Wendy Perrin, the nation’s most respected consumer travel advocate and the long-time Consumer Editor at Conde Nast Traveler Magazine, announced her resignation citing differences with the current direction of the publication under its new management team. Just a few days later, Perrin was named to a new position, created just for her, as Travel Advocate…
The Chinese government has been facing increasing pressure to improve the quality of its air and its exported toys. But what about domestically produced foods? In an unusually bold step, the Chinese government has banned food production in an agricultural center of approximately 8 million acres. The ongoing production of fruits and vegetables was banned because…
The international charity, Oxfam, has just released a report indicating that the 85 richest people in the world now have $1.7 trillion in personal assets. That means that their personal wealth is now equivalent to the total wealth of 3.5 billion people living with them on the same planet. Never, have so few controlled so much. Several…
Q – We will be leaving for a European Cruise booked through Regent Seven Seas in three weeks. We booked the air/sea program and paid extra for an air deviation. We were flying United Airline on a flight from Atlanta that is actually going to be operated by Lufthansa. We have a connection in Frankfurt…
Q – We have read that Iran is a great destination with friendly people and a great deal to see. Wonder if you agree? We’ve been looking at Travcoa and Mir Tours. They each seem to be operating two departures this year. Which of the two passes your “legitimate Tour Operator” Test? Really enjoying the…
THE NEW 2014 BEST AT SEA AWARDS We take pleasure in presenting our 2014 ‘BEST AT SEA AWARDS’ in the “4-5-Star Inclusive Category”. These ratings are based on evaluations from the most respected industry and consumer media sources, our own personal Churchill & Turen Ltd. ship evaluations, and written evaluation reports from more than 1500…
Recent exposure of luggage theft rings operating at LAX and several other major airports, makes it imperative that travelers follow some basic advice when packing. These are the most important rules the pros follow when packing: 01 – Leave any designer luggage or any piece costing more than $200 at home. Thieves will steal the…
Q – Over a period of about 24 months, we’ve noticed that when we start planning our flights for vacation it seems that the prices have always gone up when we are ready to book, often just a day or two later. It happens too often to be a coincidence. Any recommendations or are we…
Q – We have a rather unusual situation. We are traveling with friends on a Baltic cruise this July that includes three full days in St. Petersburg. My mother is quite ill and there is the remote possibility that I could be called during the cruise with the need to fly out of Russia in a…
Q – Realize yours is not an airline site but I always wonder about the cleanliness of the blankets I find all wrapped up, nice and tidy, on my seat when I am flying Business Class internationally. I’d love to know how often those blankets are actually cleaned? I start itching just thinking about it….
Q – We’ve been following traveltruth for the past two years and we love every bit of it – but there is one question I don’t think you’ve ever addressed. When is the best time to get awful assigned seats changed to something better? Whenever we call the airlines they say the seating is “closed”. A –…
Q – We will need to make a payment to Celebrity Cruises for our final payment for a two-week cruise to the Mediterranean. We booked it directly with Celebrity and there seems to be some confusion about the credits we were given when we booked with their agent, Joseph. I think we should be allowed…
Q – As a frequent flyer, I have always wondered if a flight attendant has the power to upgrade me to Business Class or even First? I think I’ve seen it happen once or twice, but I can’t be sure the flight attendant did not know the passenger. Just something I’ve wondered about. A –…
Bill and Melinda Gates, who have devoted their current lives to eradicating worldwide starvation and preventable childhood diseases, are predicting that most of the currently underdeveloped world where poverty and starvation currently exist, will rise up to middle class status by 2035. By this date, the Gates believe “there will be almost no poor countries…
Q – We were at a friends house last night doing some Pinot Noir blind tastings accompanied by s’mores when the subject of credit ratings for countries came up. A Wall Street player in our group said that he believed that credit agencies that rate businesses also rate countries. I’d really be interested in which…
Q – As frequent cruisers, we have to make our minds up quickly about a 16-Day voyage on Regent Seven Seas between Oslo and Copenhagen. This is a cruise pretty much limited to the coast of Norway and St. Petersburg, which we’ve previously visited, is not on the itinerary. Wondering of you would recommend this specific itinerary?…
Q – We have a rather large, tightly-knit Greek family (so what else is new) and we’re planning to go to the islands in 2016 for a two-week spectacular trip. We thought it best to start now. Of course we’ll have all age groups and some will want to do their own thing. We have some…
Q – We have three BMW’s in the garage. For our next trip to Europe, we’d love to have a custom trip arranged where we might drive a Beemer on some of Germany’s best roads, with frequent stops for beer and Brotzeit. We know what we want – we just don’t know how to begin….
Q – Please don’t use my name but you can say that I am a fairly well-known amateur photographer whose work has appeared in several major publications including AFAR and National Geographic. But I have a day job that finances our photographic journeys. My dream is to take some great photos of Japan’s Mt. Fuji…
Q – We’re really into traveltruth but we feel you seriously shortchange the Caribbean. There isn’t much objective information about the islands online – they all use the term “paradise” interchangeably. In three months, we’re off to Jamaica on a corporate reward trip including accommodations at Rose Hall. But we keep hearing negatives about the…
There has been a shift in responses to the question “What is the best time to visit Europe?” The response in years past was the summer months. But June through mid-September has seen serious heat inversions in portions of Italy, France, and Spain, along with crowds of students and school’s out backpackers, using the best…
Q – Thank you for the information you give about some of the things you need to be careful about on some of these cruise ships. My 17 year-old daughter has asked me to let her go with a friend on a three-night Royal Caribbean Bahamas cruise. Her friends mother will be going, but she…
Q – We have always had a desire to sail the world’s largest ship for a week or so. I’ve heard Royal Caribbean and Carnival ships are huge but we literally want to sail the biggest next summer. Can you tell us which ship that would be? A – The Royal Caribbean Allure of the…
The Chinese have just set a world record – more than 100 million Chinese citizens traveled per day during the busiest period of the week long “Chunyun” or Spring Festival. The festival was celebrated on January 31st this year. Trains alone carried 6.8 million passengers per day as the Chinese left the major urban areas…
In order to make your next trip to Europe as pleasant as possible when using connecting flights, we are pleased to present the awards for Europe’s Top Three Airports for Connecting Flights. The rankings are: # 1 – Amsterdam’s Schiphol (Home of KLM) # 2 – Zurich’s Flughafen Zurich (Home of Swiss Air) # 3…
While the world sits by idly, concentrating on frivolities such as which Soshi snowboarder is 3 seconds faster than his challengers, a new war has broken out along the Norwegian and Swedish border. Known as “The Big Mac Attack” , McDonald’s has put up a large billboard on the border reminding Norwegians that at $9.08,…
Q – With all the problems we’ve been reading about involving American Airline’s bankruptcy and this pending deal with US Airways, we are wondering if keeping miles in our Advantage account for a planned major Christmas trip in 2017 is a good idea? A – The merger with US Air went through last year and American…
Q – I know the airlines can notify you of an assigned gate or change, but is there any single source I can use all of the time to get information without having to trust my airline to update me? A – There are two apps that are quite good and both have a basic version…
There is a new low-cost airline that has everyone in the industry talking. Norwegian Air is now the second largest airline in Scandinavia and the third largest low-cost carrier in Europe, carrying over 20 million passengers last year. But what has everyone talking is the fact that both Airline Ratings and the respected Sky Trax…
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