The Travel Show: History of the Taj Mahal; Alaska 2026

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Show.

Speaker 2 (00:00):
I'm Larry Gelwick's the Getaway Guru, now in my thirty
fourth year hosting the Travel show, and you really are
the star of the show. Without you, we don't have
a show. I'm pleased to welcome to the show. Wendy Fracki,
a group department manager at Morris Columbus Travel.

Speaker 1 (00:19):
Wendy, welcome to the show.

Speaker 3 (00:21):
Thank you. It is always so fun to be back.
It's been too many weeks.

Speaker 1 (00:24):
It really has.

Speaker 4 (00:25):
You know.

Speaker 2 (00:25):
We got a great show today, a blockbuster announcement that'll
be here in the first segment. We're going to be
talking today about the history of the taj Mahal, the
benefits of group travel that are unique to Morris Murdoch
escorted tourists, why you should never throw away your airline
boarding passage and no no no, and how to get

(00:47):
the best foreign currency exchange rate, and things to watch
out for, an update on Spirit Airlines bankruptcy, what to
do on a rainy day in a wh and Honolulu,
and is the drink package on cruise lines worth the price?
All that and more on today's Travel Show Now.

Speaker 3 (01:11):
Wendy, Yes, sir.

Speaker 2 (01:13):
The show sponsored by Morris Columbus Travel, will you always
travel more and pay less.

Speaker 3 (01:18):
They're my favorite.

Speaker 2 (01:20):
Imagine that. I'd like to welcome to the show. Emily States,
marketing director for Morris Columbus Travel. Emily, Welcome to the show.

Speaker 5 (01:32):
Thanks so much. Larry and Wendy. Nice to talk to you.

Speaker 2 (01:35):
It's great to have you with us. Now I'm going
to let you make the blockbuster announcement, maybe the biggest
announcement of the year.

Speaker 3 (01:45):
Go ahead, Wow, what an honor.

Speaker 5 (01:47):
You know. Next week we are so excited to have
our new Fall Travel Expo. We are adding to our big,
big show in January and bringing some of the love
up north to our folks in Davis and Counties and
all the Weaver counties. So we're excited.

Speaker 2 (02:03):
You know, many people will remember a travel expo at
the Davis Conference Center in Layton was sponsored by Columbus
Travel pre merger of Morris and Columbus. Now, of course
the company is Morris Columbus. Now, folks, you are already
aware and you remember well the excitement of the winter

(02:26):
travel expos sponsored by Morris Columbus Travel in Saint George,
which will be in and Salt like they'll both be
back this January. Saint George is January twenty first a Wednesday,
and Salt Lake at the Mountain America Expo Center is
Friday and Saturday, January twenty third and twenty fourth. But

(02:48):
since the merger Emily, we haven't had a Davis County,
which is welcome anybody, but northern Utah, southern n Idaho.
It's perfect. So this is going to be one day
free admission. Tell us what to expect and where it's at.

Speaker 5 (03:06):
You know, you can expect all the great things that
we have at the January show. We're going to have
tons of travel vendors, airlines, cruise lines, tour providers, safari companies,
all the greats, and about fifty or more of those.
We'll do information seminars and of course our prize giveaways.
We're giving away cruises and airline tickets, and our advisors

(03:30):
are going to be their booking travel on the spot.
And the specials that our travel providers are so generously
offering for the show, you can take advantage of those
and book your next trip right there at the show.

Speaker 2 (03:40):
You know, what's really great is the exclusive expo discounts.

Speaker 1 (03:48):
You know, and I'll give you an example.

Speaker 2 (03:53):
We've talked about a some river cruises. Well, on some
of our group cruise is Wendy. We have rates that
are anywhere from four to five six hundred dollars below
if you bought it directly from the river cruise company,

(04:13):
up to over eight thousand dollars less, same day, same cruise,
but it's a travel expo discount. Now you mentioned some
prize giveaways. I have a question for you, Emily, Yeah,
may I draw the winner?

Speaker 5 (04:32):
You know, Larry? There's something about that that just I
don't know. At a little warning ding going off my head.

Speaker 1 (04:39):
I would go ding ding.

Speaker 2 (04:40):
I mean if just purely by chance, I drew the
name Larry Gelwicks, would anybody question that?

Speaker 5 (04:49):
I would question that. You know, Kathy Gelwicks, you can
drop Kathy Kelwick, but Larry Gelwicks. I draw the line
at that.

Speaker 2 (04:55):
Okay, tell us about someone name some of the vendors.
These are airline lines, tour companies, resorts, cruise lines, so farca,
just tell us some of the vendors that are going
to be there.

Speaker 5 (05:07):
Yeah. Absolutely, We've got all of our big cruise names,
Royal Caribbean, Norwegian Celebrity, Alma, Waterways, Viking. Yeah, a lot
of cruises coming, Princess is coming for sure, We've got
African Travel and Delta Vacations will be there for sure.
We have some of our local friends in, like the

(05:29):
Las Vegas Tourism Board is coming. That'll be fun. And
then we've got some you know, more excursion heavy ones
like Lynn Blad Cruises and some some tour companies that
go up to the Alps into uh, some really unique.

Speaker 3 (05:48):
I think people are going to be there for all
the people to talk about new and exciting destinations.

Speaker 1 (05:54):
So Emily I am.

Speaker 2 (05:56):
I am Joe the Plumber, okay, and I you know
I I love to travel and I come to the expo.
The crew say, the cruise lines are there. What does
that mean for me? What can I do? Talking to
say a cruise representative, that's a great question.

Speaker 5 (06:18):
Well, so these people are the experts in their fields.
They know the ins and outs of their product. So
if you've been wondering, like if you if you've been
planning to go on a cruise and you're wondering what
you know, what's the difference between these different lines, this
is the time to talk to those experts figure out
what the specific highlights of each line is or you know,

(06:40):
if you have been considering a destination, but you you
want to know the details, this is the time to
talk to the experts that know everything back forward to
really get all the information there.

Speaker 2 (06:53):
You know, it's really nice because what folks, what you
can do is you can sit down with airlines, cruise line, hotels, resorts,
make a list of questions. Is this the right vacation
for me? Is this the right trip for my friends?

Speaker 3 (07:08):
The right time to go?

Speaker 1 (07:09):
What's the best? Yeah? The best time to go?

Speaker 2 (07:12):
For example, in Hawaii, I'm asked all the time, when
is it best to go to Hawaii? You know, I
tell them the honest truth, anytime starting January the first
through December thirty first.

Speaker 3 (07:25):
Well, and if there's something specific, if it's like I
want to be there when the Wells are there, you
know that's only a window.

Speaker 1 (07:32):
Why are you looking at me when you say where?

Speaker 3 (07:36):
Well? Season is not when Larry Gelwicks is there, but
it is what January to March? Isn't that the windows
in Hawaii?

Speaker 2 (07:43):
Yeah, you're really living January, February and March. Then they
head north to Alaska and we see them in Alaska.

Speaker 3 (07:50):
You know, So if you're following the wells. You need
to talk to the vendors to find out for sure.
And it's not Larry Gowick, thank you, but you could ask.

Speaker 1 (07:58):
But folks, that's real.

Speaker 2 (08:00):
It's really helpful that you can sit down with airlines,
cruise lines, talk to their sales representative, their business development managers,
hotels and resorts and get very specific and then ask, hey,
what special expo promotion do you have Right now? Some
of the cruise lines are offering free air, third and

(08:23):
fourth person sale, free free drinks, free gratuities. It varies
by cruise line.

Speaker 3 (08:30):
They like that word free.

Speaker 1 (08:31):
I love that word free.

Speaker 3 (08:32):
I tell you last year or actually just in January.
One of the best conversations I think I overheard was
a family sitting down and they said, we've got three children.
We need a cabin with five for five people, and
they were so patient they walked through all the different
options for them. And I think those are again the
kind of questions that you can go Some cruise lines

(08:55):
can do five, others cannot.

Speaker 1 (08:57):
Some cruise lines can do eight in the.

Speaker 3 (08:59):
Cab, yes, depending on the size of suite you go to.

Speaker 1 (09:02):
That's right, and that's very sweet of you. Thank you.
Very much. Now.

Speaker 2 (09:06):
This is Saturday one day event, free admission Saturday, a
week from today, October eighteenth, and we will be broadcasting
live from the Davis Conference Center in Leyton. And where
do I get information online?

Speaker 5 (09:23):
Emily, You can head to Utah Travel Expo dot com.
We've got all the details.

Speaker 2 (09:28):
There Utah Travel Expo dot com. Folks, don't just don't
miss this one. The Utah Travel Expos sponsored by Morris
Columbus Travel, Utah Travel Expo dot com, Utah Travel Expo
dot com. And as a special bonus, John Potter aka
Pluto has promised me that he would be wearing his

(09:52):
Pluto hat.

Speaker 3 (09:53):
Oh that poor man.

Speaker 1 (09:55):
I actually made him commit. So you can go up
and harass I heard.

Speaker 3 (10:00):
I am a witness, you.

Speaker 2 (10:01):
Heard it, Emily States, the marketing director for Morris Columbus Travel.

Speaker 1 (10:07):
Thank you for joining us here on the Travel Show.

Speaker 5 (10:11):
Thank you.

Speaker 1 (10:12):
Hey.

Speaker 2 (10:13):
When we come back, I want to talk to you
about the history, absolutely fascinating of the taj Mahal. That's
one of those places, along with say the Grand Palace
in Bangkok and a sunrise in Tahiti, that it would
be worth the trip if you went.

Speaker 1 (10:32):
All the way.

Speaker 2 (10:32):
But I'm thinking about doing something in India, and I'm
going to tell you all about it here on the
Travel Show.

Speaker 1 (10:50):
You're listening to the Travel Show.

Speaker 2 (10:51):
Thank you for joining us this weekend and every weekend
at this time on this very station where we love travel.
I've told you before or that I get absolutely giddy
when I come down to the studio and can share
travel with you, whether you're an active traveler or an
armchair traveler. Thank you for joining us, Wendy. I did

(11:17):
a tour in November that I'm looking for it.

Speaker 1 (11:20):
To come back.

Speaker 2 (11:22):
Actually, I think last year I had eleven tours that
I hosted a lot. I am out of the country
about half the year, just one step ahead of the law.
And you know, I've told you my philosophy of Kathy
and I. Whatever it is you want to do in life, family, church, community, travel, education,

(11:46):
do it while you can, and go while you can.
We all know people that there's been some life event
them on that person, their spouse, their children, their finances,
the retirement.

Speaker 1 (12:00):
Something happens, not a bad day, Wendy.

Speaker 2 (12:03):
Right, but it's like it's a life altering event and
suddenly they cannot do all these things that they dreamed
of doing.

Speaker 3 (12:13):
There is nothing harder than hearing that on a conversation
with somebody I could.

Speaker 1 (12:17):
Fill the show with. People said, you know, we waited,
and we waited.

Speaker 3 (12:21):
This was always the trip. My husband wanted to do something.

Speaker 2 (12:25):
Now last November and I've been looking hoping that Royal
Caribbean or somebody brings it back. We sailed with Royal
Caribbean is. We started in Dubai, visiting the United Arab Emirates.
People said, don't you worry about Gaza, It's one thousand,
six hundred and sixty three miles from Gaza. No, it's

(12:46):
you are more safe in Dubai than you are in
Salt Lake City. Seriously. And then we sailed the Arab Peninsula.
We spent three days in India on through the Bay
of Bengal to Thailand, to Malaysia and Singapore.

Speaker 3 (13:04):
It was an epic journey.

Speaker 2 (13:06):
And we visited in India the taj Mahal in Agra
and now I've been India before, I've been to the
taj Mahal before, but it is stunning. Many people said,
is why I came on this trip. And it's much
bigger than it looks in photographs.

Speaker 3 (13:26):
Oh, it's one of those new wonders of the world,
right it was. It has that title and it is.
It's a bucket listing. And I've never had the pleasure,
but I'll tell you it is high on my list.

Speaker 1 (13:39):
It's about four hundred years old.

Speaker 3 (13:41):
That so hopfu Litt'll be there when I get around
to get.

Speaker 1 (13:43):
In there very much, you know.

Speaker 2 (13:45):
The taj Mahall is considered one of the most beautiful
buildings in the world. It's, as I mentioned, located in
the city of Agra, which is in northern India. A
ruler named Shah Jahan had the taj Mahal built as
a monument and tomb for his beloved wife, Mumtaz Mahal.

Speaker 1 (14:07):
Shan Jahal, by the way, was the.

Speaker 2 (14:09):
Muslim ruler of the Mugul Empire in India from sixteen
twenty eight to sixteen fifty two. But the story of
the traj Mahal really is an eternal love story dating
back to the year sixteen o seven, before Shah Jahan
was the emperor. So in the year sixteen oh seven,

(14:32):
Shah Jahan was walking down the Menna Bazaar when his
eyes you gotta love this story, his eyes caught sight
of a girl selling silk and glass beads. It was
love at first sight for Shah Jahan and the girl
hawking the beads was none other than Mumtaz Mahal. She

(14:54):
was a Persian princess who was fifteen years old at
the time. Now, what makes this story so great is
Shah Jahan was not forty fifty or sixty.

Speaker 1 (15:05):
He was fourteen.

Speaker 2 (15:08):
This is like a junior high or say a high
school romance. It was absolute love at first sight. So
the Emperor gave his nod for the match in the
year sixteen twelve. Now that meant now Shah was nineteen

(15:29):
and Mumtaz was twenty.

Speaker 1 (15:30):
That sounds a little bit better, you know.

Speaker 2 (15:33):
Anyway, the taj Mahal stands as a depiction of love
which Shahjahan had for his wife and who died in childbirth.
She gave birth to nineteen children. Now I know you
loved her, Shadjahan, but come on, anyway, it was built

(15:54):
in her memory and her untimely death. She died in
sixteen twenty one in postpartum hemorrhaging. Very sad and give
excuse me not nineteen fourteenth child? See that a little
bit matter a little bit better.

Speaker 1 (16:10):
Well.

Speaker 2 (16:10):
The building of the taj Mahll began in sixteen thirty two.
The color is kind of interesting. The color changes during
the day. It changes from white to pink to golden
depending on the weather and the sun. The taj Maahall
is known for its symmetry, with the same designs on

(16:31):
both sides and the minarets. There are four minarets. What's
interesting they don't go straight up. They lean ever so
slightly outward to protect the main monument in case of
an earthquake or disaster. The construction took over twenty two
thousand laborers and they built with white marble brought from Deli.

Speaker 1 (16:54):
Now that's quite a hall.

Speaker 2 (16:56):
Yeah, and over one thousand elephants were involved.

Speaker 1 (17:00):
It's a great story.

Speaker 2 (17:01):
So here's what I've just been thinking aut I've been
thinking about doing an India tour including Bhutan spelled b
h u t a n oh app.

Speaker 3 (17:12):
It's amazing.

Speaker 1 (17:12):
It is like stepping back in time.

Speaker 2 (17:16):
It's a Himalayan kingdom, perfectly safe. And then maybe an
option to Nipaul the foothills of the Himalayas. Wow, I listen, folks,
there is no tour right now I'm thinking about it.
I would be very happy if you think this is
something you might be interested that would encourage me to

(17:38):
organize it.

Speaker 1 (17:40):
Call the group department. What's the number of the group department.

Speaker 3 (17:43):
They can call eight oh one for eight three six
three six three and that would get them to the
first available group agent and they could just just tell
him that, Hey, Larry asked this question.

Speaker 2 (17:56):
We want to get you shooting off his mouth again, hey,
or if you could just email groups at Morris Murdoch
dot com. Yes, so, I'm just thinking about this. You know,
the travel advisors don't even know.

Speaker 3 (18:12):
About this is an unofficial poll.

Speaker 1 (18:14):
I just kind of find out.

Speaker 2 (18:15):
Hey, when you come back, Wendy's gonna talk to us
about the benefits of group travel with Morris Murdoch Escorted Tours.

Speaker 1 (18:39):
Welcome back to the Travel Show. You know.

Speaker 2 (18:42):
Wendy Frakier, our group department manager at Morris Columbus Travel,
joins me on the Travel Show today.

Speaker 1 (18:48):
And Wendy, something I've.

Speaker 2 (18:50):
Often thought about is the difference between a traveler and
a tourist.

Speaker 1 (18:57):
And both are okay, both are.

Speaker 3 (18:59):
Wonderful, They're right for the right destination.

Speaker 2 (19:02):
It's a mindset where there's a little bit of safe adventure,
wanted to see new things. I think if I go
to Waikiki Beach for a week, that is fantastic. That's
more to me a tourist. Nothing wrong with that, Nothing
wrong I love by the way. I love Waikiki. I've
nicknamed it the Tiawana of the Pacific, but I say

(19:23):
that with affection. I love Waikiki Beach, particularly strutting down
the beach.

Speaker 3 (19:29):
But anyway, yes, I.

Speaker 2 (19:33):
That we were talking about the possibility just a thought
that has come up to me of doing like India, Bhutan, Nepaul,
places that people want to go, including the taj.

Speaker 3 (19:44):
Mahal, but you wouldn't know where to begin.

Speaker 2 (19:46):
Exactly, And so I'm just thinking about it. And yeah,
call the the group department eight oh one four eight
three sixty three sixty three or groups that Morris Murdoch
dot com. The name of our company is Morris Columbus Travel,

(20:07):
but the brand name for tours is Morris Murdoch Escorted Tours.
It is it's kind of like, well, why two names
like General Motors and Chevrolet. That's right, I have two names.
So you are the group department manager. May I just
add you do such a wonderful job.

Speaker 3 (20:26):
Thank you.

Speaker 2 (20:27):
What are some of the advantages of Morris Murdoch escorted tours?
And I want you to answer one very specific question.
I don't want to go on an escorted tour because
I don't want to be treated like cattle.

Speaker 3 (20:43):
Absolutely. I think so many people get ideas or they've
seen movies on what it's going to be like to
be her you know, hurdled, not hurdled. What's that the
word I'm liking looking for herd it, thank you, herded
like cows through these different places. We have some tours
that are very focused and I say that we've got

(21:03):
full itineraries and we are going but we do have
a purpose and a schedule, and everybody loves the amount
of things that we get to show them on that tour.
I just got off the most amazing tour, Larry. I
was so excited to be able to take an awesome
group to South Africa. We went to South Africa, we

(21:27):
went to Zimbabwe, and we went to Botswana. Now, like
your idea for India, these are amazing countries to visit,
but these are not the kind of things that most
people go, oh, hey, I'm just going to go book
my ticket to Johannesburg and I'll figure it out once
I get there. It is absolutely the kind of trip
that you want to do that's organized, and that's the

(21:49):
best thing about going with a group travel is making
sure that you're going with an established company that is
going to make sure that you see what you need
to see in each of these countries in a safe
and responsible way of doing it. And I just one
of the things I thought would be fun and if
you'll indulge me, I kind of went through some of

(22:10):
the comments from my tour, and not just my tour,
but these are some of our Google review comments.

Speaker 1 (22:14):
Our clients or travelers have said.

Speaker 3 (22:17):
We've had, like believe it or not, Fall is one
of our busiest seasons where we send out probably we've
sent out probably twenty five tours in the last two
months going into next month as well, so we've had
a lot of people and a lot of responses. But
this was one of my fun responses that answers your

(22:38):
question really well. I think it says this is the
first time being on a tour and it completely blew
me away. It so far exceeded my expectations. I will
definitely do another tour with MMET or Morris Murdock escorted tours.
I loved that because when it said it exceeded their expectations.

(23:00):
Conversation I was having with her is she's She's like,
I read the itinery I knew everything we were going
to do. You put in so many more things that
I didn't know that you can't put it out there.
Exceeding expectations is what we go for with every program
we had people. I loved it. Everything was included. I
never worried about what we were missing. I trusted that

(23:23):
we would see it, and we did. We saw more
than we even thought we would see. It absolutely exceeded
our expectations.

Speaker 2 (23:31):
Tell me, I know all of the Morris Murdoch escorted
tours are your favorite, but just mention a couple that
really intrigue you.

Speaker 3 (23:42):
Well, okay, so I'm going to have to say the
South Africa one, just because I'm still on a high
from that. We're doing it again next June. It's going
to be in June. In June, yeah, June third through
It's June third through the fourteenth. This again, three countries,
South Africa. It's going to Cape Town, you're going down

(24:03):
to the very tip of the western edge of the continent.
From there, we do a three day safari on a
private game reserve, which is a completely different segment when
we talked about safari, because what you do in Kenya
is very similar like the safari experience that we get
in South Africa. And then from there we go up

(24:25):
to Zimbabwe and we go to Victoria Falls.

Speaker 1 (24:29):
Overwhelming one.

Speaker 3 (24:31):
Honestly, this was my first experience with Victoria Falls. I
knew it was going to be magnificent. I've seen Niagara,
I've seen several majestic falls. This one brought tears to
my eyes. I literally wept. It was beautiful. Then going
into Botswana again an amazing park. Honestly, I think Larry

(24:52):
I even mentioned to you it was the closest thing
that I almost felt compared to the garden that some
of us maybe compare in our You had elephants and
gazelle and zebras and crocodiles and they're all standing there
together at a watering hill and it was just amazing.
You had hippos right there, you had the birds. I mean,

(25:15):
we were on a riverboat on the Chobe River and
we just sat there and watched the amazing scenery go by.
It was fantastic.

Speaker 2 (25:26):
What can people expect when they visit your area the
Morris Columbus Travel Expo the Morris Murdoch Escorted Tours, You
will have an area and all of the group travel
advisors will be there. What can they expect and what
benefits can they expect from visiting your area.

Speaker 1 (25:47):
At the expo?

Speaker 3 (25:48):
So we do have special discounts at the expo that
we do for both domestic and cruise tours as well
as their international tours. You get to talk directly to
the tour managers, which is it's a wonderful experience to
be able to say, you know what I am. I
want to go to Israel, but with everything that's been
going on, when is the right time to go? And

(26:11):
you can have a very honest, frank conversation about that.
You could say, I went on a cruise with so
and so it wasn't what I wanted? What about this experience?
And we can answer, and we'll answer very directly. We're
not there just to sell you a trip, because if
we don't meet your expectations, you're not going to give
us these glowing reviews. That I'm reading here, So we

(26:32):
want to make sure that we are pairing you up
with the right programs.

Speaker 2 (26:35):
So well I mentioned and by the way, you know
I host eight to ten tours a year and I
just love it.

Speaker 1 (26:43):
Will.

Speaker 3 (26:44):
I've got some good reviews on your tours too.

Speaker 1 (26:46):
Imagine that. Will.

Speaker 2 (26:48):
There'll be brochures on all the tours, including the ones
that I'm hosting, and an example of the discounts I
gave when Emily was on in the first segment. For example,
I have two river cruises next year November of twenty
twenty six on the Maykong.

Speaker 1 (27:08):
I am so excited.

Speaker 2 (27:10):
We'll have Cambodia and Vietnam and option to Thailand on
a river cruise Alma, the Alma Waterways, the ultraate mill
Lux river cruise, and then the Christmas markets on the Rhine.
Not only all the traditional sight seeing you'd see any
time of the year, but the Christmas a six hundred
year tradition of that. Now, I'll tell you something about

(27:33):
my thoughts on group travel. I had a friend Steve,
and he is well traveled for business travel literally almost
as much as I do, almost and I tried to
get him to come on one of the tours that
Kathy and I were hosting. He wouldn't do it, but
he retired. I finally just lived down the street from me.

(27:56):
I finally talked him into it to Thailand and Cambodia,
and he was so hesitant. He came back. He was
so excited about group tours with Morris Columbus Travel that
I brought him on the radio. He just said everything

(28:17):
was provided. The only thing he had to do was
show up on time.

Speaker 3 (28:22):
It really is the simplest form of travel. And I
think that was one of the reviews. It was just
I could not have laughed more, loved more, or experienced
as much as we were able to do with you.
And with that, they had their free time also to
go and explore on their own. We made sure everybody

(28:43):
had time. If you wanted to shop, you could shop.
If you wanted to rest, you could rest. If you
wanted to go to the pool, you could go to
the pool. We try to always have opportunities for people
to customize, personalize these experiences. It was like a Victoria Falls.
We had a free after. I went with a group
of people zip ziplining across the gorge. It was so amazing.

(29:06):
We have people who are hydro flighting and helicoptering across
Victoria Falls.

Speaker 1 (29:10):
Could you imagine did you do a bungee jump over
the gorge?

Speaker 4 (29:14):
No?

Speaker 3 (29:14):
I chickened out.

Speaker 1 (29:15):
I chickened out, Kathy did?

Speaker 3 (29:18):
Okay, next time when we go in June, who wants
to go with me to go bungee jumping in Victoria Falls?

Speaker 1 (29:24):
Absolutely?

Speaker 3 (29:25):
You come with me and I'll go with you.

Speaker 2 (29:28):
Hey, there are four letters on your passport, excuse me,
on your boarding pass you never ever want to see
oh ss SSS, which stands for secondary Security Screening selection.
You have the honor of enhanced screening and the Department

(29:51):
of Homeland Security determines what.

Speaker 1 (29:54):
Additional scrutiny you will need.

Speaker 2 (29:56):
So if you see those four dreaded letters ss SS.

Speaker 3 (30:00):
Go get a new boarding pass.

Speaker 1 (30:02):
Go get Oh my goodness, And you know.

Speaker 2 (30:07):
I don't like it when you know, just randomly selected,
you get pulled over for more screening.

Speaker 1 (30:14):
And that's happened to me just a fewtre.

Speaker 2 (30:19):
I want to remind you folks, you can see Wendy
and all the great travel advisors at Morris Columbus Travel,
including the Group department, at the one week from today
at the Utah Travel ex sponsored by Morris Columbus Travel.
You will have their airlines, cruise lines, resorts, hotels, tour companies,

(30:42):
anything related to travel, Safaria's river cruise companies where you
can sit down one on one, ask the right question,
see if this is the the best vacation for you,
and take advantage of exclusive expo discounts and don't forget
the information seminars.

Speaker 1 (31:02):
I'll actually be doing one.

Speaker 3 (31:04):
Yeah, you get to do it.

Speaker 1 (31:05):
Similar you have to get away guru, my favorite. That's right.

Speaker 2 (31:10):
Hey, listen when we come back in segment number four,
I'm gonna tell you why never ever throw your airline
boarding pass away and what happens when they say you
don't look like your passport photo Travel Show on Talk
Radio one oh five nine knrs.

Speaker 1 (31:30):
Just listen and you'll know.

Speaker 2 (31:37):
Thank you for joining us here on the Travel Show.
I am so appreciative of spending the weekend with you
talking travel, dreaming travel. And just remember the Travel Show
is here because of you first, and I guess second
Morris Columbus Travel, which sponsors the show. All right, Wendy,

(31:57):
you fly often, what do you do with your boarding
past when the flight's.

Speaker 3 (32:04):
Over So it's usually stuck in a pocket domestically, but
when I'm traveling internationally it has always tucked in my
passport because I get asked for it all the time.

Speaker 2 (32:16):
You know, airlines, Now you're tracking frequent flyer miles out. Yes,
airlines occasionally lose track of flight records, especially when it
comes to mileage credits.

Speaker 3 (32:30):
They're not perfect.

Speaker 1 (32:31):
That No, that is the that is the way you
can track it.

Speaker 2 (32:39):
You can call, you can go online and say no,
I didn't get my credit. That's one thing that I
do like with my Delta sky Miles account is that
I look at and there's a section under sky Miles
for recent activity. I check not only to see that
I get all the credits, but to see if they're

(33:00):
has been any scammers. Just yesterday I called Delta Airlines
and looking I had someone trying to hack my Delta
sky Miles acauns.

Speaker 3 (33:10):
No way.

Speaker 2 (33:11):
They were trying to change the user name and password,
and they tried twice with two different user names the
same password. Fortunately they didn't get in. Wow, but I
got a lot of miles. Yeah, and you know that's
you wouldn't miss a couple million anyway, you know, As
I said, we all hope that the mileage programs work flawlessly,

(33:33):
but technical glitches do happen. If your frequent flyers don't
pass post correctly, your boarding pass can help customer service
resolve the issue quickly.

Speaker 1 (33:45):
Now, I'll say one thing.

Speaker 2 (33:46):
When you're getting miles on a partner airline, Say I've Delta,
sky Miles and I fly on Korean Airlines or Latom
or any of the KLM air France, any of the
partner airlines. It sometimes takes a week or more before
the partner airlines post the mileage credit.

Speaker 3 (34:09):
Oh, I've got one. When I went to Thailand with
you in January, I had to check with Delta because
we flew with China Airlines, which is a partner with
sky Miles part the sky Mile partner took four months
for them to add those miles to my account. You
have to watch those things well.

Speaker 2 (34:30):
The other thing with the boarding pass is delays, cancelations,
lost luggage are unfortunate realities of air travel. If you
need to file acclaim with travel insurance or take advantage
of credit card protections, your boarding pass can provide essential
information that helps validate your case. I know of a

(34:53):
case in the last few weeks where one of the
Morris Columbus travel clients was five a insurance claim and
the insurance company said, send us your passports. We want
to know in fact that you really did travel, so
you want to hold on to those. Wow. And the
other thing is the barcode contains personal information and credit

(35:20):
card information skymiles.

Speaker 3 (35:22):
There's so many ways people can learn to scam, and
it's just wow, if they just put that much energy
into doing things, you know, honestly, all.

Speaker 2 (35:31):
Right, a woman flying out of Shanghai had to wipe
her glam at the airport immigration after facial recognition tech
said who's this? And what happened is they said, you
don't look like your passport photo. She was forced to

(35:52):
scrub off her heavy makeup at airport immigration because the
facial scanner could not recognize her. When she was mortified,
somebody actually videoed it, you know, like on a cell phone,
and so she's wiping her face while the person behind
her had the camera and they believed to be an

(36:13):
airport worker is absolutely scolding her and chewing her out.
In fact, the agent there said, wipe everything off until
you look like your passport photo. Why would you do
your makeup like that? It looks awful. You're asking for trouble.

Speaker 3 (36:33):
Wow.

Speaker 2 (36:34):
So I always go light makeup when I go to
the airport.

Speaker 3 (36:38):
You know, we get a lot of people who shave beards.
They've lost a lot of weight, thank you Ozampic. We
grow a beard or they grow a beard, and people go,
I don't look like my passport picture anymore. I mean,
passports are good for ten years. You can change a
lot in ten years.

Speaker 1 (36:55):
Hopefully for the better.

Speaker 3 (36:56):
Hopefully for the better.

Speaker 2 (36:57):
All right, let me ask you this would like you,
We've got about a minute left to share one piece
of your best travel advice, not necessarily the best, but
a best bit of travel advice.

Speaker 3 (37:13):
Oh my goodness, you're putting me on the spot. I'm
okay right now. What I'm going to say is travel
with a luggage scale because excess baggage fees for excess
weight can be rageous, outrageous. And if you're traveling in
Europe on smaller airlines, they weigh in kilos and it
does not go all the way up to fifty pounds,

(37:34):
which is what you can take on your international flight.
So maybe Delta gives you fifty internationally, but you can
only go up to forty four or twenty kilos on.

Speaker 2 (37:43):
Your I know in Asia internationally it's fifty pounds, but
domestically it's forty pounds.

Speaker 3 (37:53):
Bring that luggage scale. It's going to save you a
lot of money.

Speaker 1 (37:57):
Yeah, and then start taking clothes off and wearing them.

Speaker 3 (38:00):
Wearing them.

Speaker 1 (38:01):
I've got three jackets. Hey.

Speaker 2 (38:03):
When we come back in our number two of the
Travel Show, I want to talk about how to always
get the best foreign currency exchange rate. Welcome back to
our number two of the Travel Show, the Best two
hours in Radio.

Speaker 1 (38:23):
I'm Larry Gelwiz, the get Away Guru.

Speaker 2 (38:26):
Join today by Wendy Fracki, a group department manager at
Morris Columbus Travel.

Speaker 1 (38:32):
And they're Escorted Tours.

Speaker 2 (38:35):
Travel under the brand name of Morris Murdoch Escorted Tours.
The Travel Show is sponsored by Morris Columbus Travel. Where
you always travel more and pay less. Folks that you
can depend on and if you're just tuning in. We
talked earlier about the fall Utah Travel Expo, sponsored by

(38:58):
Morris Columbus Travel, and it's Saturday, October eighteenth. Free admission
of the Davis Conference Center in lighton all the details
at Utah Travel Expo dot com.

Speaker 3 (39:11):
It's a fantastic time to dream about travel, plan travel,
book travel. I think fall. The booking window for Fall
is fantastic.

Speaker 1 (39:22):
It really is.

Speaker 2 (39:23):
And there'll be exclusive expo discounts. You can sit down
with airlines, cruise lines, tour companies, safaris, resorts, talk to
the business development manager, the sales representative one on one,
and information seminars. That's going to be a lot of fun.

Speaker 1 (39:41):
You know.

Speaker 2 (39:41):
One of the challenges of international travel, and international travel
is exciting.

Speaker 1 (39:48):
It's just exciting you, you know. It's new things, new things.

Speaker 2 (39:52):
To see, new things to eat, all of this and
of course the familiar ones too. Yeah, you can get
a McDonald's just about anywhere in the world. But changing money,
wouldn't it be easy? If the whole world had one
currency like the US.

Speaker 3 (40:06):
Dollar, it would be easy. It wouldn't be as much fun,
but it would be easy. So that's a credit card, Larry.

Speaker 1 (40:12):
Yep, thank you, thank you.

Speaker 2 (40:14):
I want to share with you folks how to get
the best foreign exchange rate. Well, the first thing you
have to do is know the true exchange. It's called
the BBR Banker's buying rate or true exchange, and.

Speaker 1 (40:30):
I'm going to give you two.

Speaker 2 (40:32):
The euro and the British pound are also known as
the British sterling. Right now one British pound is worth
a dollar thirty five.

Speaker 1 (40:44):
And the euro. One euro is worth.

Speaker 2 (40:50):
A dollar seventeen US. Now the dollar has actually fallen
in value. If you go back about six months, the
euro was about costing you about a dollar nine. Now
it's a dollar seventeen, so it's about an eight percent
devaluation on it. The British pound is about a dollar

(41:11):
twenty dollars twenty two. Now it's one pound is a
dollar thirty five. So here's the best thing to do.
Tay When you go to the money changers who you
think were chased out of Jerusalem two thousand years ago,
they have resurfaced at hotels, airports and the money changers.

(41:32):
First of all, you will never get the true exchange rate,
but it's a basis. And what I would do is
take a fifty dollar bill or let easier one hundred
dollar bill. Don't hand it to them, hold it up
and for example in euros, say how many euros do

(41:53):
I get for this?

Speaker 1 (41:54):
Now?

Speaker 2 (41:54):
One US dollar will give you about eighty five euro cent.
So if I gave him a one hundred dollars, the
true exchange is eighty five euros. You're not going to
get that now. Airports and hotels are generally not good places.
At an airport, you'll generally lose ten to twelve percent.

(42:16):
That's the way it came to mean exactly. I have
what I call Larry's five percent rule. I don't want
to lose more than five percent. I've gone down here
in Salt Lake City to Wells Fargo and Zion's Bank,
and depending on their exchange rate, I either do it
or I say thank you, but no thank you. They're

(42:41):
just taken too much. And so the five percent rule.
But what I'm really looking for is two to two
and a half percent loss. Like I'll be going to
Thailand later this month, and I know the places where
I can only lose two to two and a half percent.
At the airport at Bangkok, I will lose two twelve percent.

(43:01):
At the airport in Salt Lake, I will lose twelve percent.
So that is figuring out what it really is now.

Speaker 1 (43:10):
The other thing is if you're.

Speaker 2 (43:12):
Going to be changing money overseas or even using it,
some countries like Cambodian Vietnam, where I go often, I
never change money because they prefer and accept US dollars.
But those dollars, whether I'm say changing it in London
or Paris or Bangkok, they don't have to be brand new,

(43:35):
but they have to be in good shape. No phrase,
no tears, no warner writing, no steps, even a tiny
little ink because the local banks won't take it.

Speaker 3 (43:46):
Yes.

Speaker 2 (43:47):
So in fact, when I go with tours, I always
take a bunch of extra money with me because.

Speaker 3 (43:53):
They'll you like to flash it around.

Speaker 1 (43:55):
No, I never flash it around.

Speaker 2 (43:57):
But the local guides have accepted hips and gratuities that
people have given them in US dollars, but they're bills.
They can't bank. But they know that WEWI well they
can't pronounce the l. They know that wellie is coming,
and uh, I just walk it out because even the

(44:18):
worn ones I can bank back home. I remember at
the Trevy Fountain in Rome. Now at the time the dollar,
the dollar was trading for ninety two euro cents, so
for one hundred bucks I get ninety two euros. There
was and still there a money exchange right there at Trevy.
Heavy traffic area, and this guy was traded giving seventy

(44:44):
four euro cents. He was taking twenty six percent.

Speaker 3 (44:50):
Living and people.

Speaker 2 (44:52):
Were lined up and I'm thinking, oh, please don't do that,
you know, but so many people will go to the
money change, they'll see it. Well, I guess that's just
that's what is. I don't really understand what they're doing.
Be in for know what the true exchange hold up
that one hundred dollars bill. And yeah, so I.

Speaker 3 (45:15):
Was just going to say that when you're traveling internationally,
there's an amazing app that I keep on my phone
that is called XE and it is wonderful about doing
conversions for you. So when you're trying to find that
banker's rate, Larry, that you were talking about, you can
pop into this app and you can put the currency

(45:37):
that you're needing and it's going to tell you that.
So it's up to the minute if you do have
to get that money. While you are traveling, you can
stay current on what those rates are.

Speaker 2 (45:49):
Okay, we all fly a lot. What should you do
before your next flight? So first of all, if you're
going internationally, check your passport, your visa, your ETA, and
it's not you know, expected time of arrival. It's electronic
travel authorization. Check the requirements. You can check it at

(46:14):
travel dot State dot gov. Click on international travel type
in the country that you are looking for, and then confirm.
And do this early. Confirm the spelling and dates on
all your travel documents. I know people the morning of

(46:36):
departure the night before. Oh my name is spelled wrong. Well,
you probably won't get on the flight or have to
pay a change fee. Confirm now again as soon as
you get your ticket. Confirm the flight details when you
purchase it, and then the day before, flight numbers change,
routing changes, flights are canceled, departure times canceled, and do this.

Speaker 1 (46:59):
Do this with the.

Speaker 2 (47:00):
Reservation number on the airline directly from the airline, and
then check in twenty four hours prior. Oh yeah, get
your boarding passes. Download the airline app. It'll have flight details,
gate assignments, flight numbers, schedule change as if only, and

(47:21):
information on baggage will be loaded. Then, as you said,
weigh and measure your baggage. Most flights, it's fifty pounds
and sixty two linear inches. That's heighth length and width. Yeah,
only once did I see the airline employee jump from
behind the counter with a tape measure and measure a bag.

(47:44):
But the bag was like a steamer trunk.

Speaker 3 (47:46):
Do you know what they have been doing the most
of And I'm sure you've seen this, Larry, is you're
allowed one carry on like a roller bag, and then
a personal item like perse. Right, we have people now
who are boarding with a roller bag, backpack and like
a cross body bag.

Speaker 1 (48:02):
I wish the airlines would enforce it.

Speaker 3 (48:04):
Well they are, they are. I have seen more and
more often that the airlines are saying you have to
put that cross body bag in your backpack. I can't
you know? You are only allowed.

Speaker 1 (48:17):
This great advice.

Speaker 2 (48:19):
Now, I say, bring some snacks and an empty water bottle.
Now you can buy the overpriced water they have or
just fill it at a drinking fountain. With kids, bring
games if they have parts, no small parts, but an
iPad or something that you have infants, extra everything, diapers, wipes,

(48:41):
food formula, Plan on a delay or canceled flight, notify
your bank or credit card, Dress comfortably and smart, and
get to the airport early and yes always by.

Speaker 3 (48:56):
Travel insurance always.

Speaker 1 (48:58):
All right, we come back.

Speaker 2 (49:00):
What is happening with spirit Airlines bankruptcy?

Speaker 1 (49:03):
Are they here or not at digital Welcome back to
the Travel Show.

Speaker 2 (49:11):
I'm wary, yelwiz to get away doomrou The Travel Show
is sponsored by Morris Columbus Travel, where you always travel
more and pay less. Check out their website Morriscolumbus dot com.
That's Morris Columbus dot com and all the travel advisors
that Morris Columbus have a direct telephone line. If you

(49:33):
have that, you're and you're in love with your travel advisor,
well then keep using that number. If you don't have
a travel advisor, here's a real easy toll free number
to remember. It's like the easiest thing on the planet.
Eight hundred triple nine forty six forty six. Eight hundred
triple nine forty six forty six Spirit Airlines, which flies

(49:56):
all over the country including Salt Lake City. Well, they
they filed for bankruptcy for the second time in the year.
Oh my, but don't count them out quite yet. I'm
not going to say don't buy their ticket. But if
I were to buy their ticket, if I were to
buy their ticket, man, I would use a credit card

(50:18):
and I'd buy it close in. I wouldn't I personally
wouldn't be buying a Spirit Airlines ticket for next June.
I just wouldn't leaving next week. Yeah, I probably.

Speaker 3 (50:30):
Would, safe bet.

Speaker 1 (50:31):
Yeah. Well it's back.

Speaker 2 (50:33):
Spirit is back in Chapter eleven bankruptcy for the second
time in the year, and its competitors are moving in
on many of its routes. But they say they're making
quote significant progress unquote in its restructuring efforts.

Speaker 1 (50:50):
Now.

Speaker 2 (50:50):
Spirit told the bankruptcy court that its bond holders have
agreed to provide it with up to four hundred and
seventy five million in debtor in possession financing, giving it
additional financial flexibility to support normal business operations during restructuring.

(51:10):
In bankruptcy, everybody loses. Yeah, everybody loses.

Speaker 1 (51:17):
Anyway.

Speaker 2 (51:17):
And the airline report it's largest aircraft lease or has
allowed it to cancel leases on twenty seven aircraft, which
will save them a bunch of money.

Speaker 1 (51:29):
So I hope they make it. I really do. I
have flown Spirit Airlines.

Speaker 3 (51:34):
They serve their purpose.

Speaker 2 (51:36):
They call it a LCC low cost carrier, you pay
for everything now with other LCCs. I have made a
suggestion that no doubt they'll take advantage of of how
to restructure and be profitable. They charge for everything. I said,

(51:58):
why not charge for the restroom, for the toilet. So
here's how it would work in my business plan plan.
You go, you go as soon as if you have
to swipe a credit card, and you lock the door,
and then there's like a taxi meter that's just rolling
how long you're in there. The charge now in taxis
if it's at night time, or if you.

Speaker 3 (52:21):
Have luggage, there's a surch charge.

Speaker 2 (52:24):
So every time you take a tissue there is a
surch charge, you know. And if there's a line outside,
then there's another search charge because of occupancy. And then
the flight attendants could make a fortune. If there's a line,
they auction off your place in line.

Speaker 1 (52:46):
I got ten dollars. Ten dollars. Who wants ten dollars?
You'll be the next one, and you'll be the next.

Speaker 2 (52:50):
The guy dancing in the back six people back will
pay anything.

Speaker 1 (52:56):
They could be right out of bankruptcy if they just
listen to me.

Speaker 3 (53:00):
But talk about a hostile work environment.

Speaker 2 (53:03):
Oh my goodness, my goodness, Hey, here's something that is
absolutely fantastic. Wendy, buckle your seat belt. In recent weeks,
the US Customs and Border Protection started a new and
faster international arrivals process, like a beta test on certain

(53:27):
flights at DFW and Atlanta, and now they're doing the
same procedure with United at SFO San Francisco International. It
started with American flights from London to DFW and Delta
flights from London to Seoul, Korea and Atlanta, and now

(53:47):
it's available for United Airlines passengers on certain daily flights
from Sydney to San Francisco. And here's what it's called.
It's the International Remote Bags Screening process. So what happens
now is you get off the plane, and depending on
your airport, you may grab your luggage first as you

(54:09):
do in Salt Lake, and then go through immigration and
customs or others like LAX. You go through immigration and
customs first, then go grab your luggage and then you'll
always walk out of customs. And if they want to
go through the nothing to declare line, if they want
to talk to you, they'll pull you aside, and don't

(54:31):
put anything stupid in your suit clares. They've got the sniffing.

Speaker 3 (54:35):
Dog, they've got enough ways to find what they're looking for.

Speaker 2 (54:38):
Yeah, anyway, so here's so then you have to recheck
your luggage, and you're under time limits with the domestic
carriers for the new So if you're connecting running yes,
if you're connecting to a domestic flight under this new
test program off certain flights, your luggage is just you

(55:01):
don't have to pick up your luggage. You go streaming immigration,
walk out of customs. You could save ten twenty thirty
minutes easily.

Speaker 3 (55:11):
You never understood that part of the immigration process.

Speaker 2 (55:14):
Well, they are, well, in case they want to look
at your luggage. Well, the fact that it's on the carousel,
they already know what's there. The dogs are sniffing inside.
Did you know I got pulled over on a suspicion
of drug as a drug courier once? Really, it was
at the Seattle Airport. Well, I's coming in from where else? Asia? Thailand?

(55:40):
And the dog did the freeze the pose. Well, I said, hey,
you want to look at it, and he says, yeah,
we have to. And I said, listen, there was a
ham and cheese sandwich in it that I had on
the flight but I ate before I landed, and the

(56:01):
dog smelled the meat.

Speaker 3 (56:03):
Oh wow, he must have been hungry. He must have
been hungry.

Speaker 2 (56:06):
Well, I got out of that one with no scars
on the for that at all. Hey, when we come back,
let's talk about Alaska twenty twenty six.

Speaker 3 (56:19):
Yeah, let's do it.

Speaker 2 (56:20):
I know Alaska is one of the hottest sellers to
see the glaciers.

Speaker 3 (56:26):
Everybody wants to go.

Speaker 2 (56:28):
And we'll talk about two types of it is. Actually
there's three and four, but two primary types.

Speaker 1 (56:34):
So we're going to be talking Alaska, fun facts and
all things Alaska when we come back.

Speaker 4 (56:39):
Right here on the Travel Show.

Speaker 2 (57:02):
You're listening to The Travel Show every weekend at this
time on this very station. And I am Larry Gelwick's
your humble host, the character Drain.

Speaker 1 (57:12):
I've never been in Jusa. You joined today by Wendy.

Speaker 2 (57:16):
Frakian, Group department manager at Morris Columbus Travel.

Speaker 3 (57:20):
I love to keep you humble.

Speaker 2 (57:22):
Failed miserably, failed miserably. You know, one of the most
popular trips every year is Alaska. It is and the
best way to see wilderness Alaska is on a cruise. Now,
generally the cruise season is May to September, with a
few in late April, sometimes a few in early uptoons.

Speaker 3 (57:45):
If you like to be really cold, that's right.

Speaker 2 (57:48):
You know, I remember a guy some years ago that
called and said, I, you know, we want to go
really cheap.

Speaker 1 (57:54):
I thought, well, you from Utah. Of course you do.

Speaker 3 (57:56):
Uh you said that nice?

Speaker 2 (58:00):
I said that. But it says, so we want to
we want to go to Alaska. We want to go cheap.
So what would it cost me to go in January?
And I said about fifty thousand dollars a person. He says, oh,
you're kidding, of course you I said, no, I'm very serious.
He says, how can you be serious? And I said,
you'll have to charter an icebreaker to go visit Alaska

(58:24):
in January.

Speaker 3 (58:26):
It is not hospitable.

Speaker 1 (58:28):
That's right. I do love Alaska.

Speaker 2 (58:30):
And you know I mentioned there are two primary but
actually four Alaska cruise itinery now the most popular I
call the round trip Seattle in North South round tip
Seattle is pretty self explanatory, right. You sail round trip
from Seattle and you'll get the inside passage and all
of the cruises will take you to some combination of Juno, Skagway,

(58:57):
catch a can Icy Straight, Sitka, Victoria, Vancouver, the latter
two being in British Columbia.

Speaker 3 (59:05):
Uh.

Speaker 1 (59:06):
But you'll get all of those stops. You'll get some.

Speaker 3 (59:08):
Yeah you only have a week.

Speaker 2 (59:09):
Yeah you'll get whale watching and glaciers. Glaciers. Now on
the North South you'll sail from Vancouver to Anchorage or
vice versa. You generally you'll get two glacier days. Now,
this group that I had with me this year in August,

(59:30):
we got Glacier Bay, the granddaddy of them all. And
we also visited College Fjord, which you can see. You
can view yourself thirteen glaciers in that College Fjord. So
I do love the North South round trip. Seattle is
easier to get to. You can even drive it. They're

(59:51):
making a vacation going up a long past.

Speaker 3 (59:54):
Sports are not required.

Speaker 1 (59:56):
Passports are not. The North South passports.

Speaker 3 (59:58):
Are required exactly, but on the round trip Seattle day
highly recommended but not required.

Speaker 2 (01:00:05):
Here's some of the more popular stops. And I'd like
to know there's so many things to do, but it
kind of your favorite Wendy Fraky favorite.

Speaker 3 (01:00:16):
Let's your favorite.

Speaker 1 (01:00:18):
Let's start with Juna Juno.

Speaker 3 (01:00:21):
Oh, well, watching that is nature almost I can remember
being out on a well watching cruise and just counting
the eagles. I mean I should have been watching the whales,
but I was watching the eagles.

Speaker 2 (01:00:32):
It's funny about the eagles. On the first day people go.

Speaker 1 (01:00:35):
There's an eagle. There's an eg.

Speaker 2 (01:00:38):
By day two or three, oh, another eagle, hundreds of them.
It's like going to Africa. The very first day, there's
a gazelle. There's it in power. By day two, here's
a giraffe. By day two you've seen three hundred gazelle's
or something like that.

Speaker 1 (01:00:56):
Juno, I agree.

Speaker 2 (01:00:57):
The whale watching is spectacular and on the Morris Columbus
Travel sponsored ones including I'll be doing a round trip
Seattle next year July twelve to nineteen. We charter our
own whale watching boat. Yeah, and we can go where
we want. We can do what we want. We're not
constrained with others, and only people in our group can

(01:01:19):
go with us.

Speaker 3 (01:01:20):
It's one of those experience where we get to be
a group.

Speaker 2 (01:01:22):
And then I like to stop at Mendenhall Glacier and
they have a visitors center there you can walk down.
It's about a twenty five minute walk. That's what takes me.
The Nugget falls and you are right there at a
monster waterfall.

Speaker 3 (01:01:38):
It's so great.

Speaker 2 (01:01:39):
They in another part in the area, they have some
elevated walkways above the streams where bears go fishing. But
you're elevated, right, you can barely stand it.

Speaker 3 (01:01:51):
It's good.

Speaker 1 (01:01:52):
Okay, Let's move on to catch a can.

Speaker 3 (01:01:56):
To catch a can. That is the home of the
totem Pole parks.

Speaker 1 (01:01:59):
Right.

Speaker 2 (01:02:00):
There are two main totem Pole parks in Ketchikan. There's
Sacman Village and Potlatch. I like them both, but if
I could only go to one, it would be Potlatch.
It's outside of town that's less crowded. You can go
into the tribal house and it's just yeah, and the.

Speaker 3 (01:02:21):
Drive is worse than gorgeous.

Speaker 1 (01:02:24):
One more, let's say Skagway. I love skagging Oh.

Speaker 3 (01:02:28):
You know what a fun town that is. But one
of the best things is doing the White Train Pass
up to Canada.

Speaker 2 (01:02:35):
Right, Yes, the Yukon and White Pass railroad is a
now you can also do it in like these tour
buses they have at a hotel where they seat fifteen
twenty people, not crammed into a van. You can do that,
but don't. It's the one with the whole window of
the up top, the whole side of the vehicle.

Speaker 1 (01:02:58):
You can do it.

Speaker 2 (01:02:59):
But I like the train because you get out on
the platform, the wind is blowing in your face.

Speaker 1 (01:03:04):
It's not going.

Speaker 3 (01:03:05):
Very fast, you know, watching the cars go with, you know,
looking out the window, going over the bridge, trustles and everything.
It's just such a romantic journey. You know, it's old fashion.
It's like how imagining that railroad being built.

Speaker 2 (01:03:22):
It's fantastic. And you know, in Icy Straits it's kind
of a throwback. It's a working town. They have a
beautiful Russian Orthodox church there in Icy Church, as they
do in Sitka. So it is fun things now. And
in Victoria, British Columbia, the Butchart.

Speaker 3 (01:03:40):
Gardens so fun.

Speaker 2 (01:03:42):
And I like to walk down to the marina where
the provincial parliament is and you it's about a fifteen
to twenty minute walk from the ship itself.

Speaker 1 (01:03:52):
Now there's taxis and there's.

Speaker 3 (01:03:55):
You could do a water ferry across.

Speaker 1 (01:03:56):
And it is beautiful, so much fun.

Speaker 3 (01:03:59):
You definitely have to look at some of those itineries though,
because they only give you a few hours sometimes in uh,
British Columbia. Over there in Victoria and it's only in
the evening, and you know, so you deadie need to
make sure that you're looking at your tinery.

Speaker 1 (01:04:16):
Absolutely no. What do you like to do in Honolulu?

Speaker 2 (01:04:21):
Oh?

Speaker 3 (01:04:21):
I love to sit on the beach and listen to
the wave and smell the smell of the air. See,
it's all about the beach. It's about down, It's about
slowing down and just relaxing. To Hawaii.

Speaker 2 (01:04:39):
Lat I get, including myself, loves to get outside of
and the why at a bay it's but uh.

Speaker 3 (01:04:55):
It's funny, It's got a great thing.

Speaker 1 (01:04:56):
I will tell you.

Speaker 2 (01:04:58):
That outside of Honolu and the North Shore waya may Obey,
it's less crowded. But I love wakki. It's fun Entergy
tell you that food has gotten really expensive in Hawaii.
And yeah, you can still go to McDonald's. I don't

(01:05:19):
want to go to mcdonaldine vacation, but if I have kids,
I can take them there. You know what we always
Kathy and I always do with kids and now with grandkids.

Speaker 1 (01:05:29):
Is we we eat.

Speaker 2 (01:05:31):
Breakfast in the hotel, not the hotel restaurant, because they
always have a little referator or cooler. We'll get some
juice and some milk and cereal. We'll ring plastic bowl
for bowls and plastic.

Speaker 1 (01:05:45):
Spoons with us.

Speaker 2 (01:05:47):
The kids are very happy with a bowl of cereal
and that can you know, say two adults two kids
that can easily you eat at the hotel. Most buffet
are forty to five bucks. Well let's just say you order.
I promise you you're going to be into other bucks
for few people and the kids are just fine. Then

(01:06:08):
we'll have a fun dinner and a nut lunch or
something like that.

Speaker 3 (01:06:12):
Definitely, you need to budget your meals and how you're
going to do.

Speaker 2 (01:06:15):
Now, what are some of the fun things like to
do on the island of Olu.

Speaker 3 (01:06:20):
On the You know, I love going to the market,
the flea market, you know, but yes, I think.

Speaker 2 (01:06:29):
It's Ondes, Wednesdays and Saturdays and Sundays.

Speaker 1 (01:06:34):
Right, Just google Honolulu flea market.

Speaker 3 (01:06:38):
The food, the markets, the people, all of that. And
of course married to a vet. Pearl Harbor is a
must do.

Speaker 2 (01:06:46):
Now on Pearl Harbor, don't buy a tour because the
Navy does a free one and it is the only
tour that you can actually get off the boat and
stand on the USS Arizona Memorial. You will actually see
oil and gas seeping up from December seventh, nineteen forty one.

(01:07:10):
To this day, there was over two thousand sailors trapped
in it that passed away, and after the attack they
went down to try and recover the bodies for the families.
But those underwater torches hit gas and oil and exploded
and was caused killing other people or hurting them.

Speaker 1 (01:07:33):
So it became a tomb sacred.

Speaker 3 (01:07:36):
To you feel so emotional.

Speaker 2 (01:07:39):
But now I would get a reservation. You don't have
to get a reservation, you can just walk up and
get it. But it can get very very crowded on
that Now you talked about the Swap Meat. It's very
very close to Pearl Harbor and it's at the alone

(01:08:00):
Oha Stadium. It's a one dollar or two dollars admission
for twelve and older. Kids are absolutely free. John and
Potter was with me last week here on the show.
We talked about the PCC and the North Shore. Of course,
some other things I like is the Alamawana Center shopping center.

Speaker 3 (01:08:19):
Yes, that one's so fun.

Speaker 2 (01:08:21):
Have you ever been to the National Cemetery of the Pacific.
Is that at No, it's in a volcano. Volcano and
it's servicemen and women that were killed during the war
and at the at the one end they have massive
mosaics of the naval battles in the Battle of Midway

(01:08:44):
of Coral c you know, and it's very moving to know.

Speaker 1 (01:08:49):
Most of these.

Speaker 2 (01:08:50):
Graves are young men, oh ye, majors, early twenties. Another
thing I like to do is going to Hanama Bay
for snorkleing, but get a reservation. They're now limiting the
number of people. We always stop at the Dole pineapple plantation.
That's kind of fun, the Macadamian nut farm. One more

(01:09:13):
Iolani Palace is the only royal palace in the United States.
King Kalakua in the he actually it was built in
eighteen eighty two and he was the king, King Kalakua,
and he was deposed overthrown by a combination of US
businessmen with the support of the US government. They wanted

(01:09:37):
how yeah, and they robbed it from the natives in
eighteen eighty three, so he was only actual king there
for a year, although they continued to live there well.

Speaker 1 (01:09:49):
When we come back in our final segment, is a
cruise line.

Speaker 2 (01:09:54):
Drink package worth the price here, welcome.

Speaker 1 (01:10:04):
Back to the travel show. We have had so much fun.

Speaker 2 (01:10:07):
Today here with you, talking travel, dreaming travel. I'm Larry
Gelwiz The Get Away Go, and I will be broadcasting
live from the Utah Travel Expo the Fall Utah Travel
Expo a week from today, Saturday, October eighteenth at the
Davis Conference Center in Leighton. All the details at Utah

(01:10:30):
Travel Expo dot com. Utah Travel Expo dot com. I
told you John Potter will be very wearing his trademark
Pluto hat. I of course, will be wearing my trademark
an Aloha shirt. All the Morris Columbus people I think
have kind of a uniform with the same shirt, but

(01:10:51):
not Larry.

Speaker 3 (01:10:53):
I will be in my Aloha shirt absolutely. That is
how we can find you on.

Speaker 2 (01:11:00):
Your calendar, Saturday, October eighteenth at the Davis Conference Center
in Laighton. Details and hours at Utah Travel Expo dot com.
And it is a free admission. Remember the hourly prize giveaways.
Free airline tickets, free cruises, free resort days, free this,
free that. Now somebody's going to win these prizes, and

(01:11:22):
it may as.

Speaker 1 (01:11:22):
Well be you.

Speaker 3 (01:11:23):
Free is the best, Free.

Speaker 1 (01:11:24):
Is the best. The only thing better than cheap is free.

Speaker 3 (01:11:26):
That's right.

Speaker 2 (01:11:28):
Excuse me, do you buy the drink package on cruises.

Speaker 3 (01:11:34):
I do not. I can get away without it. Now
my husband, depending on the type of cruise and how
long we're going to be he, on the other hand,
will consider it.

Speaker 2 (01:11:45):
Yeah, you know, used to. The drink package is unlimited drinks,
although some cruise lines have now capped it at thirteen
or fourteen alcohol drinks a day. That's a lot of booze.

Speaker 3 (01:11:57):
That is a lot of booze. But even so, to
make it worth it, that's a whole lot of soda
that you have to drink too.

Speaker 2 (01:12:04):
Well, here's the Now they have a drink package with alcohol.
They also have a drink package with just soda, right,
but most of them do not give you bottled water
when you leave the ship. No, they want you to
buy it. So here's what it is. I don't buy

(01:12:24):
the drink package. You have to drink about seven or
eight drinks sodas or alcohol just to break even. Now,
the price for the alcohol unlimited drinks and the soda
unlimited drinks, of course is different, the soda being far less,
and there's a gratuity involved, usually a twenty percent gratuity

(01:12:47):
that's added on top of the cost of the package. Yeah,
so I just don't find it of value benefit.

Speaker 3 (01:12:56):
Yeah.

Speaker 2 (01:12:57):
I loved coke, I really do, but I don't drink
seven or eight.

Speaker 1 (01:13:02):
Of them a day.

Speaker 5 (01:13:03):
You know.

Speaker 3 (01:13:04):
It's good to have a break from things you love.

Speaker 2 (01:13:06):
Yeah, that's what Kathy told me.

Speaker 3 (01:13:10):
That's why you travel so much. She makes you.

Speaker 2 (01:13:14):
You know, However, it is convenient, and so you may
want to think about it. I have friends who get
the soda package and the alcohol package.

Speaker 1 (01:13:27):
It's just a convenience, you know.

Speaker 3 (01:13:28):
One of the things I thought was so fun is
on the cruise ships, they are coming up with the
most amazing mock tells. So even though you don't absolutely
every chance I get, thank you, but they've got some
really amazing It's not just like a virgin pina colada,
but they've got some really good tasting drinks that that

(01:13:52):
that kind of allows you to kind of feel like
you're having a good time, but you still pay for it,
you know.

Speaker 2 (01:13:59):
Yeah, my favorite mocktail is a virgin pina colada, and
I say add a lime wedge to it, just to
take some of the sweetness off. So I don't I mean, folks,
you do whatever you want. It's a it's a great convenience.
I don't think it's options. Now Here are some real
travel questions, not necessarily received by Morris Columbus Travel, but

(01:14:23):
received by travel agencies. I have not told Wendy which
ones I'm going to ask her. She didn't even know
I was going to ask her.

Speaker 1 (01:14:31):
No, but you're on live radio.

Speaker 2 (01:14:33):
How would you answer this to someone say calling in
to the radio show?

Speaker 1 (01:14:38):
All right? Is it safe to drink the bath water
in Mexico?

Speaker 3 (01:14:46):
It depends on where you went that day.

Speaker 2 (01:14:48):
You got two problems. One that comes out of the
faucet and two somebody has been bathing in it.

Speaker 3 (01:14:54):
Somebody, what are.

Speaker 1 (01:14:55):
These people got for a break? All right? Here's one?

Speaker 2 (01:14:58):
What would it cost for a car rental to drive
from the United States to Australia?

Speaker 3 (01:15:10):
I would probably tell into map quest that want to
make sure they really wanted to look into that option.

Speaker 2 (01:15:15):
How do how do airplanes fly at night when it's
so dark outside?

Speaker 3 (01:15:22):
Very talented people?

Speaker 2 (01:15:25):
Are there icebergs in the Caribbean only in your mocktail?
Does ocean view mean that I'll have a view of
the ocean if you're lucky. If you're lucky, do I
have to really use my real name when I bear it.
Buy an airline.

Speaker 3 (01:15:43):
Ticket only if you really want to travel.

Speaker 2 (01:15:47):
Okay, all sorts of fun things. Can we pet the
lions on an African safari? The answer is yes, you can't.
You'll lose your hand, but you can do that all
fun times. And listen, hey, there one quick reminder of
the Utah Travel Expo, the biggest, the best fall travel expo.
And don't forget the January Winter Travel expos in Saint

(01:16:12):
George and Salt Lake City are still on.

Speaker 3 (01:16:16):
They're still on, but come and visit us.

Speaker 2 (01:16:18):
Wednesday, January twenty first in Saint George, Friday, Saturday January
twenty third and twenty fourth at the Mountain America Expo Center,
and Sunday again.

Speaker 1 (01:16:26):
All details at Utah Travel X.

Speaker 2 (01:16:29):
Well, see you next Saturday at the Utah Travel ex
BO Davis Conference Center. In life, we're all broadcast live