The rest of Q&A

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.

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 cash so we would really appreciate knowing which of these you recommend. We intend to complete our booking as soon as you respond.

A – This is a tricky question which is why we refer our clients to the best air specialists on the planet. Covid has made it all an even more complicated process as the odds of your flight arrangements changing hover somewhere around 30%. BA flies some Boeing 787-10’s and Airbus 350’s from the States to London Heathrow. They have the new seats and they are relatively comfortable – not Singapore or Emirates, but nice enough. Some of BA’s 777’s have the new seats but many don’t. The 767’s that fly the route do not have the new seats. Generally speaking, flights out of JFK have some of the best equipment because of how competitive that route tends to be. And, yes, the food quality has been ungraded but BA’s Transatlantic food offerings had no place to go but up. Simply stated, neither American or British Airways are not top-tier airlines. They currently rank 3 points out of a possible 5. We are happy to send Club Members a copy of the latest rankings of the world’s airlines. They do exist and you may see some surprising outcomes. For instance, Turkish Airways ranks considerably above every major US airline in most categories.

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. There is, however, a company called Covac Global that provides that kind of coverage.  For a party of two traveling abroad for 15 days or less, the basic Covid Coverage policy with Covid Global is going to cost $1282.50 total.

 Here is the direct link to our dedicated Covac Global web site:

Churchill & Turen Ltd – Covac Global

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 on what they sell. Travel agents are bombarded with sales seminars – teaching them how to sell more and more; how to get that deposit and, especially, how to sell “up”.

If you felt that your physician, financial advisor, or attorney was a salesperson trying to sell you more stuff you would likely look somewhere else.  Our owners and our entire team believe in a radical concept – “Travel Should Never be Sold”. We see ourselves as travel “truthtellers”. We provide the best possible information and our guests make the decisions that are best for them. “Selling” or “Selling Up” is prohibited at our firm. Our model is not the real estate industry – our business model is the trusted physician with a knowledgeable, salaried support team. It is a team approach. To our knowledge, no one in the industry has ever tried to copy it. But that may be because few seem to understand it. It just runs contrary to the way the vacation booking process works in the United States.

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 cruise and tour offerings that always stress deals and discounts. For instance, mainstream cruise lines like Carnival and Royal Caribbean are constantly changing their pricing as are the mass market escorted tour companies to encourage early as well as late bookings. It is assumed that everyone on a 4,000 passenger ship or flying in coach overseas realizes that everyone around them got a different price. That is the norm. But the top-end deluxe products in cruising and touring realize that pricing discrepancies can ruin a travel experience for upscale travelers. So the discounting they do is upfront and generally transparent. Most of the discounts are related to early bookings. Last-minute bookings are normally higher because no one at Tauck, A&K, Seabourn, or Ritz Carlton Yachts, wants the subject to come up at dinner with disastrous results.

So here is the thing – if your cruise stateroom is discounted by $1300, some travel agents will offer you a $1000 discount and pocket the rest. This often happens at online travel agency call centers because you are relying on what someone in Miami, Manilla, or Mumbai is telling you on the phone.

Our guests know that we certify in writing that we will obtain, document, and then return 100% of all applicable discounts on every travel product we represent. Nothing is kept “for the house” – never. So, because of that strategy, we know that we are obtaining and returning all discounts. That is why we never worry or really discuss very much, issues related to pricing.

You might well ask “all good – but how do we know that your pricing is the best legitimate pricing available”? Look at it this way: Virtuoso is the largest seller of luxury travel in the world. We are larger than American Express. In 2019 we did over $27 Billion in annual sales and were the top sellers of nearly every top-tier tour company and five-star cruise line. Add to that the fact that Churchill & Turen has been named Virtuoso’s Top-Producing Consultants for four of the past five years. Add to that our journalistic credentials and the audience for our media group. When we call – the suppliers know who we are and they do not give us anything but the best pricing available. It won’t be pricing that is exclusive to us – but it will almost always be the best pricing available. Our guests have come to trust that this is true.

But please read the above carefully. We never said that we have the “best prices”.  We specifically said, “it won’t be pricing that is exclusive to us”. All of the top travel firms receive exactly the same pricing from their leading suppliers. If that were not the case, we would stop representing them. Anytime any travel business claims to have “exclusive” of “best pricing offers” it is flat-out lying. Don’t be a naive consumer. Anyone who makes outrageous pricing claims is insulting your intelligence. 

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 a strong recommendation because safaris are set up in such a way that you would be avoiding population centers and crowds while still experiencing the very best of each destination. We have had a number of guests on safari this summer and everyone’s experience, without exception, has been deemed “5 stars”.

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 about companies that charge those who do not use a travel advisor the travel advisor fees. You said that this could possibly be illegal in a number of states including the one where we live! So I suppose my question is “Does this practice still go on and how can I get the commissions back for our almost twenty years of direct bookings”? One particular line owes me a small fortune after I sailed with them about 15 times.

A – The practice still goes on and is the industry “norm”. It will be an uphill battle but sometimes companies do things to maintain goodwill. If you wish to try, and you really have some time on your hands, you might want to try to collect copies of all of your past receipts for trips taken with the same company where you were charged the agency commission when you did not book through an agency. If you can collect the receipts or put together a record of exactly what you paid, along, if possible, with your reservation numbers. It would need to be a clearly designed multi-trip copy of the money you paid in inclusive of the commission. You may want to have a lawyer assist although this is the kind of thing easily done on your own. It should be addressed to the Director of Customer Services. They should have the authority to reimburse you if they see fit to do so. Again – this will be an uphill battle – you know, like Everest.

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 option. Be certain that you understand that it includes a future credit, not a cash refund. Please read the terms carefully. Here is the online link to review the details. We think it is overpriced.

https://www.travelexinsurance.com/travel-insurance/upgrades/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.

A – Download The Flight Tracker. It gives you all the real-time basics you will need as well as reminders when you need them. But the real reason to download this app is that it works offline so you can take advantage of it while you are en route aboard your aircraft.

The pro’s app is Flight Aware Flight Tracker which you can use on your desktop. Some say that flight changes appear here before they are posted on the airline’s own site. Learn to use the “Misery Map” which instantly shows you which airports have been hit with the longest delays and cancellations.