Tag: JoeSentMe

On the Saturday, August 31st, 2024 edition of The Travel Guys… In the Travel News, we tell you which airports in the country have the most TSA complaints (and all ten of them are on the east coast); plus the late Tammy Faye Bakker has made it to Broadway. The show named for her premieres at the Palace Theater in The Big Apple in October. COVID is back in the news for two reasons in recent weeks, so we'll take a few minutes to remind travelers how to protect themselves and all listeners the importance of considering the newly released vaccine. Joe Brancatelli is one of our favorite online bloggers. He pens Joe Sent Me each week for paid road warrior subscribers online (Including Mark). This week, he wrote a column titled Travel Sucks Right Now. We invited him to share details about his obviously strong feelings on the show with us. Mark was in Seattle with one of his tour groups last weekend, and he has a few dining and sightseeing tips from the Emerald City.

On the Saturday, September 23rd, 2023 edition of The Travel Guys… In the Travel News, TSA officers stop a flight attendant from trying to pass through security with a LOADED gun and an unexpected visitor prompts a temporary closure of the Magic Kingdom, those stories next in the news. It's entirely possible that by the end of next weekend, we will be dealing with a government shutdown. What does that mean for travelers? We run down the list in our Smarter Traveler segment. Joe Brancatelli of Joe Sent Me, a great travel blog, joins us to talk about the shifting of Frequent Flyer programs from miles to credit card points. Our odds and ends segment highlights new vegan menus coming to Carnival Cruise Lines, and vacation rental companies are changing some rules. Soon the host will have to pay cancellation fees, and New York City is cracking down on illegal rentals in the city.

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, December 5th, 2021 edition of The Travel Guys… Mark checks in from Gettysburg and Hershey, Pennsylvania, where he has 30 travelers in tow on a Christmas Mystery Tour. In the Travel News, United Airlines set an aviation record this week, using 100% sustainable aviation fuel to fly a scheduled flight. The fuel emits 75% less carbon dioxide. Adele is setting up residence in Las Vegas, weekends through April, and Sacramento may be getting a new airline, Airbahn. For the second week in a row, our Smarter Traveler segment focuses on contracts between travelers and travel companies. If you don't take the time to read them, don't cry later. Joe Brancatelli from JoeSentMe.com, one of Mark's favorite paid travel sites, has a take on the settlement between Pennsylvania and Marriott Hotel on the resort fee issue. As usual, Joe's opinion is a bit different from everyone else's. Tom talks to the folks from Imaginarium 360, the Christmas Lights Show at Cal Expo. Sounds like a cool place to visit during the holidays.