Review and Test Drive: 2021 Mercedes-AMG GLS 63

by Jonathan Spira

Mercedes-Benz introduced the first GLS Class, which was known as the GL-Class, at the North American Auto Show in 2006.  It was the flagship SUV in the Stuttgart-based automaker’s lineup, the SUV equivalent to the S Class, if you will.
While we didn’t review the original GL, we did review the second generation GL at its launch.  My colleague Dan Collins noted that the new (at the time) GL was “larger …

Today is Martin Luther King Jr Day: Here’s What’s Open and What’s Closed

by Paul Riegler

Today, Monday, is Martin Luther King Jr. Day in the United States, a federal holiday.  King, a Baptist minister and activist, was a leader in in the civil rights movement from 1955 until his assassination in 1968. He is widely recognized for having advanced civil rights through non-violent actions and civil disobedience.  King’s father, Martin Luther King Sr., was an early civil rights leader who survived his son’s death and …

Study Shows Which Car Windows to Roll Down to Keep Covid at Bay

by Paul Riegler

The interior of a passenger car represents an elevated risk of coronavirus transmission and drivers and passengers have long since been told to roll down the windows to keep aerosols and droplets at bay.
But which windows should one lower, especially if one doesn’t wish to have all four down?
A new study by researchers at the University of Massachusetts and Brown University has the answer.
Noting that, even with proper mask wearing, …

I Will Not Be Silent

by Jonathan Spira

Over the past nine weeks, the capitals of the two countries I call home – Austria and the United States – experienced domestic terrorist attacks.
In the November 2nd attack in Vienna, it was a lone gunman, a 20-year-old Islamic terrorist who managed to kill four people and wound 23 others.  The attack was carried out in such a manner that the police originally believed that there were multiple shooters.
Some eight …

Travel Alert: FBI Memo Warns of Possible Armed Protests at all 50 State Capitals and D.C.

by Kurt Stolz

If you’re planning a Covid-safe trip in the coming week, you might want to avoid the capital of any of the 50 states, as well as the District of Columbia.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation is issuing warnings of plans for “armed protests” at all 50 state capitols as well as in Washington, D.C, according to an internal bulletin distributed to law enforcement officials across the country.
The Bureau sent a bulletin …

January News Quiz: Test Your Knowledge of the Past Month’s Headlines

by Gracie Connell

How up-to-date are you with travel and aviation news from the past month. Take our first travel news quiz of 2021 and you could win a piece of airline and travel history including items from Pan Am, Cunard, and TWA.
In last month’s quiz, the question asking which airline is returning to an airport it abandoned five years ago (the answer was United Airlines) had the highest share of correct answers, with …

Despite Covid, The World’s Most Powerful Passports for 2021 Are…

by Gracie Connell

The hopes for travel in the months to come are high given all the limitations imposed due to coronavirus in 2020. If you happen to hold a passport from Japan, this year you continue to be in luck as you are able to visit 191 out of the 218 countries in the world without a visa, the most of any other passport holder, current Covid-19 restrictions notwithstanding.
The Henley and Partners …