July 26, 2025 • 27 mins
Ready to navigate the shifting landscape of travel? Southwest Airlines has made a game-changing announcement that will transform how we fly with them. After decades of their iconic open seating policy, they're finally introducing seat assignments! Starting July 29th, passengers can book flights departing January 27th or later with pre-selected seats, choosing from four options ranging from basic to extra legroom. This welcome change eliminates the notorious gate crowding while maintaining Southwest's customer-friendly approach.
Planning a Hawaiian getaway? Take note that advanced reservations for the USS Arizona Memorial at Pearl Harbor have been suspended due to renovation uncertainty. While the memorial remains open, visitors must now seek same-day reservations or try for standby spots. Meanwhile, Delta continues its reign as America's top domestic airline for the seventh consecutive year, with United, Southwest, Alaska, and Hawaiian rounding out the top five.
For travelers seeking unique experiences, we spotlight private tours in Rome that take you beyond typical tourist paths into underground catacombs and hidden historical treasures. These personalized adventures, led by local guides, offer skip-the-line access and intimate exploration for about $100 per person—comparable to crowded bus tours but infinitely more enriching. Fall visitors to Cabo San Lucas can capitalize on surprisingly low prices (five nights from $999 including airfare) while enjoying prime fishing season or whale watching directly from oceanfront resorts.
Cruise enthusiasts will be intrigued by Travel & Leisure's 2025 rankings, with Virgin Voyages claiming the top spot for the first time. We also highlight HX's expanded Antarctica expeditions offering more opportunities to kayak among icebergs or camp overnight on the continent itself—truly bucket-list adventures. For Panama Canal crossings, October presents excellent options starting from just $1,079 for 16-day journeys.
Ready to turn these travel insights into your next adventure? Connect with us at 888-718-7717 or visit BluePlanetVacations.com to start planning. Remember, travel opportunities await—don't let life's curveballs keep you from exploring our amazing world!
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Patrick Wiscombe (00:00):
It is the weekend, which means it is time
to talk travel.
Welcome to the Inside TravelTalk podcast, a radio show
Coming up.
On today's show, we will betalking about picking your own
seat on Southwest Airlines.
Advanced reservations to go seethe USS Arizona Memorial in
Pearl Harbor have been suspended.
We'll give you the details onthat.
(00:20):
We've got the hot travel dealof the week this week we're
going to Mexico, Cabo San Lucasspecifically.
And we've got hot travel dealof the week this week we're
going to Mexico, Cabo San Lucasspecifically.
And we've got two cruise dealsof the week.
Let's start the show.
The Inside Travel Talk podcastand radio show presented by
BluePlanetVacations.
com contains travel deals,promotions and offers that may
be time sensitive.
All offers and information wereaccurate when the show aired.
(00:43):
Travel deals and offers changeconstantly and are capacity
controlled and subject to changewithout notice.
Show Voice (00:54):
Explore your world.
It's the Inside Travel Talkpodcast and radio show Presented
by BluePlanetVacations.
com.
Call or text the show now801-649-3700, 801-649-3700.
And check out the podcast atinsidetraveltalk.
com.
And now here are your hosts,Patrick Wiscombe and Mark
(01:18):
Welcome to the weekend.
Patrick Wiscombe (01:31):
It is the Inside Travel Talk podcast and
radio show.
Hello there, I'm PatrickWiscombe, alongside Mark Faldmo,
and if you are brand new tothis show, we're going to help
you plan and book your nextvacation, or just give you ideas
of where you may want tovacation next, and we are
presented by BluePlanetVacations.
(01:52):
com.
And just a sincere thank youfor taking the time to stop and
listen and coming up on today'sshow.
We are going to be talkingabout picking your own seat on
Southwest Airlines.
After how many years, mark?
(02:12):
They've never done this beforethat I can recall.
Mark Faldmo (02:17):
Nope, it's just wherever.
Whenever they started, they'vealways had that open seat policy
.
Patrick Wiscombe (02:24):
No more.
We'll tell you how you can takeadvantage of that.
We've also got advancedreservations for the USS Arizona
Memorial, which is in PearlHarbor.
We've got news regarding ticketsales being suspended.
There's a little bit more tothat story.
We'll give you the details.
This week we're headed to Cabo.
We're going to do a little bitof whale watching.
(02:44):
That will be the hot traveldeal of the week, and we've got
two cruise deals of the weekthat you'll want to stick around
for.
But let's get to the travelnews headlines.
Let's start with the bigheadline, Mark.
I think this is great news foranyone who doesn't want to crowd
the gate.
I'm going to say that this isprobably where gate crowding
started with Southwest.
Mark Faldmo (03:05):
Yep Southwest, and then they, through different
measures, they kind of mitigatedthat, where you line up in the
order that you check in,basically.
But now they are startingpre-reserved seat assignments
and that actually starts Tuesday, so July 29th.
If you're booking a flight onthat day for a flight that
departs on January 27th or later, you will be able to choose
(03:28):
seats on those flights.
Patrick Wiscombe (03:29):
Wait, did you say January 27th?
Mark Faldmo (03:32):
Yes, so reservations go on sale.
To choose your seats on July29th, next Tuesday.
Got it For flights on January27th or later?
Okay, so, basically six monthsfrom now, roughly Six months,
and Southwest usually releasestheir schedules in six to eight
month increments, so this istheir regular release of their
(03:52):
winter schedule.
Patrick Wiscombe (03:54):
This will be welcome news that you can just
pick your seat.
Is there going to be any openseating or is this just hey?
We're going to assign you aseat now, for everyone.
Mark Faldmo (04:02):
Well, everyone will assign a seat, but they do have
kind of gone the way of otherairlines.
So they have a basic fare,which you do not get a
complimentary seat until youcheck in or get to the gate.
And then they have choice fare,which will be where you get to
choose a seat preferred, whichwill be seats closer to the
(04:23):
front of the airplane, and thenchoice extra will be the extra
leg room.
So they have four differentkind of seat choices there.
Patrick Wiscombe (04:33):
Such great news because it was chaotic
around the gate.
This is just a welcome changefor anyone flying Southwest.
Mark Faldmo (04:41):
Unless you figured out how to game the system like
me.
Hold on.
How did you do it?
Well, a few years ago withsouthwest vacations, kind of on
a committee, there was someflight attendants and we had
them for like three months trackall the empty seats on the
airplane, and so we found outthat the second to last row on
(05:04):
the right side of the airplane,the middle seat, was the most
likely to be empty.
So that's where I would alwayssit, and it does work on
occasion to get no one sittingthere, because when it starts
getting full, people take allthe empty seats ahead of that,
and then if they're going to theback of the plane, they always
look to the right for a seat.
(05:25):
So that's true.
You're on the on the left sideof the seat that you know.
Second or third row back you'remore likely to have.
You were more likely to have anempty seat, you know what
you're right.
Patrick Wiscombe (05:36):
You always look to the right first.
Yeah, so oh how interesting.
Okay, so it's not insidertrading, this is inside seeding
Seeding yeah, so this is how you.
Although that trick is now gone, we do have some news about
Pearl Harbor, specifically fortickets for the USS Arizona
(05:56):
Memorial, that the advancedreservations have been suspended
.
Mark Faldmo (06:00):
We've got details on that Well a few years ago the
Arizona Memorial actually hadsome damage due to shifting, and
so it was closed for a longperiod of time.
It's been open for severalyears now, but they do need to
do some additional renovations,additional work on that.
You used to be able to go in 56days in advance of when you
(06:20):
wanted to go and reserve a timeto go to the Arizona Memorial.
So what they've done issuspended that reservation.
They may open up 24 hoursbefore.
So if you want to go tomorrow,you could look on the site and
see if it's there or just takestandby reservations as spaces
available just when you're therethat day.
So they're not closing thememorial.
(06:42):
They just don't know when it'llactually be open, which hours
of the day, and so they notclosing the memorial.
They just don't know when it'llactually be open, which hours
of the day, and so they'replanning around that.
So you now can't go in well inadvance to reserve your Arizona
memorial.
Patrick Wiscombe (06:54):
Pearl Harbor itself is open.
It's just to the USS Arizona,where you have the iconic that
white.
Mark Faldmo (07:03):
Yeah the white building Platform over the
viewing platform over theArizona.
Patrick Wiscombe (07:09):
Yeah that is special it is.
I was surprised at how alivethe boat was.
It was still leaking oil.
I saw a little softball sizeddrop of oil if that's a drop,
come up and I was like, oh myword, this thing is still
leaking oil.
I was surprised how alive theship was in that regard.
Mark Faldmo (07:28):
It is a great place to visit.
Patrick Wiscombe (07:30):
You have a list of the best domestic
airlines for 2025.
Who are the top airlinesdomestic airlines in this
particular news?
Mark Faldmo (07:43):
story.
First of all, this is from apublication, the Point Sky, and
they do this every year.
They put out the top domesticairlines.
What they look at is 30%reliability, 25% of the score is
experience, 20% is cost andreach and 25% is loyalty.
Patrick Wiscombe (08:03):
When they talk about reach, are you talking
about their network of wherethey fly, correct?
Mark Faldmo (08:08):
Yeah, so.
So pricing and where they fly,okay, Um and so, for the seventh
year in a row, delta Airlineswas number one, which is good
for us here in the Salt Lakemarket, major hub for Delta.
Number two was United Airlines,which is up one spot from last
year.
This one surprised me.
Number three was SouthwestAirlines, which is up two spots,
(08:30):
and then Alaska Airlines wasdown two spots, came in at
number four and HawaiianAirlines up two spots to number
five Delta.
I'm glad to see there.
That was no surprise.
The jump the Southwest madewith all of the talk and
everything that's been happening, that was surprising to me.
Patrick Wiscombe (08:51):
We want you to be part of the show.
If you have travel-relatedquestions, while we are on the
air right now, as you'relistening to us, send us your
travel-related questions, textthem or call them to
801-649-3700.
801-649-3700.
Why do I bring that up?
Well, the destination of theweek, which is always in this
(09:14):
segment, is a question that wastexted to us from Marianne.
In that text she says I want todo something unique in Rome.
What are Mark's recommendations?
Mark Faldmo (09:25):
There are several different ways you can do tours
in Rome.
I have a company I work withthat I love to do.
They have all local tour guidesand they're all private tours,
so the tours are just priced on,usually like one to six people,
maybe one to 10 people.
I'm just priced for the wholetour, and so I really like these
private tours because you get alittle bit more one-on-one, you
(09:48):
get a more in-depth and morelocalized tour In Rome, a tour
that I was looking at.
It's called Ancient Rome, anunderground experience.
This is with a private tour.
You can do this one for up tosix people for about $600 total.
It's a half day tour but itdoes a lot of the typical sites
you would want to see in Rome,like the Forum, the Colosseum,
(10:10):
but then it goes in to someplaces that not a lot of people
go, you know, down into theunderground, into the catacombs
and some of the different partsof Rome that many tourists just
don't go to, and so generallyspeaking.
Patrick Wiscombe (10:24):
You skip all the lines too.
You just go straight to thefront.
Mark Faldmo (10:27):
With a lot of these .
Yes, and so you know thiscompany.
I love working with them.
I have actually they're in Rometoo.
I have a family going to Rome,and so I did a two day tour in
Rome too.
I have a family going to Rome,and so I did a two-day tour in
Rome for them.
So they're with the tour guidethe whole time, just doing
different things before they goget on a cruise.
And one thing I like about thisis the tour guide.
(10:48):
They're flying in actually toRome on Christmas Day, going on
on Christmas Day.
Do you want me to pick them upfrom the airport and take them
to a private cooking class orsomething?
Oh, wow, and so you knowthey'll just do unique things
like this and it's a really goodway to see these destinations.
(11:10):
I like touring of any way, butwhen you can do it with a
private guide, like that ancientRoman underground experience,
it's like $600.
You can do that up to sixpeople, so about $100 a person
to do that, which is as much asa bus tour with 40 other people.
Patrick Wiscombe (11:29):
Yeah, you might as well just do it by
yourself, or you know?
Mark Faldmo (11:32):
minimal number.
Do a private with a privatelocal guide?
Patrick Wiscombe (11:36):
Let me give you out the text in the studio
line.
Right now we're getting a textfrom is this Jacob?
Yeah, it is 801-649-3700,.
801-649-3700 is how you get ahold of the show, either during
the week or while we're on theair.
Jacob wants to go fishing andwhale watching in Cabo, and he
(11:57):
also wants to see Sammy Hagar athis bar.
Yes, yep, okay, I made thatpart up.
Patrick wants to go to SammyHagar's bar.
When is the best time to go?
Is his question.
Mark Faldmo (12:08):
He had two different parts fishing and
whale watching.
Fishing in Cabo.
The best time to go isSeptember through November and
whale watching is Decemberthrough April, so you'll see
whales.
Starting in October the fishingdoes go down.
So when we talk about the deal,I actually looked at a
(12:28):
mid-October date for Jacobfishing in Cabo.
I've not been much for kind ofthat outdoors fishing thing, but
I did go fishing in Cabo once.
We had a company that had afishing and golf tournament, but
by day four all of their peoplewere fished out.
So we had all these fishingboats sitting there.
So I went out by myself withthe boat crew.
(12:50):
They had four lines in thewater.
I caught 20 mahi-mahi in abouttwo hours.
I was so tired and I was likelet's go back.
And I, but you still have threehours left.
So I was like no, let's go back.
And you know Cabo is a reallygood place for fishing because
you know, right there at Land'sEnd it's the continental shelf
(13:14):
that gets deep and so as thecurrent comes in it stirs up all
the food right there, justright outside of Cabo.
So a great place for fishing.
Also about Cabo is the last fewmonths it's really dropped in
prices.
So what I looked at was October15th for five nights for Jacob,
so this is more in the fishingseason than the well-watching
(13:34):
season.
But a four-star at the Vila delPalmer is $999 a person and
that includes airfare right yeah, that's airfare.
That was on United Airlines,the Five Nights Hotel and
transfers, and that also doesinclude that standing promotion.
We've been talking about up to$200 off per reservation.
Patrick Wiscombe (13:56):
Okay, and this includes the $200 off, correct?
This includes?
Mark Faldmo (14:00):
the $200 off, correct?
Okay, yeah, and so you know,but overall this is about $300
lower than what we've seen thesame thing in Cabo previously.
Oh yeah, yep.
And then you know, jumping upto five-star hotels the Rio
Palace Cabo is $1,279.
Probably my pick is the GrandFiesta Americana, which is
(14:22):
$1,689 per person.
That one is kind of up on acliff and the hotel terrace is
down to the beach.
I love the views from there.
I just remember during whaleseason, sitting in my room, I
could just look out and watchthe whales just right out there
from that Grand Fiesta Americana.
Those are all three really goodchoices in Cabo.
Just look out and watch thewhales just right out there from
that Grand Fiesta Americana.
Patrick Wiscombe (14:42):
Those are all three really good choices in
Cabo.
Take advantage of those offers,Jacob.
If you haven't booked italready, call Mark in his office
during the break or when youget a second, no obligation
888-718-7717.
888-718-7717,.
888-718-7717.
And also take advantage,Marianne, about the private
(15:05):
tours in Rome.
You won't be disappointed.
888-718-7717.
When we come back, it is thesegment of the show that we are
famous for.
We just simply call it theinfamous Just Cruising segment,
where it's only about the cruisenews and it's only about cruise
deals.
That is next when the InsideTravel Talk podcast, a radio
(15:26):
show, continues.
Alongside Mark Faldmo, I amPatrick Wiscombe.
Thank you so much for listening.
We will be right back.
Show Voice (15:36):
Taking you to destinations around the world.
The Inside Travel Talk podcastand radio show is presented by
BluePlanetVacations.
com, America's best traveladvisors.
Call or text the show now801-649-3700.
801-649-3700.
Thanks for listening.
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Now back to the Inside Travel Talk podcast and
radio show Presented byblueplanetvacations.
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Call or text the show right now801-649-3700.
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Patrick Wiscombe (16:49):
Here's Patrick Wiscombe and Mark Faldmo oh,
(17:11):
the beautiful ship horn ofNorwegians, aqua, coming up in
this segment of the InsideTravel Talk podcast, a radio
show.
We will be talking aboutcamping and kayaking in
Antarctica.
What does that?
Got to do with cruising,because HX is offering it, and I
(17:32):
saw this headline thatMargaritaville at Sea has
details on their new flagship.
So you and I were onMargaritaville at Sea.
What was it?
It was the Paradise, paradise.
And then they came out with anew flagship called the Islander
, if I've got that correct,that's correct.
(17:52):
And then.
So these are details on theirnew flagship.
I don't know when it comes out.
In fact, let's start there.
What is the name of their newflagship?
I don't know when it comes out.
In fact, let's start there.
What is the name of their newflagship and what details do we
have?
Mark Faldmo (18:02):
Their new ship is going to be the Margaritaville
Beachcomber.
It'll be a refurbished ship.
It was formerly the CostaFortuna, which is a 100,000
gross ton ship.
Ad Voice (18:12):
Oh, big ship it's about.
Mark Faldmo (18:13):
Yeah, it holds about 2,700 passengers.
Right now we just know the nameof it.
We don't know where it's goingto sail or what it's going to do
, but it will have many of theiconic Margaritaville venues,
like Five O'Clock Somewhere, BarCheeseburger in Paradise there
we go, which is awesome Licensedto chill nightclub.
(18:35):
So I'm interested to see wherethat ship is going to sail.
Patrick Wiscombe (18:38):
HX.
Refresh my memory, isn't thatthe more expedition portion of
the company?
Mark Faldmo (18:44):
So it's expedition cruising.
HX is now its own company.
It used to be Hurtigruten andthey are now two fully separate
companies.
They have some reallyinteresting shore excursion
options.
They have some reallyinteresting shore excursion
options In their Antarcticaseason.
(19:05):
They are increasing theirkayaking capacity by 188% and
they're doubling their campingcapacity.
One of the excursions you cando on Hurtigruten in an
Antarctica cruise is they takeyou ashore by Zodiac with
camping equipment and youactually spend the night on
Antarctica.
Oh, see, that I would do in asecond, yeah, and so you know
that's, you know really for theadventure.
But they provide all of theequipment for that a tent,
(19:29):
insulated sleeping mat so theyinclude everything you need.
They do advise, if you're goingto do that, to just make sure
you are responsible for your ownwarm clothing.
That's just a unique experiencethat I would love to do Camp
for a night, and they've offeredthis, but they've not had the
capacity.
It used to be on a lotterysystem, so you would put in your
(19:52):
name and get drawn from a hat.
They still don't have enoughfor the whole ship to do it, but
it's now not a lottery, so it'sjust on a first come, first
serve, because the ship's like200 people and they have like 90
spots for this, so they haveplenty of space for generally
anyone who wants to do it.
Patrick Wiscombe (20:10):
Let's get to the uh, the world's best cruise
line awards for 2025.
Where do you want to start?
Five let's go backwards.
Mark Faldmo (20:18):
This is from Travel and Leisure.
They have a whole bunch ofdifferent categories, but we're
just going to take cruise lineoverall.
Number five is Royal Caribbean.
Patrick Wiscombe (20:28):
Really, there are only five.
I would have thought they wereup there, okay.
Mark Faldmo (20:31):
Yeah yeah.
Number four is Princess Cruises.
You're a big fan of Princesstoo.
I love Princess.
Number three and this is asurprise is Costa Cruise Line,
which is an Italian cruisecompany owned by Carnival
Corporation.
Patrick Wiscombe (20:46):
Yeah, that is a little surprising.
Have you ever sailed?
Mark Faldmo (20:49):
Costa.
I have sailed Costa to theNorwegian fjords, yeah.
Number two is Celebrity.
Oh, dude, I love Celebrity.
And number one is VirginVoyages.
Really, this is their firsttime on this list as number one.
We've talked about VirginVoyages quite a bit.
(21:12):
I think that's a well-deservednumber one spot.
There are a couple surprises onthis list.
The first surprise was Costa.
They typically don't even showup on this list.
They weren't in the top 10 lastyear, so they've done quite a
bit to get up there.
They're very Italian and sothat's what you know.
(21:32):
A lot of Americans cruise on itand it's too European for them.
Number two surprise is thatNorwegian didn't make the top
five.
That's surprising.
Yeah, in a different part ofthis survey where they rated all
the small ships, and even onthis overall, Viking has always
been on that list.
So Viking, for like 10 years ina row, has been the number one
(21:56):
small to midsize cruise line andthey dropped to number three
behind Crystal Cruises andExplorer Journeys.
Patrick Wiscombe (22:03):
Cruise deal of the week, which is always in
this segment of the show.
We just simply call this theinfamous just cruising segment
and during the break, wereceived a text.
From who is this Rachel?
It is Rachel, Rachel.
From who is this Rachel?
(22:24):
It is Rachel, Rachel.
801-649-3700.
801-649-3700 is how you get ahold of the show when we're on
the air, and even when we're offthe air to ask your travel
related questions.
Rachel is asking are there anygood Panama Canal cruises in the
fall?
And the answer is yes,absolutely.
Availability really isn't anissue, so it's a matter of
pretty much when you want to go.
Mark Faldmo (22:44):
October is the best time.
It's when all the ships, allthe cruise lines are sending
their ships from Alaska into theCaribbean, and so there's a lot
of these would be calledrepositioning cruises, although
it is a true Panama Canal, butthey are repositioning the ships
.
You know, I found two One is agood price and one is a good
(23:07):
itinerary.
So the first one is sailing onOctober 11th.
It's a 16-day cruise onCarnival Cruise Lines, on the
Carnival Spirit.
It goes from Seattle to NewOrleans.
It has stops in Cabo San Lucas,Punta Arenas, which is in Costa
Rica, then goes through thePanama Canal to Cartagena,
(23:29):
Colombia, and ends in NewOrleans.
This one starts at $1,079 perperson for an inside cabin or
$1,999 for a balcony cabin.
And that's 16 days.
You say 16 days?
Yeah, so that is you know.
For the inside that's less than$100 a day and for a balcony
(23:52):
it's a little bit over $100 aday.
The next cruise is also aPanama Canal cruise.
This is probably the one Iwould choose just because of the
ports.
It's Los Angeles to FortLauderdale.
It's also 16 days, but itvisits Puerto Vallarta, Huatulco
in Mexico, which is one of myfavorite places, goes to Chiapas
(24:15):
in Mexico and then goes toPunta Arenas in Costa Rica, then
goes to Fort Amador, which ison the Pacific side of the
Panama Canal, so it has a fullday there and then the next day
it goes through the Panama Canal, goes to Curacao and then ends
in Fort Lauderdale.
Actually, the balcony cabin iswhere the deal is on this, so
(24:38):
we'll just go with that.
The balcony cabin is $1949 perperson.
The inside cabin is wayexpensive on this how funny.
So I didn't check that, but thebalcony is actually a little
bit less than that Carnivalcruise.
But that's the one I wouldchoose Again October 27th.
Los Angeles to Fort Lauderdaleand the Panama Canal is a
(25:01):
fascinating cruise itinerary.
You've raved about it for years.
Those places in southern Mexico, I think are just great to
visit.
Patrick Wiscombe (25:10):
Rachel.
I hope that answers yourquestion.
If you have follow-up questions, call Mark in his office as
soon as we get off the air, butif you need to call now for
whatever reason, he will returnyour call.
888-718-7717.
888-718-7717.
Take advantage of those offersGoing to Rome, going to Cabo,
(25:35):
going to go see the fishing andthe whale watching that's for
Jacob, and you can stream,download and subscribe to the
podcast at InsideTravelTalk.
com.
We are on all of the majorpodcast platforms and you can
just go to the websiteInsideTravelTalk.
com to get all the links or justdo a search for Inside Travel
Talk.
Well, our job is done.
(25:58):
Now it's your turn to get outand explore the world while you
can, because you never know whatcurveballs life is going to
throw at you.
We say this each and every weeklive your life deliberately and
live your life intentionally.
Don't let life push you around.
Thank you so much for listening.
We will talk to you again nextweek.
Show Voice (26:20):
That's it.
That's the end of the show.
Thank you so much for listening.
We will talk to you again nextweek.
Call 888-718-7717.
That's 888-718-7717.
Thanks for listening.
Have a great week.
Ad Voice (26:47):
This segment of Inside Travel Talk is sponsored by El
Dorado Spa Resorts.
Escape to Cancun's Riviera Mayawith authentic all-inclusive
luxury at an El Dorado sparesort.
To book your romantic beachgetaway, contact Blue Planet
Vacations at 888-718-7717 orblueplanetvacations.
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It is the weekend, which means it is time
to talk travel.
Welcome to the Inside TravelTalk podcast, a radio show
Coming up.
On today's show, we will betalking about picking your own
seat on Southwest Airlines.
Advanced reservations to go seethe USS Arizona Memorial in
Pearl Harbor have been suspended.
We'll give you the details onthat.
(00:20):
We've got the hot travel dealof the week this week we're
going to Mexico, Cabo San Lucasspecifically.
And we've got hot travel dealof the week this week we're
going to Mexico, Cabo San Lucasspecifically.
And we've got two cruise dealsof the week.
Let's start the show.
The Inside Travel Talk podcastand radio show presented by
BluePlanetVacations.
com contains travel deals,promotions and offers that may
be time sensitive.
All offers and information wereaccurate when the show aired.
(00:43):
Travel deals and offers changeconstantly and are capacity
controlled and subject to changewithout notice.
Show Voice (00:54):
Explore your world.
It's the Inside Travel Talkpodcast and radio show Presented
by BluePlanetVacations.
com.
Call or text the show now801-649-3700, 801-649-3700.
And check out the podcast atinsidetraveltalk.
com.
And now here are your hosts,Patrick Wiscombe and Mark
(01:18):
Welcome to the weekend.
Patrick Wiscombe (01:31):
It is the Inside Travel Talk podcast and
radio show.
Hello there, I'm PatrickWiscombe, alongside Mark Faldmo,
and if you are brand new tothis show, we're going to help
you plan and book your nextvacation, or just give you ideas
of where you may want tovacation next, and we are
presented by BluePlanetVacations.
(01:52):
com.
And just a sincere thank youfor taking the time to stop and
listen and coming up on today'sshow.
We are going to be talkingabout picking your own seat on
Southwest Airlines.
After how many years, mark?
(02:12):
They've never done this beforethat I can recall.
Mark Faldmo (02:17):
Nope, it's just wherever.
Whenever they started, they'vealways had that open seat policy
.
Patrick Wiscombe (02:24):
No more.
We'll tell you how you can takeadvantage of that.
We've also got advancedreservations for the USS Arizona
Memorial, which is in PearlHarbor.
We've got news regarding ticketsales being suspended.
There's a little bit more tothat story.
We'll give you the details.
This week we're headed to Cabo.
We're going to do a little bitof whale watching.
(02:44):
That will be the hot traveldeal of the week, and we've got
two cruise deals of the weekthat you'll want to stick around
for.
But let's get to the travelnews headlines.
Let's start with the bigheadline, Mark.
I think this is great news foranyone who doesn't want to crowd
the gate.
I'm going to say that this isprobably where gate crowding
started with Southwest.
Mark Faldmo (03:05):
Yep Southwest, and then they, through different
measures, they kind of mitigatedthat, where you line up in the
order that you check in,basically.
But now they are startingpre-reserved seat assignments
and that actually starts Tuesday, so July 29th.
If you're booking a flight onthat day for a flight that
departs on January 27th or later, you will be able to choose
(03:28):
seats on those flights.
Patrick Wiscombe (03:29):
Wait, did you say January 27th?
Mark Faldmo (03:32):
Yes, so reservations go on sale.
To choose your seats on July29th, next Tuesday.
Got it For flights on January27th or later?
Okay, so, basically six monthsfrom now, roughly Six months,
and Southwest usually releasestheir schedules in six to eight
month increments, so this istheir regular release of their
(03:52):
winter schedule.
Patrick Wiscombe (03:54):
This will be welcome news that you can just
pick your seat.
Is there going to be any openseating or is this just hey?
We're going to assign you aseat now, for everyone.
Mark Faldmo (04:02):
Well, everyone will assign a seat, but they do have
kind of gone the way of otherairlines.
So they have a basic fare,which you do not get a
complimentary seat until youcheck in or get to the gate.
And then they have choice fare,which will be where you get to
choose a seat preferred, whichwill be seats closer to the
(04:23):
front of the airplane, and thenchoice extra will be the extra
leg room.
So they have four differentkind of seat choices there.
Patrick Wiscombe (04:33):
Such great news because it was chaotic
around the gate.
This is just a welcome changefor anyone flying Southwest.
Mark Faldmo (04:41):
Unless you figured out how to game the system like
me.
Hold on.
How did you do it?
Well, a few years ago withsouthwest vacations, kind of on
a committee, there was someflight attendants and we had
them for like three months trackall the empty seats on the
airplane, and so we found outthat the second to last row on
(05:04):
the right side of the airplane,the middle seat, was the most
likely to be empty.
So that's where I would alwayssit, and it does work on
occasion to get no one sittingthere, because when it starts
getting full, people take allthe empty seats ahead of that,
and then if they're going to theback of the plane, they always
look to the right for a seat.
(05:25):
So that's true.
You're on the on the left sideof the seat that you know.
Second or third row back you'remore likely to have.
You were more likely to have anempty seat, you know what
you're right.
Patrick Wiscombe (05:36):
You always look to the right first.
Yeah, so oh how interesting.
Okay, so it's not insidertrading, this is inside seeding
Seeding yeah, so this is how you.
Although that trick is now gone, we do have some news about
Pearl Harbor, specifically fortickets for the USS Arizona
(05:56):
Memorial, that the advancedreservations have been suspended
.
Mark Faldmo (06:00):
We've got details on that Well a few years ago the
Arizona Memorial actually hadsome damage due to shifting, and
so it was closed for a longperiod of time.
It's been open for severalyears now, but they do need to
do some additional renovations,additional work on that.
You used to be able to go in 56days in advance of when you
(06:20):
wanted to go and reserve a timeto go to the Arizona Memorial.
So what they've done issuspended that reservation.
They may open up 24 hoursbefore.
So if you want to go tomorrow,you could look on the site and
see if it's there or just takestandby reservations as spaces
available just when you're therethat day.
So they're not closing thememorial.
(06:42):
They just don't know when it'llactually be open, which hours
of the day, and so they notclosing the memorial.
They just don't know when it'llactually be open, which hours
of the day, and so they'replanning around that.
So you now can't go in well inadvance to reserve your Arizona
memorial.
Patrick Wiscombe (06:54):
Pearl Harbor itself is open.
It's just to the USS Arizona,where you have the iconic that
white.
Mark Faldmo (07:03):
Yeah the white building Platform over the
viewing platform over theArizona.
Patrick Wiscombe (07:09):
Yeah that is special it is.
I was surprised at how alivethe boat was.
It was still leaking oil.
I saw a little softball sizeddrop of oil if that's a drop,
come up and I was like, oh myword, this thing is still
leaking oil.
I was surprised how alive theship was in that regard.
Mark Faldmo (07:28):
It is a great place to visit.
Patrick Wiscombe (07:30):
You have a list of the best domestic
airlines for 2025.
Who are the top airlinesdomestic airlines in this
particular news?
Mark Faldmo (07:43):
story.
First of all, this is from apublication, the Point Sky, and
they do this every year.
They put out the top domesticairlines.
What they look at is 30%reliability, 25% of the score is
experience, 20% is cost andreach and 25% is loyalty.
Patrick Wiscombe (08:03):
When they talk about reach, are you talking
about their network of wherethey fly, correct?
Mark Faldmo (08:08):
Yeah, so.
So pricing and where they fly,okay, Um and so, for the seventh
year in a row, delta Airlineswas number one, which is good
for us here in the Salt Lakemarket, major hub for Delta.
Number two was United Airlines,which is up one spot from last
year.
This one surprised me.
Number three was SouthwestAirlines, which is up two spots,
(08:30):
and then Alaska Airlines wasdown two spots, came in at
number four and HawaiianAirlines up two spots to number
five Delta.
I'm glad to see there.
That was no surprise.
The jump the Southwest madewith all of the talk and
everything that's been happening, that was surprising to me.
Patrick Wiscombe (08:51):
We want you to be part of the show.
If you have travel-relatedquestions, while we are on the
air right now, as you'relistening to us, send us your
travel-related questions, textthem or call them to
801-649-3700.
801-649-3700.
Why do I bring that up?
Well, the destination of theweek, which is always in this
(09:14):
segment, is a question that wastexted to us from Marianne.
In that text she says I want todo something unique in Rome.
What are Mark's recommendations?
Mark Faldmo (09:25):
There are several different ways you can do tours
in Rome.
I have a company I work withthat I love to do.
They have all local tour guidesand they're all private tours,
so the tours are just priced on,usually like one to six people,
maybe one to 10 people.
I'm just priced for the wholetour, and so I really like these
private tours because you get alittle bit more one-on-one, you
(09:48):
get a more in-depth and morelocalized tour In Rome, a tour
that I was looking at.
It's called Ancient Rome, anunderground experience.
This is with a private tour.
You can do this one for up tosix people for about $600 total.
It's a half day tour but itdoes a lot of the typical sites
you would want to see in Rome,like the Forum, the Colosseum,
(10:10):
but then it goes in to someplaces that not a lot of people
go, you know, down into theunderground, into the catacombs
and some of the different partsof Rome that many tourists just
don't go to, and so generallyspeaking.
Patrick Wiscombe (10:24):
You skip all the lines too.
You just go straight to thefront.
Mark Faldmo (10:27):
With a lot of these .
Yes, and so you know thiscompany.
I love working with them.
I have actually they're in Rometoo.
I have a family going to Rome,and so I did a two day tour in
Rome too.
I have a family going to Rome,and so I did a two-day tour in
Rome for them.
So they're with the tour guidethe whole time, just doing
different things before they goget on a cruise.
And one thing I like about thisis the tour guide.
(10:48):
They're flying in actually toRome on Christmas Day, going on
on Christmas Day.
Do you want me to pick them upfrom the airport and take them
to a private cooking class orsomething?
Oh, wow, and so you knowthey'll just do unique things
like this and it's a really goodway to see these destinations.
(11:10):
I like touring of any way, butwhen you can do it with a
private guide, like that ancientRoman underground experience,
it's like $600.
You can do that up to sixpeople, so about $100 a person
to do that, which is as much asa bus tour with 40 other people.
Patrick Wiscombe (11:29):
Yeah, you might as well just do it by
yourself, or you know?
Mark Faldmo (11:32):
minimal number.
Do a private with a privatelocal guide?
Patrick Wiscombe (11:36):
Let me give you out the text in the studio
line.
Right now we're getting a textfrom is this Jacob?
Yeah, it is 801-649-3700,.
801-649-3700 is how you get ahold of the show, either during
the week or while we're on theair.
Jacob wants to go fishing andwhale watching in Cabo, and he
(11:57):
also wants to see Sammy Hagar athis bar.
Yes, yep, okay, I made thatpart up.
Patrick wants to go to SammyHagar's bar.
When is the best time to go?
Is his question.
Mark Faldmo (12:08):
He had two different parts fishing and
whale watching.
Fishing in Cabo.
The best time to go isSeptember through November and
whale watching is Decemberthrough April, so you'll see
whales.
Starting in October the fishingdoes go down.
So when we talk about the deal,I actually looked at a
(12:28):
mid-October date for Jacobfishing in Cabo.
I've not been much for kind ofthat outdoors fishing thing, but
I did go fishing in Cabo once.
We had a company that had afishing and golf tournament, but
by day four all of their peoplewere fished out.
So we had all these fishingboats sitting there.
So I went out by myself withthe boat crew.
(12:50):
They had four lines in thewater.
I caught 20 mahi-mahi in abouttwo hours.
I was so tired and I was likelet's go back.
And I, but you still have threehours left.
So I was like no, let's go back.
And you know Cabo is a reallygood place for fishing because
you know, right there at Land'sEnd it's the continental shelf
(13:14):
that gets deep and so as thecurrent comes in it stirs up all
the food right there, justright outside of Cabo.
So a great place for fishing.
Also about Cabo is the last fewmonths it's really dropped in
prices.
So what I looked at was October15th for five nights for Jacob,
so this is more in the fishingseason than the well-watching
(13:34):
season.
But a four-star at the Vila delPalmer is $999 a person and
that includes airfare right yeah, that's airfare.
That was on United Airlines,the Five Nights Hotel and
transfers, and that also doesinclude that standing promotion.
We've been talking about up to$200 off per reservation.
Patrick Wiscombe (13:56):
Okay, and this includes the $200 off, correct?
This includes?
Mark Faldmo (14:00):
the $200 off, correct?
Okay, yeah, and so you know,but overall this is about $300
lower than what we've seen thesame thing in Cabo previously.
Oh yeah, yep.
And then you know, jumping upto five-star hotels the Rio
Palace Cabo is $1,279.
Probably my pick is the GrandFiesta Americana, which is
(14:22):
$1,689 per person.
That one is kind of up on acliff and the hotel terrace is
down to the beach.
I love the views from there.
I just remember during whaleseason, sitting in my room, I
could just look out and watchthe whales just right out there
from that Grand Fiesta Americana.
Those are all three really goodchoices in Cabo.
Just look out and watch thewhales just right out there from
that Grand Fiesta Americana.
Patrick Wiscombe (14:42):
Those are all three really good choices in
Cabo.
Take advantage of those offers,Jacob.
If you haven't booked italready, call Mark in his office
during the break or when youget a second, no obligation
888-718-7717.
888-718-7717,.
888-718-7717.
And also take advantage,Marianne, about the private
(15:05):
tours in Rome.
You won't be disappointed.
888-718-7717.
When we come back, it is thesegment of the show that we are
famous for.
We just simply call it theinfamous Just Cruising segment,
where it's only about the cruisenews and it's only about cruise
deals.
That is next when the InsideTravel Talk podcast, a radio
(15:26):
show, continues.
Alongside Mark Faldmo, I amPatrick Wiscombe.
Thank you so much for listening.
We will be right back.
Show Voice (15:36):
Taking you to destinations around the world.
The Inside Travel Talk podcastand radio show is presented by
BluePlanetVacations.
com, America's best traveladvisors.
Call or text the show now801-649-3700.
801-649-3700.
Thanks for listening.
Ad Voice (16:03):
We'll be right back Inside.
Travel Talk is brought to youby anna.
Waterways, from castles andcapitals to vistas and villages
visit some of Europe's mostremarkable sites and cities to
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Show Voice (16:28):
Now back to the Inside Travel Talk podcast and
radio show Presented byblueplanetvacations.
com, America's best traveladvisors.
Call or text the show right now801-649-3700.
801-649-3700.
And check out the podcast atInsideTravelTalk.
com.
Patrick Wiscombe (16:49):
Here's Patrick Wiscombe and Mark Faldmo oh,
(17:11):
the beautiful ship horn ofNorwegians, aqua, coming up in
this segment of the InsideTravel Talk podcast, a radio
show.
We will be talking aboutcamping and kayaking in
Antarctica.
What does that?
Got to do with cruising,because HX is offering it, and I
(17:32):
saw this headline thatMargaritaville at Sea has
details on their new flagship.
So you and I were onMargaritaville at Sea.
What was it?
It was the Paradise, paradise.
And then they came out with anew flagship called the Islander
, if I've got that correct,that's correct.
(17:52):
And then.
So these are details on theirnew flagship.
I don't know when it comes out.
In fact, let's start there.
What is the name of their newflagship?
I don't know when it comes out.
In fact, let's start there.
What is the name of their newflagship and what details do we
have?
Mark Faldmo (18:02):
Their new ship is going to be the Margaritaville
Beachcomber.
It'll be a refurbished ship.
It was formerly the CostaFortuna, which is a 100,000
gross ton ship.
Ad Voice (18:12):
Oh, big ship it's about.
Mark Faldmo (18:13):
Yeah, it holds about 2,700 passengers.
Right now we just know the nameof it.
We don't know where it's goingto sail or what it's going to do
, but it will have many of theiconic Margaritaville venues,
like Five O'Clock Somewhere, BarCheeseburger in Paradise there
we go, which is awesome Licensedto chill nightclub.
(18:35):
So I'm interested to see wherethat ship is going to sail.
Patrick Wiscombe (18:38):
HX.
Refresh my memory, isn't thatthe more expedition portion of
the company?
Mark Faldmo (18:44):
So it's expedition cruising.
HX is now its own company.
It used to be Hurtigruten andthey are now two fully separate
companies.
They have some reallyinteresting shore excursion
options.
They have some reallyinteresting shore excursion
options In their Antarcticaseason.
(19:05):
They are increasing theirkayaking capacity by 188% and
they're doubling their campingcapacity.
One of the excursions you cando on Hurtigruten in an
Antarctica cruise is they takeyou ashore by Zodiac with
camping equipment and youactually spend the night on
Antarctica.
Oh, see, that I would do in asecond, yeah, and so you know
that's, you know really for theadventure.
But they provide all of theequipment for that a tent,
(19:29):
insulated sleeping mat so theyinclude everything you need.
They do advise, if you're goingto do that, to just make sure
you are responsible for your ownwarm clothing.
That's just a unique experiencethat I would love to do Camp
for a night, and they've offeredthis, but they've not had the
capacity.
It used to be on a lotterysystem, so you would put in your
(19:52):
name and get drawn from a hat.
They still don't have enoughfor the whole ship to do it, but
it's now not a lottery, so it'sjust on a first come, first
serve, because the ship's like200 people and they have like 90
spots for this, so they haveplenty of space for generally
anyone who wants to do it.
Patrick Wiscombe (20:10):
Let's get to the uh, the world's best cruise
line awards for 2025.
Where do you want to start?
Five let's go backwards.
Mark Faldmo (20:18):
This is from Travel and Leisure.
They have a whole bunch ofdifferent categories, but we're
just going to take cruise lineoverall.
Number five is Royal Caribbean.
Patrick Wiscombe (20:28):
Really, there are only five.
I would have thought they wereup there, okay.
Mark Faldmo (20:31):
Yeah yeah.
Number four is Princess Cruises.
You're a big fan of Princesstoo.
I love Princess.
Number three and this is asurprise is Costa Cruise Line,
which is an Italian cruisecompany owned by Carnival
Corporation.
Patrick Wiscombe (20:46):
Yeah, that is a little surprising.
Have you ever sailed?
Mark Faldmo (20:49):
Costa.
I have sailed Costa to theNorwegian fjords, yeah.
Number two is Celebrity.
Oh, dude, I love Celebrity.
And number one is VirginVoyages.
Really, this is their firsttime on this list as number one.
We've talked about VirginVoyages quite a bit.
(21:12):
I think that's a well-deservednumber one spot.
There are a couple surprises onthis list.
The first surprise was Costa.
They typically don't even showup on this list.
They weren't in the top 10 lastyear, so they've done quite a
bit to get up there.
They're very Italian and sothat's what you know.
(21:32):
A lot of Americans cruise on itand it's too European for them.
Number two surprise is thatNorwegian didn't make the top
five.
That's surprising.
Yeah, in a different part ofthis survey where they rated all
the small ships, and even onthis overall, Viking has always
been on that list.
So Viking, for like 10 years ina row, has been the number one
(21:56):
small to midsize cruise line andthey dropped to number three
behind Crystal Cruises andExplorer Journeys.
Patrick Wiscombe (22:03):
Cruise deal of the week, which is always in
this segment of the show.
We just simply call this theinfamous just cruising segment
and during the break, wereceived a text.
From who is this Rachel?
It is Rachel, Rachel.
From who is this Rachel?
(22:24):
It is Rachel, Rachel.
801-649-3700.
801-649-3700 is how you get ahold of the show when we're on
the air, and even when we're offthe air to ask your travel
related questions.
Rachel is asking are there anygood Panama Canal cruises in the
fall?
And the answer is yes,absolutely.
Availability really isn't anissue, so it's a matter of
pretty much when you want to go.
Mark Faldmo (22:44):
October is the best time.
It's when all the ships, allthe cruise lines are sending
their ships from Alaska into theCaribbean, and so there's a lot
of these would be calledrepositioning cruises, although
it is a true Panama Canal, butthey are repositioning the ships
.
You know, I found two One is agood price and one is a good
(23:07):
itinerary.
So the first one is sailing onOctober 11th.
It's a 16-day cruise onCarnival Cruise Lines, on the
Carnival Spirit.
It goes from Seattle to NewOrleans.
It has stops in Cabo San Lucas,Punta Arenas, which is in Costa
Rica, then goes through thePanama Canal to Cartagena,
(23:29):
Colombia, and ends in NewOrleans.
This one starts at $1,079 perperson for an inside cabin or
$1,999 for a balcony cabin.
And that's 16 days.
You say 16 days?
Yeah, so that is you know.
For the inside that's less than$100 a day and for a balcony
(23:52):
it's a little bit over $100 aday.
The next cruise is also aPanama Canal cruise.
This is probably the one Iwould choose just because of the
ports.
It's Los Angeles to FortLauderdale.
It's also 16 days, but itvisits Puerto Vallarta, Huatulco
in Mexico, which is one of myfavorite places, goes to Chiapas
(24:15):
in Mexico and then goes toPunta Arenas in Costa Rica, then
goes to Fort Amador, which ison the Pacific side of the
Panama Canal, so it has a fullday there and then the next day
it goes through the Panama Canal, goes to Curacao and then ends
in Fort Lauderdale.
Actually, the balcony cabin iswhere the deal is on this, so
(24:38):
we'll just go with that.
The balcony cabin is $1949 perperson.
The inside cabin is wayexpensive on this how funny.
So I didn't check that, but thebalcony is actually a little
bit less than that Carnivalcruise.
But that's the one I wouldchoose Again October 27th.
Los Angeles to Fort Lauderdaleand the Panama Canal is a
(25:01):
fascinating cruise itinerary.
You've raved about it for years.
Those places in southern Mexico, I think are just great to
visit.
Patrick Wiscombe (25:10):
Rachel.
I hope that answers yourquestion.
If you have follow-up questions, call Mark in his office as
soon as we get off the air, butif you need to call now for
whatever reason, he will returnyour call.
888-718-7717.
888-718-7717.
Take advantage of those offersGoing to Rome, going to Cabo,
(25:35):
going to go see the fishing andthe whale watching that's for
Jacob, and you can stream,download and subscribe to the
podcast at InsideTravelTalk.
com.
We are on all of the majorpodcast platforms and you can
just go to the websiteInsideTravelTalk.
com to get all the links or justdo a search for Inside Travel
Talk.
Well, our job is done.
(25:58):
Now it's your turn to get outand explore the world while you
can, because you never know whatcurveballs life is going to
throw at you.
We say this each and every weeklive your life deliberately and
live your life intentionally.
Don't let life push you around.
Thank you so much for listening.
We will talk to you again nextweek.
Show Voice (26:20):
That's it.
That's the end of the show.
Thank you so much for listening.
We will talk to you again nextweek.
Call 888-718-7717.
That's 888-718-7717.
Thanks for listening.
Have a great week.
Ad Voice (26:47):
This segment of Inside Travel Talk is sponsored by El
Dorado Spa Resorts.
Escape to Cancun's Riviera Mayawith authentic all-inclusive
luxury at an El Dorado sparesort.
To book your romantic beachgetaway, contact Blue Planet
Vacations at 888-718-7717 orblueplanetvacations.
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