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On the Saturday, March 9th, 2024 edition of The Travel Guys… In the Travel News, New York City has toughened up the rules under which you can rent out your place in The Big Apple, and hotels appear to be benefiting from the change. Plus, Costco has a great discount deal for Southwest flyers. In our Smarter Traveler segment, we discuss "authentic" travel experiences. If you want authentic, be careful and do your homework. Authentic in another country might be a fried dog hanging in a shop window (Viet Nam) or cooked eel (Sweden). Maybe authentic to you is having your hotel room overlook the town square. Except if there's a big celebration and noise continues until 4am, you might think that wasn't the best decision. Homework. Do your homework before making any major travel purchase. Charlie Leocha from Travelers United is our guest. Charlie explains that just because Congress passes a law, it isn't really a law until it's written and put into effect. That can often take years and more than one administration for things to actually be enforced. Family seating and compensation for delayed bags are two examples of things Congress approved but we are still waiting for the rules to be put in place. For 6-7 years we have been waiting. Our odds and ends segment offered tips on how to resolve issues with a vacation rental, the scary thought that dynamic pricing could be coming to restaurants and there is a new tipping app to cover those folks you never seem to have a couple of bucks in your pocket to reward their services.

On the Saturday, February 24th, 2024 edition of The Travel Guys… In the Travel News, United and American Airlines raise baggage fees, and American Queen Voyages (the river cruise line) is out of business. A new piece of technology in restaurants is a hand-held software system that allows the server to total your bill, then hand you the machine, in their presence, to decide on a gratuity amount. Is it just us, or is that "in your face" system designed to pressure the diner into a higher gratuity? Carry-on bags have been a pain for airlines ever since they started charging for baggage. If only they would enforce their own carry-on rules, the problem might be solved. We discuss carry-ons and how airlines on one hand are telling you to check your bags, when in many instances there is plenty of room for them in the overheads. What's up? The mailbag addresses a variety of issues you wrote us about, everything from airline customer service, to state park entry/parking fees and parking charges at hotels.

On the Saturday, October 28th, 2023 edition of The Travel Guys… Southwest extends it's schedule into August, and announces a record number of flights; plus a Federal Judge in Australia has found Carnival negligent in not canceling a cruise that led to the COVID-related deaths of over 250 people. Have you ever Pre-Tipped for restaurant food and/or delivery? What if the order isn't correct or the delivery prompt? You already tipped. Mark says he isn't pre-tipping any longer. Doesn't mean no tips, just means no tips in advance. Mark is traveling this week with a group in Georgia and Alabama. The areas they are visiting aren't often visited by tourists from California. The cultural differences between the Plains, Georgia hometown of Jimmy Carter, or Selma, Alabama; and Sacramento, are huge. The Odds and Ends segment features a review of Aloft Hotels. Spartan accommodations, to say the least.

On the Sunday, June 18th, 2023 edition of The Travel Guys… In the Travel News, a bill in the California legislature would make hotels put those hotel fees (resort, destination, amenity, etc.) in as part of the price of the room. That small step would take away one of the major reasons hotels charge those fees in the first place. Plus, we have a list of the best and worst airports for the summer. Hint: Beware of connecting in Dallas after mid-afternoon. Our Smarter Traveler segment deals with babies on planes. Not as bad as "snakes on planes" for most, but definitely a subject where it couldn't hurt to get a few tips. Clayton Whitehead, our international travel expert stops by to talk about going overseas. Why is it so popular right now, and how long will that popularity continue? The final segment discusses credit cards, travel awards and tipping.