Alexandra E. Petri

Travelers love thinking about life as a journey, and these companies show that transportation can turn that journey into the ultimate experience.

Building a loyalty program for independent hotels creates a significant challenge considering the weight of both existing hotel plans and those offered by credit card companies including American Express, Capital One, and others.

On one hand, hotels can be impersonal giants that don't allow for individuality or local understanding. On the other they can be an escape from the mundane, where the cost of managing fun or freedom is outsourced to someone else.

With the premiere of her newest show 50/50 on the Travel Channel, Samantha Brown opens up about the state of travel TV and the direction it is taking in the future.

Multigenerational travel isn't going anywhere — except up, and fast. What started to take shape in the 1990s has given way to one of most talked-about travel trends, and many hotels are marketing to, and making changes, to connect this growing traveler base.

These travel ads deliver viewers not only destination, but an understanding of what it is that makes each unique by tying in different elements to offer a sense of place.

We like the budget design approach of GLō, even if we don't understand the spelling or capitalization. Someone should tell Best Western that even millennials like simplicity.

We're still a long way from political leaders really understanding what's happening at brands like Uber and Airbnb.

While it may be a relief that the hackers targeted systems outside of the central reservation system, the difference isn't likely to matter to guests who were victims.

The best travel ads this week dig at the heart of what travel is all about.