Skip to main content

Tag: Travelers United

Baggage claim carousel scaled e1775889673413

Airline bag fees are up across the board

On the Saturday, April 11th, 2026 edition of The Travel Guys… In the Travel News, bag fees are up pretty much across the board; and the department of homeland security threatens to pull customs agents from sanctuary cities. Guess what? LA and SFO are sanctuary cities. Our Smarter Traveler segment talks about fuel surcharges. Where are they popping up and perhaps the bigger question, are they legal? Next year, Marriott will celebrate 100 years. Today’s hotel chain started as an A & W Root Beer Stand in Washington, DC, in 1927. We’ll share the history of the Marriott empire. From a root beer stand to a hotel empire, it’s a pretty interesting story. In Europe, air travelers are protected against airline screw ups by something called EU 261. Charlie Leocha from Travelers United joins us to tell you how to make that rule work for you. Finally, we share some tips for leaving on vacation. Things you should do at home BEFORE you take off for paradise.
Snow storm scaled e1769243729545

The biggest winter storm in a long time is making travel difficult

On the Saturday, January 24th, 2026 edition of The Travel Guys… In the Travel News, the biggest winter storm in a long time is making travel extremely difficult across the country this weekend, and California tourism officials expect a rebound in visitor numbers this year, but Mark doesn't agree with them. Is everyone entitled to overhead bin space above their seat on a plane? It’s point of contention frequently among flyers when boarding an airplane. Aren’t you “entitled” (there’s that word again) to put one item in the overhead. We have the answer in our Smarter Traveler segment. Flying has lots of little aggravations. Today our guest Charlie Leocha from Travelers United talks about a few of the little things we can do to be kind to each other and make flying life just a bit easier. More gates, more everything coming at the Sacramento airport. And a Delta pilot says a hat with the “f” word is not ok on his plane. Those items in our Odds and Ends segment.
Delta landing scaled e1766828277133

Delta Airlines makes a big offer to get a flyer to give up his seat

On the Saturday, December 27th, 2025 edition of The Travel Guys… In the Travel News, Rick Steves steps up to save a homeless shelter in his hometown, and Delta Airlines makes a big offer to get a flyer to give up his seat, and once he does, says the offer was a mistake. Travelers United published a survey where they asked what one improvement would make flying more civil? We’ll share the results in our Smarter Traveler segment. The back half of the program brings an extended version of the mailbag, where we answer a wide variety of your travel questions. Send your questions to travelguysradio.com.
US map

The cost of visiting the United States keeps going up

On the Saturday, August 9th, 2025 edition of The Travel Guys… In the Travel News: Do you have status with a hotel chain or airline and hoping for an upgrade? Those decisions are increasingly being made by AI. And, the cost of coming to the United States for a visit keeps going up. Imagine you are on a long flight and your seatmate has fallen asleep and his head is now on your shoulder. Or someone is watching noisy videos without headphones on the plane. How do you handle those and other situations? Details in our Smarter Traveler segment. Travelers United is probably the BEST advocate for all of us. Charlie Leocha joins us to talk about flyers rights and other conversation that will make you a smarter traveler. In our Odds and Ends portion of the program, Mark points out why the advertised price you are quoted by the rental car company is probably nothing close to what you will pay.