Tag: smarter traveler, Page 24

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 28th, 2024 edition of The Travel Guys… In the Travel News, the FAA has hired more new air traffic controllers this year than its original goal, cutting into the shortage of people who oversee the nation's skies. Our Smarter Traveler segment addresses two important subjects, passport renewal by mail and a reminder about taking pictures of your rental car. The Galapagos Islands are on the bucket list of many a traveler. We talk with a travel expert who just returned from the Galapagos with a Sports Leisure Vacations group, and get tips for your future travel there. Terror Tourism, as in before Halloween, is growing in popularity, not only in October, but year-round. We discuss a short-list of popular scary places around the country.

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.

On the Saturday, September 14th, 2024 edition of The Travel Guys… In the Travel News, numbers show that the Taylor Swift tour of Europe moved the economic needle MORE than the Paris Olympics, and we explain how ONE bag of dropped Cheetos dramatically impacted Carlsbad Cavern National Park. Avis Car Rental says they were recently hacked, with everything from addresses and phone numbers, to social security credit card numbers exposed. Is it really safe to be giving your personal info to travel companies (among others)? What guarantee do we have that they are really protecting that information? The Department of Transportation is FINALLY going to open an investigation of Airline Frequent Flyer programs. Will they hold the airlines to some sort of standards? Chris Elliott joins us to discuss. Travel Gal Sydney is on hand to talk about her favorite subject, River Cruising. She has some tips on cruising, plus a deal on a European River adventure you might want to check out.