On the Sunday, January 23rd, 2022 edition of The Travel Guys… In the Travel News, Crystal Cruises cancels sailings as bankruptcy appears near. Cruising right now is a gamble. A gamble that you won’t end up in a “COVID Jail.” In our Smarter Traveler segment, we share a horror story or two. Getting COVID on board a ship might be a travel experience you’d want to skip. Surprise fees are appearing on restaurant checks. Mark ran into an “employee benefits fee” in Napa last week and he tells you how to fight back. Santa Barbara is suddenly on everyone’s “must go” list. We’ll find out what is attracting all the attention in this historic city.
On the Sunday, January 16th, 2022 edition of The Travel Guys… In the Travel News, Disney, Broadway and Hawaii are among those stepping up their vaccination requirements; and we offer a warning to travelers about "pop-up" COVID testing centers. Clayton Whitehead joins us for our Smarter Traveler segment. Clayton took a group to the theater in San Francisco last week to see the critically acclaimed The Band's Visit. We'll get his observations on what it was like to be back in the theater, and we'll discuss the sudden surge in prices for hotels and airfares and what it means for travelers. Consumer Advocate Chris Elliott is traveling the planet with his sons. He joins us from the Middle East, to talk international COVID conditions and gives us a few projections on travel in the coming months. Tourism Cares is the philanthropic arm of the tourism industry. The organization creates clean up and improvement projects all over the planet. Learn more about what they do and the project planned for Lake Tahoe in late spring.
On the Sunday, January 9th, 2022 edition of The Travel Guys… In the Travel News, the CDC announced EVERY ship sailing in US waters as of last Wednesday had COVID cases on board. With Sex and The City's reboot on TV, the tour of its hotspots in the Big Apple has also returned. A group of partying Canadians, who whooped it up on the plane on the way to Mexico, find themselves without a way home. Airlines play a lot of games with seat selection. In recent years, they have figured out a way to monetize almost every desirable seat on the plane, and even some undesirable ones. In our Smarter Traveler segment, we talk about different strategies for avoiding the up charges. If you are a traveler, you have a friend at Travelers United. The consumer group works to try and make airlines, cruise lines and the like behave themselves. Director Charlie Leocha joins us to discuss his disappointment in the lack of consumer friendly directives coming from the White House. Everything from family seating on planes to timely refunds are on Charlie's plate. Carol Pucci is one of the writers for Joe Sent Me, a great pay-to-read web site Mark subscribes to. Carol is one of our "Travel Gals," and recently she wrote about the idea of having all domestic airline travelers COVID-vaccinated.
On the Sunday, January 2nd, 2022 edition of The Travel Guys… In the Travel News, despite COVID the roads and the skies are crowded over the holidays; and the national parks have released their list of free admission days for 2022. In our Smarter Traveler segment, we talk about common security steps you can take to keep you and your identity safe while on the road. Nevada is not only close, it's full of unique places to visit. From ghost towns, to rock hunting, to Basque cuisine, stargazing and space aliens, Nevada is home to the unusual. Our special guest tells us about some of those off-the-beaten-path Nevada spots. Mark's trip to Reno on the train got a little waylaid. A three day excursion stretched into six. Tom asks Mark to go behind-the-scenes in the life of a Tour Director, to tell us what happens when you can't get your travelers over the mountain.