Tag: Odds & Ends, Page 9

On the Saturday, November 2nd, 2024 edition of The Travel Guys… In the Travel News, passenger air service may be returning to the Chico airport in 2025, and the pioneering airline executive who first said no smoking on my planes (Northwest) has died. New rules to protect airline passengers in the event of long flight delays or baggage you paid the airlines to transport, but didn't show up, have taken effect. Mark goes over them to help make you a smarter traveler the next time your travel doesn't go the way it should have. It was a bad week for the airlines. A senate bill to regulate loyalty programs popped up, plus the department of transportation has launched an investigation into competition, airfares and a host of things the airlines do not want to discuss. But we do...... Odds and Ends include some humorous advice for flight attendant wannabes, and the discovery that one demographic of traveler is absolutely exploding in numbers. Who might that be?

On the Saturday, October 19th, 2024 edition of The Travel Guys… In the Travel News, travel demand is slowing down for next summer, for a reason you may not have considered; and we fill you in on a little known Mexican law about the number of electronic gadgets you can bring into the country. When buying an airline ticket, you have a decision to make, do you pay more for extra space, an aisle seat, boarding early, or take your chances? In our Smarter Traveler segment, Mark explains why a roll of the dice can sometimes work out ok. Who decides if a cruise ship is clean? The Center for Disease Control. We will tell you which cruise ships made the 10 dirtiest cruise ships list, and you will be surprised at some of the names. Our odds and ends bucket includes an editorial by Rick Steves and a look at how Californians feel about tourism in our state.

On the Saturday, October 5th, 2024 edition of The Travel Guys… In the Travel News, Spirit Airlines appears to be fast disappearing from the skies, and a European airline is getting rid of paper boarding passes entirely and only allowing you to check in online. Our Smarter Traveler segment highlights a new text phone scam directly targeting travelers. We tell you how to avoid it and protect your money and your private information. Southwest, the airline that carriers more passengers in and out of Sacramento than any other, is making a lot of changes. How do they affect you and your decisions about who to buy your air travel from? Our Odds & Ends part of the program addresses two subjects. The importance of arriving at your departure port early when you are cruising; and a couple of behavior tips involving feet and hair on airplanes. That's right, your feet and hair. Please keep them to yourself!

On the Saturday, September 21st, 2024 edition of The Travel Guys… In the Travel News, the merger of Alaska and Hawaiian airlines has been approved, with the stipulation that frequent flyer miles not be devalued and some other never-seen-before concessions by the airlines involved. The Grand Prix is coming back to Las Vegas in November. Want to go? Bring your wallet, for sure, 'cause it ain't gonna be cheap. In our Smarter Traveler segment, we discuss the difference of buying travel components from a third party (Trip Advisor, Booking.com, etc.) as opposed to booking direct. Mark points out that direct booking is almost always the way to go. Tom suggested sniffing around the third party sites to check out pricing. If you find a deal, you can always go direct to the travel supplier and ask them to match, which they often will. Beware of third party sites that have paid to be at the top of the page when you log on your phone/computer. Also, third party sites may have cancellation/change rules that are different from the actual supplier. The government is investigating Frequent Flyer programs, something which is long overdue. Chris Elliott, Travel Advocate and Blogger, joins us to discuss why this is happening. Our Odds and Ends segment shares a list of five things international visitors like about our country and its culture. Plus, a reminder about what type of picture NOT to post to social media while you are on vacation.