Travel Guys Radio Show, Page 182

On the Sunday, August 21st, 2011 edition of The Travel Guys… Our featured guest is Lisa Poirot, editor of FamilyVacationCritic.com. Lisa has a ton of tips for traveling with the kids. If you travel with your family, or near or around other families, you'll want to catch this great interview. A large unpopulated area of the Nevada desert has been host to a unique tourist attraction (?) for 25 years. Phil Cowan, formerly of the Paul and Phil Morning Radio Show, joins us to talk about Burning Man, a spectacle in the desert. If you've never been, this is the only way you'll learn about it. If you have attended in the past, see how Phil's recall matches yours. We'll talk a look at Sacramento365.com, a terrific resource for finding out what's happening in the community. Finally, we chat for a short time with Ben Schlappig, who blogs at boardingarea.com. Ben has an update on what the merger of United and Continental Airlines will mean to Frequent Flyers and not-so-frequent-flyers. See you Sunday... Join Sports Leisure Vacations at the US Figure Skating Championships in San Jose! Click here to learn more. Russian Space Hotel This Russian Space Hotel is scheduled for opening in 2016, allowing stays from just 3 days to 6 months! Learn more here.

On the Sunday, August 14th, 2011 edition of The Travel Guys… Sunday on The Travel Guys, we continue our two-part series on cruising the high seas (and the rivers, canals, etc.) of the planet. Our special guest is Rob Taylor, from Holland America Line, one of the premier cruise lines in the country. Mark and Rob have details on an amazing cruise to Southeast Asia, offered by Sports Leisure Vacations, and Rob talks about the history of Holland America. We'll take your phone calls and one of our callers will win a $50 American Express Gift Card, just for calling in. We'll be asking you to tell us about your favorite cruise destination. Have you ever taken a small ship cruise? Do you prefer that experience to a mega-ship, or a premium mid-size like Holland America? We'd love to have you share your experiences with our Travel Guys audience. In our entertainment segment, Rhyena Halpern, Executive Director of SMAC, the Sacramento Metropolitan Arts Commission, is in studio to talk about the "state of the arts" in Sacramento. With the economy tight and SMAC dollars even tighter, how are local arts groups surviving? Rhyena updates us and the news isn't all bad. The arts in our area are weathering the storm, but not without your continued support. If time allows, a special guest will tell you about the Floating Homes of Sausalito, and how you can visit them on a tour soon. Learn more here. Speaking of continued support, thanks for listening to The Travel Guys. Pilot Refuses to Fly Over a Dessert and Piece of Bread So last week on 7/20/11, in the middle of my travels to start my vacation, I'm in seat 1A on UA 472 from DEN to TPA. Everyone is on board, we're about ready to go.The catering people hand the FA a tray that apparently is the pilot's requested meal. Except the only thing on it is a green salad topped by grilled chicken. She shows it to the pilot who indicates to her that everything else is missing. The FA walks onto the jetway to talk to the catering dude. Catering dude: "What's wrong with it?" FA: "Well there's no bread, no dessert..." (some talk I couldn't hear) Then they come back onto the plane where Catering dude says "well what did he order?" FA leans into cockpit and says to pilot, "What do you want?" Catering dude gets attitude and says, "NO, what was he SUPPOSED to get?" The gauntlett has now been thrown down. Pilot stands up and exits the plane and stands on the jetway. There is some discussion of the printout for catering. Apparently the grilled chicken salad printed at the bottom of one page, and no one noticed the rest of the meal was on the next page. I start getting text updates on my phone in 15 minute increments that we are delayed for "aircraft servicing". Copilot announces a slight delay for "a catering issue". Pilot continues to stand on jetway with arms crossed. Occasionally he speaks to someone on the phone. About 30 minutes in, the FA makes eye contact with me and she says quietly, "we should be on our way soon." I respond, "I'll go back to the concourse and buy his dinner, what does he want?" FA gets even closer to me and says, "The copilot already offered, it's a pissing match now." The guy across the aisle leans in and says, "I'll chip in to buy, seriously." Some people in suits come and talk to various people standing around, while the pilot ignores everyone. Finally, a vehicle pulls up and two suits come up the stairs to the jetway, followed by a woman in a chef's hat and coat, carrying a full tray. Pilot sees them coming and gets back on the plane. Chef stops just inside plane with the tray, hands it to FA, who takes it to the pilot in the cockpit who apparently okay's it. 45 minutes have elapsed since we were ready to close the doors. Original story is posted on www.flyertalk.com. Read it here.