August 10, 2024 • 49 mins
Thank you, Pauline Frommer for sharing some fun travel insights!
Check out Pauline Frommer's book
Frommer's New York City 2024 (Complete Guide)
Frommers.com
Best sites to find cheap flights: kayak.com & momondo.com
Best site for last minute cheap flights: cheapflights.com
See Reid's Article on Flights.
Best site for hotels: google and hotelscombined.com
See Reid's Article on Hotels
Travel clubs (i.e. Travel and Leisure Club), AT HOTELS
Thirsty Gallerina
TodayTix
Current TKTS Booth Locations:
There are now two TKTS ticket booths in New York City. This service is run by the TDF (Theatre Development Fund). The TKTS booths are located at
- Times Square TKTS Booth: Between Broadway and Seventh Ave. at West 47th St, New York, NY 10036
Click here for Today's Ticket Listings at the Times Square Booth - Lincoln Center TKTS Booth: 61 W 62nd St, New York, NY 10023
Click here for Today's Ticket Listings at the Lincoln Center Booth
DOT - travel rights
tourradar.com
TravelStride
Meet the locals program - Jamaican Tourist Board
Greeters Tours
Pauline's Article about Planning a Smart Itinerary
AirBnB Experiences
Time Out New York - New York Times Event site
Pauline's Podcast: The Frommer's Travel Show
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 2 (00:01):
Hi I'm Alexa and I'm Rory, and together we are.
Speaker 1 (00:09):
The.
ROAMies.
We are married To each other.
Right, we are a touring musicalduo.
And our music has taken us toall kinds of places all around
the world and keeps us always onthe go.
Speaker 2 (00:21):
So we hope you enjoy our stories and adventures while
running around working to keepall your plates spinning.
Speaker 1 (00:27):
And, we hope, to facilitate your busy lifestyle
and feed your inner travel bug,mm-hmm.
We want to thank FIRMOO forsupporting this episode.
They provide really cool, veryaffordable glasses, sunglasses,
(00:49):
whatever you need.
You can go to our show notesand get a discount with our link
so you can catch great sightsand views wherever you roam.
All right, y'all.
Here is our interview.
Hi everyone, we are superexcited to have Pauline Frommer
today on our episode.
Oh, yeah.
She is a very honored guest.
Speaker 3 (01:08):
I've been following the family since I started
traveling.
Speaker 1 (01:10):
Yeah, yeah, we are super honored to have Pauline
with us today.
I've been able to meet Paulineseveral times through the travel
and adventure shows that areput on by the travel and
adventure show.
Speaker 4 (01:25):
Yeah, they're run by a company called Unicom.
Thank you, unicom.
Speaker 3 (01:29):
That are put on by the Travel and Adventure Show.
Actually, they're run by acompany called Unicom.
Thank you, unicom.
There you go, she's a travelexpert.
Speaker 1 (01:34):
That's why she's falling for it.
Exactly, we've been enjoyinglike checking those out, and,
just as we meet different peopleor find out different things,
we love utilizing the resourcesand information we get from
those to share with you.
So that's one of the ways welove passing on some information
to you, or how we get some ofthe info that we pass on to you
guys.
Because Pauline is so widelyversed in travel, we could talk
(01:56):
for hours about anything travelrelated and beyond, because
she's just super fun to talk to.
We want to kind of narrow downa couple things, and so one of
the things that Pauline hasrecently run across some new
changes to travel in Americaright now.
So let's dive in, because weRory and I are currently in
Switzerland as we are recordingthis and so we are avoiding all
(02:20):
the American summer heat.
That's going on right now.
Speaker 3 (02:23):
Yeah, we were in Finland before this, so we're
really bored yeah.
Speaker 1 (02:28):
Nice, yeah.
So, pauline, before you dive in, you can just tell us a little
bit about Fromerscom, and thenwe can dive into America.
Speaker 4 (02:36):
Yeah, Well, we are a family-owned business.
My father, arthur Fromer,founded the guides in 1957.
He was actually drafted intothe army to fight in the Korean
War but because he was the sonof immigrants and spoke German
and Russian, he got sent toEurope instead.
(02:57):
He started traveling all aroundand it was right after World
War II.
So all of his fellow GIs stayedon the base.
Europe was in rubble.
They were worried they wouldn'tbe able to travel well if they
didn't have much money whichthey didn't have and he would
(03:17):
come back to the base.
People would pepper him withquestions and he thought maybe
I'll write a little book.
And he'd never written a book.
But he wrote a little bookcalled the GI's Guide to Europe.
It became a bestseller in thearmy and then when he got out,
he thought maybe I'll do thisfor civilians $5 a day which was
(03:48):
the best-selling guidebook ofall time and launched the Fromer
Guidebook series.
We are a family-owned company.
We've sold 75 millionguidebooks over the years.
We're also run fromerscom.
I was the original editor offromerscom and we were one of
the first travel sites on theweb.
Now we get about 4 millionusers per month and we're still
(04:10):
trying to be journalists, sonobody pays for me to say
anything.
So anything I say today is whatI really think.
Nobody is paying me to saythese things.
Speaker 1 (04:22):
That's awesome.
Yes, well, we appreciate youropinion and your insights and
expertise.
Speaker 3 (04:27):
What a great history.
Speaker 4 (04:29):
That is really cool.
Uncle Sam changed his life inan incredible way.
Who knew being drafted would bethe best thing that could
happen to him?
Speaker 1 (04:38):
Well, speaking of America.
Well, it's been a veryinteresting time.
Speaker 4 (04:44):
For decades, people have been complaining about the
crazy fees that the airlines arecharging and about the fact
that it's really hard to knowwhat the rules are governing
delays, cancellations and allthe rest delays, cancellations
(05:12):
and all the rest.
Just this past May a newfederal.
They just reauthorized theFAA's platform, the Federal
Aviation Authority, and in thatreauthorization were all kinds
of great things for consumers.
So first of all, you now havewhat they call.
What do they call it?
You can go to the FAA site orthe Department of Transportation
(05:34):
site and you can easily seewhat your rights are as a
traveler, and this is somethingthat is very new.
It used to be that you wouldhave to dig through the small
print for each individualairline, but now there are
overarching rules that apply toall of them that you can find
(05:57):
out pretty easily.
I don't know you're abroad soyou may not have heard.
A couple of weeks ago, there wasthis terrible meltdown of
travel because of a Microsoftproblem and people were stranded
all over the country, mostlybecause of Delta's inability to
come back for it quickly.
Delta really had the biggestmeltdown and Pete Buttigieg, the
(06:19):
Secretary of Transportation,was tweeting very publicly you
have tickets.
They're supposed to be puttingyou up in hotels.
(06:48):
You have these rights.
And then, just a couple of daysago, an even bigger.
Well, that was big, but thisreally is close to my heart
because for a long time, becauseof airline fees, families often
have not been able to sittogether.
On average, for a family to payextra to choose to sit together
(07:13):
, it's $200 round trip, andthat's too much for many
families to afford.
Breaking up families is a safetyissue.
Imagine if there was anemergency landing.
How would a mother get off thatplane if her child was many
rows away and she didn't knowwhat was happening with the
(07:33):
child?
So just this week it wasannounced that airlines will no
longer be allowed to break upfamilies, that they cannot
charge them to choose thoseseats and that if there aren't
seats together and they'redefining families pretty broadly
they're basically saying ifthere's a child under 13 and an
(07:56):
adult is traveling with thatchild, these rules apply.
Whether it's an aunt, agrandparent, a friend, whatever,
they will no longer have totravel alone.
Now the airlines are fightingthis.
It's in the courts now, but itlooks like this is going to get
through and I'm so glad, becauseit was so ridiculous to be
(08:16):
dividing families in this way.
It just doesn't make sense.
So that's about to end, andit's interesting you know that
this has gone on for so longunder Democratic administrations
, under Republican ones.
So I give a lot of credit toPete Buttigieg.
I think he's been a reallysmart Department of
(08:37):
Transportation secretary, onewho's been proactive about
getting these things changedproactive about getting these,
these things changed.
Yeah, I mean, it's not somethingpeople think about every day,
that's for sure.
You only think about it when ithappens to you.
When you're, you're eitherasked to move so that a parent
can sit with a child, which isalso annoying, or you're
(08:57):
separated from your own child.
Speaker 1 (08:59):
Yeah, exactly, right, right, I'll just dive in here
real quick, if you are.
If you guys are listening, weare recording this in 2024.
So, depending on when you arelistening to this episode, we
are in 2024 right now.
We're recording this in Augustof 2024.
So, even when you listen downthe road, things may be may get
(09:21):
better.
Yeah, yeah, maybe totallydifferent, and we're gonna put
the FAA site that you mentioned.
We'll put that in the shownotes, uh, so that it may be DOT
it may be the DOT site, okaywe'll get that and put that in,
okay, anyway.
So back to back to our regularschedule program.
Speaker 3 (09:40):
Yeah that's good, that's that's all great news.
Really good, really really goodstuff.
Speaker 4 (09:44):
It's going to change travel.
I think it'll make the UnitedStates more like Europe.
European travelers have hadthese rights for quite some time
.
We're finally catching up,gotcha.
Speaker 1 (09:58):
Any other updates on the US side that you can think
of at the moment?
I think those are the big ones,yeah.
Speaker 3 (10:06):
All right, yeah, we were lucky enough to miss the
big meltdown.
Speaker 1 (10:10):
Yes.
Speaker 3 (10:11):
What happened with the crowd strike?
I think it was when theirsecurity had all dropped with
all this stuff.
We we were in got to Finlandjust before all that happened,
wow.
Speaker 4 (10:21):
Yeah, yeah.
It's been interesting to seehow these systems that make life
so easy also, when they go awry, things just stop.
Yes totally.
Speaker 1 (10:32):
Well, speaking of systems, I do want to say it's
been late on our trip over.
I think we did have to take offour shoes, but we got to leave
all the liquids in the bag, allthe computers in the bags.
So many more security systemsaround the US even are allowing
you to be, because you hadmentioned like comparing it to
(10:54):
Europe A lot of times.
In Europe we have not had totake out our liquids and take
out our computer.
You just throw your bag in andwalk through, and security was
so much easier on this trip overfrom the US to Europe.
On the US side, you knoweverybody's just kind of
upgrading their securitymachines and even that's been a
fun adjustment.
(11:15):
You know it's like much lesshassle.
Speaker 3 (11:17):
Yeah, that's great.
Yeah, a really cool thing thatwe found out is a bottle of
water went through security andwhen it got to the other end,
they pulled out of the bag andthey said do you mind if we put
it through our analyzer?
They took the bottle and put itin a machine, analyzed it and
said it's okay, you can go yeah,I was.
Speaker 1 (11:34):
I was standing um, I was standing outside of security
finishing my water right,because you always have to drink
your water before you gothrough security and one of the
security ladies saw me.
She said you can take yourdrink through.
I was like, really okay, so Ijust screwed it on and and
whatever water was left in mywater bottle went right through
and they and uh, so which?
Speaker 4 (11:55):
is how hard is this?
Hell sink yvanta.
Wow, I haven't come across thatbefore.
That's great, great news.
Speaker 3 (12:03):
Yeah, isn't that amazing.
It's really cool.
They analyze it now.
I thought that's helpful for us.
It still slows you down becausethey have to take it and
analyze it, but you don't haveto pour your water out anymore
and waste all your money.
Speaker 4 (12:16):
Right, right, that's great.
Speaker 3 (12:18):
Yeah, I liked it.
Speaker 1 (12:21):
All right, let's move on.
Let's shift gears a little bit.
I would love to hear youradvice on creating a smart
itinerary.
Usually when Rory and I travelbecause we're traveling for our
music and all we kind of justhave to go where the gigs are
and you know that kind of thing.
But most people can plan like anormal kind of trip.
(12:43):
So what would be your tips oncreating a smart itinerary?
Speaker 4 (12:49):
Well, it's something that we have our guidebook
writers do.
Every one of the Frommer guideshas a chapter where we give
sample itineraries, and I findit to be the hardest chapter for
even professional travelwriters to get right, because
they always want to cram as muchinto it as possible.
(13:12):
And so I've come to a formulafor this, and I wrote about this
for Fromerscom.
I think you never should domore than one museum a day,
unless it's a very small museum,and then you want to have
something that's very differentin the afternoon, so you want to
(13:36):
look at the geography of aplace, so you're not spending
all your time getting from placeto place, and then you want to
create days in the destinationwhere you have a lot of variety.
I once heard that there weresome people who were looking at
the itineraries put out byguided tour companies and
(13:58):
following those, and that's theworst thing you can do, because
often those tour itineraries areset because of local work rules
.
So, for example, I once led atour in France.
We got to see and do very fewthings in France because our bus
(14:19):
driver could only travel forseveral hours a day and we often
had to go to the places thatwere big enough for the bus to
park, and so you don't want tobe using guided tour itineraries
, because often these types ofelements that have nothing to do
with travel have to do with howthey do the itinerary.
(14:41):
So I say you know, you do youlook at the weather nowadays,
sadly, because we we have, youknow, with in this time of
climate change, it can getbeastly hot in the afternoons.
So often I'll say you know, doyour indoor things in the
afternoons, do do one site oractivity.
(15:02):
That's about the the.
Well, it depends on whereyou're going.
But if you're in a city thatinforms you about the life and
culture and history of the city,so that's half the day.
Or if they have a great museumthat is great for art, then you
do that for half the day andthen the second part of the day.
(15:23):
You don't want to do thingsthat only have to do with what I
call dead sites.
Too often we go to adestination and we only look at
the history, and it's soexciting to me just to stroll
through a grocery store or theneighborhood where the real
(15:44):
people live.
So you want to schedule time toengage with the living culture
as well as the historic culture,and I always try and give
myself an hour where I turn offmy cell phone and I just let
myself get lost, because youfind the best things when you
(16:05):
don't know where you're going.
Speaker 1 (16:08):
And.
Speaker 4 (16:09):
I think that's a way to wrap your mind around
creating an itinerary.
Speaker 3 (16:15):
Yeah, that's a great.
Oh, we love getting lost.
Speaker 1 (16:18):
We love getting lost.
Speaker 3 (16:19):
We purpose just to get lost, sometimes because you
discover such amazing things,yeah, absolutely.
And when you have to ask fordirections, because you discover
such amazing things.
Speaker 4 (16:25):
Yeah, absolutely, and when you have to ask for
directions, you get to talk tolocals.
It's a great.
You know reason to talk and Ifind that the best the memories
I have of my travels.
Yes, sometimes it's being atthe top of the Eiffel Tower or
being in the extraordinarymuseums of Austria, as I was
(16:45):
last summer seeing a Klimtface-to-face, and those are
rapturous paintings but mostlywhat I remember are the people I
meet, and so it's a great wayto have an excuse to talk to
people.
Yeah, we got it.
Speaker 1 (16:59):
One of the things that we're on the baby steps and
starting to do.
I've been recording my walksbecause I love to walk.
That's just a passion of mine.
So as I go on a new hike orsomething, I've gotten in the
habit now of starting to recordthem, because usually I'll find
something super fun or superinteresting or just really super
(17:20):
pretty.
This happened just two nightsago.
I just went ahead and startedmy walk in Switzerland.
We have been indoors rehearsinglike all week.
So I got out and I was like I'mtaking a walk.
So I started walking and ourfriend had texted us and said
hey, this is Switzerland'sbirthday, so if you hear
fireworks, you know you mighthear some noise tonight.
Speaker 3 (17:43):
They're shooting muskets in the backyard, and so
we thought, okay, uh,something's going on during the
day.
Speaker 1 (17:49):
yeah, but I had forgotten about that when I was
on my walk, until I started tohear music and I I had started
up this path into the wildernessand I was, I started hearing
the music.
I'm like I ran and I startedjust running to wherever I heard
that music and I happened uponthis school where the whole
community was gathered and theywere making sausages, cause
(18:14):
that's what you eat inSwitzerland right, so they love
it, but they had sausages andsalads and desserts and stuff
and they had live music.
They had.
I had just missed the band.
The band was closing up andthen there was another guy just
playing all this music and allof the locals just sitting in
tables and sharing each other'scompany, the food, all of that
(18:36):
stuff, and it was just super funand I just happened upon it.
And that's because I was justlike I'm just going to go on a
walk and just see where I go.
I didn't have a set agenda.
That was a highlight of youknow.
And then Rory finally joined me.
He was like, hey, I sent him apicture of the sausages and he's
like all right, where is this?
That's just an example ofexactly what you were just
(18:56):
saying.
Like let's just go get some fun, yeah, what a jewel.
Super fun.
So when you are planning anitinerary, if you want to go
with a group or you want grouptravel as part of your itinerary
, you may or may not have a sayin planning that part.
So how would you like pick theright tour group?
Speaker 4 (19:17):
Well, there's I mean there's different types of tours
.
There's traveling solo and thenpicking up day tours.
Frankly, this is why guidebooksare such gold.
A lot of people use Get myGuide or Viator or other big
(19:38):
multinational companies nowadaysto find tours and they pay a
lot more than they have to,whereas Promer Guides and
Photers and Lonely Planet andall of them we all list local
tour companies and we give youthe way to contact them directly
so you're not paying for acommission to a third-party site
(20:01):
.
If you want to do a group tour,where you are with a group of
people for several days, theyplan where you're going to stay,
they take you from place toplace.
I mean it's very social, a veryorganized type of vacation.
So not solo travel vacation, sonot solo travel.
(20:30):
I find there are a couple ofmarketplace sites that are very
good for finding those types oftours.
One is named tourradarcom.
I'm blanking on the name of theother one, but what you do is
you go to Tour Radar and oh well, I can get you the name and you
can put it in your notes.
You go to the site, you put inwhen you can travel, how long
(20:56):
you want to travel for and wherespecifically you want to go.
Say, you decide you want to takea group tour to the Amalfi
Coast of Italy and you have aweek.
You put that in, you put inyour rough dates and then these
sites shoot back 30, 40 options.
One is $500 a day becauseyou're staying only in the very
(21:22):
finest hotels, you're eatingincredibly well, you're going
around with an actualarchaeologist or art historian
Actually that could be $1,000 aday.
$500 a day is not, sadly, notthat much anymore, or so that's
number one.
Number two tour you're paying athird less and you notice in
(21:46):
the details oh wait, we're goingto the same hotels and we're
going to the same restaurantsand it looks like a real expert
is guiding this.
But it's cheaper because it's alocally owned company.
It's not a big multinationalcompany.
So that's number two.
And number three could be onethat's a fraction of the cost
(22:08):
because you're staying inhostels and you're using public
transportation to get from pointA to point B.
Or you might find anotherAmalfi tour that's on bicycles
or that's hiking from town totown and you can see very
quickly how much you should bepaying for a group tour, which
is something that's very opaque.
(22:29):
You know group tours are notsold by Expedia, Orbitz,
travelocity and the like.
They're hard to compare applesto apples except on these new
sites, and there are userreviews so you can see what
people who have taken thesetours in the past have to say
about the tours in question.
(22:49):
So I think these sites arereally really good resources for
the folks who want to takeguided tours.
Speaker 3 (22:57):
Yeah that's great Great advice.
Speaker 1 (22:59):
I know previously we've featured tours by locals.
We have not yet talked aboutexperiences on Airbnb, but when
you go to Airbnb you can alsofind like what they're calling
experiences, which are thesekind of tour type things.
Have you run across any ofthose?
Or or had yeah?
Speaker 4 (23:18):
I've actually done them.
I've had some good, goodexperiences.
I did something a littledangerous when I was traveling
with my 16-year-old.
We were in Paris and we took ashopping tour with a Parisian
fashion expert.
I was worried that I was goingto lose my shirt, that it would
(23:39):
be very expensive, but she tookus to consignment stores so it
didn't end up being thatexpensive.
But she was brutally honest, asthe French often are, about our
figure flaws.
I learned that each shapedfigure, which means my shoulders
(24:00):
and my hips, are the same width, but I have no waist, and so
the whole tour was about how topretend I have a waist.
Speaker 1 (24:11):
And sorry it cut out when you said that your body
type no it's called H.
Speaker 4 (24:17):
It's the letter H.
I have an H-shaped body.
Speaker 1 (24:21):
Okay, okay.
Speaker 4 (24:22):
There you go.
Speaker 3 (24:24):
Well, and even with a French accent, it probably
didn't sound very nice.
Speaker 4 (24:28):
No, it's all right, it sounded better.
Speaker 1 (24:31):
I don't know.
Speaker 3 (24:33):
Sometimes, if you say it with the right accent, it
makes it better.
Speaker 1 (24:36):
Yeah, they have like this.
Speaker 4 (24:39):
They don't use processed foods, so that helps.
Speaker 3 (24:42):
Yes, big time Speaking of processed food, I've
found that, uh, for example, infinland and switzerland these
two countries in particular mybody does better.
Speaker 1 (24:50):
it's really strange with the foods I come to finland
and eat chocolate and then Ilose weight.
Speaker 4 (24:56):
I don't know what it is that's amazing yeah, no, it's
all about processed foods.
It's great there can beexperiences.
Sometimes they can be terrific,sometimes they can be, eh, the
same with Get your Guide.
The same with all of them.
So you need to read the reviewsand figure it out.
Speaker 3 (25:19):
Yeah, you'd mentioned public transportation, and I've
had some amazing experienceswith that, from Jamaica to Egypt
to oh gosh Finland.
In Jamaica, I took fromKingston to Montego Bay a local
bus.
It took hours and it was justlike a movie.
(25:39):
I was crammed with all locals.
I mean, we're like this,sweating there's no ACs middle
of summer, sweating and fallingasleep all over each other.
There were chickens inside thebus with us and the roof was
piled higher than you canimagine.
A rainstorm came just as wewere coming through the
mountains and bowlers that couldhave knocked wheels off the bus
(26:01):
were coming down, and it waslike what an amazing experience,
though, to be with the localsand all that and see well, this
is what their life is reallylike in public transit.
It was a really coolopportunity.
I thought Not for everyone.
Speaker 4 (26:14):
Sure, actually there's a great experience in
Jamaica.
Anybody who's going to Jamaicashould do the Meet the I think
it's called the Meet the Localsprogram.
It's run by the JamaicanTourist Board.
It's absolutely free.
You tell them what you'reinterested in and they hook you
(26:35):
up with a local who then showsyou it.
So you know, sometimes ifyou're if you want to see a
Jamaican church, you can go to aservice with a local.
I love to cook, so I went into awoman's kitchen and she taught
me how to make aki, which isthis odd fruit.
(26:55):
It looks just like a tiny brain, it's white and it looks just
like a little brain, but whenyou cook it up it tastes like
the creamiest eggs you've everhad.
It's savory and it wasabsolutely delicious.
And it was absolutely free togo into this woman's home.
(27:15):
We made the dish together, herwhole family joined and we had
this wonderful program inJamaica.
Around the world there's similarthings.
They're called greeters tours.
Have you ever done those?
They're free tours that you cando in New York City Big Apple
greeters.
You can do them in Japan, Ithink it's called Tokyo greeters
(27:39):
and Kyoto greeters in Korea, inmany, many different
destinations.
Just Google greeters tours andthe destination, and these are
tours where proud locals showyou their communities.
I write the Frommer's New YorkCity Guide, so I did a greeter
(28:02):
tour there, in a very Hispanicarea of the Bronx, and it was
absolutely fascinating.
And I've lived in New York Citymy whole life.
But I was going into storeswhere candles that grant you
different wishes were being soldand I was invited into homes
(28:24):
and I went into a Catholicchurch in the area and I learned
what it's like to be a recentimmigrant living in the Bronx
and it showed me a whole notherside of my hometown.
That was spectacular,fascinating.
Yeah, now, I asked for that inparticular.
(28:46):
Often these greeters will alsotake you to the major tourist
sites.
The Japan greeters are veryhelpful.
If you do it your first day inJapan, they'll show you how to
use the subways.
They'll show you how to getaround the fact that restaurants
tend to be on the 10th floor,not on the ground floor.
(29:06):
They'll explain to you thingsthat will make the rest of your
journey much better and it's allfree.
Speaker 1 (29:13):
Wow, that is amazing.
I know when we we had a week inFinland before we we go to a
camp that we teach, and thatweek we have friends there.
So I was really reaching out to, okay, remind me of the app we
use for the subway, and you know, I was asking, like things like
(29:33):
you're talking about, thatthese tour guys were providing I
have friends in Finland, but Idon't have friends in Tokyo.
I don't have friends in Japanwho are just going to say, oh
yeah, remember, the bathroomsare like this, the restaurants
are like whatever.
You know, that type of stuff isreally that's great.
Speaker 4 (29:49):
Very helpful.
Speaker 1 (29:52):
I love that.
Now, with the greeters, forexample, if it's free, are they
expecting a tip and if so, whatwould maybe be a typical
priority?
Speaker 4 (30:01):
They are not expecting a tip typical priority
.
They are not expecting a tip.
These are people who just lovetheir country and want to share
it with others and just lovemeeting tourists.
However, you are expected topay for their transportation and
if you have a meal, you'reexpected to buy their meal.
But no, no, no, they don't wanta tip.
These are not professionals.
These are just civic-mindedpeople who are really proud of
(30:25):
their culture and want to shareit.
Speaker 3 (30:28):
Isn't that awesome.
That feels like it's somethingthat was lost to the past, but I
love to hear that.
Speaker 4 (30:35):
Yeah, you can do it in New York City.
I have friends who are greeters.
It's a great organization.
Speaker 1 (30:43):
We'll definitely include that in the show notes.
Speaking of New York, sinceyou're an expert and you want to
give us, like I don't know,your top three tips, well,
things have changed drasticallyin New York City.
Speaker 4 (30:55):
Just in the last year , a new rule went into effect,
basically wiping out Airbnb, soyou can no longer stay in
Airbnbs in New York City and atthe same time, because we are a
sanctuary city, anybody who asksthe government for housing in
(31:15):
New York by law has to get it.
And so we had Florida and Texasand a whole bunch of people
shipping us bus loads and planeloads of migrants.
And so our mayor, eric Adams,has contracted with what used to
be the cheap hotels in New York, and those are filled with
(31:38):
migrants now.
And I'm all for it.
I want to give people places tostay.
That's fine.
But as a travel writer coveringNew York, it's most that the
hotels in New York areoutrageously expensive now.
Wow, that's true, but in theoff season.
So if you want to visit NewYork, come in January, february
(32:00):
or March, when you can get areally nice room for about $119
a night.
If you come in December orNovember, that same room will
cost you $519 a night.
So for the first time inwriting this book, I had to add
in New Jersey hotels.
So in Frommer's New York Cityyou will find hotels in New
(32:26):
Jersey where you can get intothe city very easily on public
transportation.
I only included places that areeasy to access, but that was
kind of heartbreaking, so it'sbeen the perfect storm for New
York.
It's gotten very expensive forhotels, so that's tip number one
.
That was a very long tip,apologies.
Speaker 1 (32:50):
I had a similar experience in California.
A travel company was supposedto book us a hotel and then they
couldn't because they wereearmarked for things.
Speaker 4 (32:58):
So yeah, it's gotten very tough.
Yeah, no, it's gotten verytough.
Tip number two is you're oftentold that you have to pay top
dollar to see a Broadway show.
The truth is, there are alwaysBroadway shows that are
discounting.
(33:18):
They just don't fill up.
They never all fill up and so,unless you really want to see a
very, very popular one, you candefinitely see a Broadway show
for half the cost.
There's a really good app calledToday Tix that I like.
(33:39):
Where you can and it's not justfor day of shows you can get
the tickets weeks in advance for50% off.
There's also the TKTS booth inTimes Square and also up near
Lincoln Center, so you rarelyhave to pay full price for a
Broadway show.
In fact, so many opened in thelast year.
And because business travel isdown to New York, as it is to
(34:02):
everywhere, and this Broadwayshows used to be something
business travelers did a lot,I've been seeing Broadway shows
for about $57, which is harmless, and you used to pre-pandemic,
you used to pay.
So Broadway shows have gottenpretty affordable.
And I guess the third tip isalso an entertainment tip,
(34:24):
because New York City is thecenter of media and is the
center of the industry thatmakes opinions across the United
States and across the world.
Every night of the week you cansee a free talk by really great
people.
You can see a free talk byreally great people, whether
(34:46):
it's an author with a new book,whether it's a politician trying
to sell an idea, whether it's ascientist who wants to also get
his ideas out.
There are incredible eventsthat are absolutely free,
happening every night of theweek, and when you go to them,
you meet wonderful, engaged,interesting New Yorkers, because
(35:11):
these are things that touristsdon't tend to do Super cool.
Speaker 1 (35:15):
Attending lectures is a great thing.
Speaker 3 (35:17):
Yeah, how fun.
Yeah, oh, it's great.
But how do you find where theseare happening in New York?
I mean, if I've got a nightfree and I'm thinking I'd be
really cool to hear somebodytalk about whatever.
Or here's one of my favoriteauthors about a book.
Speaker 4 (35:30):
Yeah, there are.
I list several websites in mybook Informer's New York City.
Let me think if I can rememberthe names of them offhand.
Well, time Out, new York oftenhas good event listings.
The New York Times site hasgood event listings.
One of my favorite is if youfollow Thirsty Gallerina on
(35:56):
Instagram, she will tell youwhere the openings are happening
at the galleries of New YorkCity.
And New York City has more artgalleries than any other city on
the planet, and so there arealways openings, and at these
openings they're giving out freewine.
So you can go, you see the art,you go in for free, you get a
(36:17):
nice glass of wine and you cansee what's de rigueur, what's of
the moment in the art world.
It's really fun.
Speaker 3 (36:26):
That is super fun.
Nice, we'll also, as we saidearlier, put a link to your
website so that they can findthese things on your site, I'm
sure as well.
Speaker 4 (36:33):
Fabulous yes, or in Fromer's New York City.
My book how many more?
2025 is coming out in October.
Oh, it's glossy, okay, so youupdate the guides every year.
I update new york city everyyear.
She's my muse.
Um.
I've spent a couple of weeks umtaking disco naps in the late
(36:54):
afternoon so I can stay out tillthree or four in the morning.
Uh, just nightlife, um, butlately people are surprised to
see me.
I'm not as young as I used tobe, but this is a city, as you
know, that doesn't sleep, and sothere's amazing things going on
every hour of the day.
Speaker 1 (37:13):
Yeah, wonderful man, all right.
Well, that is your home, that'syour home, turf.
Recently you went to Azores.
Tell us about that.
Speaker 4 (37:23):
Yeah, I was invited by the Century Club, which is a
club for people who have been to100 or more countries, to speak
at their event, and it was inthe Azores.
The Azores are a group ofvolcanic islands off the coast
(37:43):
of Portugal that actually have ahappy colonial story.
You usually don't hear happycolonial stories, but they were
uninhabited when they werediscovered and so Portuguese
folks moved there, created thesecities, and they weren't
displacing anyone.
They're incredibly lush,incredibly green.
(38:05):
On some of the islands you seethese exquisite Baroque churches
.
They're places where you candrop a seed and it just shoots
up a tree because of theseplaces it's volcanic dirt, so
they're so fertile.
And these were the islandswhere, during the great age of
(38:30):
exploration, this is where theexplorers would stop and bring
on supplies, and so a lot ofreally interesting history that
way.
And these are islands that lovethe United States because in the
late 1950s on the main islandthere was a terrible earthquake,
(38:53):
because these are volcanicislands that destroyed many of
the cities and John F Kennedywas then a young senator who
somehow they got through to himand he created a special bill
allowing folks from the Azoreswhose homes had been destroyed
(39:14):
to emigrate legally to theUnited States.
And so nowadays, bizarrelyenough, there are I think it's
1.5 million Azoreans in theUnited States, but only 500,000
in the Azores.
Wow, and you say you're fromthe United States.
(39:35):
They will have cousins, theywant to know if you know Right,
and so you get this wonderful,warm welcome because they're so
tied to the US.
So really, really interestingmelding of influences.
You know great Portuguese food,these incredibly fertile
(39:56):
islands, where they have someinteresting culinary traditions.
For example, they bury food ina volcanic vent and the
thermodynamical heat cooks thefood and then you unwrap it and
you eat it and it's fascinating,wow, really, really interesting
(40:18):
part of the world to go to.
And, like Portugal, portugal isone of the least expensive
countries in Europe to go to,and that also has to do with the
Azores as well, so costs areslightly lower there than they
probably are in Switzerland,most everywhere.
Speaker 1 (40:36):
We're hoping we will hit Portugal this coming spring.
So we are in the works withthat.
So, hopefully, because wehaven't yet been to Portugal and
we definitely have never beento the East.
Speaker 4 (40:48):
Portugal.
You know, before you go, besure to read about the recent
history, because for 15 yearsuntil I think it was 82 or so
they had one of the worstdictators on the planet.
They had one of the worstdictators on the planet, and so
(41:21):
because of that man in fact JKRow did so you don't see
skyscrapers anywhere and duringhis time in office they were in
such bad condition that, like,the infant mortality rate in
Portugal was worse than it wasin sub-Saharan Africa during the
time of Salazar.
And so you visited today andyou meet a people who are so
(41:49):
optimistic.
They've come through the worstthing ever and now it's a
society that's just thriving,and if you know about the
history, seeing how well they'redoing is just heartwarming.
Speaker 3 (42:03):
Wow, that's so neat.
Speaker 1 (42:04):
Yeah, they figured they can go up from where
they've been.
It's all up there, it's all upfrom there, all up from there.
Speaker 4 (42:11):
Yeah, yeah, yeah, it's a country that shows you
the power of resilience.
Speaker 3 (42:17):
Oh, that's great to know.
Speaker 1 (42:18):
I love that.
Well, if we want to visitPortugal or New York City, what
are some great websites that weneed to visit for, like booking
airfares and hotels and thingslike that?
Speaker 4 (42:31):
Well, every year we hire a guy named Reed Bramblitt.
He's an amazing researcher andhe spends weeks just doing
search after search after searchto find out which search
engines work best For airfares.
He found that a brother-sisterpair of websites.
(42:52):
They're owned by the samecompany.
They have exactly the sameresults.
Their names are Kayak andMomondo.
They consistently found thelowest rates, except for
last-minute tickets.
For last-minute tickets, forsome reason CheapTicketscom
(43:16):
found the best last-minute rates.
But for all other types oftravel, he found Kayak and
Momondo just slayed thecompetition.
And that includes GoogleFlights.
He found Kayak and Momondo justslayed the competition, and
that includes Google Flights.
Google Flights, in our searches, found the lowest prices
exactly 0% of the time.
Speaker 3 (43:35):
Wow.
Speaker 4 (43:35):
Yeah, they were the fastest, they were lightning
fast, but they didn't do as wellas Kayak and Momondo.
And the nice thing about Kayakand Momondo is they also have
these filters which allow you tofilter for Wi-Fi on board the
flight, or filter for type ofairplane, or filter if you only
(43:58):
want business class seats, orfilter if you only want to book
directly with the airline, whichis a good thing to do nowadays,
because there's been a lot ofmeltdowns, as we were discussing
earlier, and those who bookdirectly with the airline get
help first.
If you have to be reaching outto a third party, that slows you
(44:22):
down and other people get theseats on the next plane and
faster than you do.
So I recommend these sites forsearching, but not necessarily
for booking.
Yeah, so that is for airfares,and you can read our whole
article by Reed Bramblitt onfromerscom.
(44:42):
Okay, or hotels we had a tieGoogle actually came up on top
for hotel rates and it tied withhotelscombinedcom, so those
were the best for the websitesthat publicly show hotel rates.
However, because every hotel onthe planet right now has
(45:10):
contracts with Orbit, expedia,travelocity, priceline,
bookingcom and the like, and inthose contracts there's always a
clause that they will not givedeeper discounts than they show
on those sites.
Because of that, I find thatcertain travel clubs can get you
(45:33):
better hotel rates.
They include Travel and LeisureClub.
The famous magazine now has atravel club, now has a travel
club.
If you're a lawyer, if you're adoctor, if you're a welder,
your professional organizationprobably has a travel club and
those places can get you betterprices.
(45:53):
There's a club that's onInstagram that's called At Hotel
the at sign and then hotel andyou go there.
You have to send them a directmessage through Instagram
telling them where you want togo, your travel window, and then
they'll shoot back the secretdiscounts Because these hotels
(46:19):
under the rubric of these clubscan't be Googled, because their
prices can't be Googled.
I've found that the prices canoften be as much as 25% to 50%
lower than you're assigned onthe publicly available sites.
But that has to offset the costof joining these clubs the
(46:42):
annual fee.
The one exception to that isthe Instagram club.
At hotel.
There's no fee to join, sothat's the one I tend to use.
It's a bit clunky.
They don't show you all theinformation you need.
For example, I was looking atAcadia National Park hotels near
the border to that park.
(47:02):
During high season Prices wereoutrageous.
I found a price that I didn'tfind anywhere else on ad hotels.
What they didn't tell me was itwas only for rooms with
bathrooms down the hall.
Careful with that one.
Speaker 1 (47:17):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (47:17):
I have to be careful with that.
Speaker 1 (47:18):
Yeah, yeah.
Speaker 3 (47:19):
I mean, it's not the worst thing in the world, but no
, you know right.
Speaker 1 (47:24):
But not ideal.
Yeah, I mean in our opinion,the worst thing in the world,
but you know Right, but notideal.
Yeah, I mean in our opinion,yeah, yeah.
Speaker 4 (47:30):
No, I'm not a big fan of sharing a bathroom anymore.
Speaker 3 (47:32):
Yeah exactly Anymore.
That's exactly.
Yes, you said it.
Speaker 4 (47:36):
I did hostels for decades, but I don't know, I'm
getting lazy, I guess, or maybeI just have to go to the
bathroom more often in themiddle of the night.
Speaker 3 (47:43):
Yeah, it is, but I told her the same thing, oh gosh
, a couple of years ago.
Yeah, you know what?
I think I'm over that.
Let's move up a step.
Speaker 1 (47:56):
Up-road hotels, things like that, yeah yeah,
yeah.
Speaker 4 (47:58):
You know, I've got to say a lot of hostels now have
gotten very glam and some ofthem have beautiful private
rooms that are less expensive.
So don't write off hostelsaltogether.
Speaker 3 (48:10):
No, absolutely Last year in Denmark.
Was it last year in Denmark orthe year before?
We stayed at a hostel downtown.
Speaker 1 (48:17):
Oh, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 3 (48:19):
And it was wonderful, really wonderful.
The breakfast was great.
It was families staying thereand everything Private bath.
Speaker 1 (48:28):
We also got to perform there, so that was fun.
Yeah, that's great, yeah, ok,well, thank you for being on our
podcast, but you have your.
You have your own podcast onFromers, so tell us a little bit
about how frequent you post andthe type of content and things
like that about your podcast.
Speaker 4 (48:46):
The podcast is posted usually Sundays at 8 am in the
morning, eastern time, prettymuch every Sunday, although
every once in a while I'll takea day off.
I was on radio for 20 years andunfortunately, radio is all
politics now, so I lost my radioshow slot.
At the height of the pandemic.
(49:06):
I was replaced by a left-rightshow starring Rudy Giuliani and
Anthony Weiner, so I've got thepodcast now.
The New York Times called itone of the 13 best for travel.
You can get it on yeah, you canget it wherever podcasts are
(49:27):
heard.
It's called the From Rich TravelShow.
Speaker 1 (49:31):
Okay, from Rich Travel Show.
So we'll get that on our shownotes as well, and thank you so
much.
I know we have like 50,000other things we could talk with
you about and ask you about, butwe really appreciate your time
and we're just excited to shareyour information with our
listeners.
Speaker 3 (49:48):
Yeah, totally.
Speaker 4 (49:50):
And tell your listeners I usually look a
little better, but it's a hugeloss.
Speaker 3 (49:55):
I don't know if your camera shows that I haven't
shaved in a couple days.
Speaker 4 (50:00):
All right, thanks again, all right.
Speaker 1 (50:02):
Thank you.
We hope we've inspired you thisepisode so join us next time.
Please subscribe to rate andshare our podcast with your
friends or you know whomever.
And please like and follow uson Instagram, youtube and
Facebook.
Speaker 2 (50:17):
We are also on X and on all social platforms.
We are at TheROAMies, that'sT-H-E-R-O-A-M-I-E-S, and our
main hub is our website.
Speaker 1 (50:29):
ww
www.
theroamiescom, that's right.
That at www.
TheROAMies.
com.
That's right, that'sT-H-E-R-O-A-M-I-E-Scom.
We'll be there until next time.
Yeah, thanks for listening c.
www.
transcript.
Hi I'm Alexa and I'm Rory, and together we are.
Speaker 1 (00:09):
The.
ROAMies.
We are married To each other.
Right, we are a touring musicalduo.
And our music has taken us toall kinds of places all around
the world and keeps us always onthe go.
Speaker 2 (00:21):
So we hope you enjoy our stories and adventures while
running around working to keepall your plates spinning.
Speaker 1 (00:27):
And, we hope, to facilitate your busy lifestyle
and feed your inner travel bug,mm-hmm.
We want to thank FIRMOO forsupporting this episode.
They provide really cool, veryaffordable glasses, sunglasses,
(00:49):
whatever you need.
You can go to our show notesand get a discount with our link
so you can catch great sightsand views wherever you roam.
All right, y'all.
Here is our interview.
Hi everyone, we are superexcited to have Pauline Frommer
today on our episode.
Oh, yeah.
She is a very honored guest.
Speaker 3 (01:08):
I've been following the family since I started
traveling.
Speaker 1 (01:10):
Yeah, yeah, we are super honored to have Pauline
with us today.
I've been able to meet Paulineseveral times through the travel
and adventure shows that areput on by the travel and
adventure show.
Speaker 4 (01:25):
Yeah, they're run by a company called Unicom.
Thank you, unicom.
Speaker 3 (01:29):
That are put on by the Travel and Adventure Show.
Actually, they're run by acompany called Unicom.
Thank you, unicom.
There you go, she's a travelexpert.
Speaker 1 (01:34):
That's why she's falling for it.
Exactly, we've been enjoyinglike checking those out, and,
just as we meet different peopleor find out different things,
we love utilizing the resourcesand information we get from
those to share with you.
So that's one of the ways welove passing on some information
to you, or how we get some ofthe info that we pass on to you
guys.
Because Pauline is so widelyversed in travel, we could talk
(01:56):
for hours about anything travelrelated and beyond, because
she's just super fun to talk to.
We want to kind of narrow downa couple things, and so one of
the things that Pauline hasrecently run across some new
changes to travel in Americaright now.
So let's dive in, because weRory and I are currently in
Switzerland as we are recordingthis and so we are avoiding all
(02:20):
the American summer heat.
That's going on right now.
Speaker 3 (02:23):
Yeah, we were in Finland before this, so we're
really bored yeah.
Speaker 1 (02:28):
Nice, yeah.
So, pauline, before you dive in, you can just tell us a little
bit about Fromerscom, and thenwe can dive into America.
Speaker 4 (02:36):
Yeah, Well, we are a family-owned business.
My father, arthur Fromer,founded the guides in 1957.
He was actually drafted intothe army to fight in the Korean
War but because he was the sonof immigrants and spoke German
and Russian, he got sent toEurope instead.
(02:57):
He started traveling all aroundand it was right after World
War II.
So all of his fellow GIs stayedon the base.
Europe was in rubble.
They were worried they wouldn'tbe able to travel well if they
didn't have much money whichthey didn't have and he would
(03:17):
come back to the base.
People would pepper him withquestions and he thought maybe
I'll write a little book.
And he'd never written a book.
But he wrote a little bookcalled the GI's Guide to Europe.
It became a bestseller in thearmy and then when he got out,
he thought maybe I'll do thisfor civilians $5 a day which was
(03:48):
the best-selling guidebook ofall time and launched the Fromer
Guidebook series.
We are a family-owned company.
We've sold 75 millionguidebooks over the years.
We're also run fromerscom.
I was the original editor offromerscom and we were one of
the first travel sites on theweb.
Now we get about 4 millionusers per month and we're still
(04:10):
trying to be journalists, sonobody pays for me to say
anything.
So anything I say today is whatI really think.
Nobody is paying me to saythese things.
Speaker 1 (04:22):
That's awesome.
Yes, well, we appreciate youropinion and your insights and
expertise.
Speaker 3 (04:27):
What a great history.
Speaker 4 (04:29):
That is really cool.
Uncle Sam changed his life inan incredible way.
Who knew being drafted would bethe best thing that could
happen to him?
Speaker 1 (04:38):
Well, speaking of America.
Well, it's been a veryinteresting time.
Speaker 4 (04:44):
For decades, people have been complaining about the
crazy fees that the airlines arecharging and about the fact
that it's really hard to knowwhat the rules are governing
delays, cancellations and allthe rest delays, cancellations
(05:12):
and all the rest.
Just this past May a newfederal.
They just reauthorized theFAA's platform, the Federal
Aviation Authority, and in thatreauthorization were all kinds
of great things for consumers.
So first of all, you now havewhat they call.
What do they call it?
You can go to the FAA site orthe Department of Transportation
(05:34):
site and you can easily seewhat your rights are as a
traveler, and this is somethingthat is very new.
It used to be that you wouldhave to dig through the small
print for each individualairline, but now there are
overarching rules that apply toall of them that you can find
(05:57):
out pretty easily.
I don't know you're abroad soyou may not have heard.
A couple of weeks ago, there wasthis terrible meltdown of
travel because of a Microsoftproblem and people were stranded
all over the country, mostlybecause of Delta's inability to
come back for it quickly.
Delta really had the biggestmeltdown and Pete Buttigieg, the
(06:19):
Secretary of Transportation,was tweeting very publicly you
have tickets.
They're supposed to be puttingyou up in hotels.
(06:48):
You have these rights.
And then, just a couple of daysago, an even bigger.
Well, that was big, but thisreally is close to my heart
because for a long time, becauseof airline fees, families often
have not been able to sittogether.
On average, for a family to payextra to choose to sit together
(07:13):
, it's $200 round trip, andthat's too much for many
families to afford.
Breaking up families is a safetyissue.
Imagine if there was anemergency landing.
How would a mother get off thatplane if her child was many
rows away and she didn't knowwhat was happening with the
(07:33):
child?
So just this week it wasannounced that airlines will no
longer be allowed to break upfamilies, that they cannot
charge them to choose thoseseats and that if there aren't
seats together and they'redefining families pretty broadly
they're basically saying ifthere's a child under 13 and an
(07:56):
adult is traveling with thatchild, these rules apply.
Whether it's an aunt, agrandparent, a friend, whatever,
they will no longer have totravel alone.
Now the airlines are fightingthis.
It's in the courts now, but itlooks like this is going to get
through and I'm so glad, becauseit was so ridiculous to be
(08:16):
dividing families in this way.
It just doesn't make sense.
So that's about to end, andit's interesting you know that
this has gone on for so longunder Democratic administrations
, under Republican ones.
So I give a lot of credit toPete Buttigieg.
I think he's been a reallysmart Department of
(08:37):
Transportation secretary, onewho's been proactive about
getting these things changedproactive about getting these,
these things changed.
Yeah, I mean, it's not somethingpeople think about every day,
that's for sure.
You only think about it when ithappens to you.
When you're, you're eitherasked to move so that a parent
can sit with a child, which isalso annoying, or you're
(08:57):
separated from your own child.
Speaker 1 (08:59):
Yeah, exactly, right, right, I'll just dive in here
real quick, if you are.
If you guys are listening, weare recording this in 2024.
So, depending on when you arelistening to this episode, we
are in 2024 right now.
We're recording this in Augustof 2024.
So, even when you listen downthe road, things may be may get
(09:21):
better.
Yeah, yeah, maybe totallydifferent, and we're gonna put
the FAA site that you mentioned.
We'll put that in the shownotes, uh, so that it may be DOT
it may be the DOT site, okaywe'll get that and put that in,
okay, anyway.
So back to back to our regularschedule program.
Speaker 3 (09:40):
Yeah that's good, that's that's all great news.
Really good, really really goodstuff.
Speaker 4 (09:44):
It's going to change travel.
I think it'll make the UnitedStates more like Europe.
European travelers have hadthese rights for quite some time
.
We're finally catching up,gotcha.
Speaker 1 (09:58):
Any other updates on the US side that you can think
of at the moment?
I think those are the big ones,yeah.
Speaker 3 (10:06):
All right, yeah, we were lucky enough to miss the
big meltdown.
Speaker 1 (10:10):
Yes.
Speaker 3 (10:11):
What happened with the crowd strike?
I think it was when theirsecurity had all dropped with
all this stuff.
We we were in got to Finlandjust before all that happened,
wow.
Speaker 4 (10:21):
Yeah, yeah.
It's been interesting to seehow these systems that make life
so easy also, when they go awry, things just stop.
Yes totally.
Speaker 1 (10:32):
Well, speaking of systems, I do want to say it's
been late on our trip over.
I think we did have to take offour shoes, but we got to leave
all the liquids in the bag, allthe computers in the bags.
So many more security systemsaround the US even are allowing
you to be, because you hadmentioned like comparing it to
(10:54):
Europe A lot of times.
In Europe we have not had totake out our liquids and take
out our computer.
You just throw your bag in andwalk through, and security was
so much easier on this trip overfrom the US to Europe.
On the US side, you knoweverybody's just kind of
upgrading their securitymachines and even that's been a
fun adjustment.
(11:15):
You know it's like much lesshassle.
Speaker 3 (11:17):
Yeah, that's great.
Yeah, a really cool thing thatwe found out is a bottle of
water went through security andwhen it got to the other end,
they pulled out of the bag andthey said do you mind if we put
it through our analyzer?
They took the bottle and put itin a machine, analyzed it and
said it's okay, you can go yeah,I was.
Speaker 1 (11:34):
I was standing um, I was standing outside of security
finishing my water right,because you always have to drink
your water before you gothrough security and one of the
security ladies saw me.
She said you can take yourdrink through.
I was like, really okay, so Ijust screwed it on and and
whatever water was left in mywater bottle went right through
and they and uh, so which?
Speaker 4 (11:55):
is how hard is this?
Hell sink yvanta.
Wow, I haven't come across thatbefore.
That's great, great news.
Speaker 3 (12:03):
Yeah, isn't that amazing.
It's really cool.
They analyze it now.
I thought that's helpful for us.
It still slows you down becausethey have to take it and
analyze it, but you don't haveto pour your water out anymore
and waste all your money.
Speaker 4 (12:16):
Right, right, that's great.
Speaker 3 (12:18):
Yeah, I liked it.
Speaker 1 (12:21):
All right, let's move on.
Let's shift gears a little bit.
I would love to hear youradvice on creating a smart
itinerary.
Usually when Rory and I travelbecause we're traveling for our
music and all we kind of justhave to go where the gigs are
and you know that kind of thing.
But most people can plan like anormal kind of trip.
(12:43):
So what would be your tips oncreating a smart itinerary?
Speaker 4 (12:49):
Well, it's something that we have our guidebook
writers do.
Every one of the Frommer guideshas a chapter where we give
sample itineraries, and I findit to be the hardest chapter for
even professional travelwriters to get right, because
they always want to cram as muchinto it as possible.
(13:12):
And so I've come to a formulafor this, and I wrote about this
for Fromerscom.
I think you never should domore than one museum a day,
unless it's a very small museum,and then you want to have
something that's very differentin the afternoon, so you want to
(13:36):
look at the geography of aplace, so you're not spending
all your time getting from placeto place, and then you want to
create days in the destinationwhere you have a lot of variety.
I once heard that there weresome people who were looking at
the itineraries put out byguided tour companies and
(13:58):
following those, and that's theworst thing you can do, because
often those tour itineraries areset because of local work rules
.
So, for example, I once led atour in France.
We got to see and do very fewthings in France because our bus
(14:19):
driver could only travel forseveral hours a day and we often
had to go to the places thatwere big enough for the bus to
park, and so you don't want tobe using guided tour itineraries
, because often these types ofelements that have nothing to do
with travel have to do with howthey do the itinerary.
(14:41):
So I say you know, you do youlook at the weather nowadays,
sadly, because we we have, youknow, with in this time of
climate change, it can getbeastly hot in the afternoons.
So often I'll say you know, doyour indoor things in the
afternoons, do do one site oractivity.
(15:02):
That's about the the.
Well, it depends on whereyou're going.
But if you're in a city thatinforms you about the life and
culture and history of the city,so that's half the day.
Or if they have a great museumthat is great for art, then you
do that for half the day andthen the second part of the day.
(15:23):
You don't want to do thingsthat only have to do with what I
call dead sites.
Too often we go to adestination and we only look at
the history, and it's soexciting to me just to stroll
through a grocery store or theneighborhood where the real
(15:44):
people live.
So you want to schedule time toengage with the living culture
as well as the historic culture,and I always try and give
myself an hour where I turn offmy cell phone and I just let
myself get lost, because youfind the best things when you
(16:05):
don't know where you're going.
Speaker 1 (16:08):
And.
Speaker 4 (16:09):
I think that's a way to wrap your mind around
creating an itinerary.
Speaker 3 (16:15):
Yeah, that's a great.
Oh, we love getting lost.
Speaker 1 (16:18):
We love getting lost.
Speaker 3 (16:19):
We purpose just to get lost, sometimes because you
discover such amazing things,yeah, absolutely.
And when you have to ask fordirections, because you discover
such amazing things.
Speaker 4 (16:25):
Yeah, absolutely, and when you have to ask for
directions, you get to talk tolocals.
It's a great.
You know reason to talk and Ifind that the best the memories
I have of my travels.
Yes, sometimes it's being atthe top of the Eiffel Tower or
being in the extraordinarymuseums of Austria, as I was
(16:45):
last summer seeing a Klimtface-to-face, and those are
rapturous paintings but mostlywhat I remember are the people I
meet, and so it's a great wayto have an excuse to talk to
people.
Yeah, we got it.
Speaker 1 (16:59):
One of the things that we're on the baby steps and
starting to do.
I've been recording my walksbecause I love to walk.
That's just a passion of mine.
So as I go on a new hike orsomething, I've gotten in the
habit now of starting to recordthem, because usually I'll find
something super fun or superinteresting or just really super
(17:20):
pretty.
This happened just two nightsago.
I just went ahead and startedmy walk in Switzerland.
We have been indoors rehearsinglike all week.
So I got out and I was like I'mtaking a walk.
So I started walking and ourfriend had texted us and said
hey, this is Switzerland'sbirthday, so if you hear
fireworks, you know you mighthear some noise tonight.
Speaker 3 (17:43):
They're shooting muskets in the backyard, and so
we thought, okay, uh,something's going on during the
day.
Speaker 1 (17:49):
yeah, but I had forgotten about that when I was
on my walk, until I started tohear music and I I had started
up this path into the wildernessand I was, I started hearing
the music.
I'm like I ran and I startedjust running to wherever I heard
that music and I happened uponthis school where the whole
community was gathered and theywere making sausages, cause
(18:14):
that's what you eat inSwitzerland right, so they love
it, but they had sausages andsalads and desserts and stuff
and they had live music.
They had.
I had just missed the band.
The band was closing up andthen there was another guy just
playing all this music and allof the locals just sitting in
tables and sharing each other'scompany, the food, all of that
(18:36):
stuff, and it was just super funand I just happened upon it.
And that's because I was justlike I'm just going to go on a
walk and just see where I go.
I didn't have a set agenda.
That was a highlight of youknow.
And then Rory finally joined me.
He was like, hey, I sent him apicture of the sausages and he's
like all right, where is this?
That's just an example ofexactly what you were just
(18:56):
saying.
Like let's just go get some fun, yeah, what a jewel.
Super fun.
So when you are planning anitinerary, if you want to go
with a group or you want grouptravel as part of your itinerary
, you may or may not have a sayin planning that part.
So how would you like pick theright tour group?
Speaker 4 (19:17):
Well, there's I mean there's different types of tours
.
There's traveling solo and thenpicking up day tours.
Frankly, this is why guidebooksare such gold.
A lot of people use Get myGuide or Viator or other big
(19:38):
multinational companies nowadaysto find tours and they pay a
lot more than they have to,whereas Promer Guides and
Photers and Lonely Planet andall of them we all list local
tour companies and we give youthe way to contact them directly
so you're not paying for acommission to a third-party site
(20:01):
.
If you want to do a group tour,where you are with a group of
people for several days, theyplan where you're going to stay,
they take you from place toplace.
I mean it's very social, a veryorganized type of vacation.
So not solo travel vacation, sonot solo travel.
(20:30):
I find there are a couple ofmarketplace sites that are very
good for finding those types oftours.
One is named tourradarcom.
I'm blanking on the name of theother one, but what you do is
you go to Tour Radar and oh well, I can get you the name and you
can put it in your notes.
You go to the site, you put inwhen you can travel, how long
(20:56):
you want to travel for and wherespecifically you want to go.
Say, you decide you want to takea group tour to the Amalfi
Coast of Italy and you have aweek.
You put that in, you put inyour rough dates and then these
sites shoot back 30, 40 options.
One is $500 a day becauseyou're staying only in the very
(21:22):
finest hotels, you're eatingincredibly well, you're going
around with an actualarchaeologist or art historian
Actually that could be $1,000 aday.
$500 a day is not, sadly, notthat much anymore, or so that's
number one.
Number two tour you're paying athird less and you notice in
(21:46):
the details oh wait, we're goingto the same hotels and we're
going to the same restaurantsand it looks like a real expert
is guiding this.
But it's cheaper because it's alocally owned company.
It's not a big multinationalcompany.
So that's number two.
And number three could be onethat's a fraction of the cost
(22:08):
because you're staying inhostels and you're using public
transportation to get from pointA to point B.
Or you might find anotherAmalfi tour that's on bicycles
or that's hiking from town totown and you can see very
quickly how much you should bepaying for a group tour, which
is something that's very opaque.
(22:29):
You know group tours are notsold by Expedia, Orbitz,
travelocity and the like.
They're hard to compare applesto apples except on these new
sites, and there are userreviews so you can see what
people who have taken thesetours in the past have to say
about the tours in question.
(22:49):
So I think these sites arereally really good resources for
the folks who want to takeguided tours.
Speaker 3 (22:57):
Yeah that's great Great advice.
Speaker 1 (22:59):
I know previously we've featured tours by locals.
We have not yet talked aboutexperiences on Airbnb, but when
you go to Airbnb you can alsofind like what they're calling
experiences, which are thesekind of tour type things.
Have you run across any ofthose?
Or or had yeah?
Speaker 4 (23:18):
I've actually done them.
I've had some good, goodexperiences.
I did something a littledangerous when I was traveling
with my 16-year-old.
We were in Paris and we took ashopping tour with a Parisian
fashion expert.
I was worried that I was goingto lose my shirt, that it would
(23:39):
be very expensive, but she tookus to consignment stores so it
didn't end up being thatexpensive.
But she was brutally honest, asthe French often are, about our
figure flaws.
I learned that each shapedfigure, which means my shoulders
(24:00):
and my hips, are the same width, but I have no waist, and so
the whole tour was about how topretend I have a waist.
Speaker 1 (24:11):
And sorry it cut out when you said that your body
type no it's called H.
Speaker 4 (24:17):
It's the letter H.
I have an H-shaped body.
Speaker 1 (24:21):
Okay, okay.
Speaker 4 (24:22):
There you go.
Speaker 3 (24:24):
Well, and even with a French accent, it probably
didn't sound very nice.
Speaker 4 (24:28):
No, it's all right, it sounded better.
Speaker 1 (24:31):
I don't know.
Speaker 3 (24:33):
Sometimes, if you say it with the right accent, it
makes it better.
Speaker 1 (24:36):
Yeah, they have like this.
Speaker 4 (24:39):
They don't use processed foods, so that helps.
Speaker 3 (24:42):
Yes, big time Speaking of processed food, I've
found that, uh, for example, infinland and switzerland these
two countries in particular mybody does better.
Speaker 1 (24:50):
it's really strange with the foods I come to finland
and eat chocolate and then Ilose weight.
Speaker 4 (24:56):
I don't know what it is that's amazing yeah, no, it's
all about processed foods.
It's great there can beexperiences.
Sometimes they can be terrific,sometimes they can be, eh, the
same with Get your Guide.
The same with all of them.
So you need to read the reviewsand figure it out.
Speaker 3 (25:19):
Yeah, you'd mentioned public transportation, and I've
had some amazing experienceswith that, from Jamaica to Egypt
to oh gosh Finland.
In Jamaica, I took fromKingston to Montego Bay a local
bus.
It took hours and it was justlike a movie.
(25:39):
I was crammed with all locals.
I mean, we're like this,sweating there's no ACs middle
of summer, sweating and fallingasleep all over each other.
There were chickens inside thebus with us and the roof was
piled higher than you canimagine.
A rainstorm came just as wewere coming through the
mountains and bowlers that couldhave knocked wheels off the bus
(26:01):
were coming down, and it waslike what an amazing experience,
though, to be with the localsand all that and see well, this
is what their life is reallylike in public transit.
It was a really coolopportunity.
I thought Not for everyone.
Speaker 4 (26:14):
Sure, actually there's a great experience in
Jamaica.
Anybody who's going to Jamaicashould do the Meet the I think
it's called the Meet the Localsprogram.
It's run by the JamaicanTourist Board.
It's absolutely free.
You tell them what you'reinterested in and they hook you
(26:35):
up with a local who then showsyou it.
So you know, sometimes ifyou're if you want to see a
Jamaican church, you can go to aservice with a local.
I love to cook, so I went into awoman's kitchen and she taught
me how to make aki, which isthis odd fruit.
(26:55):
It looks just like a tiny brain, it's white and it looks just
like a little brain, but whenyou cook it up it tastes like
the creamiest eggs you've everhad.
It's savory and it wasabsolutely delicious.
And it was absolutely free togo into this woman's home.
(27:15):
We made the dish together, herwhole family joined and we had
this wonderful program inJamaica.
Around the world there's similarthings.
They're called greeters tours.
Have you ever done those?
They're free tours that you cando in New York City Big Apple
greeters.
You can do them in Japan, Ithink it's called Tokyo greeters
(27:39):
and Kyoto greeters in Korea, inmany, many different
destinations.
Just Google greeters tours andthe destination, and these are
tours where proud locals showyou their communities.
I write the Frommer's New YorkCity Guide, so I did a greeter
(28:02):
tour there, in a very Hispanicarea of the Bronx, and it was
absolutely fascinating.
And I've lived in New York Citymy whole life.
But I was going into storeswhere candles that grant you
different wishes were being soldand I was invited into homes
(28:24):
and I went into a Catholicchurch in the area and I learned
what it's like to be a recentimmigrant living in the Bronx
and it showed me a whole notherside of my hometown.
That was spectacular,fascinating.
Yeah, now, I asked for that inparticular.
(28:46):
Often these greeters will alsotake you to the major tourist
sites.
The Japan greeters are veryhelpful.
If you do it your first day inJapan, they'll show you how to
use the subways.
They'll show you how to getaround the fact that restaurants
tend to be on the 10th floor,not on the ground floor.
(29:06):
They'll explain to you thingsthat will make the rest of your
journey much better and it's allfree.
Speaker 1 (29:13):
Wow, that is amazing.
I know when we we had a week inFinland before we we go to a
camp that we teach, and thatweek we have friends there.
So I was really reaching out to, okay, remind me of the app we
use for the subway, and you know, I was asking, like things like
(29:33):
you're talking about, thatthese tour guys were providing I
have friends in Finland, but Idon't have friends in Tokyo.
I don't have friends in Japanwho are just going to say, oh
yeah, remember, the bathroomsare like this, the restaurants
are like whatever.
You know, that type of stuff isreally that's great.
Speaker 4 (29:49):
Very helpful.
Speaker 1 (29:52):
I love that.
Now, with the greeters, forexample, if it's free, are they
expecting a tip and if so, whatwould maybe be a typical
priority?
Speaker 4 (30:01):
They are not expecting a tip typical priority
.
They are not expecting a tip.
These are people who just lovetheir country and want to share
it with others and just lovemeeting tourists.
However, you are expected topay for their transportation and
if you have a meal, you'reexpected to buy their meal.
But no, no, no, they don't wanta tip.
These are not professionals.
These are just civic-mindedpeople who are really proud of
(30:25):
their culture and want to shareit.
Speaker 3 (30:28):
Isn't that awesome.
That feels like it's somethingthat was lost to the past, but I
love to hear that.
Speaker 4 (30:35):
Yeah, you can do it in New York City.
I have friends who are greeters.
It's a great organization.
Speaker 1 (30:43):
We'll definitely include that in the show notes.
Speaking of New York, sinceyou're an expert and you want to
give us, like I don't know,your top three tips, well,
things have changed drasticallyin New York City.
Speaker 4 (30:55):
Just in the last year , a new rule went into effect,
basically wiping out Airbnb, soyou can no longer stay in
Airbnbs in New York City and atthe same time, because we are a
sanctuary city, anybody who asksthe government for housing in
(31:15):
New York by law has to get it.
And so we had Florida and Texasand a whole bunch of people
shipping us bus loads and planeloads of migrants.
And so our mayor, eric Adams,has contracted with what used to
be the cheap hotels in New York, and those are filled with
(31:38):
migrants now.
And I'm all for it.
I want to give people places tostay.
That's fine.
But as a travel writer coveringNew York, it's most that the
hotels in New York areoutrageously expensive now.
Wow, that's true, but in theoff season.
So if you want to visit NewYork, come in January, february
(32:00):
or March, when you can get areally nice room for about $119
a night.
If you come in December orNovember, that same room will
cost you $519 a night.
So for the first time inwriting this book, I had to add
in New Jersey hotels.
So in Frommer's New York Cityyou will find hotels in New
(32:26):
Jersey where you can get intothe city very easily on public
transportation.
I only included places that areeasy to access, but that was
kind of heartbreaking, so it'sbeen the perfect storm for New
York.
It's gotten very expensive forhotels, so that's tip number one
.
That was a very long tip,apologies.
Speaker 1 (32:50):
I had a similar experience in California.
A travel company was supposedto book us a hotel and then they
couldn't because they wereearmarked for things.
Speaker 4 (32:58):
So yeah, it's gotten very tough.
Yeah, no, it's gotten verytough.
Tip number two is you're oftentold that you have to pay top
dollar to see a Broadway show.
The truth is, there are alwaysBroadway shows that are
discounting.
(33:18):
They just don't fill up.
They never all fill up and so,unless you really want to see a
very, very popular one, you candefinitely see a Broadway show
for half the cost.
There's a really good app calledToday Tix that I like.
(33:39):
Where you can and it's not justfor day of shows you can get
the tickets weeks in advance for50% off.
There's also the TKTS booth inTimes Square and also up near
Lincoln Center, so you rarelyhave to pay full price for a
Broadway show.
In fact, so many opened in thelast year.
And because business travel isdown to New York, as it is to
(34:02):
everywhere, and this Broadwayshows used to be something
business travelers did a lot,I've been seeing Broadway shows
for about $57, which is harmless, and you used to pre-pandemic,
you used to pay.
So Broadway shows have gottenpretty affordable.
And I guess the third tip isalso an entertainment tip,
(34:24):
because New York City is thecenter of media and is the
center of the industry thatmakes opinions across the United
States and across the world.
Every night of the week you cansee a free talk by really great
people.
You can see a free talk byreally great people, whether
(34:46):
it's an author with a new book,whether it's a politician trying
to sell an idea, whether it's ascientist who wants to also get
his ideas out.
There are incredible eventsthat are absolutely free,
happening every night of theweek, and when you go to them,
you meet wonderful, engaged,interesting New Yorkers, because
(35:11):
these are things that touristsdon't tend to do Super cool.
Speaker 1 (35:15):
Attending lectures is a great thing.
Speaker 3 (35:17):
Yeah, how fun.
Yeah, oh, it's great.
But how do you find where theseare happening in New York?
I mean, if I've got a nightfree and I'm thinking I'd be
really cool to hear somebodytalk about whatever.
Or here's one of my favoriteauthors about a book.
Speaker 4 (35:30):
Yeah, there are.
I list several websites in mybook Informer's New York City.
Let me think if I can rememberthe names of them offhand.
Well, time Out, new York oftenhas good event listings.
The New York Times site hasgood event listings.
One of my favorite is if youfollow Thirsty Gallerina on
(35:56):
Instagram, she will tell youwhere the openings are happening
at the galleries of New YorkCity.
And New York City has more artgalleries than any other city on
the planet, and so there arealways openings, and at these
openings they're giving out freewine.
So you can go, you see the art,you go in for free, you get a
(36:17):
nice glass of wine and you cansee what's de rigueur, what's of
the moment in the art world.
It's really fun.
Speaker 3 (36:26):
That is super fun.
Nice, we'll also, as we saidearlier, put a link to your
website so that they can findthese things on your site, I'm
sure as well.
Speaker 4 (36:33):
Fabulous yes, or in Fromer's New York City.
My book how many more?
2025 is coming out in October.
Oh, it's glossy, okay, so youupdate the guides every year.
I update new york city everyyear.
She's my muse.
Um.
I've spent a couple of weeks umtaking disco naps in the late
(36:54):
afternoon so I can stay out tillthree or four in the morning.
Uh, just nightlife, um, butlately people are surprised to
see me.
I'm not as young as I used tobe, but this is a city, as you
know, that doesn't sleep, and sothere's amazing things going on
every hour of the day.
Speaker 1 (37:13):
Yeah, wonderful man, all right.
Well, that is your home, that'syour home, turf.
Recently you went to Azores.
Tell us about that.
Speaker 4 (37:23):
Yeah, I was invited by the Century Club, which is a
club for people who have been to100 or more countries, to speak
at their event, and it was inthe Azores.
The Azores are a group ofvolcanic islands off the coast
(37:43):
of Portugal that actually have ahappy colonial story.
You usually don't hear happycolonial stories, but they were
uninhabited when they werediscovered and so Portuguese
folks moved there, created thesecities, and they weren't
displacing anyone.
They're incredibly lush,incredibly green.
(38:05):
On some of the islands you seethese exquisite Baroque churches
.
They're places where you candrop a seed and it just shoots
up a tree because of theseplaces it's volcanic dirt, so
they're so fertile.
And these were the islandswhere, during the great age of
(38:30):
exploration, this is where theexplorers would stop and bring
on supplies, and so a lot ofreally interesting history that
way.
And these are islands that lovethe United States because in the
late 1950s on the main islandthere was a terrible earthquake,
(38:53):
because these are volcanicislands that destroyed many of
the cities and John F Kennedywas then a young senator who
somehow they got through to himand he created a special bill
allowing folks from the Azoreswhose homes had been destroyed
(39:14):
to emigrate legally to theUnited States.
And so nowadays, bizarrelyenough, there are I think it's
1.5 million Azoreans in theUnited States, but only 500,000
in the Azores.
Wow, and you say you're fromthe United States.
(39:35):
They will have cousins, theywant to know if you know Right,
and so you get this wonderful,warm welcome because they're so
tied to the US.
So really, really interestingmelding of influences.
You know great Portuguese food,these incredibly fertile
(39:56):
islands, where they have someinteresting culinary traditions.
For example, they bury food ina volcanic vent and the
thermodynamical heat cooks thefood and then you unwrap it and
you eat it and it's fascinating,wow, really, really interesting
(40:18):
part of the world to go to.
And, like Portugal, portugal isone of the least expensive
countries in Europe to go to,and that also has to do with the
Azores as well, so costs areslightly lower there than they
probably are in Switzerland,most everywhere.
Speaker 1 (40:36):
We're hoping we will hit Portugal this coming spring.
So we are in the works withthat.
So, hopefully, because wehaven't yet been to Portugal and
we definitely have never beento the East.
Speaker 4 (40:48):
Portugal.
You know, before you go, besure to read about the recent
history, because for 15 yearsuntil I think it was 82 or so
they had one of the worstdictators on the planet.
They had one of the worstdictators on the planet, and so
(41:21):
because of that man in fact JKRow did so you don't see
skyscrapers anywhere and duringhis time in office they were in
such bad condition that, like,the infant mortality rate in
Portugal was worse than it wasin sub-Saharan Africa during the
time of Salazar.
And so you visited today andyou meet a people who are so
(41:49):
optimistic.
They've come through the worstthing ever and now it's a
society that's just thriving,and if you know about the
history, seeing how well they'redoing is just heartwarming.
Speaker 3 (42:03):
Wow, that's so neat.
Speaker 1 (42:04):
Yeah, they figured they can go up from where
they've been.
It's all up there, it's all upfrom there, all up from there.
Speaker 4 (42:11):
Yeah, yeah, yeah, it's a country that shows you
the power of resilience.
Speaker 3 (42:17):
Oh, that's great to know.
Speaker 1 (42:18):
I love that.
Well, if we want to visitPortugal or New York City, what
are some great websites that weneed to visit for, like booking
airfares and hotels and thingslike that?
Speaker 4 (42:31):
Well, every year we hire a guy named Reed Bramblitt.
He's an amazing researcher andhe spends weeks just doing
search after search after searchto find out which search
engines work best For airfares.
He found that a brother-sisterpair of websites.
(42:52):
They're owned by the samecompany.
They have exactly the sameresults.
Their names are Kayak andMomondo.
They consistently found thelowest rates, except for
last-minute tickets.
For last-minute tickets, forsome reason CheapTicketscom
(43:16):
found the best last-minute rates.
But for all other types oftravel, he found Kayak and
Momondo just slayed thecompetition.
And that includes GoogleFlights.
He found Kayak and Momondo justslayed the competition, and
that includes Google Flights.
Google Flights, in our searches, found the lowest prices
exactly 0% of the time.
Speaker 3 (43:35):
Wow.
Speaker 4 (43:35):
Yeah, they were the fastest, they were lightning
fast, but they didn't do as wellas Kayak and Momondo.
And the nice thing about Kayakand Momondo is they also have
these filters which allow you tofilter for Wi-Fi on board the
flight, or filter for type ofairplane, or filter if you only
(43:58):
want business class seats, orfilter if you only want to book
directly with the airline, whichis a good thing to do nowadays,
because there's been a lot ofmeltdowns, as we were discussing
earlier, and those who bookdirectly with the airline get
help first.
If you have to be reaching outto a third party, that slows you
(44:22):
down and other people get theseats on the next plane and
faster than you do.
So I recommend these sites forsearching, but not necessarily
for booking.
Yeah, so that is for airfares,and you can read our whole
article by Reed Bramblitt onfromerscom.
(44:42):
Okay, or hotels we had a tieGoogle actually came up on top
for hotel rates and it tied withhotelscombinedcom, so those
were the best for the websitesthat publicly show hotel rates.
However, because every hotel onthe planet right now has
(45:10):
contracts with Orbit, expedia,travelocity, priceline,
bookingcom and the like, and inthose contracts there's always a
clause that they will not givedeeper discounts than they show
on those sites.
Because of that, I find thatcertain travel clubs can get you
(45:33):
better hotel rates.
They include Travel and LeisureClub.
The famous magazine now has atravel club, now has a travel
club.
If you're a lawyer, if you're adoctor, if you're a welder,
your professional organizationprobably has a travel club and
those places can get you betterprices.
(45:53):
There's a club that's onInstagram that's called At Hotel
the at sign and then hotel andyou go there.
You have to send them a directmessage through Instagram
telling them where you want togo, your travel window, and then
they'll shoot back the secretdiscounts Because these hotels
(46:19):
under the rubric of these clubscan't be Googled, because their
prices can't be Googled.
I've found that the prices canoften be as much as 25% to 50%
lower than you're assigned onthe publicly available sites.
But that has to offset the costof joining these clubs the
(46:42):
annual fee.
The one exception to that isthe Instagram club.
At hotel.
There's no fee to join, sothat's the one I tend to use.
It's a bit clunky.
They don't show you all theinformation you need.
For example, I was looking atAcadia National Park hotels near
the border to that park.
(47:02):
During high season Prices wereoutrageous.
I found a price that I didn'tfind anywhere else on ad hotels.
What they didn't tell me was itwas only for rooms with
bathrooms down the hall.
Careful with that one.
Speaker 1 (47:17):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (47:17):
I have to be careful with that.
Speaker 1 (47:18):
Yeah, yeah.
Speaker 3 (47:19):
I mean, it's not the worst thing in the world, but no
, you know right.
Speaker 1 (47:24):
But not ideal.
Yeah, I mean in our opinion,the worst thing in the world,
but you know Right, but notideal.
Yeah, I mean in our opinion,yeah, yeah.
Speaker 4 (47:30):
No, I'm not a big fan of sharing a bathroom anymore.
Speaker 3 (47:32):
Yeah exactly Anymore.
That's exactly.
Yes, you said it.
Speaker 4 (47:36):
I did hostels for decades, but I don't know, I'm
getting lazy, I guess, or maybeI just have to go to the
bathroom more often in themiddle of the night.
Speaker 3 (47:43):
Yeah, it is, but I told her the same thing, oh gosh
, a couple of years ago.
Yeah, you know what?
I think I'm over that.
Let's move up a step.
Speaker 1 (47:56):
Up-road hotels, things like that, yeah yeah,
yeah.
Speaker 4 (47:58):
You know, I've got to say a lot of hostels now have
gotten very glam and some ofthem have beautiful private
rooms that are less expensive.
So don't write off hostelsaltogether.
Speaker 3 (48:10):
No, absolutely Last year in Denmark.
Was it last year in Denmark orthe year before?
We stayed at a hostel downtown.
Speaker 1 (48:17):
Oh, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 3 (48:19):
And it was wonderful, really wonderful.
The breakfast was great.
It was families staying thereand everything Private bath.
Speaker 1 (48:28):
We also got to perform there, so that was fun.
Yeah, that's great, yeah, ok,well, thank you for being on our
podcast, but you have your.
You have your own podcast onFromers, so tell us a little bit
about how frequent you post andthe type of content and things
like that about your podcast.
Speaker 4 (48:46):
The podcast is posted usually Sundays at 8 am in the
morning, eastern time, prettymuch every Sunday, although
every once in a while I'll takea day off.
I was on radio for 20 years andunfortunately, radio is all
politics now, so I lost my radioshow slot.
At the height of the pandemic.
(49:06):
I was replaced by a left-rightshow starring Rudy Giuliani and
Anthony Weiner, so I've got thepodcast now.
The New York Times called itone of the 13 best for travel.
You can get it on yeah, you canget it wherever podcasts are
(49:27):
heard.
It's called the From Rich TravelShow.
Speaker 1 (49:31):
Okay, from Rich Travel Show.
So we'll get that on our shownotes as well, and thank you so
much.
I know we have like 50,000other things we could talk with
you about and ask you about, butwe really appreciate your time
and we're just excited to shareyour information with our
listeners.
Speaker 3 (49:48):
Yeah, totally.
Speaker 4 (49:50):
And tell your listeners I usually look a
little better, but it's a hugeloss.
Speaker 3 (49:55):
I don't know if your camera shows that I haven't
shaved in a couple days.
Speaker 4 (50:00):
All right, thanks again, all right.
Speaker 1 (50:02):
Thank you.
We hope we've inspired you thisepisode so join us next time.
Please subscribe to rate andshare our podcast with your
friends or you know whomever.
And please like and follow uson Instagram, youtube and
Facebook.
Speaker 2 (50:17):
We are also on X and on all social platforms.
We are at TheROAMies, that'sT-H-E-R-O-A-M-I-E-S, and our
main hub is our website.
Speaker 1 (50:29):
ww
www.
theroamiescom, that's right.
That at www.
TheROAMies.
com.
That's right, that'sT-H-E-R-O-A-M-I-E-Scom.
We'll be there until next time.
Yeah, thanks for listening c.
www.
transcript.
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