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OneTravel: Cheap Flights Deals

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OneTravel Flight & Hotel Deals 4+

Cheap flights, hotels and cars, w k travel, inc., designed for ipad.

• 4.8 • 9.5K Ratings

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Get cheap flight deals, hotels and rental cars on-the-go. Download the OneTravel app and join the happy travelers who book great deals with us every day. Our app offers cheap travel deals; • Across the globe with domestic and international flight deals on over 500 airlines. • On the road with rental car deals in 30,000 locations. That's how we roll. • To wonderful rooms in a million hotels worldwide. That’s a lot of little shampoo bottles. Our app saves you time; • Super-quick travel booking. We do fast well. • Easily access your trip, even if you booked online. • Call our support team 24/7. We're here to help. Our app has your back, and it’s watching your wallet, too.

Version 4.117.0

Bug fixes and enhancements.

Ratings and Reviews

9.5K Ratings

This app or website saved me almost $10k because i was booking for a family trip and total of 13 passengers on the airline website was running at $2k per ticket and when an adv for this app popped up it said only $1.3k per ticket i was skeptical at first but called both airlines and they are familiar with this app and its legitimate so i went ahead and booked them for almost half the cost with the same airlines but take off was one day earlier and it wasn't available on both airlines website anyway . Thanks Onetravel team

Developer Response ,

Thanks for the feedback! We're glad you're having a positive booking experience with our app. --All the best, OneTravel Team

I booked through what I thought was the airline. Ended up with Travel One/Cheap airfare. Conversation very difficult. Then once cancelled I received an email that said cancellation was not complete until a final step with “otp-onetime password” was made. Through the app, I chatted with someone who said they could see it was cancelled by my confirmation #. I questioned was the additional step with otp not needed as suggested by their email. They then asked what the # was so to update. I gave it to them and then was asked if I needed anything else? I feel if I had just taken their word and not questioned the need for the “otp”. They would have in fact not cancelled My rez and by the time I realized this would have been told a ridiculous cancellation fee. Long story short- felt very scam like! Always deal directly with airline/hotel

" Hi llgg1122, We are sorry to hear your frustration, and certainly want you to have the best possible experience booking with us. Please don't hesitate to contact us at [email protected], our customer experience representatives will be happy to help you! "

So, I was able to book an out of the country ticket and even purchased a travel insurance on the ticket just in case I was unable to make my flight. When I reached out to One Travel they told me that not only was I unable to cancel the ticket without penalty but that they would be charging me to make changes!!! Oh, it get better…. After an hour on the phone with them and getting charged a fee they told me that they were unable to make changes and that I would have to call the airlines myself!!!🤬🤬🤬 oh and that’s not all…. When I reached the airline they booked me threw, in order to change the itinerary, it was literally for another full price ticket!!!😤😤😤 So much for having a good rate on a flight!!! First and last time I will be using One travel to book a flight!!!! DO NOT RECOMMEND!!!

We are sorry to hear that your experience was not satisfactory. Please, don't hesitate to contact us at [email protected]. Our travel experts will be happy to help you!

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The developer, W K travel, Inc. , indicated that the app’s privacy practices may include handling of data as described below. For more information, see the developer’s privacy policy .

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The following data may be used to track you across apps and websites owned by other companies:

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Privacy practices may vary, for example, based on the features you use or your age. Learn More

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Reviews 3.8.

3,163 total

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The representative that assisted me was…

The representative that assisted me was kind and patient. Very knowledgeable and very helpful. I was very pleased with her assistance. Thank you!

Date of experience : May 24, 2024

Reply from Onetravel

Thank you for your feedback. We are happy to learn it was a satisfactory experience. We look forward to assisting with your future travel needs.

Wonderful service

I had been trying for weeks to get a round trip flight online to go to Florida to see my grandkids. Something told me one day to try again and there it was very simple easy and I got my confirmation number and ticket confirmation number right there in a text within maybe 30minutes or less. I would recommend this company to anyone.

Date of experience : May 18, 2024

Thank for making my schedule easy by having things set for the date and time convient for me

It’s easy to navigate

It’s easy to navigate. Great prices compare to other search engine

Date of experience : May 21, 2024

I didn’t for satisfaction because when…

I didn’t for satisfaction because when I put pushes in my ticket, I did the wrong date and I was trying to cancel it. It was not even 24 hours and you guys charging me a cancellation fee. I didn’t like it. I never see that before I have to cancel it and rebook it because I have to book with my children’s and I did it for myself. The agency was charging.

Date of experience : May 20, 2024

Thank you for your feedback. We have reached out to this customer regarding the expressed concerns.

assistance was great very attentive

assistance4 was great. willing to negotiate too. rang back quickly when phone dropped out. very attentive. Only problem for us was time difference. we were in Australia

Date of experience : April 30, 2024

My card failed to pay for the trip so I won't be going

My card failed to pay for the trip so I booked another through another agency. I don't know how this got approved so late as the payment didn't go through. Please cancel all flight and accommodation as I didn't approve the trip. I understand and thank you for your support and sorry for any inconvenience.

Date of experience : April 20, 2024

The reservation was never confirmed or charged by Onetravel as of Apr. 14. Also this website does not act as a customer service support for Onetravel any cancellations has to be done by the travel agency directly, this is a blog site for reviews only.

Great savings

Great savings ! Easy to navigate ! My favorite travel agency ! Can be trusted!

Date of experience : May 10, 2024

Was easier than other cites quite…

Was easier than other cites quite Honestly.

The agent from Onetravel gave me…

The agent from Onetravel gave me guidance about which cities have good flights to Norway, and so he got me a very good itinerary at an excellent price. I couldn't have come up with these ideas on my own. I called in, and the agent helped me find the best route for my trip.

Date of experience : April 15, 2024

YOU HAVE GOTTA'DONE THE SUCH AN AWESOME…

YOU HAVE GOTTA'DONE THE SUCH AN AWESOME GREAT DAY OF STATE DEPT BUREAU TX LATINOS OF IN 😊 HAPPINESS THANK YOU SO MUCHO MAS GRANDE HONOR SALUTE

Date of experience : April 11, 2024

I disliked the fact that I was offered…

I disliked the fact that I was offered other items outside of the price for the ticket which to my purchasing travel insurance that I did not need. I thought that my card wasn't processed and so I did p ay now only to be charged an additional $76.00 that I could barely afford.

Date of experience : May 08, 2024

Thank you for your feedback. We show that you have spoken with our representatives regarding your concerns.

Competitive airfare

Easy to use site with competitive fares. I have also used your site for travel in the past, thank you.

Date of experience : May 13, 2024

Uncensored staffing

I'm trying to cancel my booking for medical reasons and they are refusing to cancel they sending options that doesn't make sense refusing full refund and I booked less than 1 day ago

Thank you for your feedback. We have reached out to this customer regarding her concerns.

I’m not using this one travel again

I’m not using this one travel again. Not happy horrible service

Date of experience : May 25, 2024

separating family due flight change. Horrible customer service and did not

The airline changed my seat on 4 segments due to a change of schedule and they failed to reinstate my 15 year old son's seat on all 4 segments. from doh to ist, ist to dfw, dfw to ist and ist to doh. they are trying to escape responsibilites by saying I did not book seats for my son. this is a very expensive trip with 6 of us traveling, why would I not assign seat for my youngest child on all 4 segments. I have another flight where my other son would meet us in istanbul and they did the same to him. Although we paid extra for these seats, the airline and one travel will not take responsibilities and they are only making excuses. so what's the solution, my 15 year old still has no seats!

Date of experience : May 06, 2024

We have reviewed the reservation and you did speak with an agent who went over the seat assignments and Mohammad has seats within the group we also only see 4 people in this reservation and not 6 so if you have another booking number please give that to the agents when you call so they can view that booking.

Bought a round trip ticket from one…

Bought a round trip ticket from one travel and they bought the returned ticket through Peace airlines when they know Peace airlines policy of no refunds.l cancelled my ticket and they only refund me the Accra to Lagos with a fee of $30 something dollars charged to my my credit before l could my refund.My refund has not been refunded yet.What type of airline will not refund your money when you have problem getting visa.?Travellers be aware spending your money with One travel.

Date of experience : April 29, 2024

Thank you for your feedback. As an agency we must abide by the rules set by the airline. We regret any inconvenience.

Simple and User friendly

It was simple also I had tried others but for a person who is not so acquainted with booking online this was the easiest and very simple. Guidelines were easy to follow.

Date of experience : April 08, 2024

It’s a good company

Date of experience : May 23, 2024

Unhappy about the service fee charged…

Unhappy about the service fee charged as I was not made aware at the time of booking. Should if possible gone direct through Easy Jet.

Date of experience : May 11, 2024

Thank you for your feedback. If you were charged more than what you have authorized please contact our representatives so they can look into it for you.

OneTravel review

Onetravel provides booking options for flights, hotels and rental cars around the world..

Top Ten Reviews Verdict

An average travel site, OneTravel doesn't bring more discounts than the bigger players in this area. We do like the hotel theme filter, though.

Good hotel search options

No cancellation fees

Prices are rarely the cheapest

Why you can trust Top Ten Reviews Our expert reviewers spend hours testing and comparing products and services so you can choose the best for you. Find out more about how we test .

OneTravel lets you book flights, hotels, rental cars, cruises and vacation packages. You can also search for flights under different price caps based on your budget. This price cap search is a great feature for international flights, which typically cost over $1,000.

OneTravel has average prices compared to the best online travel sites , but it adds a per-person processing fee, which may tip the total price into a range that is more than what some travelers can afford. If your plans fall through, you may find a hefty cancellation fee on your bill, which is even higher for canceled international flights. However, OneTravel will waive these fees and others (when permitted by airlines or other suppliers) for active military members, senior citizens, disabled and bereaved travelers. If you're booking a vacation package for your family, we recommend you book with Expedia because it makes booking packages easier than other sites. 

One of the features of OneTravel's hotel search is its theme filter. With it, you can search for hotels under a wide variety of themes, such as family, pet-friendly and romantic, golf or and spa vacations. Pictures and descriptions can be deceiving; OneTravel posts TripAdvisor user reviews so you can read a range of guest experiences and opinions.

If you plan to travel internationally but you're not sure what you'll need, the visa and passport assistance feature is a great tool. This handy feature lets you select your country and state of departure, plus your destination and reason for traveling, like business, pleasure, transit or journalism. Results tell you whether a visa or passport is required to enter your destination country and how to obtain these documents before you leave.

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OneTravel has several ways you can reach its customer support department. The FAQs section is massive, so if you have a simple query, it's likely you'll find it there. This section covers flights, cars, hotels, billing and payment, and general questions, to name a few. You can't email questions to OneTravel, but it's one of the few online travel services with a live chat feature.

OneTravel offers some of the lowest base prices, but you want to be absolutely sure of your travel plans before booking to avoid the hefty cancellation and itinerary change fees. These types of fees are standard for any online travel site that collaborates with airlines and other travel service providers, but the costs add up quickly. This online travel agency offers plenty of promos and coupons to knock down the service fees and lower the prices even more. If you're looking to redeem travel points for your vacation, we recommend you book using CheapTickets because you can redeem hotel and airline points and also get points through CheapTickets' own point system.

Aaron McCarter has written extensively about senior care and mobility for Top Ten Reviews, but he no longer works for the site. He's also a fan of travel, and has dipped his toe into assessing hotel sites too. Aaron holds an MBA from Utah Valley University and currently works as a writer for a Marketing firm in Utah.

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OneTravel has a rating of 4.4 stars from 12,948 reviews, indicating that most customers are generally satisfied with their purchases. Reviewers satisfied with OneTravel most frequently mention good service, easy process, and quick response. OneTravel ranks 2nd among Discount Travel sites.

• Service 244

This company responds to reviews on average within 2 days

“Hey, so very good and helpful service you guys got...”

Hey, so very good and helpful service you guys got here, but, please, fix your filters as this particular one filter "close/near dates of departure" that is constantly on and active when you make new search is pretty annoying))... Thanks and Best Regards! You Are Doing a Great Job Keep Doing It And Right On!

“You lie and steal, why can I not make any changes or...”

You lie and steal, why can I not make any changes or cancellations? Your bot system goes on an endless loop to avoid addressing the issue and your "travel experts" can't even manage to do even one thing aside delay further. This whole experience has left me feeling like this company is a total scam. I'm having my bank cancel your charge and issue a fraud claim.

Reviews (12,948)

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WTF…….a promised call from RUBEN at ONE TRAVEL, for FEB 5/24, still not received. This is customer service? This is being considerate of my feelings? I think NOT

• Follow Stephen U.

It's good but hoping you'll send me an update regularly about any changes on my itenerary because my flight schedule is coming near.

I just thought it's better than other agency i have checked.

Thank you for your feedback. We are glad to hear it was a satisfactory experience. We look forward to assisting with your future travel needs.

From the business

OneTravel is a travel search engine for booking hotels, plane tickets, rental cars, vacations and cruises.

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• #2 in Discount Travel
• Las Vegas, NV
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Company Representative

Last year, I finally fulfilled my dream of traveling full-time when I got a job aboard a cruise ship. I was loving every moment of my nomadic life. I was too busy enjoying myself to worry about a relationship.

But in my second year of the job and third year of being single, I joined the Nomad Soulmates dating app . I wasn't necessarily looking for my soulmate because travel was my priority for most of my life. But at 32, I knew I had to make a proactive choice to prioritize relationships and dating.

In April of 2023, I disembarked the ship in Lisbon and tried out the app. However, I was skeptical it would lead anywhere because I only had two months off the ship before I had to head to Norway to join my next contract. Plus, I had already scheduled my travel plans for the next two months.

But then I matched with someone that made me rethink everything.

We had an instant connection

I matched with a man who was in Lisbon for the month. He asked me out for Greek food, and I figured it was worth a try. Once again, I didn't imagine it would go anywhere because I only planned to stay for a week before heading to Porto for the weekend and then off to Spain for the next leg of my trip .

Related stories

But our date ended up being so much fun that I was interested in seeing where this could go. He was silly, and that was refreshing. We shared many of the same values and loved traveling, so the conversation never lagged.

I surprised myself when I invited him to stay with me for a few nights in Porto. During our visit to Porto, I canceled my trip to Spain and accepted his invitation to return to Lisbon with him, beginning our partnership.

We decided to keep traveling together

I had to choose between my travel plans and my partner . Having been a solo traveler, giving up my travel plans for something that may or may not work out was not a decision I took lightly.

But I wanted to take a chance on this as we found ourselves on the same page about everything — especially what we were looking for in a long-term relationship and what we wanted in the future. I never saw myself returning to the US; I wanted to return to Italy or continue traveling full-time with my future partner and kids. He also had no plans on returning to his home country of Germany and, having been traveling full-time since 2018, was uninterested in stopping. He also wants children and plans to travel with them full-time.

I saw that we were on the same page regarding how we wanted to incorporate parenting, traveling, and our careers, so we decided to continue traveling together — which was a decision we made exceptionally quickly.

I was fearful at the beginning of our relationship because I heard horror stories from friends about traveling with partners they just met. Luckily, being seasoned travelers , we face inconveniences quite similarly and calmly. Within the last year, we have dealt with being separated for months at a time and spending every second together for months at a time. We have also experienced missed flights, scooter accidents, cockroach infestations, and a lack of necessities such as hot water. It's not all romance and dreamy vacations.

Like so many other relationships I've had, I thought each new inconvenience would fracture our relationship, causing us to decide that maybe this wasn't the right partnership for us. But it all had the opposite effect, building the foundation of our relationship as we moved into the second year of traveling full-time together.

Bound by wanderlust , we aren't sure what our futures hold, but we will sculpt it with our shared dreams.

Watch: Marriott International's Tina Edmundson tells Insider that the travel mindset has changed since the pandemic

• Main content

1 dead, 30 injured due to severe turbulence on Singapore Airlines flight

One person is dead, and 30 are injured after a Singapore Airlines flight faced severe turbulence.

"We can confirm that there are injuries and one fatality on board the Boeing 777-300ER," the airline said in a statement . "There were a total of 211 passengers and 18 crew on board."

The man who died was a 73-year-old British man who likely died of a heart attack, reports Reuters . Seven people are said to be critically injured.

Flight SQ321 departed from London's Heathrow Airport on Monday and was supposed to land in Singapore, but instead was diverted to Thailand and landed at 3:45 p.m. local time on Tuesday after requesting an emergency landing.

According to an update the airline posted on its Facebook page , the rest of the passengers, the majority of whom were from Australia, the United Kingdom and Singapore, and the crew were being evaluated and treated as needed by medical personnel at the airport.

In its third update posted to Facebook , the airline announced that a Singapore Airlines team arrived in Bangkok from Singapore to "support our colleagues and the local authorities on the ground."

They added that they are providing assistance to the passengers and crew that were on board the flight at the hospital and airport. The airline previously stated that 18 passengers were hospitalized due to the incident.

Climate change making turbulence worse: But here's why you shouldn't worry (too much)

Four Americans were on board the flight, the airline said.

"Our priority is to provide all possible assistance to all passengers and crew on board the aircraft," the airline said. "We are working with the local authorities in Thailand to provide the necessary medical assistance, and sending a team to Bangkok to provide any additional assistance needed."

Singapore Airlines also stated that it is working with "relevant authorities" to investigate the incident.

The airline added that Relatives of the passengers can call Singapore Airlines' hotlines at +65 6542 3311 (Singapore), 1800-845-313 (Australia), and 080-0066-8194 (the United Kingdom).

"Singapore Airlines offers its deepest condolences to the family of the deceased," said the airline's press release. "We deeply apologize for the traumatic experience that our passengers and crew members suffered on this flight.

What happened on flight SQ321?

The plane began to experience "sudden extreme turbulence" at 37,000 feet about 10 hours after it departed Heathrow. The pilot called for an emergency landing, according to the update posted to the airline's Facebook.

The flight landed Tuesday afternoon local time at Bangkok's airport, Suvarnabhumi International, after it fell into an air pocket, reports Reuters.

A passenger told Reuters they felt the sensation of falling and rising during the event.

Dzafran Azmir, a 28-year-old student on board the flight, told the outlet there was a drop and people who were not wearing seatbelts were launched into the ceiling.

"Suddenly the aircraft starts tilting up, and there was shaking so I started bracing for what was happening," said Azmir.

The student adds that people's heads shot through the cabins overhead and dented or broke them.

Photos and videos circulating on social media show the purported damage to flight SQ321 after it experienced the turbulence.

Who were the passengers?

The passengers on board are from the following countries, according to the airline:

◾ 56 from Australia

◾ 47 from the United Kingdom

◾ 41 from Singapore

◾ 23 from New Zealand

◾ 16 from Malaysia

◾ Five from the Philippines

◾ Four from Ireland

◾ Four from the United States

◾ Three from India

◾ Two from Canada

◾ Two from Indonesia

◾ Two from Myanmar

◾ Two from Spain

◾ One from Germany

◾ One from Iceland

◾ One from Israel

◾ One from South Korea

Boeing's response

In a tweet, Boeing, the creator of the plane that experienced the turbulence, said it is in contact with SIA and is ready to support the airline.

"We extend our deepest condolences to the family who lost a loved one," it tweeted . "And our thoughts are with the passengers and crew."

Is turbulence getting worse?

Unfortunately, yes. Climate change is increasing the severity and frequency of turbulence as the planet warms and winds intensify.

"The atmosphere is getting more turbulent; there will be more severe turbulence in the atmosphere," Paul Williams, a professor of atmospheric science at the University of Reading previously told USA TODAY .

Turbulence is also becoming more unpredictable in some ways, as so-called clear air turbulence, the kind that happens outside of storm systems, increases the most. That kind of turbulence can be harder for pilots to avoid than choppy air associated with storms because it's less visible with radar and other forecasting tools.

Even so, Williams said, turbulent air remains relatively uncommon at flight altitudes, so it's unlikely for passengers to be involved in an incident like the one that affected Flight 321.

"The absolute amount of turbulence is small," he said.

How can travelers stay safe in turbulence?

The best way to avoid injuries or worse from turbulence is to stay seated whenever the fasten seat belt sign is on, and to buckle up whenever seated on a plane, even if the sign is off.

Unsecured passengers and objects being thrown around are the biggest injury risk factors during turbulence.

"The people who are not strapped in now also become projectiles themselves and can harm people when they come back down," she said. "I know plenty of flight attendants who have had career-ending injuries from turbulence," Sara Nelson, president of the Association of Flight Attendants, previously told USA TODAY .

Planes themselves are designed to structurally withstand turbulence much more severe than what pilots will ever intentionally fly through. The people and objects inside the cabin that pose the most danger at that point.

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This South American City Is One of the Best Places to Travel in 2024 — Here's How to Visit

Cartagena, Colombia, has something for everyone.

Piero Damiani/Getty Images

As the boat sped away from Cartagena, I held on a little tighter to the handrails, watching the city line quickly diminish on the horizon. In a matter of minutes, I could only see the Caribbean Sea and lush mangroves lining small undeveloped islands. When I finally got to my destination — a private beach in Isla Barú —  I was in a beachy oasis with no signs of Cartagena de Indias, the bustling city I was actually visiting.

It's exactly this juxtaposition that makes this Colombian city — named one of the best places to travel in 2024 by Travel + Leisure editors — so special. If you want a beach vacation, you can visit white-sand beaches and turquoise waters that the Caribbean is famous for. If you want more culture, the walled "Old City" — a UNESCO Heritage Site — is teeming with history. Elsewhere in Cartagena, towering new buildings spotlight just how much the area has modernized and its potential for growth. (Colombia, as a whole, saw a 222% increase in international tourists between 2010 and 2022.)

In Cartagena, growth in 2023 included the debut of Casa Pestagua , a historic 17th-century mansion that underwent a $15 million renovation in the Old City. The owners also opened up overnight bungalows at Acasi — a private beach in Barú that is a popular day-trip spot. In 2025, Disney's "Encanto"-themed tour of Colombia will include a stop at Cartagena, and the city is slated to welcome a Four Seasons hotel.

Susmita Baral/Travel + Leisure 

"Cartagena has something to offer everyone," Boris Seckovic , a T+L A-List advisor and co-founder of Amakuna , said. "There's ample architecture and history, and high-end dining, Cartagena being home to some of Colombia's leading chefs. Cartagena is also known for its nightlife, particularly around the holiday season."

Back in the Old City, I couldn't get enough of the charming cobblestone streets lined with colorful walls, quaint wooden doors with whimsical doorknockers, and diverse architecture. (According to Seckovic, the city has a mix of classicist, baroque, neoclassical, and republican architecture.) Vendors set up shop on the corners, selling the likes of arepas , limonada de coco , and fresh coconuts. Even while aimlessly roaming the area, I stumbled upon street performers, vibrant murals, the iconic "La Gorda Gertrudis" sculpture by Colombian artist Fernando Botero, and countless boutiques. 

Susmita Baral/Travel + Leisure

During my visit, I went on a walking tour of the city with Galavanta , which offered both fun tidbits of trivia and important historical context about how Cartagena became the city it is today. I learned that the aforementioned whimsical doorknockers that I couldn't stop taking pictures of symbolized the resident's profession back in the day. A lion, for example, meant the home belonged to a military family.

I also learned that Cartagena was once Spanish America's largest slave port. David Wheat, an associate professor of history at Michigan State University, told T+L that at least 100,000 were trafficked through the city between 1570 and 1640 from the likes of Guinea-Bissau, Senegal, The Gambia, Sierra Leone, Angola, and the Democratic Republic of Congo. Jose Palacios Preciado, the former director of the Colombian national archives, told The Atlanta Black Star that 1.1 million Africans were trafficked through Cartagena.

After learning about the city's history, it became hard not to see Afro-Colombian culture in everything from the music to the art. "The music we listen to is called champeta , and it is African beats-based," Alex Rocha, an Afro-Colombian who owns Experience Real Cartagena , shared. "We have poets like Candelario Obeso and writers like Manuel Zapata Olivella , the author of ' Changó, el gran Putas .'"

Rosie Irene Betancourt/Getty Images

I would soon learn that even the eye-catching palenqueras , who sport bright dresses with bowls of tropical fruit on their head, were instrumental in rebelling against slavery. Fernando Rivera, a guide working with Galavanta, told me that many enslaved people ran away to create their own villages that the Spanish government called palenques . "Women were crucial in aiding in the escapes. They knew the enslaver's lifestyle and were able to time the best moment for the escapes," Rivera said. "Women could also move throughout the city, which made them the perfect messengers and guaranteed the palenques would be safe."

These contributions led to the formation of San Basilio de Palenque , which made history in 1713 as the first free town for Africans in the Americas. Today, centuries later, palenqueras sell fruit throughout the Old City. (Though, they likely sell more photo-ops to tourists than actual fruit — a clever pivot amid the city's growing tourism scene.)

Both Rocha and Rivera noted there are plenty of sites and landmarks to experience and honor Cartagena's Afro-Colombian culture, including Plaza de San Pedro Claver, San Basilio de Palenque, La Ruta del Esclavo, Monumento a la Palenquera, Mercado de Bazurto, Plaza Joe Arroyo, and Plaza Benkos Bioho.

atosan/Getty Images

Even Cartagena's food scene carries strong influences of the past. "Our African ancestors left the legacy of the various foods such as coconut rice; patacones (fried plantains); and different types of fruit-based sweets like dulce de papaya, dulce de coco, dulce de yuca," Rocha said. "There's also sancocho , which is a stew cooked in a pot with vegetables, plantains, potatoes, corn, yuca, and fish or beef." (Pro-tip: Roche recommended dining at La Cocina de Socorro , La Picúa , Kiosko El Bony , and La Mulata to explore Afro-Colombian cuisine.)

Don't miss popular mainstay restaurants like Celele , Alma , La Cevicheria , Carmen , and Donjuán Cartagena . In 2023, chef Heberto Eljach, the brains behind Alma, debuted Ánima in Casa Pestagua , focusing on the ancestral traditions of Colombian cuisine. "Ánima's relationship with Colombian cuisine is focused on ancient techniques of traditional cooking — this includes preservation methods (cured, salted, fermented, canned, smoked, pickled), the use of local products, artisanal fishing, organic products from the Montes de Maria, Amazon, and other regions of Colombia," Eljach explained. 

F.J. Jimenez/Getty Images

And, of course, no culinary tour of Colombia is complete without a coffee experience. After all, Colombia is the leading producer of wash Arabica coffee .

My first visit to Cartagena entailed daily visits to Epoca Coffee , coupled with a desperate impulse purchase of coffee beans so I could attempt to replicate this tradition back home. But during my second trip, I joined a coffee experience at  Café San Alberto . Here, I learned about Colombia's coffee scene and explored the flavor notes of different beans — I left with a greater appreciation of all the elements at play in making a batch of coffee beans.

At the end of my recent visit, I couldn't help but compare my two visits to Cartagena. So much had changed in the four years between my trips — and yet, there was still a rich culture that permeated throughout the city. I found that I was able to relive what I loved from my first visit while also dabbling in new experiences, and ultimately, I was able to curate a trip that had a little bit of everything.

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Memorial Day weekend 2024 will be one of busiest for travel, AAA says: How to plan ahead

T he 2024 Memorial Day weekend is on track to be one of the highest traveled since the AAA Auto Club began tracking them in 2000, with people heading out to domestic and international destinations on more once-in-a-lifetime, luxury and solo trips.

"Memorial Day will be the start to a very busy summer of travel," Debbie Haas, vice president of travel for AAA, said. "American travelers are forecast to surpass pre-pandemic levels, making this the busiest Memorial Day holiday weekend in nearly two decades."

Compared to last year, gas prices are up a few cents a gallon ; domestic hotel prices are down slightly, about 5% — and there’s been more interest in traveling to theme parks and entertainment venues and internationally than there has been in a while.

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Top domestic destinations include Orlando, Seattle, New York, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Denver, Anchorage, Fort Lauderdale, Miami, and Boston. Top foreign travel destinations include Italy, Canada, England, France, Ireland, Netherlands and Greece.

Domestic car rental rates nationwide are down about 17%, according to AAA.

Traveling by car

AAA is forecasting nearly 1.3 million Michiganders will travel 50 miles or more, the second highest since it began tracking them, with 1.17 state residents driving, nearly 70,000 flying, and another nearly 60,000 using some other form of transportation.

Nationally, AAA projects the second highest traveled Memorial Day on record, with nearly 43.8 million Americans going 50 miles or more, that’s 1.7 million more travelers than last year, a 4% increase, but slightly behind the 44 million set in 2005.

Of those 43.8 million, most, 38.4 million, are traveling by car and 3.5 million by air.

"Traveling by car is appealing for many people because of the convenience and flexibility it provides," Adrienne Woodland, a AAA spokeswoman said. "However, Memorial Day drivers may have to pay more at the gas pump."

More: Michigan gas prices drop ahead of Memorial Day weekend travel

During last year’s weekend, Michigan gas prices averaged $3.60 per gallon. The state average is up slightly.

"Drivers should expect continued volatility at the pump as the summer driving season gets underway," Woodland said. "The wildcard remains the cost of oil, and unlike last year, there are now two wars — in the Middle East and Ukraine — that could roil the oil market."

Best, worst times to travel

Meanwhile, those flying might want to leave extra time to get to the airport.

Nearly 2 million people are expected to travel by bus, train, and — on cruises, which are popular again.

"This category took the biggest hit during the pandemic," Haas said. "Now — five years later — we’re back to 2019 numbers. Leading the charge is the resurgence in both ocean and river cruising, which came back extremely strong and continues to gain popularity."

AAA said many more people this year have decided to take once-in-a-lifetime and luxury trips, and even take trips by themselves.

If you do plan to travel by car, INRIX — a Kirkland, Washington-based analytics company, urges drivers to leave Thursday or Friday early to avoid commuter traffic. Those going back Sunday or Monday should avoid the afternoon hours, when return trips are at their peak.

The worst times to travel: noon to 6 p.m. Thursday; noon to 7 p.m. Friday; 2-5 p.m. Saturday; and 3-7 p.m. Sunday; and 3-7 p.m. Monday. Best times: before 11 a.m., after 7 p.m. Thursday; before 11 a.m., after 8 p.m. Friday; before 1 p.m., after 6 p.m. Saturday; and before 1 p.m. Sunday; and after 7 p.m. Monday.

"Travel times are expected to be up to 90% longer than normal," Bob Pishue, a transportation analyst at INRIX said. "Travelers should stay up to date on traffic apps, 511 services, and local news stations to avoid sitting in traffic longer than necessary."

Contact Frank Witsil: 313-222-5022 or [email protected].

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Memorial Day weekend 2024 will be one of busiest for travel, AAA says: How to plan ahead

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‘Dropping Very Dramatically’: What Deadly Turbulence Did to a Flight

Singapore Airlines flight SQ321 was a rare instance of turbulence resulting in a death.

By Sui-Lee Wee and Muktita Suhartono

Reporting from Bangkok

The seatbelt sign came on moments after the plane started shaking, but, for some, it was too late.

“Whoever wasn’t buckled down, they were just launched into the air within the cabin,” said Dzafran Azmir, who was among the 211 passengers on board the London-to-Singapore flight that encountered deadly turbulence on Tuesday. “Within an instant, they hit the ceiling of the cabin and dropped right back onto the floor.”

The plane, a Singapore Airlines Boeing 777-300 ER, had taken off from London’s Heathrow Airport on Monday night, about 10 hours earlier. It was about three-quarters full. Many of the travelers were Singaporeans returning home. Some were students studying in England. Others were families and some who had planned a “holiday of a lifetime” to far-flung destinations like Australia.

The bulk of the 13-hour journey of flight SQ321 was over, and many passengers had finished their last meal onboard, a breakfast that these days has been a choice between an omelet with cream cheese or stir-fried Asian noodles, both served with a side of fresh fruit.

By this time, the plane had reached the Bay of Bengal, which sits between the Indian subcontinent and the Malay Peninsula in Southeast Asia. Some pilots consider the region “notorious” this time of the year because its monsoon rains can cause turbulence.

But commercial pilots know how to prepare for such scenarios. They rely on weather radar and carry extra fuel so they can fly around and wait for the weather to ease, if needed. Or they follow the course charted by other planes that recently have passed through the area and have warned air traffic controllers about weather upheavals.

One scenario that is impossible to prepare for is when the skies are clear and the plane’s radar does not detect anything amiss. This phenomenon is known as clear air turbulence.

“It could be the plane just starts shaking, we turn on the seatbelt sign, but, unknowingly, we fall into the clear air turbulence zone,” said Captain Teerawat Angkasakulkiat, president of the Thai Pilots Association. “It’s totally unpredictable.”

It’s unclear what happened next with SQ321, but there had been thunderstorms near its flight path. As it was flying over Myanmar, cruising at 37,000 feet above the southern section of the country’s biggest river, the Irrawaddy, it hit what the airline later described as “sudden extreme turbulence.”

For the next three to five minutes, the plane shook violently, said Mr. Dzafran, 28, a university student heading home to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, who was buckled into a window seat in row 52.

“Then it built up, like a feeling of going up a roller coaster, up the crest, and suddenly dropping very dramatically,” he recalled.

His bag, stored under the seat in front of him, flew across the plane, and his phone was flung across the aisle. The woman sitting in the row in front of Mr. Dzafran hit her head so hard on the plastic seatbelt indicator sign above her that it broke. Oxygen masks dropped down from the overhead panel. The person behind him hit a seat. Mr. Dzafran was unharmed, but the other two passengers had bloody gashes on their heads.

At least one passenger, it appeared, was able to react quickly enough and buckle her seatbelt. It was a woman sitting behind Mr. Dzafran.

“That was miraculous luck on her side to respond so quickly,” he said.

Another passenger, Teandra Tukhunen, who was sleeping, was not able to react as fast. She was awakened by the turbulence and saw the seatbelt sign come on, but she had no time to fasten it and was thrown to the ceiling, then to the floor, Ms. Tukhunen, 30, a native of Australia, told Sky News from a hospital in Bangkok, her arm in a sling.

Elsewhere on the plane, people started crying and screaming out in pain. The whiplash was so furious that one passenger said that it appeared as if those who had been walking around on the plane were doing somersaults. Dozens of people, including some crew members, were injured.

As things settled down, it was clear that one of the worst affected passengers was a male traveler, Geoff Kitchen. A grandfather of two who ran a local theater group in the town of Thornbury in southwest England, Mr. Kitchen, 73, had planned a six-week “holiday of a lifetime” to Australia and Southeast Asia with his wife of 50 years, Linda.

Andrew Davies, who was sitting in front of Mr. Kitchen, helped carry him out of his seat and laid him on the floor, where he was given C.P.R. for at least 20 minutes.

With the plane now in Thailand’s airspace, the pilot placed a distress call to Suvarnabhumi Airport in Bangkok, asking to make an emergency landing. Then he made an in-flight announcement about the new destination, and asked for anyone who was medically trained to help passengers with injuries.

Forty-five minutes after the ordeal began, Mr. Dzafran said, the plane landed. It was 3.45 p.m. local time.

Several ambulances with flashing lights were standing by. The passengers waited patiently while nurses, emergency medical workers and doctors rushed in to treat the critically injured first. A total of 83 people were injured. Twenty of them were sent to the intensive care unit of a local hospital.

Drew Kessler, the New York-based treasurer of Rotary International who was en route to Singapore for the annual Rotary International Convention, said he had broken his neck while his wife, Vicki, had broken her back.

As Mr. Dzafran prepared to disembark, the crew told passengers to avoid one of the aisles. Mr. Dzafran said he thinks he saw someone lying on the floor. Flight attendants near the business and first class zones were bleeding. Food was strewn across the galleys.

The passengers, dazed and confused, boarded a bus from the tarmac and arrived to a holding area inside the Bangkok airport. Conversations were struck up. A fellow passenger told Mr. Dzafran that someone had died on the plane and showed Mr. Dzafran an online news article. It was Mr. Kitchen. He was the only fatality — one of the few ever blamed on turbulence — and the cause of death hasn’t been released yet.

Singapore Airlines has apologized for the episode, and its investigators have arrived in Bangkok to try to understand what happened.

Mr. Dzafran was among the 143 passengers who emerged unscathed. So was his seatmate, who he said also had her seatbelt on.

Sui-Lee Wee is the Southeast Asia bureau chief for The Times, overseeing coverage of 11 countries in the region. More about Sui-Lee Wee

Muktita Suhartono reports on Thailand and Indonesia. She is based in Bangkok. More about Muktita Suhartono

American Airlines fires lawyers after blaming child for being filmed in bathroom

The airline said the legal defense was made in error.

American Airlines has disavowed a response from its lawyers that blamed a 9-year-old girl for using an airplane bathroom with an active recording device, allegedly placed there by a former employee.

The airline said that what it described as “outside legal counsel retained with our insurance company” made an error in filing a legal argument Monday responding to a lawsuit filed by the girl’s family. American has fired that law firm and replaced it on the case, the company confirmed.

The girl is one of several children whom Estes Carter Thompson III allegedly filmed in lavatories while working as a flight attendant. He was arrested earlier this year and has a court appearance scheduled for July 1.

American’s lawyers wrote that the child’s alleged harm had been caused by her own “fault and negligence” because of her “use of the compromised lavatory, which she knew or should have known contained a visible and illuminated recording device,” according to documents provided to The Washington Post by the law firm representing her family. American’s attorneys also argued that the airline cannot be held liable or responsible for Thompson’s alleged actions.

The child’s mother, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because of the nature of the alleged crime, said in an interview that she was “disgusted and appalled” at the airline’s initial response to the lawsuit. When lawyers for the family called to inform her of the legal filing, she said she was in shock.

“My first question was: ‘Are they really blaming my daughter?’” she said. “I saw red.”

The airline faced swift criticism for the filing, the latest chapter of the case that has generated widespread interest since Thompson was arrested in January .

“The included defense is not representative of our airline and we have directed it be amended this morning,” American Airlines said in a statement. “We do not believe this child is at fault and we take the allegations involving a former team member very seriously.”

The attorney representing the girl’s family said the airline’s statement was not credible.

“The company is only saying it was an error because of the intense media backlash,” Paul T. Llewellyn, a partner at Lewis and Llewellyn, a law firm in California. “That is what has caused them to change their positions.”

Llewellyn called American Airlines’ legal response “outrageous and depraved.”

Late Friday, the law firm representing the family said its attorneys heard American Airlines had replaced the law firm that filed the response. The airline confirmed the news in an email.

“As a result of the intense media and public backlash surrounding the outrageous allegation, we are not surprised to learn that American Airlines fired its law firm,” Llewellyn said in a statement. “With the benefit of this new legal representation, we hope that American Airlines will now take a fresh look at the case and finally take some measure of responsibility for what happened to our client. Otherwise, we are very confident that a Texas jury will do the right thing and hold American Airlines responsible.”

Thompson is in custody and awaiting trial in federal court for attempted sexual exploitation of children and possession of child pornography depicting a prepubescent minor. He was arrested in January and charged by criminal complaint at the time and was indicted by a federal grand jury in April.

Authorities started investigating after a 14-year-old passenger on a flight between Charlotte and Boston noticed that an iPhone was hidden in a lavatory Thompson had directed her to use last September. Investigators searched Thompson’s iCloud account and found four more examples from earlier that year where Thompson had allegedly recorded passengers between the ages of 7 and 14 using the restroom on planes, as well as multiple images of a 9-year-old unaccompanied minor.

The family of the 14-year-old who found the phone has also filed suit against American.

In the lawsuit involving the 9-year-old, attorneys wrote that their client and her family flew from Texas to Los Angeles in January 2023 for a gymnastics competition and Disneyland trip. The FBI notified the family almost a year after that trip that images and videos of their daughter had been found on Thompson’s iCloud account, the lawsuit says.

The family sued Thompson and American in Texas state court, alleging negligence on the airline’s part and asking for damages greater than $1 million. The young girl is “jumpy, nervous, and fearful in her interactions with other people,” the lawsuit says, and has a tough time trusting authority figures such as teachers.

The child’s mother said she had to tell her daughter about the initial allegation because the FBI warned that it might need to ask her questions. But she said she doesn’t want her child to hear about the airline’s response to the lawsuit.

“How can a child understand any of this — and the fact that you have adults who are blaming her for something a man did?” she said. “She would not even be able to comprehend it.”

The girl had to fly recently for her sport and couldn’t sleep the night before, her mother said. She asked whether the flight attendant in question would be on the plane or whether there would be male flight attendants working.

When the girl had to use the restroom, “I had to walk with her and check it out before,” her mother said. “That’s our new normal.”