Q – I am thinking of joining the travel industry. Are there college classes I will need to take to get certified to offer travel counseling and handle people’s vacations? A- The short answer is that the only requirement is that you must have spent an hour in an International House of Pancakes at least…
Q – 7.17.22 – We are leaving on an Avalon River Cruise on the Rhine in early September. Given what we are reading about the airline situation in Europe, we are confused about how to arrange our air. Our agent has come up with an hour connection through Toronto or an hour-and-a-half connecting time in…
Q – Just back from a stay at one of the better resorts in San Juan. As recommended, when checking out I asked that the built-in travel agent commission be taken off our bill since I had booked this personally on the phone with no travel agent involved. They refused and mumbled something about “they…
Q – Thanks so much for the best travel site we’ve ever found. The missing ads are not missed at all. My husband and I are off on a twice-delayed trip to Paris and the French Riviera. We’ve had lots of time to prepare and we’ve read everything we can about Paris, particularly the pieces…
Q – This is one of those annoying questions about cost issues. We want to plan a trip to Spain and Portugal in the next few months but we are reading that hotel rates and airfares are going up significantly compared to where they were pre-Covid. Should we cancel the trip for a year or…
Q – We are thinking of bringing our family of fourteen on a cruise or land tour. The group would have five kids between the ages of five and seventeen. We have looked at a Globus tour as well as a cruise on Royal Caribbean – both in Europe. We will travel in the summer…
Q – I am pleased to share that we have, like many of your followers, achieved critical mass for retirement. We can pretty much afford to travel anywhere and any way we choose. But our dilemma, I suppose, is that we believe top resort or top tier hotel stays provide everything we need. We will…
Q – 3.12.22 – I have to say that I was rather shocked to come across your traveltruth site and then your other consumer sites. Great job! I am a VP of Sales for a Fortune 500 firm. Over the past four years, I’ve been traveling constantly while also taking cruise vacations and two trips…
Q – We enjoy reading the Q&A on Cruisetruth and we have several questions we’d love to pose about the likely impact of the war in Ukraine, why Windstar does not appear in your ratings and the financial status of the major cruise lines. But it seems that instead of addressing my questions, your editors…
Q – We’re flying to Cabo San Lucas in October with our kids. Any recommendations on the best masks to wear on the aircraft? Kind of concerned as we are flying coach. Can my daughter get away with wearing her Taylor Swift cloth mask? A – Those washable fabric masks might not be enough by…
Q – Has Churchill & Turen planned trips to Iran or Afghanistan for clients in recent years? I would guess not but some people like to taker chances. A – We have sent several Churchill & Turen guests to Iran in recent years and the escorted tours went extremely well. The Iranians they encountered seemed…
Q – We are planning on flying into London next April. Schedule-wise it seems to boil down to either American or British Airways. The BA res. people are telling us they offer the best service to Europe because they have new seats and improved menus aboard their aircraft. We will be flying Business and paying…
Q – Does Medjet, which I know you recommend, include coverage if you test positive for Covid while traveling and need to be medically evacuated back to the States? Can you get us any idea as to what it would cost to fly home if we test positive before our return flight? A – No….
Q – We know that Churchill & Turen is different, but how do you describe the difference to potential new clients? A – The travel agency system in the United States is based on the real estate model. Every agent is a salesperson and normally there are no salaries involved. Agents get paid commission based…
Q – One of the things we’ve noticed about working with your company is that we seem to never get into price or discount discussions. We’ve been happy with everything but wonder if we’re unusual in that we never feel the need to raise the topic? A – Interesting question. The consumer is overwhelmed with…
Q – We are considering travel to Brazil and/or Peru or the safari we have always wanted to do to Kenya and Tanzania. We would be doing this next year, summer, or early fall. Based on current information, do you have a strong preference for one of these destinations? A – East Africa would be…
Q – My wife and I are fairly new to Churchill & Turen and we have been avidly reading your websites from front to back. Before discovering your services we did a fair amount of cruising and took a number of land tours with companies like Backroads and National Geographic. I read what you said…
Q – We have been using Travelex insurance for our cruises on Silversea and AMA Waterways. Do they still have insurance available that lets you cancel for any reason? Seems like it might be a good idea given all that has happened. A – Yes. Travelex is still offering an upgraded Cancel for Any Reason…
Q – We will be traveling to the Greek Islands this October, thanks to you. We are not all that digitally proficient and we are wondering if there is anything like a flight app that will work while we travel to monitor gate changes, flight delays etc. It would be great to have that with us….
Q – 9.7.21 – It all seems rather confusing at the moment – can’t imagine how you are keeping up with where one can/should go on vacation these days. Like everyone else in the D.C. area, we need to get away for a while. Are there general areas of the world we should be considering,…
Q – What kind of Covid Test proof will we need to cruise the Greek Islands with Seabourn next summer? A – Right now, you do not need a Covid Text pass grade within the last 72 hours prior to arrival in Greece. You are likely referring to your vaccination certificates., the US is a…
Q – Kudos on your Top Ten Cruise Line ratings. They are the most professional and detailed we’ve seen and they make the reviews and snarky comments on Cruise Critic look like they are written by amateurs. Like many of your followers, my wife and I, along with our friends who always join us, are…
Q – We are booked on a special air deal with Viking Cruises sailing out of Copenhagen next year. Both my husband and I are taking our first cruise outside the Caribbean. We are not so worried about our food on the ship but we are strict vegans and we want to be certain that…
Q – I once read somewhere that cabin stewards on cruise ships often earn more than the Captain when you factor in tips. True? A – You are, dear friend, dating yourself a bit. But it was once true back in the sixties and seventies. Cabin stewards, particularly those from Great Britain and Italy were…
Q – We are looking at a very interesting Viking Cruises itinerary down the Mississippi and ending in New Orleans next summer (2022). Any recommendations regarding this “All American” itinerary? It looks really different, appealing, and I love the idea of the profits staying in America. A – This itinerary has been incredibly popular with…
Q – We are looking at the Silversea 14-Day round-trip Yokahama itinerary next April. Is this a really good Japan itinerary and can you explain why Silversea is charging almost $7000 per person for their four-night Imperial Japan pre-cruise program. A – You have actually stumbled across one of the very best Japan “in-depth” itineraries…
Q – We are people travelers – we could care less about sterile historical buildings and silly church buildings with their excessive costs. For us, we like to be around locals where they gather – seeing neighborhoods that are developing but are off the beaten tourist track. It seems that we invariably stumble into some…
Q – 5.14.21 Thank you for all of this – extraordinary info. We are planning a tour to Egypt that will include a cruise along the Nile for four nights. This is a bucket list item and I am an advance planner. The dates and pricing for our planned travel about two years from today…
Q – Thanks to your efforts, we are looking forward to a cruise from Copenhagen to Stockholm next summer. We have decided to arrive in Copenhagen two nights prior to our sailing on the Regent Splendor. We would love to stay at a well-located, reasonably-priced hotel and go out to a nice dinner before boarding…
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