February 21, 2025 • 53 mins
The Wishing Well's Terrie Dean and Harry Reif discuss this week's travel news and Hot Deals!
Join us on this exciting episode as we dive into the world of luxury family travel just in time for spring break! Discover the best destinations and experiences for families looking to indulge in a lavish getaway. We explore the stunning Baha Mar in Nassau, Bahamas, the charming Madeline Hotel in Telluride, Colorado, and the adventurous Resort at Paws Up in Greenough, Montana.
Whether you're planning a beach escape, a mountain retreat, or a wilderness adventure, we've got you covered with insider tips and expert insights.
Join us on this exciting episode as we dive into the world of luxury family travel just in time for spring break! Discover the best destinations and experiences for families looking to indulge in a lavish getaway. We explore the stunning Baha Mar in Nassau, Bahamas, the charming Madeline Hotel in Telluride, Colorado, and the adventurous Resort at Paws Up in Greenough, Montana.
Whether you're planning a beach escape, a mountain retreat, or a wilderness adventure, we've got you covered with insider tips and expert insights.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
This is a Lifeless Ordinary.
Speaker 2 (00:01):
It's a travel show and podcasts from your friends at
the wishing Well two forty three f Avenue and Harsemerg
and online at the wishing Well dot This. The wishing
Well is your ultimate luxury concierge, travel agency and a
Lifeless Ordinary is a travel show and podcast hosted by
Terry Dean, bringing her over forty years of experience in
the travel industry to help guide you to great experiences
(00:22):
in your travel, whether it be around the block, around
the country, or around the world.
Speaker 1 (00:26):
Let's bring in Terry Dean.
Speaker 3 (00:27):
Say hello, Chris, how are you this fun weekend?
Speaker 2 (00:31):
Boy? It's getting warm on Monday. Fingers a cross that
means spring is all the way. The stupid groundhog was wrong.
Not six more weeks. I know, we'll see, but now
it's been I missed you last week. I hope you
have Valentine's.
Speaker 3 (00:44):
Day, and I missed being here, and I missed actually
our listeners and being with you in this format in
the studio. But yeah, we had a very very busy
Valentine's Day. I hope everybody had lovely time over the weekend.
Last weekend, we're in the office until eight o'clock Friday night,
so spreading love and spreading cheer.
Speaker 2 (01:07):
So for regular listeners this might not be a surprise.
But if you're new to our show each week, Terry
and Harry not only have a travel business, but also
an entertainment planning and floral business. We do, so Valentine's
Day is busy for you, not only in travel but
also a lot of flower works.
Speaker 3 (01:24):
Yeah. The good news is it's really always busy under
the roof at the wishing Well. You know, there's always
some little elves doing something to make people happy and
bring smiles to people's faces. That includes travel, yes, and
that's really the core of our business. But we also
have a very successful floral boutique. And yes, Valentine's Day
is still and remains the busiest floral holiday of the year.
(01:48):
And we were delighted. I mean it was really it
was a fun weekend. Honestly, it was a fun week
great spending time with all of our staff all at once,
and they did a remarkable job. I hope many of
our listeners were recipients of their work because, in my
humble opinion, they did an outstanding job.
Speaker 2 (02:07):
We invoked Harry's name, so we should say hi to him.
I think we probably should, Harry right from the wishing well,
hello live and here too.
Speaker 1 (02:14):
That's good to see you, Harry, Yes, sir, and well
over the past couple of weeks. Yeah, Terry's worked us
really hard over the last couple of weeks, Chris. But
it's like she said, we have a good time and
it's nice we sit and enjoy, you know, meals on
the run while we're doing the things that we do,
and at the end of the day we get great
satisfaction knowing that we've made a lot of people happy.
Speaker 2 (02:37):
So I guess it's been two weeks since we last
sat down. We've had a lot of stuff happening in
the world of travel.
Speaker 1 (02:44):
We really have.
Speaker 3 (02:44):
But one thing very interestingly that you shared with me
actually before we came on the air today. And Chris,
I've asked you to briefly talk about this because it
was a very pointed article directed it probably what is
the top of the mind awareness for a lot lot
of people right now who are considering travel, and I
want you to share, if you could, some of what
(03:06):
you learned from the article that you were telling me about.
Speaker 2 (03:09):
Yeah, so this is from Harryton at CNN. He says,
it feels like suddenly there's a lot more plane crashes
and incidents. But here's the truth. According to the analytics
that CNN was able to do the research on, in
the last twelve months, there have been fewer fatal accidents.
Are been two hundred and fifty six, sorry, two hundred
(03:30):
and fifty seven, fewer fatal accidents than any prior year
that they've been keeping records. That's important to understand.
Speaker 1 (03:37):
It really is.
Speaker 2 (03:38):
We have sometimes clusters of news information and it feels
like that's all that's happening. This is really airflight is
still the safest way to travel. They also tracked runway
incursions because I think there was one with the japan
Airlines where their tail hit a wing or something like that.
(04:01):
Twenty three how many million flights are there every year?
I can tell you it's nine million domestic flights in
the United States.
Speaker 3 (04:11):
So that's a significant number.
Speaker 2 (04:13):
Twenty three. Yes, you could have twenty three hundred and
it wouldn't change the percentage when you have the rounding
error in there. And I'm not saying and making light
of that. I don't want to say that we should
be more laxed about it. What I'm saying is we
hear about them because it's such a big deal because
they never happen.
Speaker 1 (04:32):
So it is.
Speaker 3 (04:33):
And you know, it was interesting. We were sort of
making a comparison to vehicle travel as we were looking
at these numbers, Chris, and it was interesting. I can
imagine nine million cars on the road and significantly more
accidents being involved than what we see with air travel
given the same numbers. Now, I want to say that
(04:56):
that's not to diminish the severity the series of any
of these accidents that do take place. That is not
the point of what we're saying. But here's what I
do want our listeners to hear and understand, And that
is exactly what Chris said. Air travel is still one
of the safest means by which you can get from
(05:20):
point A to point B. And I can guarantee you
that every pilot, without exception, who is a professional flying
those commercial planes, they want to get to their destination
just as much as you do.
Speaker 2 (05:33):
I was thinking, if we had pilots for our cars,
we'd probably all be a lot safer.
Speaker 1 (05:37):
I want to give you a number just so you
can compare.
Speaker 2 (05:40):
I said, there were what was the number six hundred
and seventy two exactly something like that. Vehicle accidents vehicular
deaths due to an accident in twenty twenty two was
over forty two thousand, and we still get in cars
and drive everywhere that we need to get.
Speaker 1 (05:58):
We died. And if you look at the accidents and
reported accidents numbers that you're quoting, Chris, how many accidents
are not reported? Oh yeah, with vehicle every aviation accident
is not only reported, but it's investigated, and the transportation
boards of every country, you know, with assistance from experts
from around the world, work together to try and find
(06:19):
the cause of that. And one of the major accidents
that's happened in the past week, an airplane lost its
wings and every single person on board walked out safely.
Have you seen the videos from inside? The people are
so calm. Yes, they're like you know, it's safety procedures,
(06:42):
it's the cruise, it's the engineering of the plane, and
it's the handling of all of the facets of an
airplane having any kind of a problem. That's what makes
the safety that you're talking about real.
Speaker 2 (06:55):
I don't want to dwell too much on this but
I just want to wrap this up by saying, when
you get on a plane, take a moment and listen
to the flight attendant when he or she is giving
you instructions. Yes, the chances if you ever happen to
worry about it are so slim you will probably never
experience it. But God forbid, if you are on a
(07:16):
plane and do experience that, you need to know what
to do.
Speaker 1 (07:19):
Listen to them.
Speaker 3 (07:20):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (07:20):
I know this because I had a friend who was
a flight attendant few years back.
Speaker 3 (07:25):
And I believe so much in the safety of the
air travel industry, over the driving industry, the automobile industry,
that even when I go to Virginia Beach, I fly.
And that's all I'm going to say about that.
Speaker 1 (07:39):
Man, that's true. It's hard to travel with you well.
And I can safely say also, I have spent almost
one million miles in the air on a particular airline,
sitting in a seat, not credit cards, but almost one
million miles on one major airline, sitting in their seat.
(08:00):
And I have never experienced an accident. I've experienced rough
air things like that, and I don't even know somebody
that's been in an accident. So that's you know, I
don't think I'm that lucky. I feel I'm very fortunate,
but I don't think I'm unusually lucky.
Speaker 2 (08:17):
I feel like we buried the lead here. Did you
get like a plaque when you hit a million miles?
Speaker 3 (08:21):
You do?
Speaker 1 (08:22):
Actually, you do. You get some real nice rewards when
you hit a million miles. And I'm just short of that. Well,
you need to take a trip this weekend. Yeah, so
tell us about some of the things happening exactly.
Speaker 3 (08:34):
So, I've got some news that might help people.
Speaker 1 (08:37):
Just do that.
Speaker 3 (08:38):
American Airlines, actually Chris has debuted a new time saving
feature for connecting passengers at London Heathrow Airport. And here's
what you need to know. American is actually taking part
in a pilot program that's going to allow passengers connecting
at London heath Throw to bypass a secondary security screening.
(08:59):
It's currently only for those folks flying out of Dallas,
and it's unclear if it will expand. He Throw is
one of the busiest airports in the world and its
security can often take a long time, which means this
program could be a major time saver. Now, why am
I mentioning that here today? On a lifeless ordinary. Well,
it's because we do still have American airline passengers who
(09:22):
can fly out of Charlottesville. They can fly out of
Washington Dulles and connect in Dallas to an international destination
like London. So you can go directly from your inbound
plane now to your gate without needing a secondary security stop.
International passengers frequently have to clear local security before continuing
(09:45):
on their journey with their connecting flight, and this pilot
program is aiming to simplify that travel experience now.
Speaker 1 (09:53):
Best of all, the.
Speaker 3 (09:54):
Feature also extends to luggage, so passengers with international connections
in London don't don't need to get their baggage and
re retrieve it and have it rescanned for their next flight.
They just head straight to the next gate. I hear
a lot of people right now who travel internationally, a lot,
especially our corporate travelers out there saying hallelujah. While the
(10:15):
development is exciting for frequent flyers, this program does not
extend to every flight. United Kingdom or Ireland flight connections
are examples of two countries where it does not apply.
The airline encourages passengers to verify whether they will need
to go through security again or can utilize what they
(10:35):
are calling one stop so good on American I kind
of think, if I'm not mistaken, that we will see
a lot of other airlines follow suit in that direction,
because ease of travel and passengers is vitally important, and
airlines that are offering connecting flights to international destinations versus
those that have direct NonStop are being overshadowed now and
(11:00):
lieu of people wanting to go direct NonStop for primarily
that very reason. They don't want to go back through
security somewhere they're connecting.
Speaker 2 (11:09):
Why were we ever happening to do that? Was that
an FAA regulation at one point?
Speaker 1 (11:12):
Well, there are a number of regulations that govern what
happens when you're moving internationally. There's FAA, of course as
United States, but there are also international associations. There's you know,
Consortia over in Europe that governs that continent. So everybody's
working together, and there are two parts of it. One
(11:34):
is the regulations, Chris, and everyone wants safety in air travel,
of course, you know, in terms of knowing who's getting
on their planes and who's coming into their countries. But
the other is the technologies, and the technologies to allow
data to move from one airline from one country to another,
so that that receiving country can know enough about the
(11:56):
passengers that are coming in and coming on board so
that they feel comfortable that you are allowed into their system.
Is what governs ass alves. So there's technology and its
regulations that are tying things together, real market forces exactly, Terry's.
As you've explained, people want travel to be fun and seamless. Again,
(12:18):
they don't want to be hassled. They don't want to
have to move their bags, you know, on a connecting flight.
Speaker 3 (12:24):
We're never going to see a day when customs and
immigrations are eliminated. That's never going to happen. So when
you are flying internationally and you're going to connect in
another country, not the country that you are actually bound to,
you are definitely going to go through customs and immigration.
So this is one of those steps toward eliminating that
if you're an American and if you're connecting in London.
Speaker 2 (12:48):
So interesting.
Speaker 3 (12:50):
Now another piece of news also with the airlines you
no need, has announced they will no longer be flying
in and out of JFK's airport and here's why. Starting
next month after requests to expand their operations were not
initially honored by the hub. United made this proclamation. The
(13:11):
carrier is going to stop flying out of the major
New York airport after its last inbound flight on October
the twenty ninth. United wrote in a memo shared with
Travel and Leisure magazine the decision came after United asked
for additional slots at JFK, but said it was quote
unquote clear that the process to add additional capacity at
(13:32):
JFK will take some time. Currently, United operates four flights
per day out of this airport. The bulk of United's
flights in the New York area are out of its
Newark Liberty International Airport hub, which ooh, if you've ever
done that, God bless your soul. United will also continue
(13:52):
to fly out of New York's domestic airport, LaGuardia. But
I think you know, until they wrecked a that the
answer to United from JFK officials was not today, United,
Not today.
Speaker 1 (14:06):
Well. United has lots of other hubs, So if you're
a United fan, you know Chicago is a huge hub
for United. Washington Dulles a huge hub for United, and
this supply this applies for those of you who are
listening to international flights primarily because that's what was going
out of that airport.
Speaker 3 (14:23):
Yeah, and I got to tell you it's not usually
hubs that we use very often at the wishing Well
uh More Metropolitan Airports. Perhaps travel agencies in the Washington,
DC area, perhaps in Chicago, would make and utilize services
in and out of JFK, LaGuardia and Newark. Again, what
(14:46):
did I say, God bless their soul, but we bypassed
them whenever we can, really, because delays are almost inevitable
out there's a fog that just hovers around those airports
and makes departures on time, departures let's say strained if
we can. Now another piece of news, also airline related,
(15:10):
Frontier has announced their unlimited summer flight pass. This is
especially pointed for today's show since we're going to be
talking about family travel. It's now on sale with a
one hundred dollars additional discount. Now, this is going to
blow your mind. Chris Frontier Airline. I think we announced
this last year about the same time they've announced their
(15:30):
unlimited flight pass. It's now available for summer twenty twenty
five travel. The pass offers unlimited flights that's what I'm
I said, unlimited flights within Frontier's network, both domestically and internationally,
and travelers will still need to pay taxes and fees
and other add ons like their checked luggage. But this
(15:53):
is called Go Wild All you Can Fly Pass. It
is now available for purchase this summer for a limited time.
The airline is selling this pass for only three hundred
and ninety nine dollars per person, which provides unlimited flights
to destinations within their network at one low price. Travelers
(16:14):
can utilize the Summer Pass for flights between May first
and September the thirtieth of this year, making it also
helpful for people seeking a late spring or early fall
getaway in addition to travel during the summer months of June,
July and August. Now, best of all, travelers can utilize
(16:34):
the pass for both domestic and international destinations. As I said,
they offer service to popular get aways such as Cancun,
Montego By, Jamaica, Porta val Jacta, and Saint Croix, which
is in the US Virgin Islands. Travelers looking to try
out this service might be interested in the monthly pass,
(16:56):
which costs only one hundred and forty nine dollars for
a thirty eight day period. Now, while this pass can
provide plenty of travel for people with flexible plans, there
are a couple of restrictions. The airline has imposed some
blackout periods, so you have to be aware of that
certain things over popular holidays like the fourth of July.
(17:16):
The fares do not include advanced seat assignments or check bags,
which will be extra fees, and the airline is also
going to charge passengers for taxes and fees for every
ticket that are booked. But really, at one hundred and
forty nine dollars and you can travel for thirty days
throughout that period, I don't think that's a bad deal.
I'll pay for my seat assignment.
Speaker 1 (17:36):
That's not a bad deal at all. I found one too.
Terry Delta has got some flights going to Australia this summer.
Eight hundred and ninety nine dollars round trip to Australia.
Speaker 3 (17:49):
Time to go.
Speaker 1 (17:50):
Yeah, that's a fair that I found out. If you
remember that the.
Speaker 3 (17:52):
Second, when it's winter here, it's summer there, and when
it's summer here, it's starting to be winter.
Speaker 1 (18:00):
So that's fine.
Speaker 3 (18:01):
Yeah, one last piece of news and then herey, I'm
going to hand it over to you for some sale fairs.
Smith Travel Research Now, for those of you who don't know,
I actually had to look this up myself, so I
didn't even know. They are actually a leading source of
data benchmarking, analytics, and marketplace insights. And for the second
straight month, US hotel revenue per available room and average
(18:26):
daily rate in January increased year over year. I think
this is a strong message about the health and the
prosperity of our hotel industry, the travel industry itself. And
this shows a higher occupancy than any other markets again
than twenty twenty four, and Tampa, Florida actually registered the
(18:48):
highest January occupancy rate among the top twenty five US cities,
being at seventy nine point nine percent, up seventeen percent
from last year and attributable to hurricane recovery. They said
it's the first month since July twenty twenty four that
a city other than New York City led this monthly
(19:10):
occupancy rates. So I like good news. I love good
news actually, especially in the travel industry. And Harriet, what
kind of good news do you have over there that
might help people make some decisions about going we've.
Speaker 1 (19:24):
Got some One special that I wanted to talk about
has to do with river cruising. How many times have
we talked about river cruising. It's gotten to be so popular,
more and more companies are involved. And one of our
partners there, Scenic River Cruises, has a special right now
that's going on. They called their President's Day Sale, so
it's limited, but it offers two for one fares and
(19:48):
free air. And this is one of our luxury river
cruise line Scenic is that that means that they include
things like premium beverages, Wi Fi around trip transfers to
and from the airport, gratuities, and two for one air
fares and free air. Not a bad deal. They have
a lot of destinations over there, and they are one
(20:10):
of our ultra luxury river cruisers, so I would urge
you to take a look at that. One of the
ones that I've also been looking at that that just
is great is Azamara, another cruise line that we like
a lot. They are doing a limited time good through
the end of this month where they've taken up to
(20:32):
three thousand dollars off of each voyage and they're putting
on board credits. Normally we see on board credits of
a couple hundred dollars, maybe three hundred dollars. They're throwing
up to one thousand dollars on board credit. So you
start out with, you know, four thousand dollars in giveaways.
(20:54):
Not bad, now are They've got cruises that go all around.
They've got cruises to places like Panama City, They've got
cruises to Singapore, you want to go to Vietnam, Chile, Australia,
anywhere you want to go. Aza Mahr is a great
company to look at for these special deals. I wanted
(21:16):
to also as we're talking about deals, we've talked about
this so many times, but as we're booking people now
it's becoming real for a lot of people. And what's
becoming real real ID. We've kicked this can down the
road probably ten times over the last couple of years.
Ten times probably not even enough, probably twenty times over
(21:37):
the last couple of years. Right in circle this date.
If you think you're going to board an aircraft after
on or after May the seventh of this year, that's
just a couple months away. You will need a real
ID or a passport or a passport card, a passport card,
(21:58):
a real ID on your driver's license, and it can
be from any state, but it's going to have that
little mark in the corner that says that you have
been authenticated with your Department of Motor Vehicles to get
on board. This applies to children, this applies to adults.
Not all the children have real IDs, but the adults
will have real IDs. You're going to need a passport
(22:20):
or some kind of identification just what to get on board. Chris,
he's proudly showing his for like six years.
Speaker 2 (22:28):
Good for you. I feel like they were pushing for
it and then they were nothing ever happened.
Speaker 1 (22:33):
Yeah, Well, what I'm worried about is people are going
to wait until last minute. And my guess is, you know,
DMV has done a good job of, you know, stepping
up and being ready and helping people. But if it
gets close to that day and you don't have one
of those one of those things that we're talking about,
you will be denied boarding onto the airplane. So that's
(22:53):
what I wanted to talk about to kind of close
out the sales. I have one more that I want
to talk about. One of our suppliers has offered us
a very special special that I want to share with
listeners this morning. That is, they're offering up to three
hundred and fifty dollars off depending on where your destination is.
It's a special that applies to some small trips, maybe
(23:16):
two nights, stays in the Continental, US, international stays, Hawaii, Europe,
everywhere in the world. We can take up to three
hundred and fifty dollars off your trip and these are
for trips that go through the middle of December of
this year, so it's a wide range for your travel plans.
But this special offer that we have is only available
(23:39):
until the end of this month. It expires on the
twenty seventh of February, So please, please, please, If you're
interested in taking a trip and you just need that
little extra push, this special may be the thing that
you're waiting for.
Speaker 2 (23:53):
So our series for over the past few weeks has
been all about luxury travel. We've talked about culture, cuisine, community, content, customization.
I think this show might fall under community. We're going
to be talking about family luxury. Our show today is
called Family Follies and we're going to talk about it
(24:15):
next year on our Lifeless Ordinary.
Speaker 1 (24:16):
Protect your vacation investment with guidance from a travel professional.
The wishing Well knows travel and help you avoid pitfalls
they can spoil your hard earned vacation. We'll plan your
trip and have your back as you travel. All of
this without support or so called convenience fees. We're on
the web at tho Wishingwell dot viz or call us
at five four zero nine zero eight two three three three.
(24:39):
That's five four zero nine zero eight two three three three.
The washing Well really does make dreams come true and.
Speaker 2 (24:46):
Welcome back to a lifeless ordinary. This is the travel
show and podcast from your friends at the wishing Well.
Your friends are Terry Dean and Harry Rife, who join
us every Saturday morning to talk travel, talk about how
you can enjoy your life in a less ordinary way.
Speaker 3 (25:04):
I love the name of our show, I really do,
because I think it sets the stage for everything we
talk about here.
Speaker 2 (25:09):
If you would like a life that is less ordinary,
you need to give them a call at five four
h nine toh eight twenty three thirty three. You can
find them on the web at the wishing Well dot
biz that's dot biz, or find him on nef Avenue
in Harrisonburg.
Speaker 1 (25:24):
And before we get.
Speaker 2 (25:25):
Into our family follies, I have heard through the grapevine
that I am in the presence of some greatness.
Speaker 1 (25:33):
Oh stop, Oh no, I was talking about Harry. Oh stop, Jerry.
Speaker 2 (25:38):
Congratulations you have been inducted into the President's Club.
Speaker 1 (25:42):
You are part of what.
Speaker 3 (25:44):
The top five percent of travel agents in the nation. Amazing, Yeah, Samon.
Speaker 2 (25:48):
And seriously, congratulations e I know you. You have taken
your career and made it your life's work to help
people find you just amazing experiences.
Speaker 1 (26:02):
Whether it's a.
Speaker 3 (26:03):
Few people know this better than Harry. But I have
said this before. I'll say it to our audience here
because because we're family, right, We're all family here. But
I have said I would gladly do what I do
for no money. I'm glad. I d you know it's true.
I mean I love what I do that much. And
(26:24):
Harry can tell you probably more than anybody else. I eat, breathe,
and sleep this industry.
Speaker 1 (26:30):
Do you sleep? I didn't know you slept. I get
texts from Terry in the middle of the night, dress saying,
did you know there's a flight that's been rerouted here?
And we got to check to see if anybody's been
on it or needs to have something done. But I
love I love my life's work.
Speaker 2 (26:44):
I do.
Speaker 3 (26:45):
I think I'm one of the few people in life
that can say I have gladly served in a career
that has been my hobby and I've been lucky to
get paid for it.
Speaker 2 (26:54):
Well, let me just say that it's nice that everyone
else recognizes what we already knew about it.
Speaker 1 (26:59):
Thank you so much.
Speaker 3 (27:00):
I'm honored.
Speaker 1 (27:01):
And congratulations, Tuble, thank you so much.
Speaker 3 (27:03):
Do you get Do you get a plaque to I
got that real nice picture I showed you.
Speaker 1 (27:10):
Maybe I'll make you a pla. I'm trying to get
her to put it up on the website, so if
you check on the website, if I say it on
the radio, Terry's got to do it right, Chris, So
she should put up a copy of that award on
the website. But seriously, if there's someone that's passionate about travel,
it is this lady that's sitting here with us right
this moment.
Speaker 2 (27:29):
And if I know anything about Terry, you're not guilding
her into putting anything on a website. Terry, our show
today is family folly. So I'm assuming that means we
are going to dive in in depth about family luxury travel.
Speaker 1 (27:45):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (27:45):
And for the past few weeks you mentioned this, Chris,
we've been highlighting a lot of the most relevant information
associated with what true luxury really means. We talked about
the definition of the five c's of luxury travel. You
didn't hear that particular episode of a Life Less Ordinary,
I want to urge you to go back and listen.
It really does have some of the basic cornerstones of
(28:09):
how you can best analyze and redefine your own travel experience,
So I think that's important.
Speaker 2 (28:14):
You can find that podcast at the Wishingwell dot biz
in the upper right hand corner you'll find the link,
or you can listen on the free iHeartRadio app or
anywhere that you listen to podcasts.
Speaker 3 (28:23):
Yeah, and in those episodes that followed, we also brought
to your attention a lot of the many critical vendors, suppliers,
and even luxury properties that we partner with at the
Wishing Well on a regular basis to kind of ensure
that your travel experience is backed by the most awarded
and vetted professionals in our industry. That is so important,
(28:44):
and that is so critically important these days because I'm
going to tell you, Chris, there's a lot of deep
fakes out there today. There's a lot of people pretending
to be professionals in the travel industry, and that's offensive
to me.
Speaker 1 (28:57):
I don't like that.
Speaker 3 (28:57):
I've spent forty five years in this industry to perfect
what we do and do it well, and do it
aligned with people who are vetted in this industry, and
you can get taken very easily. So it's important if
you want to know about that, go back and listen
to a couple of those episodes. That'll kind of get
you caught up with where we are but today, because
(29:20):
we're quickly approaching a magical time and that's called spring break.
I wanted to add our next layer to our luxury
series as we take a deeper look at the luxury
family industry. This is definitely a growing market and it's
been at the very forefront of my requested travel assignments
(29:40):
this past week. I'll tell you, I'll give you a
couple of examples. Single mother called me with two young
tween age boys, and she said, the prospects of planning
this much needed vacation along with everything else that I'm
sinking and responsible for this week is overwhelming.
Speaker 2 (29:59):
She said.
Speaker 3 (30:00):
While I might be able to land on something that
resembles a vacation for me and my boys, I don't
have the confidence that I'm going to do it well.
So here's my budget. Find me something family friendly, Terry
sand Sun, and make our dreams come true. That was
the first example. The next example was this another young
(30:22):
professional couple, both with great jobs, great income, two smaller children.
Let's just say money was no object, but they had
too little time, desperate to have that vacation on the
calendar to give them something to look forward to. They
also reached out the request to me, we have no budget.
We want nice we work hard. We want the kids
(30:43):
to have fun and all of their desires to be met.
So fun is definitely a quotient in this plan. We
want very nice accommodations. Two bedroom units with two beads
is a must. Go ahead, Terry take it from here.
So those are the two requests that I I had
this week. Multiples after that, but those were two that
(31:04):
really just stood out to me because one was more
of a plea. The other one was more of I
don't have time, but I want you, but I want
it done right. So that's what I had. Those were
my lead INDs for what I had to capture. And
if any of that sounds remotely familiar to any of
you all listening, I want you to know we get it.
(31:24):
If planning a family vacation that's fun for everybody is overwhelming,
I don't want you to fret about that. There are
plenty of luxury family resorts in the Caribbean and in
the US that offer wonderful, thoughtful amenities, everything to ensure
that you're going to have a memorable getaway for your
(31:45):
kids and for you as the adults, both perks to
look out for when you are planning family vacations. I'm
talking about ones that include kids. Those are going to
be your kids clubs with daily programs that are st ructured,
beach and pullside water activities, spacious accommodations which include connecting
(32:07):
rooms or adjacent rooms, and adventurous excursions that allow you
as a family to explore the surrounding area. Now, Chris,
what stands out about that right now? I hope to
people who have been following us through this luxury journey
is that's the five c's We've all talked, We talked
about all this and it kind of comes together here.
Speaker 1 (32:29):
When you look at some of the things that you're
talking about, Terry, think about this. If you're out there
and your parents, you're a parent and you have kids,
what if you could go to the same place that
your kids could go and where it's a great summer camp,
lots of things to do, lots of activities, lots of memories,
but you could be there with them, but didn't have
(32:50):
to stay next to them the whole time, because you know,
everything is organized, you know everything is supervised. You know
they've they've got great meals, they've got great snacks, and
they've got accommodations of facilities that are geared just toward
them for little kids. One of the places that I
look at some of the resorts have pools. They're about
(33:11):
maybe a foot deep, just right for a small toddler,
you know, child that you don't have to worry about
jumping into, you know, grandma's backyard pool. It may be
four or five feet deep, but that's the kind of resource.
Speaker 3 (33:24):
And you're talking and what you should know as couples
parents of young children is that you don't have to
compromise on your own relaxation in the process. I mean,
you don't have to beat your head against the wall
just because every one of your kids wants to be
slimmed at Nickelodeon.
Speaker 1 (33:39):
You don't have to do that.
Speaker 3 (33:43):
A lot of kid friendly properties feature award winning spas.
They've got the impressive culinary offerings that we as adults
are looking for. They've got those plush room amenities that
are going to make you feel great and feel at
home from mommy and me manicures. I've got restaurants that
specialize in farmed a table, chef prepared dishes, and I'm
(34:05):
hoping to walk you through some of the most exciting
luxury family resorts and hotels in the Caribbean and the
US to consider when booking your next family vacation. Now again,
I hope you've been paying attention and following us from
the previous episodes, because a lot of what we've already
discussed about the value of a luxury travel experience you're
(34:28):
going to find highlighted in what I've just explained that
we're going to find out about today now. First up
is a resort that I have booked many, many times again,
for young adults with small and what we call tween
age children. Now do you know what I'm talking about
when I say tweens?
Speaker 1 (34:49):
Was that about eleven to thirteen?
Speaker 3 (34:52):
Yeah, they're sort of not quite a teen ager yet
and they're not a young adult, but they're sort of
in that in between, not an adolet not you know,
not a small child, but they're in between you fully
independent in your own mind right, and this is not
I just want everybody to know. The one that I'm
going to highlight first here is not an all inclusive resort.
(35:13):
But please know that not all resorts need to be
all inclusive to be able to check off the boxes
of a fabulous inclusive vacation for a family. The idea
of luxury properties, and one that in my opinion puts
this in our family luxury category today, would be the
(35:34):
way in which they cater to and they anticipate your
needs as a family, as individuals, and all together as
a whole unit. This property does all of that, and
I'm talking about a fabulous property. It's called Bahamar in Nassau, Bahamas,
perhaps one of the most family friendly islands in the Caribbean.
(35:57):
Nassau and Paradise island in the Bahamas welcomes millions literally
of families to its powder soft sand, including those at Bahamar.
You've got a thousand acre luxury resort here. It's a
complex that features the Grand Hyatt, SLS and Rosewood hotels
(36:18):
that all overlook Cable Beach. Now I do need to
add a shameless plug here, I'm going to say it.
These are also some of our own virtuoso properties. So
I love them. I know they're vetted. I know these
properties stand the test of tom they stand the test
of the most discerning kind of traveler. I would say
(36:41):
they have shared amenities across the sizeable complex that includes
SLS's fifteen acre water park. What kids do you know
in a warm, sandy, sunny destination don't like a water park.
As a matter of fact, the first example of that
mother that I told you that was looking for accommodations
(37:02):
didn't have time to do it. She said, one of
my must haves is a water park. So also Baja Bay,
a daily kids club schedule. You've got an eighteen whole
Jack Nicholas signature golf course, over thirty luxury retail outlets
and shops, a recently renovated three hundred seat jazz club
(37:24):
and more than forty five restaurants and lounges. Families should
also not miss the annual junk Anoe parade each Boxing
Day and New Year's Day, and a competition featuring the
best dances, costume designs, and music routines. Baja Mar is
the pinnacle. Every other resort I think that's family oriented
(37:48):
should aspire to be Baha Mar.
Speaker 1 (37:50):
And when you said virtual, so what does that mean
for people? Terry?
Speaker 3 (37:53):
Yep, So that means you're going to get the breakfast
every day for the folks that are in your party.
Plus you're going to get an autumn upgrade on your
room if that's available at the time of check in,
and a one hundred dollars resort credit to use for
any other type of meal or anything else that you
want to use that for during your stay. Now, we've
(38:13):
got a four person package complete with direct NonStop airfare
over Spring break at this property for only about fifteen
hundred dollars per person. And that's a deal. Now. Really, again,
this is what makes this property such a great luxury
family option. Here's the activities offered at this resort. The
first of all, they have a casino. Okay, so a
(38:36):
large casino with ocean views that's for the adults. Pools
including a five hundred thousand gallon wave pool for your kids.
Dining lots and lots of restaurants including beachfront food trucks
and pullside grills. Food trucks are so trendy right now
and everybody loves that, especially you kids. Kids are going
(38:58):
to love that. Shopping shopping for your let's just say
you're not quite adult, teenage daughter who thinks she's got
to have everything from Prada and Gucci, Yep, she's going
to be happy. They have a world class spa there
and activities water sports, kayaking, paddle boarding, Baja Bay water Park.
I mentioned that with water slides, action river and a
(39:20):
wave pool with unlimited access. You stay at Bahamar, you
have unlimited access to that water park. Anything to do
at night, yeah, I mean, there's all kinds of things
to do at night, entertainment and plus Nasau Bahamas is
just a really fun place to be anyway.
Speaker 1 (39:40):
Yep.
Speaker 3 (39:41):
So again, as I said, one of the most extraordinary
places I think, and when you weigh the value of
admission on a daily basis to a water park, versus
not having those meals included. Remember I said this is
not all inclusive, but you've got daily admission, unlimited admission
to a water park. Weigh that against what it costs
(40:02):
to feed your family versus what it costs to go
into a water park these days, the value is there.
Have you priced water park admissions lately?
Speaker 2 (40:10):
Yep?
Speaker 3 (40:10):
So the option would require current valid passports and in
order to be valid and current passports do have to
be good through six months beyond your return date of travel.
But all in all, just a great family vacation spot.
Speaker 2 (40:25):
Our show today is entitled Family Follies. We are talking
about luxury travel for the entire brood, not just mom
and dad exactly. We are going to take a quick break,
We'll come right back and we'll continue our conversation here
on a life less ordinary.
Speaker 1 (40:38):
Who would think of driving off to a new destination
without guidance from Google or Syria. Let the Wishing World
guide your next travel experience. Travel the world as you
enjoy the very best destinations and all they offer at
the best prices. Our mobile travel app keeps your vacation
on track and keeps you connected with our team of
experts for help. If you need it, call us at
five four zero nine zero eight two three three three,
(41:01):
stop by two forty three nef Avenue, or visit us
at the Wishingwell dot biz.
Speaker 2 (41:06):
This is a life less ordinary. It's a travel show
and podcast from your friends at the Wishing Well. If
you're just joining us, welcome. What you missed in the
last episode was Terry saying we're family, and we are
We get together every Saturday. We talk travel, we talk
about our lives, we talk about, you know, what we're
gonna do for dinner in the upcoming week. Less of
(41:28):
that than probably travel. But we do enjoy talking about
travel every Saturday morning.
Speaker 1 (41:33):
And if you hear.
Speaker 2 (41:35):
Something that you're interested in you'd like to get more information,
head to the Wishingwell dot biz. That's their website. You
can also give them a call at five four oh
nine oh eight twenty three thirty three, or stop in
and sit down and talk with Terry or Harry. They're
on nep Avenue in Harrisonburg. Terry, before we went to break,
we were talking about family travel. Our show today is
(41:56):
called Family Follies and specifically Family Lucky Travel exactly.
Speaker 3 (42:01):
Yeah, and you know we talked about one that's particularly
isolated in the sun and sand category, that's the Bahamar
in Nassau, Bahamas. But we're going to do a complete
about face now. I've got some families that are really
more enticed Chris sometimes by winter sports and skiing than
they are with sand and sun, and those families really
(42:24):
love together on the slopes together. I've done a number
of these, had multiple families who actually prefer this kind
of vacation, especially at spring break time because the snow
is not so plentiful around here. Although I can't say
that right now. We've had our share, but I have
to say I really love this kind of idea for
people who like the outdoor winter sports kind of family gatherings.
(42:49):
And one such resort that would be in this category
of great family winter resorts would have to be the
Madeline Hotel in telur Ride, Colorado. It's hard to beat
tell for pristine Colorado skiing, even harder to do better
than a stay at the ski in ski out Madeling.
(43:09):
You book a mod modest residence style unit with a
full kitchen and views of the surrounding mountains. That's heaven,
and then you set the kids free and the hotel's
own tucked away corner of the mountain village to ice skate,
maybe plunge in at what they call Dylan's Candy Bar,
hang out at twenty below, which is a kid's only
(43:31):
opened club that opened earlier this year. That's kind of
a recipe for a warm family vacation, you know, with
all of the skiing to boot Now, the polished staff
here includes a personal assistant which is stationed in the
cozy living room they call it. That's stocked round the
(43:51):
clock with coffee and snacks. That's that's courtesy. They always
do that. This is the place where your wait staff
remembers special request from the day before, and your ski
valets actually are going to personally wipe down and warm
up your gear for you before you go out into
the snow. That's what I call service. You reserve a
seat at Elms Restaurant, which is a farm to table
(44:14):
operation where you can sample the best that the Rockies
has to deliver, like slabs of tender Colorado beef, or
you can grab a drink at bar M before you
take on the town. Now, the great thing about accommodations
here for families is they've got everything from one to
four bedroom residents accommodations you might not ever want to
(44:35):
come home. Now, we're really going to change this up.
If sand and Son aren't appealing, and that sounds like
what I just mentioned, sounds like a real drag in
the winter, this next luxury experience might be just the
thing that you and your family would enjoy immensely. Our
travels next are going to take us, Chris to the Pause.
(44:56):
I'm sorry, the resort at Pause Up in monteg I
have to read this to you from Traveling Leisure magazine.
Of what they say about pauls Up, they say, this
splendid thirty seven thousand acre property on a sprawling cattle
ranch outside of Missoula, has only twenty eight luxury homes,
(45:18):
but what choices. They are the most popular the big
timber dwellings, handsome two story pine cabins with either a
wood burning stove or stone fireplace, and outdoor hot tubs.
There's even the ultra secluded Blackfoot River Lodge, a light
filled retreat with stunning views from every window. And the
(45:40):
allegedly haunted Mars Ranch House, built in nineteen oh eight
and decorated accordingly. In summer guests can also opt for
one of thirty six luxury tents pitched along the Blackfoot River.
Outdoor excursions come with plenty of pampering, elegant picnic lunches
on a trip, massages after a bicycle tour. But this
(46:04):
is coddling without pretension. Staff are gracious and chatty. The
decor is all animal skin, rugs and cowboy portraits, including
the tank bar and troth and Pump restaurants. I got
to tell you, I've read this from Traveling Leisure magazine
about Pause Up, and by the way, I know this resort.
(46:26):
I've booked it for many, many clients for a number
of years. It's been around for a long time. Without question,
it is one of the most luxurious, all inclusive family
resorts in all of Montana. It really appeals to everybody.
I mean not just the people who are looking for
sand and son. There might be a couple of your
(46:47):
kids that would go in the beginning, oh, we're not
going to the beach, and once they get to Pause Up,
the world changes for them. Suddenly everything is wonderful and
lightful about this place. No other resort ranch in Montana
offers more wilderness adventures and outdoor activities than palls Up.
(47:08):
Adventurous families love this place. You've got those thirty seven
thousand acres of resort property, one hundred miles of trails,
ten miles on the Blackfoot River, and one point five
million acres of the nearby Bob Marshall Wilderness Area. And
if that doesn't satisfy your adventure appetite, there's also boating, hiking, kayaking,
(47:30):
mountain biking, paintball rafting, repelling, swimming, and a whole lot more.
And when it comes to outdoor dude ranch activities in
the Montana Wilderness, palls Up is all you can eat buffet.
So the palls Up Resort really features a pristine, rocky
mountain environment. Most kids are going to only see on
(47:50):
TV or maybe have experienced it that way, but it
really is a great nature education, wildlife appreciation and wrangler
activities in here. Carry I know you've got a couple
of grandkids that might be interested in probably all three
of these that I mentioned today.
Speaker 1 (48:07):
Yeah, the things that would be interesting too grandkids in
my family of course, would be all these athletic activities.
But the nature guides that they have available there, they
can learn about things if they want to get, you
know a little bit more into the biology and the
animals around there. There are experts on site who can
talk about that and share information that I couldn't share,
(48:31):
and they're probably not going to learn in their ordinary,
you know, school classes. Plus they can get out and
experience things, fun activities.
Speaker 3 (48:39):
Your young grandsons are even skiers, if I'm not mistaken.
Speaker 1 (48:42):
Yes they are, Yes they are, so skiing is number
one on their list.
Speaker 3 (48:46):
So the madel And Resort even would be, you know,
a great multi generational type family experience here. I know
you ski, I know your son's ski, your grandkids now
are skiing. I mean what I want folks to hear
and realize today from and take away from a life
less ordinary as this. All inclusive family vacations, especially during
(49:07):
spring break, don't always have to be about the sand
and the sun. That's great, and that's why I offered Bahamar.
But I want you to know the world is a
big place, and we have some great destinations that include
everybody in your family that can also be an alternative
to that sand and sun.
Speaker 1 (49:25):
Well, and when you talk about these kinds of resorts there,
I think it's important too. You talked about my family.
You're talking about a grandpa, you're talking about a sun,
you're talking about grandkids. So you've got multi generations of
a family. And what's exciting for me in a place
like this is that we have things to do from
the beginning of the morning through the end of the night.
If Grandpa wants to go off and take a nap,
(49:47):
the kids still have stuff to do, and I can
get up and join them later on for some marshmallow
roasting or evening activities that might be going on. And
when you do skiing today, a lot of times people
think about getting up early, getting in the car, packing
all the gear, going to the ski lodge, and then
doing skiing, and then at the end of the day
packing it all up, putting it back in the car
(50:09):
and driving home, you know, being exhausted. With a resort
like this, you get up in the morning, you decide
you want to ski, you ski, you take a break
for lunch, You come back in the afternoon, you do
a little more skiing, you take a break, do something different,
come back, maybe finish the day with skiing. So having
the family together for a big chunk of time is
(50:31):
very special, and in my family, those are the kinds
of things we're talking about nowadays to spend that quality
time together and the luxury just is like icing on
the cake.
Speaker 3 (50:44):
And Chris, I love having you in the studio here
with us because here and I, I mean, we could
go on and on and on about most any and
all travel destinations. But you are my typical client. I think.
Who Also, you also have children older I guess we
would call them tweens or young adults, so young adults.
Speaker 2 (51:05):
One of them we're moving out of the house and
the other one is off in college.
Speaker 3 (51:09):
Yeah, and so family vacations might look even a little
different for you guys. I mean, what in terms of
family vacations do you think And I always ask this,
do you think your kids would be interested in would
you and your wife be interested in?
Speaker 1 (51:25):
We're such a unique family.
Speaker 2 (51:26):
I'll tell you they would want an Heck, I would
want someplace where we could just sit.
Speaker 1 (51:32):
Inside, not have to go out and do anything. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (51:35):
I'm embarrassed to say that because we are a family
that tends to be more like a hermit. We we
don't like to get out and get with it.
Speaker 3 (51:46):
And I know you think you're unique, but you probably
are not there's a lot of folks that are listening
today that go I can identify with that. Now I
will tell you more often, Chris, I do deal with
clients who are active oriented people. They love to travel
because they love action. But I also deal with clients
just like you who formulate a decision as to where
(52:08):
they're going to travel based on how much time they
can rest and relax.
Speaker 2 (52:11):
Yeah, I would say that would be us. I also
would say just somewhere. I envision, as you've been talking
about this, a cabin where we can just all hang out,
play games and palls, sit.
Speaker 1 (52:22):
By a fire, yeah, and look outside at scenery that
is just spectacular. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (52:27):
I think as long as there's not a lot of
pressure for people to feel like they have to be
doing something, everybody's happy.
Speaker 3 (52:32):
That's pauls up in Montana, and that's you know that.
That really does fit that, I think very well.
Speaker 1 (52:38):
Well, you've talked about a lot of very interesting places
you've been from the from the sun and the sand
all the way up to the to the mountains and
ski areas and you know, fireplace, all those kinds of things.
What's great about family vacations is that they can be
anything They can be everything, but the one thing they
have in common is family. If you're not creating memories,
(53:00):
you're not creating a great family vacation. Chris.
Speaker 2 (53:03):
We need to put that on a T shirt and
wrap up our show today, Terry. If we want more
information about our own personal family folly, how do we
get in touch with the wishing Well.
Speaker 3 (53:12):
The wishing Well is located at two forty three nef
Avenue in Harrisonburg. You can call us at five four
oh nine oh eight two three three three or look
us up on the web. We are at the Wishingwell
dot biz.
Speaker 2 (53:25):
This has been a life Less Ordinary the travel show
from your friends at the wishing Well at two forty
three nef Avenue in Harrisonburg. If you have any questions
on topics discussed today, please reach out to the wishing
Well online at the Wishingwell dot biz or five four
oh nine oh eight twenty three thirty three. Past episodes
are available on the iHeartRadio app. And we'll see again
next Saturday morning at ten for a life Less Ordinary
(53:47):
from the wishing Well
This is a Lifeless Ordinary.
Speaker 2 (00:01):
It's a travel show and podcasts from your friends at
the wishing Well two forty three f Avenue and Harsemerg
and online at the wishing Well dot This. The wishing
Well is your ultimate luxury concierge, travel agency and a
Lifeless Ordinary is a travel show and podcast hosted by
Terry Dean, bringing her over forty years of experience in
the travel industry to help guide you to great experiences
(00:22):
in your travel, whether it be around the block, around
the country, or around the world.
Speaker 1 (00:26):
Let's bring in Terry Dean.
Speaker 3 (00:27):
Say hello, Chris, how are you this fun weekend?
Speaker 2 (00:31):
Boy? It's getting warm on Monday. Fingers a cross that
means spring is all the way. The stupid groundhog was wrong.
Not six more weeks. I know, we'll see, but now
it's been I missed you last week. I hope you
have Valentine's.
Speaker 3 (00:44):
Day, and I missed being here, and I missed actually
our listeners and being with you in this format in
the studio. But yeah, we had a very very busy
Valentine's Day. I hope everybody had lovely time over the weekend.
Last weekend, we're in the office until eight o'clock Friday night,
so spreading love and spreading cheer.
Speaker 2 (01:07):
So for regular listeners this might not be a surprise.
But if you're new to our show each week, Terry
and Harry not only have a travel business, but also
an entertainment planning and floral business. We do, so Valentine's
Day is busy for you, not only in travel but
also a lot of flower works.
Speaker 3 (01:24):
Yeah. The good news is it's really always busy under
the roof at the wishing Well. You know, there's always
some little elves doing something to make people happy and
bring smiles to people's faces. That includes travel, yes, and
that's really the core of our business. But we also
have a very successful floral boutique. And yes, Valentine's Day
is still and remains the busiest floral holiday of the year.
(01:48):
And we were delighted. I mean it was really it
was a fun weekend. Honestly, it was a fun week
great spending time with all of our staff all at once,
and they did a remarkable job. I hope many of
our listeners were recipients of their work because, in my
humble opinion, they did an outstanding job.
Speaker 2 (02:07):
We invoked Harry's name, so we should say hi to him.
I think we probably should, Harry right from the wishing well,
hello live and here too.
Speaker 1 (02:14):
That's good to see you, Harry, Yes, sir, and well
over the past couple of weeks. Yeah, Terry's worked us
really hard over the last couple of weeks, Chris. But
it's like she said, we have a good time and
it's nice we sit and enjoy, you know, meals on
the run while we're doing the things that we do,
and at the end of the day we get great
satisfaction knowing that we've made a lot of people happy.
Speaker 2 (02:37):
So I guess it's been two weeks since we last
sat down. We've had a lot of stuff happening in
the world of travel.
Speaker 1 (02:44):
We really have.
Speaker 3 (02:44):
But one thing very interestingly that you shared with me
actually before we came on the air today. And Chris,
I've asked you to briefly talk about this because it
was a very pointed article directed it probably what is
the top of the mind awareness for a lot lot
of people right now who are considering travel, and I
want you to share, if you could, some of what
(03:06):
you learned from the article that you were telling me about.
Speaker 2 (03:09):
Yeah, so this is from Harryton at CNN. He says,
it feels like suddenly there's a lot more plane crashes
and incidents. But here's the truth. According to the analytics
that CNN was able to do the research on, in
the last twelve months, there have been fewer fatal accidents.
Are been two hundred and fifty six, sorry, two hundred
(03:30):
and fifty seven, fewer fatal accidents than any prior year
that they've been keeping records. That's important to understand.
Speaker 1 (03:37):
It really is.
Speaker 2 (03:38):
We have sometimes clusters of news information and it feels
like that's all that's happening. This is really airflight is
still the safest way to travel. They also tracked runway
incursions because I think there was one with the japan
Airlines where their tail hit a wing or something like that.
(04:01):
Twenty three how many million flights are there every year?
I can tell you it's nine million domestic flights in
the United States.
Speaker 3 (04:11):
So that's a significant number.
Speaker 2 (04:13):
Twenty three. Yes, you could have twenty three hundred and
it wouldn't change the percentage when you have the rounding
error in there. And I'm not saying and making light
of that. I don't want to say that we should
be more laxed about it. What I'm saying is we
hear about them because it's such a big deal because
they never happen.
Speaker 1 (04:32):
So it is.
Speaker 3 (04:33):
And you know, it was interesting. We were sort of
making a comparison to vehicle travel as we were looking
at these numbers, Chris, and it was interesting. I can
imagine nine million cars on the road and significantly more
accidents being involved than what we see with air travel
given the same numbers. Now, I want to say that
(04:56):
that's not to diminish the severity the series of any
of these accidents that do take place. That is not
the point of what we're saying. But here's what I
do want our listeners to hear and understand, And that
is exactly what Chris said. Air travel is still one
of the safest means by which you can get from
(05:20):
point A to point B. And I can guarantee you
that every pilot, without exception, who is a professional flying
those commercial planes, they want to get to their destination
just as much as you do.
Speaker 2 (05:33):
I was thinking, if we had pilots for our cars,
we'd probably all be a lot safer.
Speaker 1 (05:37):
I want to give you a number just so you
can compare.
Speaker 2 (05:40):
I said, there were what was the number six hundred
and seventy two exactly something like that. Vehicle accidents vehicular
deaths due to an accident in twenty twenty two was
over forty two thousand, and we still get in cars
and drive everywhere that we need to get.
Speaker 1 (05:58):
We died. And if you look at the accidents and
reported accidents numbers that you're quoting, Chris, how many accidents
are not reported? Oh yeah, with vehicle every aviation accident
is not only reported, but it's investigated, and the transportation
boards of every country, you know, with assistance from experts
from around the world, work together to try and find
(06:19):
the cause of that. And one of the major accidents
that's happened in the past week, an airplane lost its
wings and every single person on board walked out safely.
Have you seen the videos from inside? The people are
so calm. Yes, they're like you know, it's safety procedures,
(06:42):
it's the cruise, it's the engineering of the plane, and
it's the handling of all of the facets of an
airplane having any kind of a problem. That's what makes
the safety that you're talking about real.
Speaker 2 (06:55):
I don't want to dwell too much on this but
I just want to wrap this up by saying, when
you get on a plane, take a moment and listen
to the flight attendant when he or she is giving
you instructions. Yes, the chances if you ever happen to
worry about it are so slim you will probably never
experience it. But God forbid, if you are on a
(07:16):
plane and do experience that, you need to know what
to do.
Speaker 1 (07:19):
Listen to them.
Speaker 3 (07:20):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (07:20):
I know this because I had a friend who was
a flight attendant few years back.
Speaker 3 (07:25):
And I believe so much in the safety of the
air travel industry, over the driving industry, the automobile industry,
that even when I go to Virginia Beach, I fly.
And that's all I'm going to say about that.
Speaker 1 (07:39):
Man, that's true. It's hard to travel with you well.
And I can safely say also, I have spent almost
one million miles in the air on a particular airline,
sitting in a seat, not credit cards, but almost one
million miles on one major airline, sitting in their seat.
(08:00):
And I have never experienced an accident. I've experienced rough
air things like that, and I don't even know somebody
that's been in an accident. So that's you know, I
don't think I'm that lucky. I feel I'm very fortunate,
but I don't think I'm unusually lucky.
Speaker 2 (08:17):
I feel like we buried the lead here. Did you
get like a plaque when you hit a million miles?
Speaker 3 (08:21):
You do?
Speaker 1 (08:22):
Actually, you do. You get some real nice rewards when
you hit a million miles. And I'm just short of that. Well,
you need to take a trip this weekend. Yeah, so
tell us about some of the things happening exactly.
Speaker 3 (08:34):
So, I've got some news that might help people.
Speaker 1 (08:37):
Just do that.
Speaker 3 (08:38):
American Airlines, actually Chris has debuted a new time saving
feature for connecting passengers at London Heathrow Airport. And here's
what you need to know. American is actually taking part
in a pilot program that's going to allow passengers connecting
at London heath Throw to bypass a secondary security screening.
(08:59):
It's currently only for those folks flying out of Dallas,
and it's unclear if it will expand. He Throw is
one of the busiest airports in the world and its
security can often take a long time, which means this
program could be a major time saver. Now, why am
I mentioning that here today? On a lifeless ordinary. Well,
it's because we do still have American airline passengers who
(09:22):
can fly out of Charlottesville. They can fly out of
Washington Dulles and connect in Dallas to an international destination
like London. So you can go directly from your inbound
plane now to your gate without needing a secondary security stop.
International passengers frequently have to clear local security before continuing
(09:45):
on their journey with their connecting flight, and this pilot
program is aiming to simplify that travel experience now.
Speaker 1 (09:53):
Best of all, the.
Speaker 3 (09:54):
Feature also extends to luggage, so passengers with international connections
in London don't don't need to get their baggage and
re retrieve it and have it rescanned for their next flight.
They just head straight to the next gate. I hear
a lot of people right now who travel internationally, a lot,
especially our corporate travelers out there saying hallelujah. While the
(10:15):
development is exciting for frequent flyers, this program does not
extend to every flight. United Kingdom or Ireland flight connections
are examples of two countries where it does not apply.
The airline encourages passengers to verify whether they will need
to go through security again or can utilize what they
(10:35):
are calling one stop so good on American I kind
of think, if I'm not mistaken, that we will see
a lot of other airlines follow suit in that direction,
because ease of travel and passengers is vitally important, and
airlines that are offering connecting flights to international destinations versus
those that have direct NonStop are being overshadowed now and
(11:00):
lieu of people wanting to go direct NonStop for primarily
that very reason. They don't want to go back through
security somewhere they're connecting.
Speaker 2 (11:09):
Why were we ever happening to do that? Was that
an FAA regulation at one point?
Speaker 1 (11:12):
Well, there are a number of regulations that govern what
happens when you're moving internationally. There's FAA, of course as
United States, but there are also international associations. There's you know,
Consortia over in Europe that governs that continent. So everybody's
working together, and there are two parts of it. One
(11:34):
is the regulations, Chris, and everyone wants safety in air travel,
of course, you know, in terms of knowing who's getting
on their planes and who's coming into their countries. But
the other is the technologies, and the technologies to allow
data to move from one airline from one country to another,
so that that receiving country can know enough about the
(11:56):
passengers that are coming in and coming on board so
that they feel comfortable that you are allowed into their system.
Is what governs ass alves. So there's technology and its
regulations that are tying things together, real market forces exactly, Terry's.
As you've explained, people want travel to be fun and seamless. Again,
(12:18):
they don't want to be hassled. They don't want to
have to move their bags, you know, on a connecting flight.
Speaker 3 (12:24):
We're never going to see a day when customs and
immigrations are eliminated. That's never going to happen. So when
you are flying internationally and you're going to connect in
another country, not the country that you are actually bound to,
you are definitely going to go through customs and immigration.
So this is one of those steps toward eliminating that
if you're an American and if you're connecting in London.
Speaker 2 (12:48):
So interesting.
Speaker 3 (12:50):
Now another piece of news also with the airlines you
no need, has announced they will no longer be flying
in and out of JFK's airport and here's why. Starting
next month after requests to expand their operations were not
initially honored by the hub. United made this proclamation. The
(13:11):
carrier is going to stop flying out of the major
New York airport after its last inbound flight on October
the twenty ninth. United wrote in a memo shared with
Travel and Leisure magazine the decision came after United asked
for additional slots at JFK, but said it was quote
unquote clear that the process to add additional capacity at
(13:32):
JFK will take some time. Currently, United operates four flights
per day out of this airport. The bulk of United's
flights in the New York area are out of its
Newark Liberty International Airport hub, which ooh, if you've ever
done that, God bless your soul. United will also continue
(13:52):
to fly out of New York's domestic airport, LaGuardia. But
I think you know, until they wrecked a that the
answer to United from JFK officials was not today, United,
Not today.
Speaker 1 (14:06):
Well. United has lots of other hubs, So if you're
a United fan, you know Chicago is a huge hub
for United. Washington Dulles a huge hub for United, and
this supply this applies for those of you who are
listening to international flights primarily because that's what was going
out of that airport.
Speaker 3 (14:23):
Yeah, and I got to tell you it's not usually
hubs that we use very often at the wishing Well
uh More Metropolitan Airports. Perhaps travel agencies in the Washington,
DC area, perhaps in Chicago, would make and utilize services
in and out of JFK, LaGuardia and Newark. Again, what
(14:46):
did I say, God bless their soul, but we bypassed
them whenever we can, really, because delays are almost inevitable
out there's a fog that just hovers around those airports
and makes departures on time, departures let's say strained if
we can. Now another piece of news, also airline related,
(15:10):
Frontier has announced their unlimited summer flight pass. This is
especially pointed for today's show since we're going to be
talking about family travel. It's now on sale with a
one hundred dollars additional discount. Now, this is going to
blow your mind. Chris Frontier Airline. I think we announced
this last year about the same time they've announced their
(15:30):
unlimited flight pass. It's now available for summer twenty twenty
five travel. The pass offers unlimited flights that's what I'm
I said, unlimited flights within Frontier's network, both domestically and internationally,
and travelers will still need to pay taxes and fees
and other add ons like their checked luggage. But this
(15:53):
is called Go Wild All you Can Fly Pass. It
is now available for purchase this summer for a limited time.
The airline is selling this pass for only three hundred
and ninety nine dollars per person, which provides unlimited flights
to destinations within their network at one low price. Travelers
(16:14):
can utilize the Summer Pass for flights between May first
and September the thirtieth of this year, making it also
helpful for people seeking a late spring or early fall
getaway in addition to travel during the summer months of June,
July and August. Now, best of all, travelers can utilize
(16:34):
the pass for both domestic and international destinations. As I said,
they offer service to popular get aways such as Cancun,
Montego By, Jamaica, Porta val Jacta, and Saint Croix, which
is in the US Virgin Islands. Travelers looking to try
out this service might be interested in the monthly pass,
(16:56):
which costs only one hundred and forty nine dollars for
a thirty eight day period. Now, while this pass can
provide plenty of travel for people with flexible plans, there
are a couple of restrictions. The airline has imposed some
blackout periods, so you have to be aware of that
certain things over popular holidays like the fourth of July.
(17:16):
The fares do not include advanced seat assignments or check bags,
which will be extra fees, and the airline is also
going to charge passengers for taxes and fees for every
ticket that are booked. But really, at one hundred and
forty nine dollars and you can travel for thirty days
throughout that period, I don't think that's a bad deal.
I'll pay for my seat assignment.
Speaker 1 (17:36):
That's not a bad deal at all. I found one too.
Terry Delta has got some flights going to Australia this summer.
Eight hundred and ninety nine dollars round trip to Australia.
Speaker 3 (17:49):
Time to go.
Speaker 1 (17:50):
Yeah, that's a fair that I found out. If you
remember that the.
Speaker 3 (17:52):
Second, when it's winter here, it's summer there, and when
it's summer here, it's starting to be winter.
Speaker 1 (18:00):
So that's fine.
Speaker 3 (18:01):
Yeah, one last piece of news and then herey, I'm
going to hand it over to you for some sale fairs.
Smith Travel Research Now, for those of you who don't know,
I actually had to look this up myself, so I
didn't even know. They are actually a leading source of
data benchmarking, analytics, and marketplace insights. And for the second
straight month, US hotel revenue per available room and average
(18:26):
daily rate in January increased year over year. I think
this is a strong message about the health and the
prosperity of our hotel industry, the travel industry itself. And
this shows a higher occupancy than any other markets again
than twenty twenty four, and Tampa, Florida actually registered the
(18:48):
highest January occupancy rate among the top twenty five US cities,
being at seventy nine point nine percent, up seventeen percent
from last year and attributable to hurricane recovery. They said
it's the first month since July twenty twenty four that
a city other than New York City led this monthly
(19:10):
occupancy rates. So I like good news. I love good
news actually, especially in the travel industry. And Harriet, what
kind of good news do you have over there that
might help people make some decisions about going we've.
Speaker 1 (19:24):
Got some One special that I wanted to talk about
has to do with river cruising. How many times have
we talked about river cruising. It's gotten to be so popular,
more and more companies are involved. And one of our
partners there, Scenic River Cruises, has a special right now
that's going on. They called their President's Day Sale, so
it's limited, but it offers two for one fares and
(19:48):
free air. And this is one of our luxury river
cruise line Scenic is that that means that they include
things like premium beverages, Wi Fi around trip transfers to
and from the airport, gratuities, and two for one air
fares and free air. Not a bad deal. They have
a lot of destinations over there, and they are one
(20:10):
of our ultra luxury river cruisers, so I would urge
you to take a look at that. One of the
ones that I've also been looking at that that just
is great is Azamara, another cruise line that we like
a lot. They are doing a limited time good through
the end of this month where they've taken up to
(20:32):
three thousand dollars off of each voyage and they're putting
on board credits. Normally we see on board credits of
a couple hundred dollars, maybe three hundred dollars. They're throwing
up to one thousand dollars on board credit. So you
start out with, you know, four thousand dollars in giveaways.
(20:54):
Not bad, now are They've got cruises that go all around.
They've got cruises to places like Panama City, They've got
cruises to Singapore, you want to go to Vietnam, Chile, Australia,
anywhere you want to go. Aza Mahr is a great
company to look at for these special deals. I wanted
(21:16):
to also as we're talking about deals, we've talked about
this so many times, but as we're booking people now
it's becoming real for a lot of people. And what's
becoming real real ID. We've kicked this can down the
road probably ten times over the last couple of years.
Ten times probably not even enough, probably twenty times over
(21:37):
the last couple of years. Right in circle this date.
If you think you're going to board an aircraft after
on or after May the seventh of this year, that's
just a couple months away. You will need a real
ID or a passport or a passport card, a passport card,
(21:58):
a real ID on your driver's license, and it can
be from any state, but it's going to have that
little mark in the corner that says that you have
been authenticated with your Department of Motor Vehicles to get
on board. This applies to children, this applies to adults.
Not all the children have real IDs, but the adults
will have real IDs. You're going to need a passport
(22:20):
or some kind of identification just what to get on board. Chris,
he's proudly showing his for like six years.
Speaker 2 (22:28):
Good for you. I feel like they were pushing for
it and then they were nothing ever happened.
Speaker 1 (22:33):
Yeah, Well, what I'm worried about is people are going
to wait until last minute. And my guess is, you know,
DMV has done a good job of, you know, stepping
up and being ready and helping people. But if it
gets close to that day and you don't have one
of those one of those things that we're talking about,
you will be denied boarding onto the airplane. So that's
(22:53):
what I wanted to talk about to kind of close
out the sales. I have one more that I want
to talk about. One of our suppliers has offered us
a very special special that I want to share with
listeners this morning. That is, they're offering up to three
hundred and fifty dollars off depending on where your destination is.
It's a special that applies to some small trips, maybe
(23:16):
two nights, stays in the Continental, US, international stays, Hawaii, Europe,
everywhere in the world. We can take up to three
hundred and fifty dollars off your trip and these are
for trips that go through the middle of December of
this year, so it's a wide range for your travel plans.
But this special offer that we have is only available
(23:39):
until the end of this month. It expires on the
twenty seventh of February, So please, please, please, If you're
interested in taking a trip and you just need that
little extra push, this special may be the thing that
you're waiting for.
Speaker 2 (23:53):
So our series for over the past few weeks has
been all about luxury travel. We've talked about culture, cuisine, community, content, customization.
I think this show might fall under community. We're going
to be talking about family luxury. Our show today is
called Family Follies and we're going to talk about it
(24:15):
next year on our Lifeless Ordinary.
Speaker 1 (24:16):
Protect your vacation investment with guidance from a travel professional.
The wishing Well knows travel and help you avoid pitfalls
they can spoil your hard earned vacation. We'll plan your
trip and have your back as you travel. All of
this without support or so called convenience fees. We're on
the web at tho Wishingwell dot viz or call us
at five four zero nine zero eight two three three three.
(24:39):
That's five four zero nine zero eight two three three three.
The washing Well really does make dreams come true and.
Speaker 2 (24:46):
Welcome back to a lifeless ordinary. This is the travel
show and podcast from your friends at the wishing Well.
Your friends are Terry Dean and Harry Rife, who join
us every Saturday morning to talk travel, talk about how
you can enjoy your life in a less ordinary way.
Speaker 3 (25:04):
I love the name of our show, I really do,
because I think it sets the stage for everything we
talk about here.
Speaker 2 (25:09):
If you would like a life that is less ordinary,
you need to give them a call at five four
h nine toh eight twenty three thirty three. You can
find them on the web at the wishing Well dot
biz that's dot biz, or find him on nef Avenue
in Harrisonburg.
Speaker 1 (25:24):
And before we get.
Speaker 2 (25:25):
Into our family follies, I have heard through the grapevine
that I am in the presence of some greatness.
Speaker 1 (25:33):
Oh stop, Oh no, I was talking about Harry. Oh stop, Jerry.
Speaker 2 (25:38):
Congratulations you have been inducted into the President's Club.
Speaker 1 (25:42):
You are part of what.
Speaker 3 (25:44):
The top five percent of travel agents in the nation. Amazing, Yeah, Samon.
Speaker 2 (25:48):
And seriously, congratulations e I know you. You have taken
your career and made it your life's work to help
people find you just amazing experiences.
Speaker 1 (26:02):
Whether it's a.
Speaker 3 (26:03):
Few people know this better than Harry. But I have
said this before. I'll say it to our audience here
because because we're family, right, We're all family here. But
I have said I would gladly do what I do
for no money. I'm glad. I d you know it's true.
I mean I love what I do that much. And
(26:24):
Harry can tell you probably more than anybody else. I eat, breathe,
and sleep this industry.
Speaker 1 (26:30):
Do you sleep? I didn't know you slept. I get
texts from Terry in the middle of the night, dress saying,
did you know there's a flight that's been rerouted here?
And we got to check to see if anybody's been
on it or needs to have something done. But I
love I love my life's work.
Speaker 2 (26:44):
I do.
Speaker 3 (26:45):
I think I'm one of the few people in life
that can say I have gladly served in a career
that has been my hobby and I've been lucky to
get paid for it.
Speaker 2 (26:54):
Well, let me just say that it's nice that everyone
else recognizes what we already knew about it.
Speaker 1 (26:59):
Thank you so much.
Speaker 3 (27:00):
I'm honored.
Speaker 1 (27:01):
And congratulations, Tuble, thank you so much.
Speaker 3 (27:03):
Do you get Do you get a plaque to I
got that real nice picture I showed you.
Speaker 1 (27:10):
Maybe I'll make you a pla. I'm trying to get
her to put it up on the website, so if
you check on the website, if I say it on
the radio, Terry's got to do it right, Chris, So
she should put up a copy of that award on
the website. But seriously, if there's someone that's passionate about travel,
it is this lady that's sitting here with us right
this moment.
Speaker 2 (27:29):
And if I know anything about Terry, you're not guilding
her into putting anything on a website. Terry, our show
today is family folly. So I'm assuming that means we
are going to dive in in depth about family luxury travel.
Speaker 1 (27:45):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (27:45):
And for the past few weeks you mentioned this, Chris,
we've been highlighting a lot of the most relevant information
associated with what true luxury really means. We talked about
the definition of the five c's of luxury travel. You
didn't hear that particular episode of a Life Less Ordinary,
I want to urge you to go back and listen.
It really does have some of the basic cornerstones of
(28:09):
how you can best analyze and redefine your own travel experience,
So I think that's important.
Speaker 2 (28:14):
You can find that podcast at the Wishingwell dot biz
in the upper right hand corner you'll find the link,
or you can listen on the free iHeartRadio app or
anywhere that you listen to podcasts.
Speaker 3 (28:23):
Yeah, and in those episodes that followed, we also brought
to your attention a lot of the many critical vendors, suppliers,
and even luxury properties that we partner with at the
Wishing Well on a regular basis to kind of ensure
that your travel experience is backed by the most awarded
and vetted professionals in our industry. That is so important,
(28:44):
and that is so critically important these days because I'm
going to tell you, Chris, there's a lot of deep
fakes out there today. There's a lot of people pretending
to be professionals in the travel industry, and that's offensive
to me.
Speaker 1 (28:57):
I don't like that.
Speaker 3 (28:57):
I've spent forty five years in this industry to perfect
what we do and do it well, and do it
aligned with people who are vetted in this industry, and
you can get taken very easily. So it's important if
you want to know about that, go back and listen
to a couple of those episodes. That'll kind of get
you caught up with where we are but today, because
(29:20):
we're quickly approaching a magical time and that's called spring break.
I wanted to add our next layer to our luxury
series as we take a deeper look at the luxury
family industry. This is definitely a growing market and it's
been at the very forefront of my requested travel assignments
(29:40):
this past week. I'll tell you, I'll give you a
couple of examples. Single mother called me with two young
tween age boys, and she said, the prospects of planning
this much needed vacation along with everything else that I'm
sinking and responsible for this week is overwhelming.
Speaker 2 (29:59):
She said.
Speaker 3 (30:00):
While I might be able to land on something that
resembles a vacation for me and my boys, I don't
have the confidence that I'm going to do it well.
So here's my budget. Find me something family friendly, Terry
sand Sun, and make our dreams come true. That was
the first example. The next example was this another young
(30:22):
professional couple, both with great jobs, great income, two smaller children.
Let's just say money was no object, but they had
too little time, desperate to have that vacation on the
calendar to give them something to look forward to. They
also reached out the request to me, we have no budget.
We want nice we work hard. We want the kids
(30:43):
to have fun and all of their desires to be met.
So fun is definitely a quotient in this plan. We
want very nice accommodations. Two bedroom units with two beads
is a must. Go ahead, Terry take it from here.
So those are the two requests that I I had
this week. Multiples after that, but those were two that
(31:04):
really just stood out to me because one was more
of a plea. The other one was more of I
don't have time, but I want you, but I want
it done right. So that's what I had. Those were
my lead INDs for what I had to capture. And
if any of that sounds remotely familiar to any of
you all listening, I want you to know we get it.
(31:24):
If planning a family vacation that's fun for everybody is overwhelming,
I don't want you to fret about that. There are
plenty of luxury family resorts in the Caribbean and in
the US that offer wonderful, thoughtful amenities, everything to ensure
that you're going to have a memorable getaway for your
(31:45):
kids and for you as the adults, both perks to
look out for when you are planning family vacations. I'm
talking about ones that include kids. Those are going to
be your kids clubs with daily programs that are st ructured,
beach and pullside water activities, spacious accommodations which include connecting
(32:07):
rooms or adjacent rooms, and adventurous excursions that allow you
as a family to explore the surrounding area. Now, Chris,
what stands out about that right now? I hope to
people who have been following us through this luxury journey
is that's the five c's We've all talked, We talked
about all this and it kind of comes together here.
Speaker 1 (32:29):
When you look at some of the things that you're
talking about, Terry, think about this. If you're out there
and your parents, you're a parent and you have kids,
what if you could go to the same place that
your kids could go and where it's a great summer camp,
lots of things to do, lots of activities, lots of memories,
but you could be there with them, but didn't have
(32:50):
to stay next to them the whole time, because you know,
everything is organized, you know everything is supervised. You know
they've they've got great meals, they've got great snacks, and
they've got accommodations of facilities that are geared just toward
them for little kids. One of the places that I
look at some of the resorts have pools. They're about
(33:11):
maybe a foot deep, just right for a small toddler,
you know, child that you don't have to worry about
jumping into, you know, grandma's backyard pool. It may be
four or five feet deep, but that's the kind of resource.
Speaker 3 (33:24):
And you're talking and what you should know as couples
parents of young children is that you don't have to
compromise on your own relaxation in the process. I mean,
you don't have to beat your head against the wall
just because every one of your kids wants to be
slimmed at Nickelodeon.
Speaker 1 (33:39):
You don't have to do that.
Speaker 3 (33:43):
A lot of kid friendly properties feature award winning spas.
They've got the impressive culinary offerings that we as adults
are looking for. They've got those plush room amenities that
are going to make you feel great and feel at
home from mommy and me manicures. I've got restaurants that
specialize in farmed a table, chef prepared dishes, and I'm
(34:05):
hoping to walk you through some of the most exciting
luxury family resorts and hotels in the Caribbean and the
US to consider when booking your next family vacation. Now again,
I hope you've been paying attention and following us from
the previous episodes, because a lot of what we've already
discussed about the value of a luxury travel experience you're
(34:28):
going to find highlighted in what I've just explained that
we're going to find out about today now. First up
is a resort that I have booked many, many times again,
for young adults with small and what we call tween
age children. Now do you know what I'm talking about
when I say tweens?
Speaker 1 (34:49):
Was that about eleven to thirteen?
Speaker 3 (34:52):
Yeah, they're sort of not quite a teen ager yet
and they're not a young adult, but they're sort of
in that in between, not an adolet not you know,
not a small child, but they're in between you fully
independent in your own mind right, and this is not
I just want everybody to know. The one that I'm
going to highlight first here is not an all inclusive resort.
(35:13):
But please know that not all resorts need to be
all inclusive to be able to check off the boxes
of a fabulous inclusive vacation for a family. The idea
of luxury properties, and one that in my opinion puts
this in our family luxury category today, would be the
(35:34):
way in which they cater to and they anticipate your
needs as a family, as individuals, and all together as
a whole unit. This property does all of that, and
I'm talking about a fabulous property. It's called Bahamar in Nassau, Bahamas,
perhaps one of the most family friendly islands in the Caribbean.
(35:57):
Nassau and Paradise island in the Bahamas welcomes millions literally
of families to its powder soft sand, including those at Bahamar.
You've got a thousand acre luxury resort here. It's a
complex that features the Grand Hyatt, SLS and Rosewood hotels
(36:18):
that all overlook Cable Beach. Now I do need to
add a shameless plug here, I'm going to say it.
These are also some of our own virtuoso properties. So
I love them. I know they're vetted. I know these
properties stand the test of tom they stand the test
of the most discerning kind of traveler. I would say
(36:41):
they have shared amenities across the sizeable complex that includes
SLS's fifteen acre water park. What kids do you know
in a warm, sandy, sunny destination don't like a water park.
As a matter of fact, the first example of that
mother that I told you that was looking for accommodations
(37:02):
didn't have time to do it. She said, one of
my must haves is a water park. So also Baja Bay,
a daily kids club schedule. You've got an eighteen whole
Jack Nicholas signature golf course, over thirty luxury retail outlets
and shops, a recently renovated three hundred seat jazz club
(37:24):
and more than forty five restaurants and lounges. Families should
also not miss the annual junk Anoe parade each Boxing
Day and New Year's Day, and a competition featuring the
best dances, costume designs, and music routines. Baja Mar is
the pinnacle. Every other resort I think that's family oriented
(37:48):
should aspire to be Baha Mar.
Speaker 1 (37:50):
And when you said virtual, so what does that mean
for people? Terry?
Speaker 3 (37:53):
Yep, So that means you're going to get the breakfast
every day for the folks that are in your party.
Plus you're going to get an autumn upgrade on your
room if that's available at the time of check in,
and a one hundred dollars resort credit to use for
any other type of meal or anything else that you
want to use that for during your stay. Now, we've
(38:13):
got a four person package complete with direct NonStop airfare
over Spring break at this property for only about fifteen
hundred dollars per person. And that's a deal. Now. Really, again,
this is what makes this property such a great luxury
family option. Here's the activities offered at this resort. The
first of all, they have a casino. Okay, so a
(38:36):
large casino with ocean views that's for the adults. Pools
including a five hundred thousand gallon wave pool for your kids.
Dining lots and lots of restaurants including beachfront food trucks
and pullside grills. Food trucks are so trendy right now
and everybody loves that, especially you kids. Kids are going
(38:58):
to love that. Shopping shopping for your let's just say
you're not quite adult, teenage daughter who thinks she's got
to have everything from Prada and Gucci, Yep, she's going
to be happy. They have a world class spa there
and activities water sports, kayaking, paddle boarding, Baja Bay water Park.
I mentioned that with water slides, action river and a
(39:20):
wave pool with unlimited access. You stay at Bahamar, you
have unlimited access to that water park. Anything to do
at night, yeah, I mean, there's all kinds of things
to do at night, entertainment and plus Nasau Bahamas is
just a really fun place to be anyway.
Speaker 1 (39:40):
Yep.
Speaker 3 (39:41):
So again, as I said, one of the most extraordinary
places I think, and when you weigh the value of
admission on a daily basis to a water park, versus
not having those meals included. Remember I said this is
not all inclusive, but you've got daily admission, unlimited admission
to a water park. Weigh that against what it costs
(40:02):
to feed your family versus what it costs to go
into a water park these days, the value is there.
Have you priced water park admissions lately?
Speaker 2 (40:10):
Yep?
Speaker 3 (40:10):
So the option would require current valid passports and in
order to be valid and current passports do have to
be good through six months beyond your return date of travel.
But all in all, just a great family vacation spot.
Speaker 2 (40:25):
Our show today is entitled Family Follies. We are talking
about luxury travel for the entire brood, not just mom
and dad exactly. We are going to take a quick break,
We'll come right back and we'll continue our conversation here
on a life less ordinary.
Speaker 1 (40:38):
Who would think of driving off to a new destination
without guidance from Google or Syria. Let the Wishing World
guide your next travel experience. Travel the world as you
enjoy the very best destinations and all they offer at
the best prices. Our mobile travel app keeps your vacation
on track and keeps you connected with our team of
experts for help. If you need it, call us at
five four zero nine zero eight two three three three,
(41:01):
stop by two forty three nef Avenue, or visit us
at the Wishingwell dot biz.
Speaker 2 (41:06):
This is a life less ordinary. It's a travel show
and podcast from your friends at the Wishing Well. If
you're just joining us, welcome. What you missed in the
last episode was Terry saying we're family, and we are
We get together every Saturday. We talk travel, we talk
about our lives, we talk about, you know, what we're
gonna do for dinner in the upcoming week. Less of
(41:28):
that than probably travel. But we do enjoy talking about
travel every Saturday morning.
Speaker 1 (41:33):
And if you hear.
Speaker 2 (41:35):
Something that you're interested in you'd like to get more information,
head to the Wishingwell dot biz. That's their website. You
can also give them a call at five four oh
nine oh eight twenty three thirty three, or stop in
and sit down and talk with Terry or Harry. They're
on nep Avenue in Harrisonburg. Terry, before we went to break,
we were talking about family travel. Our show today is
(41:56):
called Family Follies and specifically Family Lucky Travel exactly.
Speaker 3 (42:01):
Yeah, and you know we talked about one that's particularly
isolated in the sun and sand category, that's the Bahamar
in Nassau, Bahamas. But we're going to do a complete
about face now. I've got some families that are really
more enticed Chris sometimes by winter sports and skiing than
they are with sand and sun, and those families really
(42:24):
love together on the slopes together. I've done a number
of these, had multiple families who actually prefer this kind
of vacation, especially at spring break time because the snow
is not so plentiful around here. Although I can't say
that right now. We've had our share, but I have
to say I really love this kind of idea for
people who like the outdoor winter sports kind of family gatherings.
(42:49):
And one such resort that would be in this category
of great family winter resorts would have to be the
Madeline Hotel in telur Ride, Colorado. It's hard to beat
tell for pristine Colorado skiing, even harder to do better
than a stay at the ski in ski out Madeling.
(43:09):
You book a mod modest residence style unit with a
full kitchen and views of the surrounding mountains. That's heaven,
and then you set the kids free and the hotel's
own tucked away corner of the mountain village to ice skate,
maybe plunge in at what they call Dylan's Candy Bar,
hang out at twenty below, which is a kid's only
(43:31):
opened club that opened earlier this year. That's kind of
a recipe for a warm family vacation, you know, with
all of the skiing to boot Now, the polished staff
here includes a personal assistant which is stationed in the
cozy living room they call it. That's stocked round the
(43:51):
clock with coffee and snacks. That's that's courtesy. They always
do that. This is the place where your wait staff
remembers special request from the day before, and your ski
valets actually are going to personally wipe down and warm
up your gear for you before you go out into
the snow. That's what I call service. You reserve a
seat at Elms Restaurant, which is a farm to table
(44:14):
operation where you can sample the best that the Rockies
has to deliver, like slabs of tender Colorado beef, or
you can grab a drink at bar M before you
take on the town. Now, the great thing about accommodations
here for families is they've got everything from one to
four bedroom residents accommodations you might not ever want to
(44:35):
come home. Now, we're really going to change this up.
If sand and Son aren't appealing, and that sounds like
what I just mentioned, sounds like a real drag in
the winter, this next luxury experience might be just the
thing that you and your family would enjoy immensely. Our
travels next are going to take us, Chris to the Pause.
(44:56):
I'm sorry, the resort at Pause Up in monteg I
have to read this to you from Traveling Leisure magazine.
Of what they say about pauls Up, they say, this
splendid thirty seven thousand acre property on a sprawling cattle
ranch outside of Missoula, has only twenty eight luxury homes,
(45:18):
but what choices. They are the most popular the big
timber dwellings, handsome two story pine cabins with either a
wood burning stove or stone fireplace, and outdoor hot tubs.
There's even the ultra secluded Blackfoot River Lodge, a light
filled retreat with stunning views from every window. And the
(45:40):
allegedly haunted Mars Ranch House, built in nineteen oh eight
and decorated accordingly. In summer guests can also opt for
one of thirty six luxury tents pitched along the Blackfoot River.
Outdoor excursions come with plenty of pampering, elegant picnic lunches
on a trip, massages after a bicycle tour. But this
(46:04):
is coddling without pretension. Staff are gracious and chatty. The
decor is all animal skin, rugs and cowboy portraits, including
the tank bar and troth and Pump restaurants. I got
to tell you, I've read this from Traveling Leisure magazine
about Pause Up, and by the way, I know this resort.
(46:26):
I've booked it for many, many clients for a number
of years. It's been around for a long time. Without question,
it is one of the most luxurious, all inclusive family
resorts in all of Montana. It really appeals to everybody.
I mean not just the people who are looking for
sand and son. There might be a couple of your
(46:47):
kids that would go in the beginning, oh, we're not
going to the beach, and once they get to Pause Up,
the world changes for them. Suddenly everything is wonderful and
lightful about this place. No other resort ranch in Montana
offers more wilderness adventures and outdoor activities than palls Up.
(47:08):
Adventurous families love this place. You've got those thirty seven
thousand acres of resort property, one hundred miles of trails,
ten miles on the Blackfoot River, and one point five
million acres of the nearby Bob Marshall Wilderness Area. And
if that doesn't satisfy your adventure appetite, there's also boating, hiking, kayaking,
(47:30):
mountain biking, paintball rafting, repelling, swimming, and a whole lot more.
And when it comes to outdoor dude ranch activities in
the Montana Wilderness, palls Up is all you can eat buffet.
So the palls Up Resort really features a pristine, rocky
mountain environment. Most kids are going to only see on
(47:50):
TV or maybe have experienced it that way, but it
really is a great nature education, wildlife appreciation and wrangler
activities in here. Carry I know you've got a couple
of grandkids that might be interested in probably all three
of these that I mentioned today.
Speaker 1 (48:07):
Yeah, the things that would be interesting too grandkids in
my family of course, would be all these athletic activities.
But the nature guides that they have available there, they
can learn about things if they want to get, you
know a little bit more into the biology and the
animals around there. There are experts on site who can
talk about that and share information that I couldn't share,
(48:31):
and they're probably not going to learn in their ordinary,
you know, school classes. Plus they can get out and
experience things, fun activities.
Speaker 3 (48:39):
Your young grandsons are even skiers, if I'm not mistaken.
Speaker 1 (48:42):
Yes they are, Yes they are, so skiing is number
one on their list.
Speaker 3 (48:46):
So the madel And Resort even would be, you know,
a great multi generational type family experience here. I know
you ski, I know your son's ski, your grandkids now
are skiing. I mean what I want folks to hear
and realize today from and take away from a life
less ordinary as this. All inclusive family vacations, especially during
(49:07):
spring break, don't always have to be about the sand
and the sun. That's great, and that's why I offered Bahamar.
But I want you to know the world is a
big place, and we have some great destinations that include
everybody in your family that can also be an alternative
to that sand and sun.
Speaker 1 (49:25):
Well, and when you talk about these kinds of resorts there,
I think it's important too. You talked about my family.
You're talking about a grandpa, you're talking about a sun,
you're talking about grandkids. So you've got multi generations of
a family. And what's exciting for me in a place
like this is that we have things to do from
the beginning of the morning through the end of the night.
If Grandpa wants to go off and take a nap,
(49:47):
the kids still have stuff to do, and I can
get up and join them later on for some marshmallow
roasting or evening activities that might be going on. And
when you do skiing today, a lot of times people
think about getting up early, getting in the car, packing
all the gear, going to the ski lodge, and then
doing skiing, and then at the end of the day
packing it all up, putting it back in the car
(50:09):
and driving home, you know, being exhausted. With a resort
like this, you get up in the morning, you decide
you want to ski, you ski, you take a break
for lunch, You come back in the afternoon, you do
a little more skiing, you take a break, do something different,
come back, maybe finish the day with skiing. So having
the family together for a big chunk of time is
(50:31):
very special, and in my family, those are the kinds
of things we're talking about nowadays to spend that quality
time together and the luxury just is like icing on
the cake.
Speaker 3 (50:44):
And Chris, I love having you in the studio here
with us because here and I, I mean, we could
go on and on and on about most any and
all travel destinations. But you are my typical client. I think.
Who Also, you also have children older I guess we
would call them tweens or young adults, so young adults.
Speaker 2 (51:05):
One of them we're moving out of the house and
the other one is off in college.
Speaker 3 (51:09):
Yeah, and so family vacations might look even a little
different for you guys. I mean, what in terms of
family vacations do you think And I always ask this,
do you think your kids would be interested in would
you and your wife be interested in?
Speaker 1 (51:25):
We're such a unique family.
Speaker 2 (51:26):
I'll tell you they would want an Heck, I would
want someplace where we could just sit.
Speaker 1 (51:32):
Inside, not have to go out and do anything. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (51:35):
I'm embarrassed to say that because we are a family
that tends to be more like a hermit. We we
don't like to get out and get with it.
Speaker 3 (51:46):
And I know you think you're unique, but you probably
are not there's a lot of folks that are listening
today that go I can identify with that. Now I
will tell you more often, Chris, I do deal with
clients who are active oriented people. They love to travel
because they love action. But I also deal with clients
just like you who formulate a decision as to where
(52:08):
they're going to travel based on how much time they
can rest and relax.
Speaker 2 (52:11):
Yeah, I would say that would be us. I also
would say just somewhere. I envision, as you've been talking
about this, a cabin where we can just all hang out,
play games and palls, sit.
Speaker 1 (52:22):
By a fire, yeah, and look outside at scenery that
is just spectacular. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (52:27):
I think as long as there's not a lot of
pressure for people to feel like they have to be
doing something, everybody's happy.
Speaker 3 (52:32):
That's pauls up in Montana, and that's you know that.
That really does fit that, I think very well.
Speaker 1 (52:38):
Well, you've talked about a lot of very interesting places
you've been from the from the sun and the sand
all the way up to the to the mountains and
ski areas and you know, fireplace, all those kinds of things.
What's great about family vacations is that they can be
anything They can be everything, but the one thing they
have in common is family. If you're not creating memories,
(53:00):
you're not creating a great family vacation. Chris.
Speaker 2 (53:03):
We need to put that on a T shirt and
wrap up our show today, Terry. If we want more
information about our own personal family folly, how do we
get in touch with the wishing Well.
Speaker 3 (53:12):
The wishing Well is located at two forty three nef
Avenue in Harrisonburg. You can call us at five four
oh nine oh eight two three three three or look
us up on the web. We are at the Wishingwell
dot biz.
Speaker 2 (53:25):
This has been a life Less Ordinary the travel show
from your friends at the wishing Well at two forty
three nef Avenue in Harrisonburg. If you have any questions
on topics discussed today, please reach out to the wishing
Well online at the Wishingwell dot biz or five four
oh nine oh eight twenty three thirty three. Past episodes
are available on the iHeartRadio app. And we'll see again
next Saturday morning at ten for a life Less Ordinary
(53:47):
from the wishing Well
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