Travel Etiquette Q&A

Q: My great-aunt owns a big vacation home in Florida. She lets relatives use it all the time. My husband and I and our kids have spent Thanksgiving there for the past five years, and we’ve always had a wonderful time. Well, I just got an e-mail from a distant cousin of mine (whom I […]

Travel Etiquette Q&A

Q: What should you do if you have something that’s a really tricky shape and you want to put it in the overhead compartment on a plane? I bought some artwork in Europe and really had a hard time making it fit, and then I was nervous it was going to be damaged. A: Overhead […]

Travel Etiquette Q&A

Q: I had a devil of a time trying to get a cab to take me from downtown Manhattan to LaGuardia. It was rush hour, and raining. Three different cabs stopped, asked me my destination, then drove away when I said LGA! Are they really permitted to do that? I almost missed my flight. A: […]

Travel Etiquette Q&A

Q: I’m going to LA next week for the first time. If I see a celebrity in a restaurant, is it okay to say hi? Can I ask for an autograph or photo? A: I’m not keen on asking for autographs or photos. It’s cute at Disney when little kids shyly ask Mickey for an […]

Etiquette Q&A

Q: What do you think of that guy who was denied boarding on his flight because he was wearing a track suit and had a seat in first class? What should you wear in first class? A: Boy, did United—the airline in question here—really screw up. He clearly should have been allowed to board, as […]

Travel Etiquette Q&A

Q: I fly for business much more than my boss does. Recently, we were on the same flight, and I got upgraded to first class because of my frequent-flier status. The next day, he told everyone what a miserable time he had in a middle seat in the back of the plane while I was […]

Travel Etiquette Q&A

Q: My parents offered to foot the bill for my husband and me to accompany them on their next cruise. We’d be happy to cruise with them; we just think their favorite cruise line is tacky. Can we tell them we’d love to go, just not on that line? A: Gee, look a gift horse […]

Travel Etiquette Q&A

Q: I need to take my four-month-old baby on a cross-country flight to visit her grandparents. She’ll undoubtedly cry, make bad smells, etc. What can I do to avoid the other passengers’ wrath? Is it rude to even attempt this? A: Some people seem to think no child under 10 should be allowed to fly—that’s […]

Travel Etiquette Q&A

Q: Is it tacky to do laundry in your hotel room? My hotel has laundry service, but they want $5 to wash and dry one pair of underwear! I’d like to buy detergent and do it myself in the sink, but I’m worried this is bad form. A: I don’t think it’s bad form if […]

Travel Etiquette Q&A

Q: On a recent flight, I was seated in front of two women who, although they were apparently strangers, spent the entire flight talking. I mean the entire flight. And it wasn’t just the usual airplane chit-chat about where they were from or where they were going—they discovered their mothers had similar stomach conditions and […]