TWO TEENS AND MOM SEEKING ADVICE FOR BUDGET CUTTING IN EUROPE

Q (9.4.23)  Your help would be appreciated. How do I know if my hotel pricing from Expedia is the best available? We are looking to book a two-week vacation in Poland and Hungary with a planned visit, if time permits, in Austria. But my husband has no interest in going so I will be traveling…

DO THE WORST AIRLINES CANCEL THE HIGHEST PERCENTAGE OF FLIGHTS?

Q – We will be doing more and more traveling since I won the mega-billion lottery. No, actually, I am still working and I just won a $400 scratch-off here in Providence. But we are going to be stepping up our domestic traveling. I have a fairly short fuse when it comes to canceled flights….

ARE THESE DEALS WE GET MAILED BY CRUISE LINES LEGIT?

Q – We seem to be getting more and more cruise offers at home which would indicate that the cruise lines are in trouble. Yet, for the most part, you have indicated they are not. Why this flurry of deals and special offers from the top cruise like the ones Churchill & Turen represents and…

ANY WAY YOU CAN EXPLAIN WHY I WAS NOT UPGRADED AT THE JW MARRIOTT?

Q – Really interesting site – just stumbled across you via some algorithm hidden in the bowels of Google’s basement. Two weeks ago, on business in DC, I was checking in at the JW Marriott. I had checked and I knew, for a fact, that the next category up, a junior suite was available. I…

ANY SENSE OF WHERE HOTEL RATES MIGHT BE THIS TIME (August) NEXT YEAR?

Q – Will the hotel rates we are seeing, many over $2000 per night at five-star properties, stay steady in 2024? A – No – nothing in this current environment will be steady. Hotels will be charging as much as they can given the losses still being felt during the pandemic. The new Aman Hotel…

LOVE THIS SITE! BIG PICTURE QUESTION RELATED TO “HOT AS HELLNESS”

Q – Discovered you about eight hours ago while looking for a travel site that had anything at all to do with the word “truth”. I work in financial planning here in Santa Monica and I am, fortunately, in a position where I can take off with my wife any month to go virtually anywhere….

WHAT IS AN FIT LOVER – IN TRAVEL TERMINOLOGY?

Q – My long-time travel agent in Alexandria, Va. is, unfortunately, retiring. In a recent conversation, she mentioned something about our being her “favorite FIT Lovers”. She seemed to think we knew what that meant – but we didn’t. Did not want to show our ignorance but as we have been traveling with her counsel…

DO WE WANT TO INSURE OUR TRIP THROUGH OUR CREDIT CARD COVERAGE?

Q – (8.4.23) –  As you are aware, my wife and I always purchase comprehensive travel insurance when we travel overseas. Last week, however, we had dinner with friends who are really well-traveled and who will soon be using your travel services. They mentioned that they depend on their Chase Sapphire Reserve card in lieu…

DO YOU ADVISE RIVERCRUISING IN OR OUT OF BUDAPEST GIVEN THEIR LEADERSHIP?

Q – We are thinking about a Danube River Cruise on Uniworld that will sail from Budapest this August. In sort of preparing for this journey I see that Hungary is ruled by Victor Orban, a rather right-wing, authoritarian ruler. We are in our late sixties and not all that much traveled. Not sure I…

IS MY FRIEND RIGHT ABOUT HIS CREDIT CARD AND TRAVEL PURCHASES?

Q – (8.4.23) –  As you are aware, my wife and I always purchase comprehensive travel insurance when we travel overseas. Last week, however, we had dinner with friends who are really well-traveled and who will soon be using your travel services. They mentioned that they depend on their Chase Sapphire Reserve card in lieu…

ARE YOU SERIOUSLY SUGGESTING THAT YOUR CLIENTS LATHER UP IN A WINDOW SEAT?

Q –  OK, we are now “fans” but one or two of your revelations about the travel industry seem to be so “first time I have ever heard that” off-the-charts. I just read a piece you had published suggesting that because I fly to Europe and Australia on business, I should be smearing my face…

CRUISE QUESTIONS FROM READERS

Q- 8.6.22 –  How can Viking Cruises claim it had consistently been voted the world’s best cruise line when, based on Cruisetruth information, it clearly isn’t?A – If you read the wording on the awards they will usually read Reader’s Choice” or words to that effect. That means the readers of the various publications have…

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TRAVEL TO EAST AFRICA GIVEN DROUGHT

Q – As you know, we want to return to Africa. As we ponder other travel possibilities – East Africa specifically – we are wondering what your thoughts are about the current drought conditions.  Multiple news stories portray conditions that are dire in Kenya & Tanzania – people and animals dying from lack of food…

AS A SOUTHERNER I LOVE MY DELTA – BUT THE HOLD TIMES ARE TURNING ME GREY

Q – 11.19.22  – As a true Southerner, I do share the belief of most of my neighbors that when we pass we will have to go through a Delta security gate to enter the promised land. That said, the hold times lately have been driving me crazy, especially when I have last-minute questions, changes,…