Tagged With "Holiday Inn"
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Re: Holiday Flying: How to Beat the Wrap
Just a note of caution, if, as PHeymont suggests, the airport mall tempts you to pick up holiday cheer and other liquids, don't forget connections and possible second trips through security. Just because you bought it at the airport doesn't mean they won't snag it if you have to leave airside to get to your connection. I can imagine very well supplied TSA holiday parties courtesy of some chagrined passengers.
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Re: Holiday Flying: How to Beat the Wrap
PM is right, and the caution applies especially to liquids. There are some exceptions for duty-free items sealed in special bags, but not always.
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Re: Holiday Flying: How to Beat the Wrap
Thanks for the good information. I would not have thought about the airport mall, Amazon Locker or the big box stores. Those are terrific ideas. I have given up on gift wrapping and just toss a few colorful gift bags and some tissue paper into my luggage. Later, I put the gifts in the bags for the big "reveal" for the recipient.
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Re: Cruising through the holidays
Looks beautiful, Marilyn. I think I may consider this option for next Christmas (or any time of the year for that matter!)
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Re: Holiday Inn Express to Offer Selfies on Pancakes
OMG. The end of the world must be very near.
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Re: Holiday Inn Express to Offer Selfies on Pancakes
PHeymont -- the end will definitely be near if that pancake is delivered at the end of a selfie-stick.
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Re: Holiday Inn Express to Offer Selfies on Pancakes
I'm not an ad executive, but I did stay at a Holiday Inn Express recently, so that qualifies me to tell them. This is a horrible campaign. Couldn't they of come up with a selfie free breakfast campaign instead?
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Re: Yellowstone National Park in Winter
Thanks so very much for making us a part of your fascinating road-trip by sharing your visit to this unique place at such a special time. It's so rare to actually talk to someone who visited Yellowstone in the winter, much less to read such a wonderfully written report and to share in your experience through your beautiful photos. I'm sorry you didn't get to see wolves in the wild, but in this you are not alone. As many times as I've been in the wilderness, I've yet to see them (though I was...
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Re: Check Your Statement! A Big Hotel Credit Card Breach...
You would think the cost of all this fraud would be more than enough to validate new chip and PIN rollout in the USA. Can't quite understand why the US banks are so resistent to this PHeymont. Have you an understanding of what their reasons are?
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Re: Check Your Statement! A Big Hotel Credit Card Breach...
It's been a long path. For a long time, observers thought it was because they were committed to contactless (RFID) technology as the next step...but that hasn't advances as fast as some predicted, and it has big security issues, too. Now that MC and Visa have set down a "you must comply or you will be responsible for fraudulent charges" rule for next year, we're seeing motion. BUT...so far most issuers have been sticking to chip-and-signature, not and-PIN, which guts the whole process.
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Re: Check Your Statement! A Big Hotel Credit Card Breach...
I don't quite see why using a pin would prevent fraud of the type we're seeing on a large scale. Presumably, if the hackers continue to target terminals, the pin would be compromised too. Yes, we could change the pin but it would need to be done immediately, before the damage is done. What am I missing?
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Re: Check Your Statement! A Big Hotel Credit Card Breach...
As I see it, PM, mostly they are just stealing the data off the magnetic strip. Or the PIN in the card has data that can also be copied, but that's a little hard than just scamming the read off the strip. With a PIN, that data, validated by your unique PIN (which you pick) are encrypted and sent off to the bank for approval. Not just the strip data, but the two together are the key. I have a credit card with a Canadian bank (chip and pin) which I prefer to use over the swipe and sign USA...
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Re: Check Your Statement! A Big Hotel Credit Card Breach...
In the most secure system, the PIN is known to you, the user, but is not in your records at the issuer. That's why if you forget your PIN, a new one can be generated, but no one can send you your "lost" PIN the way that passwords can be. In the PIN system, the first communication takes place at the terminal. The terminal reads the PIN from the chip on your card, and asks you to enter it on the pad. If it matches, the terminal does NOT send the PIN to the clearing house or merchant...it only...
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Re: Check Your Statement! A Big Hotel Credit Card Breach...
So, if I understand it then, even if the hackers can read the entered pin keystrokes from the terminal keypad which we enter, it cannot be used without the card with the unique chip, which cannot be duplicated as a magnetic strip can be duplicated?
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Re: Check Your Statement! A Big Hotel Credit Card Breach...
That's correct. It is, of course, not totally impossible to create a duplicate chip, but it takes major equipment, not $5 worth of RadioShack parts...and it would also require much more information than can be harvested easily. The relative security (and it is relative) has driven over 80% of the world's credit card fraud toward the U.S. as other areas become more difficult. And once everyone is on board, the Trojan Horse mag stripe can come off the card as well.
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Cruising through the holidays
Every year thousands of passengers find out warm tropical breezes and Christmas festivities mix well aboard a Princess Cruise Line ship. “We install more than 347 Christmas trees fleet wide. Each vessel has a showcase tree in...
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Gumbo's Pic of the Day, March 30, 2015: Mission Inn, Riverside
In many respects, Riverside, California, is a forgettable city -- one of dozens you drive by on the freeways of the sunny Southland. Besides its university, it does have one interesting landmark, known for its beautiful Spanish...
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PortMoresby's Birthday Road Trip
March 25, '15: Day 1: City of 10,000 Buddhas and The Skunk April 1, '15: Day 2: Mendocino Coast Botanical Garden April 4, '15: Sea Gull Inn April 8, '15: More Day 2: Point...
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32 years later, Marriott opens its 1000th Courtyard
Hard to believe there was a time before Hilton Garden Inn or Holiday Inn Express. Back in those days over 30 years ago, Marriott pioneered the idea of a hotel aimed at busy people traveling, often sales people or businessmen on the...
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Gumbo's Pic of the Day, April 4, 2015: Sea Gull Inn, Mendocino, California
March 10, 2015 On my road trip to the Northern California coast in March, I stayed with a friend 17 miles down the road from Mendocino. But on 2 previous visits I’d stayed at the Sea Gull Inn . The first time was in...
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Road Trip, Day 3: A Sunny Day in Sonoma
March 11, 2015 The drive down California Highway 1, along the Mendocino and Sonoma County coast, was a bit of a bust. It started to rain as I arrived at Point Arena and Fort Ross was closed, it turned out, on weekdays, so I...
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Marriott to offer free wi-fi to all its Rewards member
Marriott is breaking the old internet template used by many hotel chains. Lower priced hotels, including lower end Marriott properties (eg. Fairfield Inn, Courtyard) have offered free wi-fi for some time. Upper end Marriott properties have...
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A Place of Fairy Tales & Magic – The Biltmore Estate
By JP Chartier NUZZLED SNUGLY, DEEP WITHIN THE PISGAH NATIONAL FOREST AND ENCIRCLED BY MOUNTAINS THAT BREATHE BLUE SMOKE IS WHERE YOU CAN FIND THIS PLACE OF FAIRY TALES AND MAGIC. The opulent and somewhat imposing French Renaissance,...
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A Busy Weekend in Philadelphia
A few weekends ago, my fiancé, my best friend and I decided to go to Philly for an overnight trip. Our goal for the weekend was to see all the touristy parts of Philadelphia. When we got to Philly from NYC, we headed straight for the L...
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Spain: No room at the inn?
Spain's had a tourism boom, especially since travel to North Africa and the Middle East tanked, but high demand is pushing prices up.
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Finding Nature in England: Holkham National Reserve
Kirsten Hines continues her voyage of natural discovery in England, this week with a stop at Holkham National Nature Reserve.
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Good news for travelers! Hotels are adding more outlets
Hotels are getting the word: We need more outlets and ports, and we need them where we don't have to crawl to find them!
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Yellowstone: Old Faithful Inn & Geyser
PortMoresby arrives in Yellowstone and begins her visit at the logical place, Old Faithful Geyser and its companion, the Old Faithful Inn.
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Yellowstone: Upper Geyser Basin
PortMoresby begins her geothermal education with a walk around Yellowstone’s Upper Geyser Basin.
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Manholes: More Art Beneath Your Feet
PHeymont's fascination with 'civic pride' manhole covers and the art and history they portray keep him looking down as he travels...
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PortMoresby's Yellowstone
April 29, 2017: The Road to Yellowstone May 6, 2017: Yellowstone, Old Faithful Inn & Geyser May 13, 2017: Yellowstone, Upper Geyser Basin May 20, 2017: Yellowstone Lake May 27, 2017: A Yellowstone Gallery: Midway Geyser Basin June 3, 2017: Yellowstone HQ, Mammoth Hot Springs June 10, 2017: A Yellowstone Gallery: Mammoth Terraces June 17, 2017: Yellowstone, the Finale Find more of PortMoresby's contributions here .
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Eastern Europe Rail Odyssey: Zagreb to Veliko Tărnovo
Wilbur's train journeys around Eastern Europe continue, this week with stops in Zagreb, Split, Sarajevo, Belgrade, Sofia, and Veliko Tărnovo
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Passau: Small City, Big Past
A small German city on the Austrian border, Passau has a past bigger than its size would make it seem. It's a pleasant visit along the Danube
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The Woodlands Resort, The Woodlands, Texas
Texan Marilyn Jones checks out a luxury resort that's part of a suburban planned community near Houston.
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The Road to Yellowstone
PortMoresby sets out on a closer-to-home-than-usual trip of a lifetime, a first visit to Yellowstone National Park, with her Montana-born pal, Deb, as guide.
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April 3, 2017: Cabazon Dinosaurs
Travel Rob takes a road trip and sees the Cabazon Dinosaurs along the way.
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Top five reasons to visit Baltimore, Maryland.
Why should you visit Baltimore? Stephanie outlines the top things to see and do in this charming city.
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Aug. 3. 2017: Scotch Piper Inn, Liverpool UK
GarryRF takes us to a pub that's been pulling pints for 800 years.
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Oct. 17, 2017: A Stroll in Historic Passau
Passau, Germany, is a popular stop for river cruise lines. With its port next to the historic center, Marilyn Jones found it easy to take a stroll among the historic buildings and monuments.
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Poking around Berkeley Springs, West Virginia
Stephanie Kalina-Metzger shares a visit to the small and historic West Virginia town of Berkeley Springs.
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Nature and History: Great Falls of the Potomac
The Potomac River's spectacular falls just north of Washington are a pleasant visit, and the scene of important American history.
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5 Scariest Ghost Tours In The World
Like spooky ghost tours? James offers five destinations that might interest you (sponsored content)
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7 Tips for Surviving the Holidays with Family
Samantha shares these 7 tips to surviving the holidays with family. Hopefully they can help keep your family holiday adventure from turning into a holiday nightmare.
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Ashland, Virginia: "Center of the Universe"
Stephanie shares a visit to the charming community of Ashland, known by some as the "Center of the Universe".
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Union Square Holiday Market - Annual New York Tradition
Samantha and her husband spent some time in New York City last Christmas. It was magical and they loved walking around the Union Square Holiday Market. It is a New York City tradition.
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Back in Time at Bedford's 1700s-era Tavern
Stephanie shares a visit to the popular historic Jean Bonnet Tavern.
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The National Automobile Museum, Reno (Where Gumbo was #369)
Gumbo was visiting one of America's greatest car museums -- the National Automobile Museum in Reno, Nevada.
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October 23, 2019: Pink Sandia Mountains, Albuquerque, NM
Samantha and her husband enjoy a beautiful evening and dinner looking at the pink Sandia Mountains in Albuquerque, New Mexico.
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Albuquerque: Southwest Culture and Nature
Jonathan L. visits some of Albuquerque's excellent tourist attractions