On the Sunday, March 14th, 2021 edition of The Travel Guys… In the Travel News, Amtrak is putting Covid relief funds to good use, restoring daily services on many long distance trains, including the California Zephyr. American Airlines tells 15,000 employees to forget the furlough notices, and air travel has had a significant bump in the past 7-10 days. But, hotels are still in big trouble. Now it's the Fairmont San Jose, the centerpiece hotel downtown, which has shuttered its doors after losing $38 million in the past year. Travelers United has put forth a pretty solid idea regarding airline passenger rights. Post them at the airport. Very few travelers know the simple rules which protect them. So why not make those rights extremely public? Because it isn't in the best interest of one group....the airlines. More discussion in our Smarter Traveler segment. For nearly more than 7 decades, 3 generations of the Perillo family have taken people on vacation. Italy is their specialty, but they now offer other destinations. Steve Perillo, owner of the 3rd generation family company, joins us to talk overseas travel. Finally, we have the story of the man who spent years in jail because Hertz Car Rental wouldn't turn over the documents which proved his innocence. We have the full story.
On the Sunday, March 7th, 2021 edition of The Travel Guys… In the Travel News, Marriott is paying its employees to take the COVID vaccine, California theme parks are reopening - sort of, and you can now fly to Cancun non-stop from Sacramento. The man who is The King of Walking Tours of Times Square has a new virtual tour, a Broadway Pub Crawl. The next one is on St. Patrick's Day (fee for this activity). Owner Tim Dolan is on hand to tell us how we can join in. Our Smarter Traveler segment focuses on vaccine travel. The European Union appears poised to create some type of vaccine travel pass. Whether its a hard card you carry, or something electronic; it could make travel safer or more difficult, depending on your point of view. Plus, are Americans passing on spring break travel this year, waiting for more vaccinations? Randy Paragary is a Sacramento restaurant legend. Now he's ventured into the hotel business. The Fort Sutter Hotel has opened downtown and Randy joins us to talk hotels and restaurants during COVID.
On the Sunday, February 28th, 2021 edition of The Travel Guys… In the Travel News, formal complaints to airlines jumped by over 500% last year. Not surprising, considering all the fuss over refunds and vouchers. California tourism destinations are hoping for spring openings, at least on a limited basis. In our Smarter Traveler segment, we talk about how both Americans and Canadians are trying to make sure the closing of Canadian ports to cruise ships and a little known US law don't kill the Alaska cruise season. Work is going on to fix the situation north and south of the border. Which poses the question, will cruise ships be safe this summer? We'll tell you about how the cruise industry is preparing to resume sailing the world's oceans. Chris Elliott, who used to have a weekly column in The Bee when the paper had a travel section, makes one of his regular guest appearances on our program to talk about those airlines vouchers you've got. Guess what, they could be expiring soon. What do you do? Chris has some wisdom. In the final segment, Mark answers some mailbag questions on overseas travel this summer, making reservations for a cruise and bringing food on the plane.
On the Sunday, February 21st, 2021 edition of The Travel Guys… In the Travel News, a new option for Hawaii bound travelers who are vaccinated is expected as early as next week. There shouldn't be a reason to quarantine if you are vaccinated, but with Hawaii, who knows. United Airlines is investigating how Ted Cruz' flight information to/from Cancun last week became public. American Steamboat Lines expect to be back on America's Rivers March 15th. All passengers will be tested the night before boarding the ship to ensure a safe beginning to all cruises. Capacity on the ships is set at about 65%. Because the riverboats are less than 250 passenger capacity, they are not subject to the current big ship sailing restrictions. Our show features a number of stops throughout the state of Oregon. We stopped in Pendleton, Coos Bay, Newport and Portland. Check the link list below for links to the destinations and some of the attractions and activities mentioned on the show.