San Francisco Page 3

On the Saturday, April 20th, 2024 edition of The Travel Guys… In The Travel News, San Francisco reacts to Oakland's decision to change the name of the Oakland Airport to include the words "San Francisco Bay Oakland Airport" and Amsterdam takes a number of steps to try and reduce over-tourism, the latest destination to do so. "Would you trade seats with me," has become a common passenger-to-passenger request on planes. But with airlines charging extra for many seats, it's become a request that doesn't get a positive response more and more often. Mark talks about how to handle both sides of the "seat swap" equation. Personal flying vehicles (cars in the sky) might be closer than we think. Consumer advocate Chris Elliott (www.elliott.org) joins us from Aruba to talk about his recent column on the subject, and to talk a bit about Aruba. Clayton Whitehead joins us to talk about the recent eclipse. He experienced it with 70 Sacramento travelers and offers some fascinating insights.

On the Saturday, September 30th, 2023 edition of The Travel Guys… In the Travel News, Pier 39 in San Francisco celebrates its 45th birthday, and Delta Airlines, they who boldly wiped out their frequent flyer program two weeks ago, admit perhaps they went too far. The Chief Health officer of a major airline says there are five things he absolutely would not do before or during a flight. We share those with you in our Smarter Traveler segment. The junk fee situation is spreading and getting more ridiculous. Now restaurants are adding bogus surcharges to their bills. The latest update on how travel vendors are digging into our wallets. Our Odds and Ends segment includes some good news for travel advisors and Mark's lament on the disappearance of the "shoulder season" for travel.

On the Sunday, May 14th 2023, Mother's Day edition of The Travel Guys… In the Travel News, pilots from several airlines have voted to authorize a strike? What does this mean for summer travel? We share an important take on the situation. Airfares dropped a bit in April. Does this mean the long upward climb in fares is over? Clearing customs is always a bit stressful, whether you are coming to or going from the United States. In our Smarter Traveler segment, we give you some tips on how to make your customs encounter as brief as possible by helping you be prepared. Carnaval in San Francisco is a fun, all-free event that is back for its 45th year this Memorial Day weekend. Find more info on the event here. Chris Elliott, Consumer Advocate, joins us from Christchurch, New Zealand, to discuss the automation of the travel industry and why it might be moving just a little too fast, from a customer services standpoint. Plus, why does it take so long to get a refund everyone agrees you are owed. Chris reminds us the importance of being patient, polite and persistent when chasing your money.

On the Sunday, July 10th, 2022 edition of The Travel Guys… In The Travel News, both the FAA (Federal Aviation Authority) and the DOT (Department of Transportation) are after the airlines. The FAA says the airlines blaming them for the recent spike in delays and cancellations is a bunch of BS. "There are more flights scheduled than the system can handle..." said a United Airlines spokesperson. The FAA says on July 4th, the FAA had no staffing issues and the airlines still canceled 250 flights. The DOT says the airlines are charging families to sit together. If that doesn't stop, the DOT says it will issue a regulation requiring the airlines to obey. Princess Cruise Lines is advertising a $59 per night cruise from San Francisco. $59 a night? That seems WAYYYY too cheap. So we asked our cruise expert, Gwen Duncan, to investigate. She tells us it it's really true. The 5th Cordillera International Film Festival is slated for July 28-August 1 in Reno/Sparks. Rated one of the top 100 festivals in the world, the list of activities and film venues is impressive. Mark answered a variety of questions from the mailbag, including those on being bumped off of a flight, having your flight canceled and a shout out to the skycaps at Southwest Airlines.