The rest of Q&A

Q – what do you think of the idea of bringing our 18-and-a-half-year-old extraordinary daughter on a Tauck Family Bridges Tour to Italy this coming August before she is off to Boston to start college?

A – Strong opinion on this one – we would not book the family on a Tauck Bridges tour because you could have twenty or more younger children in the group. You should take your college-bound daughter on one of the excellent Italy tour programs operated by Tauck for adults. We think your daughter will appreciate the adult conversations along the way.

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 once in your life. The vast majority of travel agents are unlicensed and not, in any way certified. The more professional agents will take courses and seek product certification as they spend time in the industry.

The best path to a worthy entry into travel is to decide what kind of agency might come closest to meeting your interests and then find the very best one. See if the owner will hire you on as an intern in your area of interest. Don’t expect to handle clients for at least six months. 

Understand that over 90% of the travel agents in the United States do not receive any salary at all. Their income is based on the commission earned on what they bring to the agency. You might think about starting out by putting your own groups together so you end up with a “following”.   All things considered, we would urge you to choose a more lucrative career and then do travel as a hobby with growth potential.              

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 Zurich. Do we go with the Canadians?

A – No. One hour is just cutting it too close and you might not have clean clothes until the fourth day of your cruise. Toronto’s airport is understaffed. In this scenario, Zurich is the safer bet. In fact, Swiss nonstops from the States into Zurich with onward connections is a secret used by many air pros. And even if you miss your connection – you will be in Switzerland. We trust that your agent has built in at least one hotel night on arrival prior to your joining the Avalon riverboat.

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 always charge the full price”.  We had stayed for a week and at 10% I figure that we were overcharged by more than $1000. What is the next step? Do I contact our Attorney General’s office, contact the credit card company, etc?

A – if you want to get action on this you should contact  Guest Services at the hotel. If they are not immediately responsive, you might also post this on Twitter and Facebook on the hotel’s guest services site. If you want some government help to recover the travel agent commission we would suggest that you reach out to the Office of Tourism in San Juan.

You should be aware that many hotels limit their commission payments to travel agents to 8%. But it is often higher.

We doubt that your credit card company will be of much help. This consumer revolt against travel companies charging guests the travel agent commission when no travel agent was involved is starting to garner attention – but not from the travel press. No one wants to upset this extremely profitable travel apple cart. We are guessing that the impetus for change will come from people like you who are fed up with being secretly charged for travel agent services they never received. In the meantime, if you have an attorney in the family, you might try to secure a bill for the refund you are owed on legal stationery.

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 written by  Mr. Bourdain. My husband suggested that I write in with one simple question – what is the first bit of advice you give your clients headed off to France?

A – Use “ Bonjour” before ever addressing anyone in France. You walk into a bar and the waiter comes up – say “Bonjour”. It is more than a greeting in France. It is an acknowledgment that, unlike your predecessors, you are a polite American who understands that this word or the lack of it, makes an immediate impression on any French citizen. Have a memorable journey and, if you find a lovely one-bedroom apartment for under $500,000 USD – buy it immediately. You will never regret the decision.

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 two in the hope that prices will come down?

A – No not at all. Your average air and hotel costs are going to rise in the range of 25-40%. That is likely a permanent change with prices likely going even higher based on projected demand in 2025-26. The side of the price story often missed is that the dollar has almost achieved parity with the value of the Euro. This means that your dollar gets you more Euros than it has at any time since Spain and other European countries adopted the Euro as their common currency. Food and shopping costs have never been better for Americans traveling to Euro nations. This will more than compensate for initial, air, hotel, and tour costs. We would not recommend delaying your trip for reasons related to pricing.

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 when schools are out. Love to have any advice you might offer in terms of our options.

A – Given the major age differences in the family, we feel strongly that Royal Caribbean, with its wide assortment of kid’s activities and facilities, would be the best option in this case. It would also provide the adults with some time away from the kids. On the right itinerary, the kids can get a wonderful European overview.

We don’t know what your travel style is so please note that Royal Caribbean is not among the world top-rated cruise lines. (Source Cruisetruth.com)

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 judge our future vacations by how many books we read and how many on-property meals exceed our standards. We just see total relaxation as our goal for the foreseeable future. So, I guess this is a two-part question?  

Are there really advantages to using a travel advisor to make just hotel reservations or should we pursue the 8-10% direct booking discounts?

Secondly, which website do you feel is most reliable in terms of reading accurate reviews from users? Really appreciate your efforts:

A – Congratulations on “critical mass” attainment and what that will mean for your retirement:

If your travel consultant is a member of one of the leading industry consortium groups, you may well get preferred rates, an automatic upgrade if it is available, as well as on-site amenities such as included breakfast. You would have to make a judgment call as to whether those amenities are worth the money you might possibly save if the hotel is reimbursed, you’re the travel agent commission built into all pricing. It’s a tough call but since most hotels will fight you on the commission refund you are, in our mind, legally due, it is likely better not to worry about the booking and work with an agent who has connections at that particular resort or hotel. Just ask.

In terms of “reviews” from website users – we would suggest that you ignore them as a source of anything like real information. Good reviews can be purchased by hotels in bulk, and often are. So-called “review farms” are big business and any kind of reviews in any number are available to anyone willing to pay the price. This leaves the consumer as a hapless victim – it is nearly impossible to know if you are reading a “farm” produced review. Our recommendation is to ask your travel consultant to secure a copy of the ABC Report, professional, confidential hotel evaluations written for the top players in the industry by hotel executives and inspectors who are always undercover. Any agent should have access to these reports. They are not available online and can only be purchased by industry professionals.

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 the time you are ready to depart. Several airlines are now banning cloth masks, insisting that travelers wear surgical masks, FFP2 masks, or KN95 or N95 masks without a valve.

Finnish airline Finnair is the most recent to change its mask policy, saying fabric masks will not be permitted. Several other carriers, mostly those that service Europe, are giving cloth the boot, too. German carrier Lufthansa hasn’t allowed them on flights to and from Germany since Feb. 1. Switzerland’s Swissair has a similar policy.

Air France and Croatia Airlines also require surgical masks.

To date, no U.S. carrier has required passengers to forgo fabric masks. But as the Delta variant continues to spread and other mutated variants raise concerns, policies could change.

Cloth masks have been hot sellers during the pandemic, giving people a way to express themselves through fashion while complying with local and federal mask mandates. They were also easier to find when surgical masks were supply-constrained and being prioritized for medical personnel. Cloth is generally not as effective as other filters.

“The filtration effectiveness of cloth masks is generally lower than that of medical masks and respirators; however, cloth masks may provide some protection if well designed and used correctly,” the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said last year.

U.S. carriers do have some fabric limitations in place. Virtually all prohibit bandannas and scarves to be used as masks. Ski masks and balaclavas are also not accepted. Currently, masks are required in airports, airplanes, and other forms of public transportation until at least January 2022.

Our advice – order a 20 pack of KN95 masks from Amazon for this trip.

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 quite pleased to see a small group of American tourists. We have never sent Churchill & Turen guests to Afghanistan although some of our clients have spent time there as “contractors”. You may be surprised to learn that we do not have any Virtuoso properties in Kabul at the moment.

But here is a brief historical note on the question you pose. Richard had just moved to San Francisco from Italy when he got his first job in travel working for a large travel club out of offices above a restaurant on Union Street. The very first trip he ever booked was to Afghanistan and Iran. Two of the waitresses at the restaurant downstairs asked him to book them on an overland tour by truck (a camping truck that carried tents) to the two countries.