Dear Globetrotter:

Welcome to the 426th issue of your monthly overseas travel magazine, where all subscribers are encouraged to share their experiences and opinions.

Before I get into the details of the travel news below, I would like to thank ITN Assistant Editor Mary Beltran and make it known that this column, as it is each month, is made possible only because of the massive amounts of research she does.

Mary scours the Internet news services and presents me with a...

Dear Globetrotter:

Welcome to the 424th issue of your monthly overseas travel magazine.

The US Department of Transportation has strengthened airline passengers’ protections, or “rights,” in several small ways. The new rules for the airline industry were announced on April 20, with most changes to take effect 120 days later, around Aug. 20. Here’s a rundown.

• Airlines now will have to include all government taxes and fees in every advertised price. This applies mainly...

Dear Globetrotter:

Welcome to the 422nd issue of your monthly overseas travel magazine.

I had written up for last month’s column, but then had no room to include, a number of statistics on pirate attacks over the last few years. I had found it reassuring that cruise ships and private yachts were seldom targeted. A couple of weeks before this month’s issue was completed, however, four Americans were killed on their private yacht by pirates in the Gulf of Aden.

The owners...