn&rsquo;t write off Gambia just yet. 
Where the country shines is in the interior and&nbsp;<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vejPcqNLmHc">on its river</a>. Take a journey upriver, either as a day trip or a multi-day excursion, and you'll have the opportunity to learn more about the true Gambian lifestyle.
Whether that&rsquo;s spotting&nbsp;<a href="https://perchancetoroam.com/2025/05/10/chimpanzee-spotting-and-other-cool-things-to-do-in-river-gambia-national-park/">chimpanzees</a>, cruising along the Bao Bolong Reserve, or visiting <a href="https://perchancetoroam.com/2025/05/24/visiting-wassu-kerr-batch-and-other-megalithic-stone-circles-in-the-gambia/">megalithic stone circles</a> and traditional villages, can you really say you&rsquo;ve seen Gambia without venturing into its interior?
<h3 id="overpackers-anonymous">Overpackers Anonymous</h3>

&ldquo;Taking too many things on our trip to North and Central America meant we had to take an extra hold bag. Costing &pound;70&ndash;&pound;110 each flight we took!&rdquo; - Albert&nbsp;

That &ldquo;just in case&rdquo; sweater and 10 more pairs of underwear? Not worth a hundred quid per flight.&nbsp;
Our takeaway: Give our genius <a href="https://members.jacksflightclub.com/articles/one-bag-packing-hacks-to-change-the-way-you-travel">one-bag packing hacks</a> a read - non-negotiable.
<h3 dir="ltr" id="leaving-the-hotel-and-forgetting-where-it-was">Leaving the hotel... and forgetting where it was</h3>

&ldquo;This is basic, but leaving the hotel in a foreign country and not remembering its name or address so you can get back to it.&rdquo; - Robin&nbsp;

Our takeaways: A quick photo of the entrance (or a pin on Google Maps) can save you an embarrassing game of charades with taxi drivers.
<a href="https://members.jacksflightclub.com/articles/travel-mistakes-well--never-make-again">Keep reading...</a>

All the important (or silly, or strange) travel news from across web this week.
<ul>
<li>Thailand may be known as a party destination, but don't get tripped up by their <a href="https://www.independent.co.uk/travel/news-and-advice/thailand-alcohol-ban-drinking-fine-b2863488.html">new drinking rules</a> next time you visit. </li>
<li>If Saudi's recent push for tourists has put it on your radar, the country's <a href="https://www.experiencealula.com/en/places-to-go/hegra">first UNESCO World Heritage Site</a> should be firmly at the top of your to-visit list. </li>
<li>Level up your festive European trip with <a href="https://www.timeout.com/europe/travel/best-winter-train-journeys-in-europe">these wintry train journeys</a> beautiful enough to bring a tear to a glass eye. </li>
<li>And finally, most of us have wondered what it would be like to just sack it all in and hit the dusty trail. But very few of us have ever gone right ahead and done it. <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2025/nov/09/hike-continental-great-divide-trail">Here's what happened</a> when one intrepid adventurer spent 5 months walking over 3,500 miles from Mexico to Canada. No mention of how many Compeed she went through, we notice...</li>
</ul>

Our 2025 Flight Sales Predictions & Biggest Travel Blunders

We&rsquo;ve all been there. Wide-eyed, in a foreign land, full of glee. You no longer feel the sharp ache of life&rsquo;s shackles, those burdens feel a million miles away. The butterflies in your stomach remind you that you&rsquo;re on your path. You&rsquo;re doing you. You&rsquo;re alive!
And damn, is that not the most intoxicating feeling? That's what travel is about.
But then there are those moments in travel that we don't always talk about, when those butterflies suddenly turn into a giant pit.
Missed flights, forgotten passports, ten years on a secondary security screening list&hellip; Our members and the team at Jack&rsquo;s recently shared those travel mishaps they hope never to repeat. And honestly, some of these are a masterclass in exactly what&nbsp;not to do.&nbsp;
Except our Editor, Katy, that is. When asked, she simply said:&nbsp;&ldquo;I&rsquo;m really a very good traveller, so not much stupidity to offer.&rdquo; An admirable stance. A suspicious one, but admirable&hellip;
Here are some of our favorites (and a handful of lessons we&rsquo;ve learned right alongside you).

<h3>From Bali to&hellip; Frostbite?</h3>

Going from beach vibes to freezing winds wasn&rsquo;t quite the mid-trip refresh Elisabeth had in mind&mdash;but hey, at least she got to experience a very different side of Asia - sans dumplings.&nbsp;
Our takeaway: Always check the weather and the national holidays before booking that spontaneous side trip.

<h3 dir="ltr">Never again - Gambia.</h3>

Our takeaway: Sometimes a destination just doesn&rsquo;t click - and that&rsquo;s okay. Not every beach is a paradise, and if you&rsquo;re looking for just a quick sun holiday with your creature comforts, there might be better places. But we wouldn&rsquo;t write off Gambia just yet. 
Where the country shines is in the interior and&nbsp;<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vejPcqNLmHc">on its river</a>. Take a journey upriver, either as a day trip or a multi-day excursion, and you'll have the opportunity to learn more about the true Gambian lifestyle.
Whether that&rsquo;s spotting&nbsp;<a href="https://perchancetoroam.com/2025/05/10/chimpanzee-spotting-and-other-cool-things-to-do-in-river-gambia-national-park/">chimpanzees</a>, cruising along the Bao Bolong Reserve, or visiting <a href="https://perchancetoroam.com/2025/05/24/visiting-wassu-kerr-batch-and-other-megalithic-stone-circles-in-the-gambia/">megalithic stone circles</a> and traditional villages, can you really say you&rsquo;ve seen Gambia without venturing into its interior?
<h3 id="mardi-nah">Mardi... Nah</h3>

&ldquo;Going to New Orleans during Mardi Gras. What a dump! It&rsquo;s a dirty city, and Mardi Gras brings out the worst. Nowhere really felt safe at night, even the supposedly &lsquo;safe&rsquo; areas. I have never seen so many drunk people and vomit as I saw in the French Quarter. Horrific&rdquo;- Adrian&nbsp;

Adrian&rsquo;s short and brutal review of one of the world&rsquo;s most famous festivals says it all. Not every big event is worth the crowds - or the vomit on your shoes.
Our takeaway:&nbsp;If you do plan to visit New Orleans during Mardi Gras, <a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/NewOrleans/wiki/index/mardi_gras/">this Reddit guide</a> is packed with tips.&nbsp;

That &ldquo;just in case&rdquo; sweater and 10 more pairs of underwear? Not worth a hundred quid per flight.&nbsp;
Our takeaway: Give our genius <a href="https://members.jacksflightclub.com/articles/one-bag-packing-hacks-to-change-the-way-you-travel">one-bag packing hacks</a> a read - non-negotiable.

<h3 dir="ltr">Leaving the hotel... and forgetting where it was</h3>

Our takeaways: A quick photo of the entrance (or a pin on Google Maps) can save you an embarrassing game of charades with taxi drivers.
<h2 dir="ltr" id="team-jfc-confessions">Jack's Team Confessions</h2>

<h3 id="fleeing-to-the-jungle-peak-pandemic">Fleeing to The Jungle Peak Pandemic</h3>

&ldquo;Worst travel mistake by far was trying to navigate international borders mid-pandemic to avoid lockdowns. With all my belongings and two kittens in tow, I left Slovenia, aiming for Costa Rica.
What should&rsquo;ve been a simple one-stop flight turned into a four-day odyssey through Italy and Spain thanks to sudden border closures. In total: six trains, two planes, two overnight stays, and a seven-hour hitchhike into the jungle.
Just before my final flight, I realized I&rsquo;d forgotten to provide proof of onward travel - so there I was, in the boarding line, frantically booking a random cheap ticket to Guatemala just to save my butt.
By the end, we&rsquo;d lost &euro;600 in flights (thanks to an OTA that refused reimbursement after Austria closed its borders), one laptop at the side of the road, one pet passport, one shoe, and,&nbsp;if we&rsquo;re counting, a good chunk of my sanity.&rdquo; - Kash, Community &amp; Content&nbsp;

Our takeaway: Still processing this one.&nbsp;
<h3 dir="ltr" id="the-long-way-round">The Long Way Round</h3>

&ldquo;I once flew to Sri Lanka, doing 4 flights total because it was cheap. I got&nbsp;charged &pound;50 on two flights for oversized bags, then &pound;120 in Saudi Arabia for a visa during a 3-hour layover. Ended up costing more than flying direct and took 30 hours longer.&rdquo; - Ian, Marketing

The thrill of a &ldquo;bargain&rdquo; flight can quickly fade somewhere around hour 4454545353 of travel and &pound;200 in hidden fees. Yuck. 
Our takeaway: Sometimes the more expensive ticket is the cheapest one in the end. Do a bit of digging before pulling the trigger on booking that dirt-cheap flight.

<h3 dir="ltr">A Taxing Arrival</h3>

&ldquo;Landing in Egypt without pre-organized transport or a working e-sim. I thought I&rsquo;d just book an Uber on airport Wi-Fi - NOPE. Suddenly I was surrounded by 15 men shouting for my fare. I agreed on a price, got in, and the driver sped off while demanding more money. Somehow, I arrived alive.&rdquo; - Lauren, Flights &amp; Socials
<hr>
&ldquo;Outside Dar es Salaam airport, every Bolt driver kept cancelling. We ended up sharing taxis with other Jack's members heading to the Zanzibar dock. When we finally found our &lsquo;driver&rsquo; in Zanzibar, he&rsquo;d paid a six-year-old to hold our name sign while he sat in the shade up the street.&rdquo;- Robyn, Marketing

Our takeaway: Pre-arranging your first ride may not be the cheapest option, but it will likely pay off in comfort and sanity.
<h3 dir="ltr" id="ten-years-on-a-list">Ten Years on a List</h3>

&ldquo;I was flying from Singapore to Canada with a layover in the US. I checked something legal in both countries, forgetting it wasn&rsquo;t legal in between. Got written up and put on a list for ten years.&rdquo; - Kristi, Flights Lead Canada

Our takeaway: Legal in one place doesn&rsquo;t mean legal mid-transit; do your research, friend.&nbsp;
So now you know our regrettable travel moments, it's only fair that you tell us yours! What's the number one thing you'll never do again while travelling? Let us know in the comments!

Travel Mistakes We'll Never Make Again

Everyone&rsquo;s heard of Los Angeles, which means you probably have some preconceived notions already. What do you picture? Movie sets? Palm trees? Sunshine? Traffic?&nbsp;
Well&hellip; you&rsquo;re not wrong, LA is all those things. But it&rsquo;s also&nbsp;big. Like really big. There&rsquo;s a lot more than the movies show, and seeing it all in a single trip is impossible.&nbsp;
Luckily, there&rsquo;s an army of Jack's Flight Club Navigators (including some former LA residents!) working around the clock to bring you the best tips and real-world info available. Rather than making you run a million Google searches, dig through a million blogs, and watch another million videos, we&rsquo;ve done all that for you, a million times over!&nbsp;
The result of all that work? This handy little guide with everything you need to know for a visit to the City of Angels, including sections on day trips, Hollywood, theme parks, getting around the city, and so much more.

Note: We&rsquo;re not affiliated with any of the outside links we use here &mdash; we recommend the sources we think are the best, not the highest bidders. You&rsquo;re getting our honest opinions, nothing more, nothing less.
So without further ado, here&rsquo;s your no-BS guide to visiting one of the biggest (and most daunting) cities in the US: Los Angeles.

<h2>Table of Contents</h2>
<ul>
<li><a href="#things_to_know">Things to Know Before You Go</a></li>
<li><a href="#getting_there">How to Get There</a></li>
<li><a href="#getting_around">Getting Around Town</a></li>
<li><a href="#food">What to Eat</a></li>
<li><a href="#things_to_do">Things to Do Around Town</a></li>
<li><a href="#day_trips">Day Trips from Los Angeles</a></li>
<li><a href="#events">Events in Los Angeles</a></li>
<li><a href="#resources">Recommended Resources</a></li>
</ul>

<h1 id="things_to_know" dir="ltr">Things to Know Before You Go</h1>
<h2 dir="ltr">Visas</h2>
Whether you need a visa to enter the United States depends on your country of citizenship. Visitors from <a href="https://travel.gc.ca/destinations/united-states">Canada</a> only need a passport for visits up to six months. If you&rsquo;re coming from the UK, most of the EU, or <a href="https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/us-visas/tourism-visit/visa-waiver-program.html">anywhere else that qualifies for the Visa Waiver Program</a>, you can skip the visa and fill out an <a href="https://esta.cbp.dhs.gov/esta">ESTA</a>.&nbsp;
The state of California and the city of Los Angeles have no local requirements for entry.
Visit the&nbsp;<a href="https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/us-visas/tourism-visit/visa-waiver-program.html">US State Department website</a> for more information.

<h2 dir="ltr">What to Bring</h2>
Los Angeles has warm, sunny weather year-round, so you&rsquo;ll want to pack lightweight clothes, sunglasses, and plenty of sunscreen. It never gets that cold, but the temperature does drop a bit in the evenings, so layers will definitely be your friend. If you&rsquo;re planning on hiking (and you should plan on hiking), bring comfortable shoes and a hat to keep the sun off your face. You won&rsquo;t find much natural shade in the desert.
You might want to bring a swimsuit, although a word of warning &mdash; the Pacific Ocean can be surprisingly cold if you&rsquo;re used to warmer shores, even in sunny SoCal.
If you forget anything important, you can likely find a replacement at any big box store like Walmart and Target.

<h2 dir="ltr">Internet and Cell Service</h2>
Wi-Fi is abundant in the city and can be used at most caf&eacute;s and restaurants. It&rsquo;s also the norm for all hotels, so remote workers should have no trouble <a href="https://dola.com/p/best-places-to-work-remotely-in-la">finding their oasis</a>.
SIM cards and eSIMS are also widely available.&nbsp;<a href="https://www.esim.net/guides/los-angeles-sim-card-guide/">This site</a> has everything you need to know about getting hooked up with mobile data.

<h2 dir="ltr">Travel Style</h2>
Los Angeles is big and varied enough to satisfy most travel goals. Family trip to Disney? Couple&rsquo;s vacation by the beach? Wellness retreat at a top-tier spa? Fulfilling childhood dreams of movie sets and shooting locations? You can do it all within a week!

While it&rsquo;s not the most budget-friendly city, you don&rsquo;t need to go all out with Beverly Hills luxury either&hellip; although it&rsquo;s always an option! Grab a hostel in hippie-friendly Venice for under $40 a night, or blow your savings on the $1000+ per night Ritzes and Waldorfs &mdash; we won&rsquo;t tell you how to spend your money.
What you won&rsquo;t find within the city itself is any real wilderness for a nature escape &mdash; but you can skip town for a day trip just a short drive away.

<h2 dir="ltr">Safety</h2>
Like any major city, LA has both safe and unsafe areas. Generally speaking, if you&rsquo;re there to see the major attractions and wander the most famous neighborhoods, you&rsquo;ll be pretty safe. Just follow the typical city advice (i.e., keep your wits about you and look out for pickpocketing) and if you drive, make sure all your possessions are hidden out of sight when you&rsquo;re parked.&nbsp;
This&nbsp;<a href="https://carriegreenzinn.com/is-la-safe/">article</a> breaks it all down nicely, with some general safety tips and the best neighborhoods to stay in.
It&rsquo;s also one of the safest cities in the country for LGBTQ+ folks and minorities. While every city has problems, the diversity of Los Angeles makes it safer for everyone. We&rsquo;ve found Reddit to be a good way of hearing what it&rsquo;s like on the ground there for locals, like&nbsp;<a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/AskLosAngeles/comments/ze4zk7/should_i_be_concerned_as_a_tourist_visiting_la/">this thread here</a>.
Solo female travelers should feel pretty safe too. You can expect the usual dangers that come with city travel, but there are so many women out alone that you&rsquo;re unlikely to draw much attention.

<h2 dir="ltr">DIY-ability</h2>
Since LA has everything you could possibly need at your fingertips, it&rsquo;s an easy place to plan your own trip. Just pick a neighborhood as your home base, and a primary mode of travel (rental car, metro, etc.), and you&rsquo;ll be on your way.
The only exception is if you can&rsquo;t or don&rsquo;t want to drive, but still really want to stretch out and explore the area outside the city. In that case, you&rsquo;ll likely need to book a tour to cover the whole area.

<h2 dir="ltr">Seasonality</h2>
You won&rsquo;t have to worry too much about this one! LA really doesn&rsquo;t have seasons. It can get a little sweaty in the summer (think mid-80s F/around 30 C) and there&rsquo;s occasional rain, but that&rsquo;s about it. Even in the dead of night, in the middle of winter, temps rarely drop below 40 F/ 4.5 C.
One concern is the crowds &mdash; since weather&rsquo;s not an issue, tourist season follows the holidays. Summer vacation and the winter holiday season are the busiest, especially at the theme parks and other major attractions. And if the beach is what drew you to LA, you might have to brave the summer crowds on the sunniest days.&nbsp;
The other main concern is fire. Officially, fire season is June-October, but they can happen at any time of year. However, it's not likely to ruin your trip. The January 2025 fires were an unusually catastrophic event for LA. Most fires occur far from tourism areas and are quickly controlled by the fire department. Nonetheless, they can affect air quality and traffic, and major firestorms are always possible.&nbsp;
For visits during late summer or fall, we&rsquo;d recommend booking accommodations with free cancellation, and making sure you have comprehensive travel insurance.

<h1 id="getting_there" dir="ltr">How To Get There</h1>
The vast majority of international flights to and from Los Angeles go through LAX, so you&rsquo;ll likely be landing there. If you&rsquo;re coming from Canada or Mexico, there&rsquo;s a chance you&rsquo;ll be landing in John Wayne Airport (SNA) instead, over in Orange County.
Most domestic flights also land in LAX, but a handful go through Hollywood Burbank (BUR) and Long Beach Airport (LGB) as well. It doesn&rsquo;t make a huge difference where you land, though &mdash; all of these airports are within an hour&rsquo;s drive of one another and close enough to the busiest tourist areas.

Here&rsquo;s what to expect from airfare to Los Angeles:
From within the USA
<ul>
<li dir="ltr" role="presentation">Expected average price range: $100-$250 RT</li>
<li dir="ltr" role="presentation">How many cheap flight alerts we&rsquo;d expect in a year: 8-10</li>
</ul>
From Canada
<ul>
<li dir="ltr" role="presentation">Expected average price range: $300-$500 RT</li>
<li dir="ltr" role="presentation">How many cheap flight alerts we&rsquo;d expect in a year: 6-8</li>
</ul>
From the UK
<ul>
<li dir="ltr" role="presentation">Expected average price range: &pound;350-&pound;550 RT</li>
<li dir="ltr" role="presentation">How many cheap flight alerts we&rsquo;d expect in a year: 5-6</li>
</ul>
From Europe
<ul>
<li dir="ltr" role="presentation">Expected average price range: &euro;500-&euro;700 RT</li>
<li dir="ltr" role="presentation">How many cheap flight alerts we&rsquo;d expect in a year: 5-6</li>
</ul>

Pro-Tip: There aren&rsquo;t a ton of train routes serving Los Angeles, but if you&rsquo;re coming from elsewhere in SoCal, then <a href="https://www.pacificsurfliner.com/">the Surfliner</a> is a solid option. You can also take a <a href="https://www.greyhound.com/bus/los-angeles-ca">Greyhound bus</a> from most cities in the US, although it won&rsquo;t be much cheaper than a domestic flight and take far longer.

<h1 id="getting_around">Getting Around Town</h1>
Walking isn&rsquo;t good for much in Los Angeles besides exploring individual neighborhoods &mdash; it&rsquo;s a sprawling city, where most of the sights are very far apart. Here are your options for getting around town:

<h2 dir="ltr">Public Transit</h2>
Despite being heavily car-centric, LA actually has a decent public transit system (by American standards) that can save you a lot of money and headaches. It&rsquo;s a great option if you just want to get a neighborhood or two over.
The two main services are the bus and the metro rail. Here&rsquo;s a&nbsp;<a href="https://www.metro.net/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/bus-rail-system-detail.pdf">super detailed map</a> of all the routes. Both buses and trains cost $1.75 per ride and include two hours of free transfers. Your payment options are cash, Apple Pay, a metro (TAP) card, or the <a href="https://www.taptogo.net/articles/en_US/Website_content/TAP-App">TAP app</a>.&nbsp;
We usually find the TAP cards to be the most convenient if you don&rsquo;t have an iPhone. These are prepaid metro cards that you can purchase from vending machines across the city, or at a&nbsp;<a href="https://www.bigbluebus.com/uploadedFiles/Content/Fares/TAPVendorDirectory_WEB_ENG.pdf">TAP vending location</a>. The card itself is $2, and you can load it with more money for fares.

<h2 dir="ltr">Driving</h2>
While transit can get you across town, a car is still the best way to cover long distances or take day trips.&nbsp;
A few words of caution before you put down that car rental deposit: driving in LA can be&hellip;&nbsp;intense. Traffic is frequently miserable, and rush hour often lasts from 2pm all the way to 8pm on weekdays. It also involves a lot of freeway driving, difficult/expensive parking, and road rage. If you&rsquo;re not used to driving very much, you probably won&rsquo;t enjoy LA&rsquo;s roads.

Another word of warning: since the traffic is so lousy, we recommend leaving plenty of extra travel time when you&rsquo;re making plans. A 15-mile drive could take you anywhere from 20 minutes to two hours, depending on the time of day.
You&rsquo;ll have numerous options for car rental agencies. Prices vary greatly depending on dates and location, but anything from $75-$150 per day is common. Note that the minimum age limit for US car rentals is 25 as standard, but most places will let you rent at 21 if you pay a higher premium. It&rsquo;s also common for agencies to solely accept credit cards (not debit).

<h2 dir="ltr">Rideshare, Taxi, and eBikes</h2>
Rideshare apps (e.g., Uber and Lyft) are usually cheaper than taxis in LA, but both options are readily available.&nbsp;
For shorter journeys, you might want to consider an ebike or escooter. These can be found scattered around the city, and you can grab any vehicle off the street by using the app associated with that brand. Note that these services require a valid driver&rsquo;s license.&nbsp;

<h1 id="food" dir="ltr">What to Eat</h1>
You can get any food in the world&nbsp;somewhere in Los Angeles, but there are a few cuisines the area is known for:
<ul>
<li dir="ltr" role="presentation">Mexican - There&rsquo;s so much Mexican food in LA that you can find every region represented. Here are a few <a href="https://www.latimes.com/food/story/2022-09-23/classic-mexican-restaurants-los-angeles-reader-favorites">local recs</a>, with La Casita Mexicana and Guelaguetza coming up regularly. If it&rsquo;s tacos you&rsquo;re after, you can get a good taste test with <a href="https://latacocrawl.net/">Angel&rsquo;s Taco Crawl</a>.</li>
<li dir="ltr" role="presentation">Korean - LA&rsquo;s Koreatown is obviously a hotbed for Korean food, especially KBBQ. You&rsquo;ve got dozens<a href="https://www.timeout.com/los-angeles/restaurants/best-korean-bbq-restaurants-in-los-angeles-koreatown"> of options</a>, but Park&rsquo;s BBQ and the <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n5Hr67IaraQ">BTS-approved</a> Aghassi Gopchang are frequent faves.</li>
<li dir="ltr" role="presentation">Vegetarian/Vegan - Plant-based food is also a <a href="https://www.timeout.com/los-angeles/restaurants/best-restaurants-in-los-angeles-las-best-vegetarian-friendly-restaurants">big cultural staple in LA</a>. You can find a vegetarian or vegan version of basically anything, making it a true veggie-lover&rsquo;s paradise. And be sure to try a locally beloved staple &mdash; smoothie bowls!</li>
<li>In n&rsquo; Out - California&rsquo;s most iconic fast food chain draws a lot of tourists who expect it to blow their minds, but that&rsquo;s just not the point. If you want fast food that&rsquo;s cheaper than McDonald&rsquo;s and ten times better, go to In n&rsquo; Out. If you want to shell out for a genuine top-notch burger, check out one of the thousands of independent burger joints in town.</li>
</ul>

<h1 id="things_to_do">Things to Do Around Town</h1>
<h2>Explore Hollywood</h2>
LA's most storied neighborhood is a pretty popular jumping-off point, so we'll start there! Here's a few things to do in Tinseltown:
<h3 dir="ltr">See a Movie</h3>
The bar is high for movie theaters in Los Angeles, and these are the best of the best. We&rsquo;re talking classic films, director Q&amp;As, and ruthless ushers &mdash; be prepared to get kicked out if you check your phone during the movie! We&rsquo;re also talking real film projectors for that warm color and gorgeous grainy texture, so unless noted otherwise, assume these screenings are all 35mm or 70mm film prints.
<ul>
<li dir="ltr" role="presentation">New Beverly Cinema - The New Beverly is a little cramped and there&rsquo;s only one screen, but the vintage posters and memorabilia on the walls send a clear message: this place is by movie nerds, for movie nerds. It should come as no surprise, then, that the theater is owned by Quentin Tarantino, the biggest nerd in Hollywood. Check out the schedule <a href="https://thenewbev.com/schedule/">here</a>.</li>
<li dir="ltr" role="presentation">Vista Theater Hollywood - Although it shares an owner with the New Beverly, the Vista has a more elegant atmosphere (and more legroom!). Keep an eye on the <a href="https://www.vistatheaterhollywood.com/">schedule</a> for Q&amp;As with your favorite directors or check out the summer-only <a href="https://www.vistatheaterhollywood.com/cinema-club/">Video Archives Cinema Club</a>, 20-person micro screenings of cheesy old genre films on VHS and 16mm.</li>
<li>Grauman&rsquo;s Egyptian Theatre - <a href="https://www.egyptiantheatre.com/">The Egyptian</a> is a piece of bona fide film history &mdash; it hosted the very first Hollywood movie premiere way back in 1922. If you happen to visit during one of their rare nitrate film festivals, try to score a ticket &mdash; this theater is one of only five on the planet that can still play nitrate-treated film reels from before the 1950s.</li>
</ul>

<h3 dir="ltr">Tour a Studio</h3>
If you&rsquo;ve ever wanted to see how entertainment sausage is made, a studio tour is a great way to take a peek behind the curtain. <a href="https://www.discoverlosangeles.com/things-to-do/go-behind-the-scenes-at-the-best-studio-tours-in-la">Here&rsquo;s a rundown</a> of the most popular tours, covering Universal, Warner Brothers, Paramount, and Sony Pictures.

<h3 dir="ltr">Filming Locations</h3>
You don&rsquo;t have to take a studio tour to step into the world of your favorite movies. Hollywood productions film scenes literally all over the city, so you can easily track down the shooting locations that interest you the most. <a href="https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/list/53-essential-l-a-filming-locations-how-many-have-you-visited">This guide</a> will get you started, although it&rsquo;s just scratching the surface.

<h2 dir="ltr">Check Out Some City Parks</h2>
There are over 600 city parks in Los Angeles, but we&rsquo;ve narrowed that list down to a few of our favorites:
<ul>
<li>Griffith Park - Home to the famous Griffith Observatory, Griffith Park is a little slice of wilderness in the heart of the Hollywood Hills. We could spend five pages just going over all the museums, hiking trails, and IG-worthy vistas in the park, but <a href="https://www.latimes.com/lifestyle/story/2020-09-04/beginner-guide-griffith-park">this guide</a> covers it all pretty well.</li>
</ul>

<ul>
<li dir="ltr" role="presentation">Barnsdall Art Park - Barnsdall looks like your typical city park&mdash;green grass &amp; shady trees&mdash; but the real attraction is the park&rsquo;s connection to LA&rsquo;s artistic community. There are a variety of gallery spaces, including the <a href="https://lamag.org/">Los Angeles Municipal Art Gallery</a>, artist studios, a theater, and one of Frank Lloyd Wright&rsquo;s <a href="https://www.barnsdall.org/hollyhock-house">earliest LA buildings</a>. Check <a href="https://www.barnsdall.org/events">their website</a> for a schedule of the park&rsquo;s famous summer wine tastings.</li>
<li>Echo Park Lake - Once a municipal reservoir, Echo Park Lake has been transformed into a gorgeous public park, with lotus flowers and palm trees set against a backdrop of the downtown LA skyline. For $13 an hour, you can rent a <a href="https://wheelfunrentals.com/ca/los-angeles/echo-park/">swan boat</a> and get out on the lake itself.</li>
</ul>

<h2 dir="ltr">Go Shopping</h2>
Shopping is practically a way of life in Los Angeles, and you know what they say &mdash; when in Los Angeles, do as the Angelenos do. You may already have heard of <a href="https://www.rodeodrive-bh.com/">Rodeo Drive</a>, where the movie stars and other millionaires shop, but here are a few spots we&rsquo;d recommend that aren&rsquo;t quite as pricey:
<ul>
<li dir="ltr" role="presentation">Jet Rag - If you love thrifting, you&rsquo;ve definitely come to the right place. Stop by on Sundays to take advantage of <a href="https://www.establishedcalifornia.com/estca/jet-rag-sundays">their weekly sale</a> (everything for a dollar!) but be prepared to battle it out with a ton of other deal hunters.</li>
<li dir="ltr" role="presentation">Melrose Ave - Melrose Ave isn&rsquo;t quite as hip as it used to be, but it&rsquo;s still an eclectic shopping stop with some of the best stores in the city. Check out <a href="https://www.discoverlosangeles.com/things-to-do/the-guide-to-melrose-avenue-west">this guide</a> for some tips on where to visit, or just start at the Santa Monica Boulevard cross-street and walk west on Melrose.</li>
<li dir="ltr" role="presentation">The Citadel - You might have seen outlet malls before, but never like this. Over 130 stores selling directly from manufacturers like Kate Spade and Armani, a full-service hotel, and a <a href="https://laist.com/shows/take-two/why-las-citadel-looks-like-an-ancient-assyrian-palace">massive facade complete with battlements</a>, all just a half-hour&rsquo;s drive away from Disneyland.</li>
<li>The Grove - Right in the heart of old Hollywood, the Grove is LA&rsquo;s over-the-top version of an outdoor mall. The regular stores are great, but make sure you check out the <a href="https://farmersmarketla.com/">Original Farmer&rsquo;s Market</a>, take a ride on the antique trolley, and snap a pic in front of the <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=taLLK4jKJZM">Dancing Fountain</a> too.</li>
</ul>

<h2 dir="ltr">Visit a Theme Park</h2>
If you&rsquo;re visiting SoCal (especially with kids), you&rsquo;ll most likely be spending at least one day at a theme park! Here&rsquo;s what you need to know about each of them:&nbsp;
<h3 dir="ltr"><a href="https://disneyland.disney.go.com/">Disneyland</a></h3>
The iconic park is located in Anaheim, around an hour from downtown LA. Its sister park, California Adventure, is right next door but requires a separate ticket (or park-hopper passes). It&rsquo;s no secret that this place is pricey. Single day, single park passes range from $104-$194. And that&rsquo;s just the entry fee &mdash;&nbsp;<a href="https://www.sfgate.com/disneyland/article/cost-disneyland-17801824.php">it doesn&rsquo;t end there</a>.

If those admission fees break your bank, you can get a small taste of Disney magic by wandering around <a href="https://www.wdw-magazine.com/downtown-disney/">Downtown Disney</a> for free instead.

<h3 dir="ltr"><a href="https://www.universalstudioshollywood.com/web/en/us">Universal Studios</a></h3>
Prices at this Hollywood Hills park rival Disneyland, ranging from $109-$154 for a one-day pass. They have a fantastic backlot tour, but if it&rsquo;s film history that brought you to Hollywood, you&rsquo;re probably better off booking a tour at&nbsp;<a href="https://westsidelosangeles.com/best-studio-tours-los-angeles.php">one of the major studios</a> for less. That said, Universal definitely has major appeal to the little ones with Minion Land, and the Wizarding World is on plenty of bucket lists.&nbsp;
<h3 dir="ltr"><a href="https://www.sixflags.com/magicmountain">Six Flags Magic Mountain</a></h3>
Rollercoaster enthusiasts need look no further! Thrill riders are pretty much guaranteed to walk away from Magic Mountain satisfied, but be forewarned that the park doesn&rsquo;t offer much besides adrenaline. If you have a family member who can&rsquo;t ride coasters, you might want to pick a different park.
Tickets here are much cheaper, at $49 a pop. It&rsquo;s all the way in Valencia (about 90 minutes from downtown) so it&rsquo;s a bit of a drive.
<h3 dir="ltr"><a href="https://www.knotts.com/">Knott&rsquo;s Berry Farm</a></h3>
While it&rsquo;s certainly not the largest or most famous of SoCal&rsquo;s attractions, Knott&rsquo;s is the most local &mdash; what started as a family-owned farm is now a kid-friendly, California-themed park.&nbsp; A one-day pass is $60, and attractions include a model ghost town, a Mexican village, Camp Snoopy, and a horse stable. While the key demographic definitely skews young, there&rsquo;s some solid thrill rides to keep the teens happy too.
<h3 dir="ltr">Smaller Parks</h3>
Those aren&rsquo;t your only options! The LA area is also dotted with carnival-sized attractions. Santa Monica Pier is easily the most famous, but there&rsquo;s also&nbsp;<a href="https://www.adventurecity.com/">Adventure City</a> and <a href="https://www.theeldoradofrontier.com/plan-your-visit">El Dorado&rsquo;s Frontier Park</a>.
Head further south to San Diego County, and you can visit Legoland, SeaWorld, or the Zoo.

<h2 dir="ltr">Check Out Some Museums</h2>
LA has too many museums to count, so we&rsquo;ve broken them down into a few categories to give you the highlights. Forgive us if we fail to mention your fave &mdash; there are well over a hundred museums in the area.
<h3 dir="ltr">Art Museums</h3>
There are dozens of smaller galleries around town, but these are the three big art museums:
<ul>
<li>LACMA - the Los Angeles Contemporary Art Museum in La Brea houses works by Picasso, Matisse, Rivera, and more.</li>
<li>The Getty/Getty Villa - The Getty is in Brentwood and features centuries of European art, including Van Gogh&rsquo;s Irises. The Getty Villa is over by Malibu and houses Greek, Roman, and Etruscan art. Both have free admission.</li>
</ul>

<ul>
<li dir="ltr" role="presentation">The Broad - Another large contemporary art museum downtown, this one featuring works by Koons, Warhol, and Basquiat.</li>
</ul>
<h3 dir="ltr">Science Museums</h3>
If your interests run more towards the scientific, we&rsquo;ve got you covered there too:
<ul>
<li dir="ltr" role="presentation">The Natural History Museum - often just called the Nat, this museum south of downtown is the largest of its kind in the western United States.</li>
<li dir="ltr" role="presentation">La Brea Tar Pits - these Ice Age <a href="https://tarpits.org/experience-tar-pits">tar pits</a> are free to view in Hancock Park, and you can visit the accompanying museum to learn more about them. Located right next to LACMA.</li>
<li dir="ltr" role="presentation">Griffith Observatory - an icon of the city, perhaps most famous for appearing in films, but it&rsquo;s also a pretty neat astronomy museum with telescopes that visitors can peek through.</li>
<li dir="ltr" role="presentation">California Science Center - free to enter and aimed at kids, this spot has exhibits on fire safety, space travel, ecosystems, and more. Located right next to the Nat.</li>
<li>Aquarium of the Pacific - not technically a museum and not technically in LA, but this Orange County aquarium is massive and not to be missed.</li>
</ul>
<h3 dir="ltr">Pop Culture Museums</h3>
If there&rsquo;s one thing LA does right, it&rsquo;s entertainment, so it&rsquo;s no shocker that two of the best pop culture museums in the country are right here.
<ul>
<li dir="ltr" role="presentation">Grammy Museum - downtown space packed with memorabilia, costumes, and interactive exhibits related both to the Grammys and past winners.&nbsp;</li>
<li>Academy Museum - where you can find film props, behind-the-scenes footage, red carpet gowns, and exhibits on the history of cinema. Located right next to LACMA and La Brea.</li>
</ul>
You&rsquo;ll also find plenty of Hollywood kitsch along the Walk of Fame, in places like the Wax Museum, Madame Tussauds (another wax museum), and the Hollywood Museum. These are as tacky and touristy as it gets, but if you&rsquo;re willing to cough up the inflated admission fees, they&rsquo;re a goofy way to kill time and get some fun pics.&nbsp;
<h3 dir="ltr">Museums of History and Culture</h3>
Los Angeles has a complex and multicultural history, and plenty of places to learn about it. Here&rsquo;s a small sampling:
<ul>
<li dir="ltr" role="presentation">Autry Museum of the American West - contains Indigenousart and history, cowboy artifacts, and information about life on the frontier. Located near the zoo in Griffith Park.</li>
<li dir="ltr" role="presentation">California African American Museum - this space off MLK Boulevard covers history and art of the Black diaspora, with an emphasis on California.&nbsp;</li>
<li>Skirball Cultural Center - Jewish heritage and artifacts dating from the Bible all the way to more recent pop culture like Star Trek. Located in the hills, right by Mulholland.</li>
</ul>

<h2 dir="ltr">Hit Up the Beaches</h2>
No trip to Southern California is complete without a beach day, and you&rsquo;ve got a lot of options in the LA area:
<h3 dir="ltr">Venice &amp; Santa Monica</h3>
The boardwalk in between these beaches makes them perfect for a 2-in-1 trip. The main attractions here are shopping and sightseeing &mdash; while there is a long stretch of good beach, it&rsquo;s usually packed. So don&rsquo;t go for the beach; go to soak up the (very stereotypically Californian) vibes!

Venice Beach tends to lean more towards the hippie, boho side, with lots of street art, vendors, and skaters. Santa Monica has the amusement park on the pier, but it&rsquo;s otherwise a little more upscale, with plenty of fancy hotels and restaurants.
<h3 dir="ltr">Malibu</h3>
Despite its Barbie-dreamhouse fame, Malibu is a lot quieter and more secluded than other LA beaches. It&rsquo;s a bit of a drive from the city and lacks the &ldquo;beach town&rdquo; atmosphere of other spots.
If you want to actually swim, surf, or otherwise relax at the beach, it could be worth the drive.
Here&rsquo;s a&nbsp;<a href="https://www.malibubeachinn.com/beach-hoppers-guide-malibu/">detailed summary</a> about some of the 36 beaches in Malibu. The highlights? El Matador and Leo Carillo for natural beauty, and Surfrider for (what else?) surfing.
<h3 dir="ltr">South Bay</h3>
We think this is the go-to spot for beaches in LA. It&rsquo;s just popping enough that there&rsquo;s plenty to do, but not so full &amp; touristy that you can&rsquo;t find any peace. Redondo, Manhattan, Torrance &amp; Hermosa Beach all have nice oceanfront spaces with restaurants, shops, beach clubs and piers.&nbsp;
You could also rent a bicycle from any shop on the water and ride up the Strand, one of the country&rsquo;s most scenic bike rides. Don&rsquo;t worry, it&rsquo;s all flat, and you can usually rent an e-bike too.

<h1 id="day_trips" dir="ltr">Day Trips from Los Angeles</h1>
When you're ready to leave the city, you have plenty of options to choose!
<h2 dir="ltr">National &amp; State Parks</h2>
As great as LA&rsquo;s city parks are, the 100+ state and national parks scattered across SoCal are even better. Here are a few of our faves to get you started &mdash; and don&rsquo;t forget to bring plenty of water and sunscreen, especially if you&rsquo;re visiting in the summer!

<ul>
<li dir="ltr" role="presentation">Joshua Tree National Park - Joshua Tree is the perfect introduction to the wild SoCal deserts. The hiking trails are easy, the landscape is quietly picturesque, and the night sky is ideal for stargazing. It&rsquo;s about 3&ndash;4 hours away from LA, but the drive out is pretty scenic in its own right.</li>
<li>Death Valley National Park - Infamously the hottest place on Earth, Death Valley is not for the faint of heart. However, if you <a href="https://www.nps.gov/deva/learn/nature/wildflowers.htm">time your visit right</a>, you&rsquo;ll see the desert landscape&nbsp; transformed by massive fields of colorful wildflowers, making it well worth the 3&ndash;4-hour drive from Los Angeles.</li>
<li dir="ltr" role="presentation">Red Rock Canyon State Park - This state park offers <a href="https://www.alltrails.com/parks/us/california/red-rock-canyon-state-park">plenty of trails</a> with great views of the desert cliffs, buttes, and canyons that are so iconic to the American Southwest. Best of all, it&rsquo;s only 2 hours away from downtown LA, so you&rsquo;ll be back in time for dinner.</li>
</ul>

<h2 dir="ltr">Ghost Towns</h2>
The American West is covered in abandoned trading posts and mining towns, many of which are open for the public to explore. Here are a few haunted highlights within driving distance of Los Angeles:

<ul>
<li dir="ltr" role="presentation">Amboy - This town was once a thriving stop on historic Route 66, but only the gas station attached to Roy&rsquo;s Motel and Caf&eacute; is still open these days. If you don&rsquo;t mind a 4-hour drive, the remnants of its mid-century <a href="https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/googie-architecture-of-the-space-age-122837470/">Googie architecture</a> make it worth a visit.</li>
<li dir="ltr" role="presentation">Silver City &nbsp;- <a href="https://sierranevadageotourism.org/entries/silver-city-ghost-town/fa654570-64cd-43c2-b7f9-84ffc3a0bbd1">Silver City</a> is more of an architectural cemetery than anything else. The 20-plus historic buildings on display here are kept in a state of &ldquo;arrested decay,&rdquo; giving visitors a historical window into the Sierra Nevada during the final days of the gold rush.</li>
<li>Mentryville - Tucked away in the hills of Santa Clarita, Mentryville was once a booming Old West oil town. Local legends claim that founder Charles Mentry&rsquo;s ghost still haunts the Mentry mansion to this day, although the town remains a <a href="https://m.imdb.com/search/title/?locations=mentryville,%20california,%20usa">popular filming location</a> for Hollywood productions.</li>
</ul>

<h2 dir="ltr">Route 1/Pacific Coast Highway</h2>
The Pacific Coast Highway, or the PCH as locals call it, is easily the most beautiful highway in California, winding along the Pacific coastline for almost the full length of the state. <a href="https://www.rovingvails.com/road-trip-itineraries/pacific-coast-highway/">This guide</a> covers the highlights pretty nicely, including some stops closer to LA.

<h2 dir="ltr">San Diego</h2>
San Diego is only a 2 or 3-hour drive from LA. If you prefer public transportation, take the <a href="https://www.amtrak.com/pacific-surfliner-train">Pacific Surfliner train</a> from Union Station to Santa Fe Depot or Old Town (3 hours), and then take the bus or trolley around the city.
San Diego has a ton of stuff to see, but if you only have one day there, head straight for the zoo!
The&nbsp;<a href="https://zoo.sandiegozoo.org/plan-your-visit">San Diego Zoo</a> is not your typical menagerie. It&rsquo;s absolutely massive, housing over 12,000 animals, and constantly graces lists of the best zoos in the world. It&rsquo;s also just a beautiful place to walk around, so definitely plan to spend most of your day there.

The zoo is located in <a href="https://balboapark.org/">Balboa Park</a>, the museum quarter of the city. Highlights include a botanical garden, the iconic California Tower, and a ton of old Spanish-style architecture.&nbsp;
And before you leave the area, stop for a smoothie from <a href="https://senormangos.com/">Se&ntilde;or Mango&rsquo;s</a>!

<h1 id="events" dir="ltr">Events in Los Angeles</h1>
There are more events than we can count happening daily in LA, but here are a few of the biggest ones:
<ul>
<li dir="ltr" role="presentation">Tournament of Roses Parade (January 1st) - This iconic parade of flower-covered floats takes place in Pasadena (the north end of the county) to celebrate New Year&rsquo;s Day. It&rsquo;s pretty hectic to get a seat and see it in person, but the official website is <a href="https://www.visitpasadena.com/events/annual-events/rose-parade-guide/">packed with tips</a>.</li>
<li dir="ltr" role="presentation">The Academy Awards (late winter) - You can&rsquo;t attend the Oscars unless you&rsquo;re famous, but you can fight for a spot overlooking the red carpet for some star-gazing. It&rsquo;s run on a<a href="https://www.oscars.org/enter"> lottery system</a> though, so unless you&rsquo;re one of the chosen 700, you&rsquo;ll probably just want to avoid Hollywood that day.</li>
<li dir="ltr" role="presentation">Coachella (April) - While the famous music festival is technically in Indio (about three hours from the city), &lsquo;chella is massive for Los Angeles. Tickets are in high demand for this one, but you can usually <a href="https://www.coachella.com/passes">join the waitlist</a> if you miss out.</li>
<li dir="ltr" role="presentation">Film Festivals (year-round) - Unsurprisingly, there are film festivals happening almost constantly here. <a href="https://www.lafilmfestivals.com/">LA Film Festivals</a> has a good array of options for any genre. As for our favorites &mdash; <a href="https://screamfestla.com/">Screamfest</a> is the most significant horror festival, <a href="https://fest.afi.com/">AFI</a> is one of the most prestigious in the country, and <a href="https://www.lashortsfest.com/">LA Shorts</a> is where Oscar-winning short films often premiere.</li>
<li dir="ltr" role="presentation">Sports (year-round) - There&rsquo;s <a href="https://los-angeles.events/sports/">always a game on</a>! Some of the most iconic teams in the US play in Los Angeles. Here are the seasons for the major leagues: 
<ul>
<li dir="ltr" role="presentation">Baseball (Dodgers, Angels) - late March/early April to late October</li>
<li dir="ltr" role="presentation">Football (Rams, Chargers) - September to February</li>
<li dir="ltr" role="presentation">Basketball (Lakers, Clippers, Sparks) - October to June for the NBA, May-October for the WNBA</li>
<li dir="ltr" role="presentation">Hockey (Kings, Ducks) - October to June</li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>
Regular season tickets aren&rsquo;t usually too tricky to get, but definitely book in advance if you can. Big names like LeBron James and Shohei Ohtani can make LA sports tickets cost more than they might in other cities. 
If none of these events sound like something you&rsquo;re into, check out&nbsp;<a href="https://www.discoverlosangeles.com/events">the calendar</a> for even more.

<h1 id="resources">Recommended Resources</h1>
<ul>
<li dir="ltr"><a href="https://www.discoverlosangeles.com/">LA Tourism Board</a></li>
<li dir="ltr"><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/AskLosAngeles/">r/AskLosAngeles</a></li>
<li dir="ltr"><a href="https://www.visitcalifornia.com/region/los-angeles-county/">Visit California - LA County Guide</a></li>
<li dir="ltr"><a href="https://capturetheatlas.com/los-angeles-map/">Capture the Atlas - Maps of Los Angeles</a></li>
</ul>

Welcome to your travel library!