Kansas City Star: Travel

Spy Museum turns tourists into secret agents

Sat, 04 Jul 2009 22:15 CDT

An Ohio family of five went undercover in the nation’s capital to help foil a cyber “terrorist attack.” Their attire wasn’t suspicious: shorts, T-shirts and jackets tied around their waists.

Keeping the skies friendly with kids on board

Sat, 04 Jul 2009 22:15 CDT

Kids on a plane. No four words incite more acrimonious debate among air travelers.

At 75, Great Smoky Mountains National Park is at its peak

Sat, 27 Jun 2009 22:15 CDT

GATLINBURG, Tenn. | The ancient blue-green mountains with breathtaking vistas and distinctive mists are home to black bears, 19th-century log cabins, waterfalls and 800 miles of trails. It’s small wonder the Great Smoky Mountains attract more than 9 million visitors a year, twice as many as any other national park in the United States.

Click, don't call, when canceling online reservations

Sat, 27 Jun 2009 22:15 CDT

Q. I had to cancel a reservation I had made through Travelocity. I spent eight hours on the phone with their incompetent customer service agents trying to use the credit I received to reschedule another flight on the same airline. Travelocity finally gave me a flight and a confirmation number, but when I checked the airline Web site, it hadn’t been ticketed yet. I don’t want to get to the airport and find we have no tickets. I spoke to Travelocity about this again last night and was promised an e-mail “within four to eight hours” with a resolution. I haven’t received a response. Travelocity has charged my credit card $2,700 for tickets I don’t have. — Martha Schmidt, Sykesville, Md.

Overhead space is at a premium as airline baggage fees skyrocket

Sun, 21 Jun 2009 22:15 CDT

Baggage fees have produced hundreds of millions of dollars for the nation’s airlines since they started charging passengers for checking luggage. Some passengers say the fees are a cash grab in disguise.

Wall Drug continues to surprise

Sat, 20 Jun 2009 22:15 CDT

WALL, S.D. | Ted Hustead’s family knows a thing or two about running a tourist attraction during tough economic times. Consider Wall Drug, on the north edge of South Dakota’s Badlands.

Hotel rate falls short of promise

Sat, 20 Jun 2009 22:15 CDT

Q. My wife and I are moving to the Washington area for her work. I found a room at the Residence Inn at Dulles Airport with a two-bedroom unit for $149 per night. Because we would be staying for about three months, I called Marriott’s reservations line to see if I could negotiate a better rate. I was told to call the hotel directly, and a representative there offered a rate of $116 per night, which I accepted.

Ry Cooder on mission to resurrect California of his youth

Sat, 06 Dec 2008 22:15 CST

When Ry Cooder and I got to El Mirage Dry Lake, it was 110 degrees and heading to 117, hot enough to cook your head inside your hat. The Mojave Desert in daylight will cut the gizzard right out of you, Tom Joad once said, which is why the Okies crossed it at night.

2008 travel photo contest: A field of winners

Sat, 27 Sep 2008 22:15 CDT

Decisions, decisions, decisions. Our judges had their hands full selecting the top winners for this year's vacation photo contest because the quality of the entries was so good.

Badlands National Park teems with nice surprises

Sat, 20 Sep 2008 22:15 CDT

BADLANDS NATIONAL PARK, S.D. | Marcia McMacken stepped off the boardwalk and took a long look at the sweeping scene around her — bright green meadows in front, craggy tan peaks and deep forbidding canyons behind. She was clearly enamored.

Last chance to enter our annual photo contest

Sat, 10 May 2008 22:15 CDT

Several years ago I was traveling through the Missouri Ozarks when I came across a 100-year-old grist mill near Eminence. It was a rustic structure perched on the edge of a turquoise spring.

THE RULES

Sat, 10 May 2008 22:15 CDT

The Kansas City Star’s Travel Photo Contest is open to amateur photographers of any age who are residents of Missouri or Kansas.

Buzz through Florida's eclectic collection of bars

Sat, 11 Jul 2009 22:15 CDT

MIAMI | Where else but Florida could a place like Jimbo’s exist? It’s a bait shack — emphasis on “shack” — a few miles from downtown Miami but with an isolated island feel and a diverse mix of customers. Beer is self-serve, and the 82-year-old owner watches over the activity in a rickety boat captain’s chair. It has been a location in films such as “Wild Things” and “Ace Ventura: Pet Detective” and TV shows such as “Flipper” and “Miami Vice,” yet most folks don’t know where it is.

Don't let lost tickets derail your travel plans

Sat, 11 Jul 2009 22:15 CDT

Q. I’m trying to get a refund for lost train tickets. I bought two Amtrak tickets for my sister and me to travel from Osceola, Iowa, to Denver. Then I discovered that my husband, thinking that the envelope contained old information from a recent Amtrak trip I’d taken to Colorado, threw the tickets away. When I contacted Amtrak, I was told that “lost tickets are lost money” and I would have to pay the conductor on the train for the lost tickets. If I found the tickets within a year, I could have a cash refund minus 10 percent or use them for future travel within that year.