A lounge bigger than the terminal you grew up with. An airport security shortcut you may already qualify for. A nonstop to Hokkaido powder. And 5 cities where something worth traveling for just opened.

The lounge is now bigger than the terminal you grew up with

On October 22, United opened the largest airline lounge in the Americas at Houston's rebuilt Terminal B: 54,000 square feet, 800 seats, 2 full bars, 11 private phone rooms, and a terrace overlooking the runway.

American Express opened its first Centurion Lounge in continental Europe at Amsterdam Schiphol in September, though Philadelphia regulars lose theirs: it closed October 16 for a renovation expected to run through 2027. Newark gets a 30,000-square-foot flagship next year.

Hollywood Burbank opened its $1.3 billion replacement terminal on October 13 and, to its credit, kept the walk across the tarmac to the plane. Miami went the other way in June with PS MIA, Florida’s first private commercial terminal, inside the restored former Pan Am headquarters, with its own TSA screening and a car to the aircraft door. A visit costs $1,295 per person, or $4,850 a year to join and $895 a visit after that. And on November 23, Western Sydney International, the city's new second airport, takes its first Singapore Airlines flight.

Two projects won't quite make the holiday rush: JFK's New Terminal One, now expected in early 2027, and LAX's long-promised driverless train linking the terminals, the parking garages and the Metro station, now scheduled for January 6.

The shortcut most PreCheck members don't know they have

PreCheck now does more than shorten the line. TSA PreCheck Touchless ID is available at more than 60 airports: instead of handing over your license or boarding pass, a quick photograph is matched against the passport image already on file, and you walk through. If you're a PreCheck member with a valid passport, opting in is free and takes a minute in your airline's app. You still need to carry physical ID, just in case. Charlotte and Newark now have self-service e-gates as well.

The best of the new features is Gateside, which lets PreCheck members at 13 airports request a pass 1 to 3 days ahead and walk someone to their gate without a ticket of their own. It's a small thing until you're seeing off elderly parents, so check that your airport is on the list before you count on it.

Global Entry has also gotten smarter. The $120 membership now offers a walk-through pilot at 6 airports: Boston, Dallas Fort Worth, JFK, Philadelphia, Seattle and San Francisco. Overhead cameras identify you as you approach passport control, so there's no kiosk to stop at before speaking with an officer.

And before you leave the country, a few new rules: Europe's fingerprint-and-photo Entry/Exit System is fully operational, but ETIAS, the separate €20 travel authorization, is still not accepting applications. The UK now requires American visitors to obtain an ETA, £20 and valid for 2 years. India wants an e-Arrival Card completed within 72 hours of landing. Brazil still requires an $80 e-visa for US passport holders; it usually clears within 5 business days, though 2 months ahead is the safe margin. And South Africa now requires an online customs declaration when entering and leaving the country.

Where the planes are pointing this winter

The route we're most excited about is United's new Sapporo nonstop from San Francisco, launching December 11 and running 3 times weekly through March on a 787-9. It's the first nonstop from the continental US to Hokkaido, and Niseko's powder is roughly 2 hours from the airport, with no change of planes in Tokyo. Come down from the mountain at Zaborin, 15 villas in the Hanazono woods, each with its own indoor and outdoor onsen.

If you'd rather chase sun than snow, Qantas starts flying Las Vegas to Sydney nonstop on December 29, and Morocco is easier to reach than it has been in years: Delta flies Atlanta to Marrakech through May, and United flies Newark to Marrakech through March.

Delta is also flying Cincinnati to Paris from January through March, an unusual window for a transatlantic route and good news for anyone within driving distance of it.

The Middle East remains more complicated. Delta's Atlanta to Riyadh is suspended until early 2027 and United's Newark to Dubai through at least March, so check schedules and advisories before booking anything that passes through the region. Cape Town, on the other hand, keeps its nonstops from Atlanta and Newark just as South Africa heads into summer.

Text it the trip. It texts back when the fare drops.

Google Flights has tracked prices for years. What's different about the newer personal AI agents, Muse and Instinct, is the conversation and the persistence.

Instead of repeatedly opening a browser, you send a message: "Let me know when business class to Tokyo drops below $3,000 in February." The agent keeps looking and comes back when there's something worth your attention.

Ask one to check Hyatt points availability at the Park Hyatt Tokyo, find 2 award seats on the same flight, or compare travel medical insurance for 3 weeks in Argentina. We've used these agents to look for hotel award availability, where finding the right dates can involve an unreasonable amount of refreshing. Access to live inventory depends on the agent and the sites it can reach, so verify before booking.

Muse offers a free tier and works through WhatsApp. Instinct is free, currently invite-only, and reachable by iMessage, WhatsApp or a phone call. Both can also book on your behalf. We'd keep the final click to yourself until you trust the results.

3 new ships arrive in December. 1 runs on hydrogen.

This winter’s new ships pull in opposite directions: smaller and quieter, or bigger than ever.

Viking Libra begins sailing in December with room for 998 guests and the line's familiar Scandinavian restraint. What sets it apart is a hydrogen fuel-cell system that lets it run emission-free for stretches: about 3 hours of sailing plus a day in port. It's built with Norway's World Heritage fjords in mind, where tighter emissions rules arrive in 2032.

Seven Seas Prestige, Regent's first new ship class in a decade, takes another approach to luxury: 40% more ship but only about 10% more passengers than its predecessors. Its inaugural 14-night crossing departs Barcelona December 13, calling at Málaga, Madeira and Tortola before arriving in Miami on December 27, which puts Christmas Eve in the British Virgin Islands.

At the opposite end of the scale, MSC World Asia debuts in December with room for 6,700 guests, 7 pools and a 12-meter illuminated dragon.

Then there's the Orient Express Corinthian, a different proposition altogether: the first ship to carry the Orient Express name, and the world's largest sailing yacht. It has 54 suites, 3 towering rigid sails, a crew of around 170 for 110 guests, and restaurants overseen by Yannick Alléno. Its first Caribbean season runs on short sailings, several from Miami and some lasting only a few nights, which makes it the rare ship you can try over a long weekend.

One less romantic development: Mexico doubled its cruise passenger levy to $10 on August 1, charged once per itinerary even if you never step off, with $15 coming next July and $21 in 2028, so check whether your fare already includes it.

5 cities where the reason to go just opened

Los Angeles

The Lucas Museum of Narrative Art opened September 22 in Exposition Park, housed in a Ma Yansong building that looks more like something that landed than something that was built. Nearby, LACMA's new Peter Zumthor-designed galleries opened earlier this year.

Stay at Hotel Lucile, a 25-room hotel that opened in September inside a former 1931 Silver Lake church. Its restaurant, Sous Sous, occupies the old chapel beneath the original stained glass. For morning coffee, walk to Intelligentsia at Sunset Junction, still the neighborhood's ritual.

London

The Webster Covent Garden opened October 9 overlooking Lincoln's Inn Fields, with 167 rooms designed by Red Deer. The rooms come with Marshall speakers and a Jacob Jensen telephone instead of yet another tablet, which tells you most of what you need to know about the place.

Across the square is Sir John Soane's Museum, still one of the best 90 minutes in London for anyone curious about art, architecture, and how one man arranged everything he owned.

There's also Es Devlin's Other Worlds at the Design Museum through April 4, and the Bayeux Tapestry at the British Museum through July 11, 2027, its first return to England in nearly a thousand years. It's sold out through December; tickets for April to July release in January.

Brussels

On November 28, Kanal-Centre Pompidou opens inside a vast 1930s Citroën garage on the canal. 10 opening exhibitions include more than 350 works drawn largely from the Centre Pompidou (whose Paris building is closed for renovation until 2030) and Belgian collections. More than half the building is free to wander through, rooftop bar included.

The Standard, Brussels, is a short walk away in the Northern Quarter. And with Eurostar taking around 2 hours from London, it's an easy addition to a longer European trip.

Memphis

The Memphis Art Museum opens its new Herzog & de Meuron building above the Mississippi on December 6. Built with mass timber and brick inspired by the region's river clay, it gives a city known mostly for its music a serious reason to stay an extra day.

Admission will be free to Shelby County residents, permanently, which few new museums of this size can say. Stay at the Central Station Hotel, housed in the city's restored 1914 railway station, and leave time for the riverfront.

Austin

1 Hotel Austin opened in September inside Waterline, now the tallest building in Texas. The 252-room hotel brings the brand's nature-led design into a 74-story tower, with a pool on the 16th floor.

Downstairs, chef Johnny Curiel's Alteño marks his first Austin restaurant after earning Michelin stars for 2 Denver establishments. It's worth a reservation even if you aren't staying.

And at the Blanton Museum, the wonderfully strange Haas Brothers exhibition, Uncanny Valley, runs through January 17.

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