Episode Transcript
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(00:00):
Welcome to the Travel Show, theBest two hours in Radio. I'm Larry
Gelwicks then get Away Guru, joinedtoday by Wendy Frakia, the Group department
manager at Morris Columbus Travel, andthe Argentinian gaucho himself, Carlos Feeda,
director of Latin American Sales at MorrisColumbus Travel. Wendy and Carlos welcome back
(00:23):
to the show. Yeah, hello, hello, oh very good. We'll
be hearing about some of the benefitsof group travel. We got a great
show lined up today with some interestingstuff that you Disney fans will love.
The Christmas traditions Australia New Zealand threeAirlines are paying nine hundred million dollars to
(00:48):
passengers. I'll give you all thedetails that maybe you are one of them,
Pavel tips when booking a Hawaii vacation, and some British and Iceland fun
facts and special guests later on inthe show. Well, Wendy, you
and I were talking before we startedthe show today that the only thing better
(01:10):
than cheap is free. Free.Free Frontier Airlines is giving away free flights
for a year. That's a lotof FS. Yeah, that's how to
win So if you love to travel, perhaps there's no sweeter phrase than free
flights, and that's exactly what FrontierAirlines is offering up in its Family Summer
(01:37):
Getaway Sweepstakes. Now. One luckygrand prize winner will receive a one thousand
dollars flight voucher each month for ayear. All in all, that's enough
for about an estimated twelve round triptip trips for a family of four.
You can take your family with you. The vouchers not just good for you,
(02:00):
anybody who wants to travel with you. Plus one hundred additional winners will
receive a one time one thousand dollarsFrontier Airlines voucher. Where can I go
with you? Buy? Actually there'sa lot of places you can go Frontier
Now, Well, hold on,Carlos, I'll tell you where to go,
(02:20):
where to go one way, andhow to get there anyway you have.
There's nothing to buy, but youhave to enter the sweepstakes now.
The sign in web is eighteen mileslong, so I don't give that over
the air. It's one of thoseyou'll never remember, but I can tell
you where to find it. It'snot it's not on their homepage website which
(02:45):
is Flyfrontier dot com. But ifyou will simply google this and you can
remember this, folks, which whatairline is it? Frontier? Okay,
so we'll start with Frontier Family Summerget Away, Frontier Family Summer Getaway,
and then it will google up thelink which is that very long address.
(03:08):
It'll be confusing, give it,but why not enter it? Or you
know what, even if you don'tlike Frontier, there is a lot of
forgiveness that could be given with freefree. Now, I tell you one
thing that Frontier does, and thereare terms and conditions attached to this.
They offer all all you can flypast. I mean, this is as
(03:30):
much. It's called the go Wildall right, all you can fly past.
You can book it for a monthfor one hundred and forty nine dollars.
You can fly as much as youaint. Now that's only you,
Okay. So you were traveling witha spouse or partner of friends and it
is half you each have to buyit. Yeah, sorry, now I
(03:51):
was just going to say it islimited. I remember researching this because you
know, need to go and spendtime seeing the grandkids. However, there
they do have limited So the mostpopular days and the most popular flights.
It's like those categories of seats oneach of the flights, so they're only
going to put so many of thesefree seats on every flight. So just
no, you may not get atfirst pick on everything. But again it's
(04:14):
free, and they have the advancedpurchase requirement, so you can get a
month will go Wild All you CanFly past from Frontier Airlines for as little
as one hundred and forty nine.Now there may be some taxes on top
of that if you're going to gointernational for the summer four hundred and ninety
nine bucks. But I'll tell youthe one that I really like is the
(04:39):
entire year five ninety nine. Ithink about that, Carlos five hundred and
ninety nine bucks. And there maybe some associated fees you're taking extra luggage
and things like that. But fora year, Frontier flies to more more
than one hundred day destinations throughout theUS, Central America and the Caribbean,
(05:04):
including popular destinations is concuon Miami,LA. Anyway, again for the free
giveaway, google Frontier Family, SummerGetaway, Frontier Family, some are getaway.
If you're interested in the Go WildAll you Can Fly pass, it's
(05:25):
fly it's flyfrontier dot com. Thatis on their website, on their homepage
flyfrontier dot com. Now, Wendyand Carlos, do you remember, oh,
probably a month or two ago,we talked about more than one occasion
where it Hurts rent a car whichhas in my view, systemic problems.
(05:48):
Oh my goodness, I don't.I try to avoid renting from them.
I just do because the half ofthis we reported on this show reports that
Hurts was dinging renters who had electriccars like a Tesla a refueling fee,
(06:12):
not for electricity, but for gasolinethat usually ran three hundred to four hundred
dollars. They charged for a tankof gas at these inflated prices, and
people are saying, I can't putgas in this car. Don't know what
you want me to do it.Hurts reportedly would not back off from that
fee. Now, the hall ofshame for Hurts rent a car continues.
(06:38):
Reported just over the weekend, aHurtz customer accomplished a new feat in the
in the annals of rental car companydiscservice, actually being charged for a red
light ticket running it before even rentingthe vehicle. Now, listen, these
folks rented a vehicle on fifteenth atthe Calgary Airport for a period of six
(07:02):
days, starting at ten thirty pmbecause they were on American Airlines arriving in
the evening. However, the Hurtzagent at the airport inadvertently logged the rental
time as starting at ten thirty am, so then they were first hit with
(07:23):
an air but they didn't pick itup till ten thirty pm. They were
first hit with an extra day's chargebeyond the period they actually had the car
for. Oh, you got atten thirty am, and then the previous
renter ran a red light at twothirty three pm. I guess it was
picked up on a camera camra yep. But since the system now saw them
(07:46):
having the car at the time,their credit card was hit for four hundred
and thirty six dollars and fifty centsfor the bill. Now, it would
have been impossible for the customer tohave the car at three pm because they
were in flight on American airlines.They provide when they objected to this,
(08:07):
they provided copies of their boarding passes. Well, Hertz agreed with them about
the rental time start, so theyremoved the extra day charge that was the
right thing to do, but Hurtsstill refused to budge on the red light
ticket or the extra fees associated withthe extra day rental, and now Hertz,
(08:31):
when asked about it by the media, refuses to comment. So what
we had is three charges, theextra day, the extra day fees,
and the red light. So theytook off the extra day, but they
won't take off their extra day extrafees, and they won't take off the
(08:56):
red light. So it's called bymany Hurts toll scam. Remember we charged
they charged customers to rent Tesla's forfailing to fill up an electric vehicle with
gasoline, and Hurts, reportedly bythis news report, is refusing to admit
(09:18):
its mistake lest the police stop believingthem when they file false police reports.
You remember when Hurts was a premierrental car company and they were right,
Yes, they were wonderful on service. And this is just so so hard
(09:39):
for me to believe. So Ican't believe it, such as stories just
keep coming, so you know,it's just it's just incredible. I think
what I would almost be as madabout is the time it would take me
to be fighting this. Yeah,and they won't back off on that listen.
When we come back right here onthe Travel Show, I want to
(10:00):
tell about an appearance I make everyMonday on KUTV Channel two with a travel
news update, travel news, nota commercial travel news. And then I've
got an idea for a neat newtour that I have not even told you
about, Wendy, and I wouldlike your opinion and our listener's opinion if
(10:24):
this one really works. It's somethingexciting nobody has ever done before. All
that and more, when we comeback on the Travel Show. You're listening
to the Travel Show on Talk Radioone oh five nine knrs. Just listen
(10:45):
and you'll know you're listening to theTravel Show. I'm Larry Gowicks, the
getaway Guru, your humble host,the baron of truth in travel. Yes,
the Maha Larry of Travel himself,joined today by Wendy Frakia and Carlos
Feda with Morris Columbus Travel The TravelShow. Yes, Carlos humility a character
(11:11):
trait I have never been accused of, she said, character, and I
was going to accentuate characters. Thankyou very much. The Travel Show is
brought to you by Morris Columbus Travel, where you always travel more and pay
less and Norwegian Cruise Line the homeof freestyle cruising. Well, I'd mentioned
(11:31):
in the last segment that every week, in fact, it's been for the
last fifteen years, I appear onKUTV on the noon news, the number
one news station in the market forUtah and southern Idaho and the six people
who live in Wendover, Nevada.But it's not a commercial, it's a
news report, you know, prepandemic. I would go into the studio,
(11:56):
sit with the anchors on the set. They're in nice suits and dresses.
I always wear a Looha shirt.It's branding and I've actually had people
say I recognize your shirt absolutely,and it's been really fun. For the
last fifteen sixteen years. It's alwaysa news report. Maybe your passport details
(12:18):
are changing, or Frontier Airlines ishaving a big super shale, something is
going on as a report. Well, during the pandemic, they said,
we want to reduce foot traffic inthe KUTV studio, so film it outside
the studio and just send it in, which I did for a couple of
years. The COVID is over.The pandemic, excuse me is over,
(12:45):
and they said, okay, backin the studio er and I said,
no, you're one of those remoteworkers who are refusing to come back.
Years. I'd been filming it anywherein the world where I was, and
it brought some people said, gee, he's in Europe, he's in Africa,
he's wherever. So I said,let me film it wherever I am
(13:07):
in the world. The one thatplayed earlier this week on Monday was filmed
in Hong Kong at Hong Kong Disneyland. And so it's an exciting thing every
Monday on the New News. Usuallyit broadcasts between twelve forty and twelve fifty,
so if you tune in, it'sit's a really fun say, it's
(13:28):
about two minutes with some travel newsupdate, breaking news that you won't want
to miss if you're a real traveleror an armchair traveler. You know.
And I can also do a plugfor the Morris Columbus website because you can
find all the news stories. Ifyou happen to be out at an appointment
(13:48):
or working and you don't see thenews story, if you go to the
Moorriscolumbus dot com website, move tothe bottom, and you can not only
see the spots from the TV,but you can also so re listen to
these broadcasts that we do every Saturday. Morriscolumbus dot com. Now let me
tell you about this new tour idea. Okay, yeah, maybe it's crazy.
(14:09):
Wendy doesn't even know about this.Carlos doesn't know, and thank you
very much. I was at asI mentioned last week, in Hong Kong,
and I visited Hong Kong Disneyland.Do you know the There are six
Disney parts? Can you name them? I'll give you thisets here. Okay,
(14:35):
let me tell you the original Disneylandin Anaheim, California. Then there's
Disney World and the Magic Kingdom inOrlando, Disneyland Paris, Disneyland Tokyo,
Disneyland Shanghai, China, and thenDisneyland Hong Kong. Okay, esh they
(14:56):
go crazy over it. So herewas my thought. I enjoy Disney It's
kind of expensive, but I enjoyit. My daughters absolutely lose their mind.
Megan, who works in our groupdepartment, her husband Braden, is
a complete these Disney freaks, andthere's a lot of people. I have
(15:20):
several friend every who love everything Disney. Wendy, I have several friends who
are absolutely that way, and itis one hundred percent of culture, a
very big culture here in Utah.And I'm sure said where listeners are everywhere,
they really are. So here's myidea. What if we organized an
(15:41):
Asian Disney tour that went to HongKong, Shanghai, and Tokyo with two
days at each park, staying ata Disney property at the park, Plus
we'd have a day or two ofsight seeing in the city, like a
couple of days in Hong Kong sightseeing, not Disney, and then we'd
(16:04):
have a couple of days at HongKong Disney, then a couple of days
Shanghai sight seeing, a couple ofdays at Shanghai Disney, and then to
Tokyo for a day or two ofsight seeing and a couple of days at
Tokyo. Now that's not a tourfor everyone, but could we find thirty
or forty people? And I'll tellyou when I'd like to go. I
(16:26):
tell you know, you can goin the summertime the kids are out,
but it is hot and humid.I mean I went to I took the
family when I was trying to bethe good dad. We went to Orlando
in June and it was hotter thanHaydes And I'm standing in line out in
the humidity, thinking I am payinggood money to be tortured, you know.
(16:52):
So I'm thinking, Wendy, midApril, late April, early May,
something like that. Maybe do itover like the Granite School District or
Salt Lake School District vay case.I was going to say, this is
a very family thing. Yeah,we've got to find the holidays that would
correlate and the kids went and beout of school quite as long. Yeah,
(17:14):
so because if you're going that far, this is going to be more
than a spring break. Oh yeah, yeah, but that takes out a
good chunk of it from school.Anyway, Wendy, lets you and I
talk about that. I'm thinking I'dlike to do it, and yeah,
we need to. Okay, I'mgoing to just put out that the Getaway
Guru has a Facebook page and itis. You can just find him online
(17:41):
Facebook, the Getaway Guru Salt LakeCity, I believe, and you'll find
your page. I think it'd beinteresting for your listeners to put face to
put feedback on your Facebook page.Those who do Facebook. Yeah, and
I need to send you some morephotos, which I will do. Hey,
when we come back, I wantto talk about group travel with Wendy,
(18:03):
the group department manager. There aresome real benefits of traveling with the
group, and there's some misconceptions likeit's going to be a herd. Yeah,
you know, cannon drive. SoWendy's going to talk to us about
that. And we got a coupleof interesting group tours we'll mention right here
on the Travel Show. Welcome backto the Travel Show. I'm Larry Gelwicks.
(18:45):
They get Away Guru joined by CarlosFieden Wendy Frakia with Morris Columbus Travel.
Check out the Morris Columbus website Morriscolumbusdot com, Morriscolumbus dot com,
or give them a call at oneeight hundred triple nine forty six forty six.
That's eight hundred nine nine nine fortysix forty six. Wendy, you
(19:11):
serve as the group department manager.I do. That's a big job at
Morris Columbus Travel and so much fun. So it is, and I think
group tours are fantastic. What doyou see and what do you hear from
people? As some of the benefitsof travel. You know, since I
(19:32):
have been lucky enough I'm to escorta couple of tours recently. And then
the calls and the conversations I've hadover the years, what I hear most
often is people just really enjoy lettingus take care of them and they get
to go and enjoy the destination.And I think that that has been one
of the biggest things that we tryto do for people, is let them
(19:53):
have the experience and not the stressof the travel. And then they love,
particularly our trips, the small sizeof them that they are not cattle
carted like We've talked about that severaltimes. And then of course the value
because we do so much. Youjust had somebody on one of your cruises.
(20:15):
They didn't want to do your pretour before the cruise, and then
they called like two days later andsaid, you know what, we've priced
everything that you're doing and you're somuch cheaper, so please put us on
that tour. Yeah, that's theSydney to New Zealand tour was we have
a three day pre cruise. Actuallyit's four calendar days, three hotels.
(20:40):
It's a cruise. Dates February fifteento twenty eight of next year, we'll
sail from Australia to Auckland, NewZealand and Fjordland that's Lord of the Rings
country, to Melbourne to Tasmania,christ Church, Tarana. It's a fabulous
tour. We'll be having in ourown shore excursions and onboard activities. But
(21:03):
this guy's understand it, said,well, I think I can do it
cheaper. Yeah, and he wentapples to apples. It comes back very
nice. I can't touch it withthat. Well. The other thing too,
is that you, as a tourhost, you're looking for any kind
of situation that may arise in anycountry that you travel that happened to me
(21:25):
in Ecuador a year or eve anda half ago. So you can diffuse
anything and the people if comfortable becauseyou are in charge. You're a step
ahead of everything. That's that's correct. You know. One thing you talk
about information. A good program ourlistens should enroll in is the STEP program
st EP Smart Traveler Enrollment Program foundat Travel dot step dot gov. And
(21:53):
what it does is you register freeof charge online. It's maintained by the
US State Department with the country orcountries you'll be visiting. And then the
embassy of that country or countries willsend you information updates local conditions, if
there is some civil disobedience or astrike, natural disasters. It also allows
(22:19):
the state department and your family toit makes it easier to contact you in
the case of an emergency back hometravel dot step dot gov. Now I
know that Morris, Columbus offers alot of group tours. Yeah, that's
(22:41):
growing and by request, it's growing. And you know what I've always told
the groups that I host is they'rewell planned, they're comprehensive, the price
is great. There is only onething you have to remember, what time
to show up in. That's justwhat time to show up to see.
A group is only as efficient asits slowest members. And if you have
(23:07):
any disability or if some mobility issue, be sure to disclose that. Because
some tours are not appropriate for amobility issue. I don't mean that in
an offensive way. They're just simplynot a and some we can accommodate,
and if we know ahead of time, we can make arrangements. Because I
(23:27):
can think of some tours that wereabsolutely not appropriate for wheelchairs. And again
that's not discriminatory. You're in somecountry that there's no ada. Yeah,
yeah, you can do it.And I've had the occasion of showing up
at the airport and there's someone ina wheelchair. Again, no offense,
(23:51):
I don't mean any offense. Well, there's not. And I'm taking this
tour to Switzerland in September October thisyear and we have a couple on the
tour and the lady is not asphysically able to do as much walking as
her husband, and they let meknow that. And because this is a
more physical tour, we've already madearrangements on how to accommodate her limitations with
(24:15):
the activities we're going to be doing. It's not a bad thing, No,
it really isn't. By the way, speaking of unique tours, you
know, last week Carlos and Iwere talking and I asked him the question,
what are people calling about? Now? You know, Hawaii, Mexico,
the Caribbean, and Europe. They'rewonderful, but they'll always be there.
(24:36):
But what unique experiences outside of theUnited States? And Carlos said,
well, that's what it is.People want safe, but unique experiences,
experiential travel, and you have one. Because I talked about it last week,
I just mentioned it. Oh mygosh, sure this is I wish
I were taking this group, butI have another group at the time.
(25:00):
It's the twenty twenty five Venice,Croatia and Monte Negro on the Royal Clipper.
But by the way, that's atrue sailing vessel. But to put
it into perspective, if you've beento a soccer or a football game.
Of course, yes, it isone and a half times the size of
a football field. Now think aboutthat holds about two hundred and twenty people.
(25:26):
Now it's a sailing vessel, butit also has propellers. It is
and it is an amazing experience andit's something that you fall in love with.
I know that we talked about oryou had mentioned that we're doing the
webinar that happened this week and it'srecorded and if it's something that you didn't
(25:48):
get to listen to but you wouldlike to see, it's going to be
on the website real soon. Butif you just call the office, you'll
be able to find it or justsee it on the web page. But
the Star Clipper experience, especially tothat part of the country in Italy and
Croatia, because we start in Veniceand the cruise ships, as we've talked
about over the time on the show, have been cruise ships are not allowed
(26:12):
in Venice anymore because of the pollutionand the number of people that they are
bringing. But the Star Clipper stillgets to dock right in Venice and sell
the Grand Canal. It is oneof the only cruise lines that still has
access to the Grand Canal. Couldyou imagine being on a tall sailing ship
(26:32):
sailing the Grand Canal in Venice.I'm just I'm gitty about it. The
big cruise ships are not allowed.They're not allowed. With that now,
I wouldn't talk about traditions because Iwill be hosting one of the most fantastic
cruise tour itineries that Joe said.I've done this before and I'm giddy about
(26:52):
going back. If you like myword giddy, thank you very much.
It's the Christmas markets on the danyou've December fourth to the eleventh from Nuremberg
to Budapest, Germany, Austria andHungary, and the Christmas Markets are a
six hundred year tradition throughout Europe whereevery town, village, big city,
(27:14):
small city city completely loses their mindat Christmas with an outdoor festival. It's
not department stores. Wouldn't chiaos bedecked with evergreen boughs. It's music,
it's food, it's drink, andit's shopping for all things Christmas that you
can use outside of Christmas. Also, now, speaking of traditions, at
Christmas traditions, we are only onehundred and eighty sixty daties from Christmas.
(27:41):
So let me you know, foodis a big part of any holidays celebration.
Back home in Argentina, what isa typical Christmas food? Assado asado,
barbecue a barbecue. Of course,Christmas is a summer holiday south of
(28:02):
the equator. It's hard for meto think of shorts, flip flops.
It's not a Norman Wendy. Yes. In your home, what is a
typical food item or centerpiece or entreefor Christmas dinner? You know, the
(28:22):
ham and the roast and the funeralpotatoes are always a staple. Well,
and that's I think in the USAroast turkey, ham and in Utah funeral
potatoes, which I love absolutely.I don't have to wait for a funeral.
Here's some favorite Christmas foods around theworld. In Germany, roast goose
(28:45):
with stuffing and apple sauce. Ilove it. I love it when I
get goosed. It's uh okay aPoland perogi, which is a Polish dumpling
and I love pogi stuffs with potato, cheese, mushrooms or sauer krap.
Now, what would you guess inthe UK as a center piece? Is
(29:11):
it lamb? Actually Lamb is Australia. Well they eat lamb there, but
Lamb is the centerpiece in Australia.That doesn't mean they don't eat other things.
But in the UK it's prime ribwith Yorkshire pudding. Now, this
one is gonna surprise you, butit's a very popular Christmas item on Christmas
Day in Japan, KFC no,no, on Syria, you fact check
(29:37):
me, Carlos, You go aheadand fact your And yeah. It started
with an ad in the nineteen seventieslinking KFC fried chicken to Western style and
a holiday festivity. Christmas Eve isthe most popular time to go out the
(30:00):
NFC in Japan. Mexico Tamali's andPassolo Pasoli. Now, pasola is a
classic Mexican soup with homni pork chickencooked in a very rich and spicy breath.
Two more Switzerland fondue. Imagine thatEgypt Fata fata is layers of rice,
(30:29):
peeda, bread and lamb, drizzledwith garlic, tomato sauce and finished
off with yogurt, crispy fried breadand almonds. It actually originated in ancient
Egypt, but became part of theCoptic Christian Christmas traditions. Hey, when
we come back, there's one moregroup I'd like you to talk about.
(30:53):
We're talking about Christmas. Taking aChristmas group Ranson. Hey, I mentioned
the Christmas markets of the Danube Decemberfourth, the eleventh. There is nothing
like it in the world, andit's so limited now on the cabins,
I think we need to know.We only have a few less Morris Coolumbus
(31:15):
dot com. Morris Coolumbus dot com, and we're gonna hear about Christmas in
Branson when we come back. You'relistening to the Travel Show on Talk Radio
one oh five nine ken Rs.Just listen and you'll know thank you for
(31:40):
listening to the Travel Show. Welove spending our weekends with you. I'm
Larry Gelwicks, the Getaway Guru,joined today with Carlos Fina and Wendy Frakia,
both with Morris Columbus Travel. Maywe give you a very sincere thank
you know, we joke around alot, we have a lot of fun.
Really, thank you, thank youvery much showing the door. But
(32:04):
without you, we don't have aradio show. In fact, without you,
we don't even have a Morris ColumbusTravel. So we are very deeply
grateful to spend this time with you. As I put it, whether you
travel or you're an armchair traveler anddream about it, we'll tell you where
to go and how to get there. Wendy, we were talking about group
(32:24):
travel and this Christmas market December fourthto the eleventh. We also have a
pre cruise the area option that I'llmention. We fly to Munich. The
cruise tour starts at Nuremberg, whichis the absolute best, absolute best Christmas
market in all of Europe in myview, and I've been to most of
(32:45):
them. But we'll fly into Munichand we'll go down to Bavaria, to
ober Amagao, to No Swanstein,which is the castle that walked This used
exactly for the Cinderella Castle. Itwas his inspiration. And that would be
(33:07):
a couple of three days earlier.Anyway, you also have Tim Taggert,
who's one of our favorite tour hosts, tour directors. Yeah, with a
Christmas in Branson. You know,we are so grateful to have Tim leading
tours with us. He's been doingtours for twenty plus. Actually he started
(33:30):
back in the eighties individually, buthe does this wonderful traditional Christmas to Branson
tour, and again, just likeyour tour, it is such a fabulous
way to kick off the holiday andto make these memories with friends and family.
Even if you're just going as acouple, or if you're going as
a family, or if you're justgoing as couples, it's something so fun
(33:53):
to do and to enjoy the holiday, and it should become a tradition like
all these different ones you do.But this tour with Tim Taggert is December
sixth through the eleventh. It stillhas some availability. It starts out at
only sixteen twenty nine. That's great, gru Bear, you know, and
(34:14):
again we're just going to take careof you. Brands and tours are so
fun because literally we talked about mobilityBrands and tours. You literally go from
airplane to bus to hotel to restaurant, to bus to you know, you're
just you're you're never walking. Idon't think any distance it is. It
(34:34):
is definitely one that you're going toeat and enjoy shows and do a little
bit of Christmas shopping, but reallyit's mostly entertainment. It's fabulous and all
the details at morriscolumbus dot com onthe homepage. Just scroll down a bit
you can see the group tours,the ones we've talked about, and the
whole list of others. Well,three airlines are being required to pay almost
(34:57):
one billion dollars in passenger refunds thatthey were legally required to do and just
flat out refused. We're not goingto give you your money back. So
these three airlines will pay nine hundredmillion in refunds to passengers for canceled or
significantly changed flights due to the COVIDnineteen pandemic. The US Department of Transportation
(35:23):
announced just last week that Lufthansa,the German De Deutsche Luftansea, South African
Airways and KLM Royal Dutch Airways arereed. They say, guys, you
have to provide refunds the dot requiresfor flights that are purchased in the US
(35:45):
for flights traveling within the US ortraveling in the US overseas. If your
flight is canceled, you can getrebooked by the airline or demand a refund
for any unused portion of the ticket. It also says in the DOT rules
that if your flight is significantly delayed, quote unquote, you're entitled to a
(36:10):
refund or rebooking. The one problemwith that is the DOT does not define
significantly delayed. Well. United Airlinesdefined it for them twenty six hours and
then which they then dropped that therewas such a public outcry twenty six hours
(36:34):
and we'll give you we'll give youyour money back. Well, these three
airlines just I guess refused or didnot pay for whatever reason, almost a
billion dollars. My brother lives upin the state of Washington and bought a
ticket for one of our Holy Landtours on Elal Israeli Airlines, and he
(36:58):
would fly out of the Seattle Airport, and of course with the COVID the
country shut down, we canceled that. It took him over a year with
me getting involved and l I'll justignoring us everything where I was even making
telephone calls to the district sales manager. Oh yeah, yeah, yeah,
(37:19):
but they're gonna you know, youdo it. Now, tell you what
you can do. Go to dotdot gov and then in the search bar
put canceled flights and it will giveyou the DOT the federal government dot's Department
of Transportation rules. By the way, these airlines were also in addition to
(37:43):
the nine hundred million, they werefined two and a half million in civic
penalties. Dot dot gov and thensearch for canceled flights. When we come
back, we're going to talk aboutinsider secrets to book a Hawaii vacation and
(38:05):
a airline ceo has complained about quote, wheelchair abuse on airlines. We'll talk
about all that and more here onthe Travel Show. You're listening to the
(38:25):
Travel Show, the Best two Hoursin Radio. I'm Larry Gelwicks, the
Getaway Guru, joined by Wendy Frakia, Group department manager at Morris Columbus Travel
and Carlos Fieda, Director of LatinAmerican Sales at Morris Columbus Travel. By
the Way, Morris Columbus Travel wasawarded the Best of State designation as the
(38:51):
Best Travel Company, Best travel agencybest travel advisors in the great state of
Utah for the fourth year in arow. And I'm will say that Carlos
and Wendy are part of the reasonfor that, along with all of our
great support team and travel advisors.Congratulations, Morris, We've got the best.
(39:12):
Yeah, we really do. Anda lot of experience. Rather than
saying we're old fogies, it's justa lot of experience. Yeah, with
that, just out of curiosity,how many years have you been involved in
the travel business, Carlos since nineteenseventy nine? Well, how many years?
That would be six? I'll goforty six. Wendy, I am
(39:37):
going on thirty two. Does thatyour age or years years in the business?
Larry, I wish I was thirtytwo. You look pretty good.
I started really young. But thankyou. That is just the three of
us. I've been in forty fiveyears. Look, Jenn, thank you.
(39:58):
Just between the three of us,that is one hundred and twenty three
years of travel experience. Yep,right, you know, and boy that
makes a difference. One of myfavorite places on Earth is Hawaii. I
have made one hundred and seventy tripsto Hawaii. I've kept track my first
(40:25):
me. My first was in nineteensixty six. I was sixteen years old.
I grew up as a surfer boyin California. I used to cut
school and go surfing with my buddiesand forge my father's signature. I had
a perfect forgery as an because Iturned a note to be excused. Of
(40:46):
course, thank you very much.Did you confess? Yes, I'm confessing
right now to my father. Heaven'sno. Heaven's no anyway. But my
very first trip was in nineteen sixtysix and I went surfing. Did you
get your first wine shirt on thattrip? I think I did it.
I mean, like, if youlook at my wardrobe now, I probably
(41:09):
have fifteen. I love Aloha shirtsbecause as I get fat, I don't
have to buy any shirt. Thankyou very very much. And I have
kept track. There were years andyears where I was commuting at least once
a month, sometimes twice a monthto Hawaii. We were doing so much.
(41:29):
We had back to back tours thatI would be hosting over there,
and I mean, boy, whata tan I had to But I've kept
track. And this last February wherewe had the no, let's see the
one. No, it was April. I'm sorry, April was Tahiti to
(41:49):
Hawaii. That was my one hundredand seventieth trip. I don't say that
braggingly, just matter of factly.But you want to be very careful when
you book a Hawaii trip, andI think there's some real insider tips.
For example, I'm asked all thetime, is there really such a thing
(42:12):
as secret airfares to Hawaii and otherdestinations? And the answer is yes,
because I call them secret airfares becauseairlines will contract with a handful of travel
companies, Morris Columbus being one ofthem, including Carlos. You've negotiated some
South America air fass that are unpublished. You can't buy them, and I
(42:37):
call them secret. If you callthe airlines reservation desks, they don't know
anything about it. They can't quotethem to you. But the airlines have
a stipulation. These are so drasticallydiscounted. They want to fill the airplane
and they know historically how many emptyseats they're going to have that they want
(42:57):
to do it in a way thatdoesn't upset most of the people that are
paying a high fare. So whatis the restriction, Wendy, Well,
you have to work with the rightpartner, right and you cannot well you
cannot purchase it the secret by themselvesair only. It has to be bundled
with something. Could be a hotel, it could be a car something.
(43:20):
So there really are secret airfares thatare not available to the general public from
the airline. So yes, thereand Morris Columbus is one of the few
travel companies that actually has these secretair force and number two one islander two.
(43:42):
Now, Wendy, if I'm goingto be there for a week,
how many islands should I visit?One? If you really want to relax
and enjoy it. Yeah, unlessyou're on the Pride of America, which
is a Norwegian cruise line and selthat sales every week and visits a wah
Maui, Kawaii and the Big Islandand on the Big Island both Hilo and
(44:05):
Kona. That's a great way becauseyou're packing unpackaging this cruise. Yeah,
yes, so have I and you'renot there at the airport waiting for flights
and eating up your vacation time.I think if you want to visit absent
of the cruise of two islands aminimum of ten days, you want to
spend there and then just let itgo. Number three be oh my gosh,
(44:30):
I hate these be aware of theparking and resort fees. They have
gotten so far out of control.But yeah, you really do need to
know, and don't have a rentalcar for the entire time if you're not
going to use it. If youwant to do something on the other side
of the island, rent it forthe day. Yeah, that's number four.
(44:51):
Do I really need a rental carbecause the parking fee at most hotels
is forty to fifty dollars yes,day a day. Now, I'll tell
you. For example, at theout in Laier, the Marriotte Hotel there,
it's just a big parking lot andyou pay like fifteen bucks a day
(45:13):
or something. But in waiki Keiand at like Turtle Bay and some of
these others, then the upscale resorts, it'll run your forty to fifty dollars
a day plus tax. And theresort fee is absolutely evil. It's a
fee on top of your rental fee. Most hotels it's thirty to fifty dollars
(45:34):
a day for that newspaper you don'tread. Yeah, and local phone,
unlimited local phone will calls like whoam I going to call? Yeah,
it's like the cable company, thethings they bundle in. President Biden has
repeatedly stated, and he said itin his last State of the Union address,
that he was going to do awaywith these junk fees and make them
(45:55):
that's what he calls them, junkfees for hotels. It's a resort or
destination fee. And I hope heremembers that he committed to get rid of
these. This is what the FEDSdid with airlines. Remember they'd advertise an
airfare plus tax, and in somecases the taxes are more than the airfare.
(46:20):
The FEDS made them put it allin one price. Mandatory fees like
I see the assignment or luggage.You know, it's not mandatory. And
Biden said he'd do that with thehotels. The resort or destination fee must
be added into the advertised price.It hasn't happened yet. Like I said,
I hope he remembers. Well,that's like the new cruise transparency pricing
(46:45):
as well, that you have tonow see the complete cruise price, government
taxesport taxes, everything included in thatrate. See it had and I think
that takes effect July. First watchit. It's going to be coming.
So it's going to seem like cruisinghas gotten a lot more expensive if you're
(47:05):
just looking at the advertised pricing,it hasn't. It is just the inclusive
pricing. Don't you think that?Why is Mexico so popular Because it's a
better value. It's a better valueand everything is included in growing the transplantation
from the airport to the resort.So those are insider tips for booking Hawaii.
(47:25):
Now. The CEO of Frontier Airlinescomplained about wheelchair abuse, and all
airlines have commented. I'll give youan example. Baltimore to Fort Lauderdale earlier
in the year with Southwest Airlines,there were thirty two passengers who requested wheelchairs
(47:46):
on the departure. It gets thezips them through TSA. And remember Southwest
does not have assigned seating, butthey have a board like Group A,
Group C, and you can buya good position. But who gets on
first the wheelchairs? Thirty two peopleboarded with wheelchair assistants in Fort Lauderdale.
(48:12):
Twelve people needed wheelchair disembarkation. Othersjust walked off. There is a great
abuse, and I'll tell you.The other abuse that just fries me is
airlines give the priority to people whoneed a little extra time and assistance.
Now, I'm all for wheelchairs,grandma, crutches a cane, I'm all
(48:37):
for it. But I see peoplewho appear to be perfectly healthy and they
got big shopping bags they want becausethere's a fight for the overhead space.
I asked a Delta agent where itwas just obscene the number of people that
were doing it, some deserving,some not, and she simply said,
(48:58):
I'm not going to turn any wentaway anyway we come back, I'll finish
up that one a lot more hereon the Travel Show as we head to
South America. You're listening to theTravel Show on Talk Radio one oh five
nine kN rs. Just listen andyou'll know Welcome back to the Travel Show.
(49:21):
I'm Larry Gelwicks, that get AwayGuru and Wendy Carlos and I were
talking in the last segment about wheelchairBruce and airlines management is complaining. It's
a tough thing because people who trulyneed extra time and assistance should be accommodated.
(49:43):
As I said, people in wheelchairs, disabilities, crutches a cane,
you know certainly Carlos should always getearly boarding for his conditions. I was
gonna say, for his regged goodlooks. That's right, that's right,
s mui bonito. Yes, I'llget you even or was that s muigrdito,
(50:09):
that's you, that's me, yes, thank you very much. Anyway,
But I just I see what appearsto be abused. Now that maybe
that's judgmental because you don't know what'sgoing on. But when people walk on
at a normal pace, at evena fast pace, with bags and bags,
what they want is the overhead space, which gets really tight. And
(50:32):
you were telling a story about whenContinental Airlines used to fly to Lima.
Lima, there wasn't there was aline like twenty twenty wheelchairs with people waiting
there first. And so the managerthis was in Lima. There wasn't Lima
flying back to the US coming back, you know, people that were returning.
So the manager said to me,Carlos, I tell you all these
(50:55):
people are perfectly well and they canwalk. So I would nouns boring the
first class, of course, baringthe people with freaking fliers, and then
we were bored. Last we wereboard the people and who chairs more than
half of them stood up immediately andran, you know, to be in
line with the rest of them.That's that. That's Jesus in flight,
(51:19):
instant healing, insteam. On that, can I get an amen on?
Thank you very much, Thank youvery much. Carlos, you are the
walking Google on all things Latin America, and you and I have teamed up.
We were talking Wendy about group tours. I think the most incredible unique
tour. People want something unique,and we have a group. It's about
(51:44):
half full in March to Peru,to Chile and to Rapanui Eastern Island.
I remember, Larry when we talkedabout this fair it was last year.
And we work on details in ourdetails that will make the people extremely happy
when they hit these places. Wego from sal Lake City or any other
(52:08):
destination within the United States to Lima, Peru. We go see the city
of Lima, because city of Limaused to have a bad connotation because of
the province. Anymore, not anymore. It's the curmet capital of South America.
That's very important. Then we flyto Cusco. We do Cusco,
(52:29):
Cusco, Machu Pitch of the SacredValley, everything else in between, and
we do it at it's not arushing tour because we even have a day
in Awas Calientes. What is aCalentes. That's a small town. You
take the dome train from Cusco inthe Sacred Valley le Vista Doom and down
(52:52):
to Agua Calientes. They changed thename to what Sudad de machu Picchu.
Yes, but it never in anobody calls it that the city of Machu
Pichu. We call it August Calientis. Calentis means hot. Of course there's
water, but they have hot springsthere. So when you go down.
And what's interesting about the and thesemountains is they don't roll up. They
(53:16):
explode literally straight up, and youhave a it's a dome train, so
the top is glass. You cansee it. So there's this small town
there that is Agua Calientthis it's asmall village that is everything you dream of
(53:36):
a South American and restaurants and shoppingand it's not a big place and it's
right at the base. And thenyou take usually vans up. The bus
can't drive up to bat vans comingup. But I think it is the
important thing here is we don't doit just the usual way. Arrive at
(54:00):
nine o'clock in the morning in oasColindis on the train and then return at
five o'clock on the train back toGusco. We stay one night, which
allows you to see Machu Picchu onthe first day, then Machu Picchu on
the second day, which allows youto climb to the Waina pitch of that
famous mountain. You know what's interesting, Wendy about the overnight is they now
(54:27):
regulate by reservation how many people cango to Machu Pichu, and so the
train comes down in the morning witha lot of people. We can get
up there before the train arrives.And it's not like we have it only
to ourselves, but we have itonly to those people who overnighted in Algua
(54:50):
Calientis. Now from Machu Pichu,where do we go, Well, Machu
Picchu, we take a flight.There is only a flight once a week
to Santiago, chilein and then fromNonStop flight. It's a non stop it's
a very short flight by the way, because you know, Cousco is south
of Peru. Then we fly toRapanui, eastern island. People said,
(55:15):
what am I going to see?Instral Easter Lina was the first island in
the world declared by UNESCO a worldwideworld side which everybody wants to see there
Now people said, well, isthere a museum? What am I going
to see? The whole island isa museum with these huge mais. These
(55:36):
moies were built now the mawai whenthe you know what it is, it's
those elongated statues. We only seethe head right now, but most of
it is underground a body. There'snine hundred of them, and there is
no consensus of what the purpose was. There's a mystery. Now Rapahannure Easter
(56:00):
Island is a Polynesian It's closer toTahiti many that it is to Chile,
which has the governance of it rightnow. One of the most unique experiences
that you'll ever have on Easter Island. Rapanui and I like because now the
government has imposed a rule that saysso many in so many tourists can go
(56:25):
to the island. Everybody. Sothe plane is a big plane, but
they can take so many tourists.The dates are March eleventh to the twenty
third. Next year March eleventh tothe twenty third. You can contact your
favorite Morris Columbus Travel advisor, callthe Group department direct check it out at
Morris Columbus dot com. Scroll downto our group reservations. When we come
(56:51):
back, we have got Iceland andthe British Parliament. You're listening to the
travel show. I'm Larry Gelwicks,they Get Away Guru, joined by Carlos
Feda and Wendy Frakia, both withMorris Columbus Travel, and thank you for
(57:13):
joining us. You know we weretalking Wendy and Carlos about people looking for
unique experience. It's perfectly safe,but something not just out of the ordinary,
but extra ordinary, something to makethe vacation experience more unique to them
(57:34):
and their interest. Yeah, andyou'd mentioned that star Clipper tall ship.
I love the tall ships with starClippers, and you're going to be sailing
on the Royal Clipper. It's oneand a half times a football field,
so you're not on some little TheMinno with Gilligan in July July ninth to
the twenty sixth next year Venice,Croatian Monteenegro and the good news is you'll
(58:00):
be your personal host and tour guide. And I'm excited about that. But
not only that, there's other experientialtravel that the group department does. Just
go to the website, like youwere saying, and take a look at
some of the other things that wedo. We're going to be doing trips
that are going to be hiking TabachiPeache. You just talked to that.
(58:20):
Who wants to go on the Incatrail? You are going? I booked
you there absolutely. You know,I think I am so blessed. I've
been in the travel business forty fiveyears. I visited one hundred and thirteen
countries, three new ones this yearI'll have. But I think of memorable
experience, there's so many. I'vebeen actually on the floor of the Houses
(58:45):
of Parliament, the House of Lordsand the House of Commons. Right on
the floor I stood where Winston Churchillspoke we will fight them on the beaches,
we will fight them on land,we will fight them on sea.
We will now ah surrender. Istood right where he stood when he gave
that. You know, I wasthinking the other day, and in fact,
(59:07):
my wife Kathy and I were outfor our morning walk this morning,
and we were talking about some ofthe great experiences we had and one that
came to mind was on a tripto Iceland. We did a snowmobile adventure
on a glacier. Wow, andyou go with a group, they give
you all the gear. It isyou know, it's snow and ice and
(59:31):
you're on a snowmobile, either oneor two people who went on the two
person one. I did learn thatCathy has a lead foot, not only
in the car but on the snowmobile. So we're on this glacier and you
just follow the leader. There's aboutsix or seven snowmobiles and with a leader,
you follow him in all the safeareas of the glacier. And then
(59:54):
it started to snow. This wasin the month of October, and so
we just pulled over and enjoyed thissnowfall coming down. We also went to
the Blue Lagoon, which is geothermalhotpools, and I mean, these things,
it's just incredible. Iceland is afascinating country. It's really settled in
(01:00:19):
eight seventy four AD by a Vikingchieftain from Norway ingrf artisan is. They
have records he settled it. What'sinteresting is that fifty percent of the population
believes in ELFs and trolls seriously.And when you build a building. You
(01:00:44):
have to get a permit where theycheck if there's elfsertrolls living underground. You
can talk to people who will tellyou they have seen them absolutely. And
there's also an elf school, nota school to become an elf, but
you can go to school to learnall about elves and how to interact with
them. You know, there's onlywhat three hundred and fifty thousand people there,
(01:01:09):
and so that when you get marriedyou have a Icelander book to make
sure you're not marrying your cousin orsomething. I mean, it's so incredible.
Do we talked about Remember we talkedabout Christmas tradition. Remember what's interesting.
A traditional gift in Iceland for Christmasis a book. Now, I
(01:01:31):
think that's a great that's a greatidea. Hawaii has sixteen volcanos, three
active, sixteen. Iceland has onehundred and thirty volcanoes and thirty active.
I have I have so enjoyed mytime in Iceland. By the way,
(01:01:52):
there's no mosquitoes there either. It'stoo cold for the mosquitoes. Okay,
sold, okay, Now I'd loveto have you folks join me in Iceland
next year. I will be personallyhosting a cruise tour where we sail from
Rekuevik, Iceland the capitol, andwe make three stops in Iceland including rekuvic
(01:02:15):
then on to three stops in Norway, Olisen and Bergen, and then Flom
which is the Fjords in Glacier area. Then down to well, I'll be
Amsterdam in the Netherlands, Bruges,Belgium. Have any of you been to
Bruce Is that maybe maybe the mostbeautiful city in all of Europe? And
(01:02:42):
then across the English Channel to Southampton. We will have a post cruise London
option on that, Wendy, Ibelieve you're working on that. The cruise
dates are actually June twelve to twentytwo. June twelve to twenty two.
I will be your host and tourguide. But a better reason to come
is my wife Kathy will also beyour hostess. So this time next year,
(01:03:07):
exactly this week next year, youwill be in Iceland and got some
fantastic rates. We'll be doing ourown shore excursion in most of the ports
where you go at a lower pricewith a lot more included. Now I
say we're going to go to London. I didn't I state that I've been
to the actual right on the floor. I was going to ask you what
(01:03:30):
you're being charged with. No,you did, that's not an indictment.
That's before the High Court. Carlosasked me that all the time. Well,
the Houses of Parliament are split intothe House of Lords and the House
of Commons. Currently there are aboutsix hundred and fifty members of Parliament.
(01:03:53):
But the members of the House ofLords are appointed by the monarch. The
House of Commons are elected by thepeople. The houses of Parliament were hit
by bombs fourteen times in World WarTwo during the Blitzkreek. Now they still
(01:04:15):
have a law that if you gointo the House of Parliament, Carlos,
you are not allowed to wear asuit of armor. Now this dates back
to the year thirteen thirteen. Whybecause they're trying to keep the knights coming
in with swords and lances and killthe king. Killed the king, so
(01:04:36):
you can't wear a suit of armor. And the houses of Parliament are actually
owned by King Charles the monarchy.Now here's here's what's interesting. Big Ben
is part of the Houses of Parliament. But you know Big Ben is the
(01:04:58):
tower and the clock. Everybody assumesthe clock is big Ben it's not.
The clock is called the Elizabethan clockTower and it's part of the Tower of
Parliament. So we're going to havea great time. June twelve to twenty
two Iceland to London, including Norway, the Netherlands and Brussels. We already
(01:05:23):
have a nice group booked on this. We still have some space available.
You don't want to miss this one. It's unique. And by the way,
this is with Norwegian Cruise Lines ontheir new ship, the Prima.
I've sailed on the Premium. It'sa fantastic ship. They also have a
new feature there. I mean youhave your buffet, your restaurants Japanese Tempanyaki,
(01:05:49):
cagn these steakhouse, and a varietyof optional restaurants. But they actually
have a food court where they havea pad there and order it from your
table and they bring it to you. They have about I don't know,
seven or eight different kitchens. Youcan just spend the entire cruise eating.
(01:06:10):
I do think well, I thinkwhat's interesting is this is the second time
you're doing this. Itinery, butwe do not have plans for you to
do it again, So this isnot something that you can say I'm going
to catch us when he does thisnext year or maybe in two years.
We don't know that this will besomething you'll be repeating. I don't know
if NCL will be repeating it exactly. I currently have no plans to do
(01:06:32):
this again. This will be mysecond time thoroughly enjoyed it. If you're
interested in the British aue, nowwe have that Iceland to London June twelve
to twenty two. I'll also behosting as an Anglo file a British Isles
group July seven to twenty and thisis with Princess Cruise. As we'll see
(01:06:53):
England, Ireland and Scotland and France. You'll have an opportunity in Laha to
take the train into Paris for theday. So we've again England, Ireland,
Scotland and France. And one ofthe highlights for me will be at
(01:07:14):
Cork, Ireland. Now Cork isthe gateway port, a short distance from
the Blarney Castle. And yes youcan kiss the Blarney and the legend is
if you kiss the Blarney you aregiven the gift of gab Mark. Falbow
made the comment, well, ifthat's true, Larry made out with the
(01:07:36):
Blarney stone. Oh my gosh.Let me ask you turn to a hot
topic in social media, Wendy,what are your thoughts about people? You're
on board a flight and a strangercomes and asks you to switch seats.
I've had this burn me before,so I have a series of questions.
(01:07:58):
I ask, now, if thishappens, is it the same type of
seat aisle or window or is itpremium? Does you know all these things
that I like on my flight?And I don't feel bad anymore if I
have to tell them no, that'smy personal feeling. Well, but there's
another thing for exactly it happened tome many times. This is what happens
here is the wife on one aisleseat, the husband wants to see by
(01:08:24):
the wife in the middle seat,and they would ask me, would you
trade? And I said, sure, it's the same seat behind you or
in front of the aisle for mile, window for window. Not to put
me in the middle seat. No. Well, the other thing we're seeing
some requests you could read them onsocial media is there was a case recently
where a woman she and her husbandwere in coach in Maine cabin she got
(01:08:47):
upgraded. This is on air Canadaand she got upgraded to business class,
which had live flat seats there flyingI think from Quebec City to Vancouver,
and she asked this guy in businessclass if he would trade with her husband
(01:09:08):
so they could sit together. Well, he asked some other questions. Where
is the seat? Yep, itwas back in coach and he had paid
for a business class seat and shegot so huffy when he said no.
Another case recently, Oh, canI say we want to sit with our
kids? Well, how old arethey? They're both in their mid twenties
(01:09:30):
on a two hour flight and hewas going to have to go to their
middle seat. So I would say, I have changed, but it's got
to be an equal deal, equalequal. Hey we come back. I
want to tell you about the WarriorsFest that's coming to Salt Lake on the
Travel Show. You're listening to TheTravel Show on talk radio one oh five
(01:09:53):
nine kN rs. Just listen andyou'll know Welcome back to the Travel Show.
I'm Larry Gelwicks joined in studio todaywith Carlos Fieda, director of Latin
American sales for Morris Columbus Travel,and Wendy Frakia group department manager also at
(01:10:14):
Morris Columbus Travel. Check out theirwebsite Morriscolumbus dot com. That's Morriscolumbus dot
com. And for a list ofall of the exciting group tours offered by
Morris Columbus, just go to thehomepage and scroll down and click on the
group travel. We want to remindyou that for those of our listeners who
use the Salt Lake Airport, atwenty percent parking discount available at Parkinjet,
(01:10:40):
which is the only locally owned offairport parking facility. They'll pick you up
right at your car, But goto Morriscolumbus dot com, scroll down and
print off your own discount co infact, print five or six of them
and just keep them in the car. And I'll say it, Carlos,
that twenty percent discount will add uppretty quick, I'm sure and very good.
(01:11:04):
You know, we have kind ofa unique final story that's near and
dear to my heart. We've talkedabout rugby. You know, thirty six
years I coached the Highland rugby team. My eight year old grandson Oscar is
playing rugby now and it's tackle rugby, and I will simply tell him,
(01:11:24):
of course, I'm a proud grandfather. He is a beast on the field.
I am absolutely confident the New ZealandAll Blacks the national team, will
be taking a close look at him. Hey, I want to welcome to
the show my friend Greg Cooper,the head coach of the Utah Warriors,
which is Major League Rugby we haveright here in the great state of Utah.
(01:11:47):
Greg, Welcome to the Travel show. Thanks very much, Larry.
Now, in addition to the gamesthat you've been playing the Utah Warriors,
you are hosting a unique festival calledthe Warriors Fest. Tell us about that.
I believe it's Friday, June twentyeighth. What is the Warriors Fest?
(01:12:12):
Well, Larry, it's a gameagainst la first and foremost in the
MLR, and obviously a game thatwe're pretty excited about hosting them here in
Salt Lake City. But on topof that, we're having an American Purst
Shield and we're aiming for a recordcrowd in an MLR. So I think
(01:12:32):
the crowd record at the stage isabout eleven thousand in San Diego. We
played in San Diego last year inSan Diego, so we're hoping for fifteen
thousand plus so a real showcase andreally wanting the people of Utah, obviously
Salt Lake City and the rest ofthe state to get along and help us
(01:12:53):
create a record of fifteen thousand plusspectators. What are the activities and we're
going to be out there, Myfamily and I will be there strong.
You mentioned the America First Field.I believe that was previously called Rio Tinto
Career. Yeah, and so manypeople may know it as Rio Tinto Now
(01:13:14):
in the Warriors Fest, there's thatkids fest I believe starts at six o'clock
again, this is Friday, Junetwenty eighth. That Rio Tinto now known
as America First Stadium. What isinvolved in the Kids Fest? Oh well,
I mean there's you know obviously wherethere's a huge amount of entertainment.
We're actually trying to create a worldrecord of beach balls. Now I don't
(01:13:39):
actually know the amount, but there'sonly be a beach ball pit there as
well as well, so that isgoing to be one exciting thing. We're
trying to get ourselves at the beginnessbook of records were there. So that's
the entertainment and you know for thekids, who's going to be leedy of
opportunity to get involved and many activitiesthere. So you know it is a
festivil as you know, the rugbyis obviously the highlight, but you know
(01:14:02):
the opportunity for families and kids toactually enjoy the spectacle not only a rugby
at all the activities around that.And as a said, we are trying,
we are trying to get a worldrecord of beach having a beach ball
pit with the most amount of beachballs as the amount. But it's going
to be. There will be planning, There'll be plenty a lot of fun.
It will be games, prizes,challenges for the kids. Will the
(01:14:25):
kids be coming down on the field, Yeah, they will and that's exciting
the plan Yeah. Well, Imean but for us also, like I'm
from New Zealand and you know I'mfrom the day you probably show my age
now that Larry, but from theday when crowds came onto the field,
it was pretty exciting. You know, you're out there as a player and
the crowds along there, they're gettingautographs and it's that it's that real sense
(01:14:48):
of closeness to given esus. Yougo out there to rew battle, as
you know with rugby, with thelittle background and the rugby. You go
out there, you do battle.It's a pretty ferocious sort of a game.
But afterwards it is actual your community. You're being you know, you
go to the aft image functions.You know, you're the players on the
field, you're the stains on thefield. It's pretty special. It really
(01:15:08):
is something that growing up with somethingI really appreciate it. You know,
I've heard it, said Greg,and we're speaking with Greg Cooper, head
coach of the Utah Warriors. Thedifference between rugby and soccer. Soccer is
a gentleman's game played by hooligans,and rugby is a hooligan game played by
gentlemen. How you take its startfor the Warriors Rugby Fest at just fifteen
(01:15:34):
dollars now. The kids fest startsat six pm. There'll be live local
music, eight point thirty the kickoffthe Utah Warriors against LA with postgame fireworks.
If you want some more information,go to Warriors Rugby dot com Forward
Slash Warriors Fest, not Festival festFest. That's Warriors Rugby dot Com Forward
(01:16:01):
Slash Warriors Fest. It's going tobe a great, great event there.
We are going to set a newMLR record. Greg Cooper, head coach
of the Utah Wars. Thank youfor joining us on the travel show,
and my family and I will beout there again Friday, June twenty eighth.
Warriors Rugby dot Com forward slash WarriorsFest. Thanks Greg, thanks all
(01:16:28):
right, all the best. Hey, thanks for joining us on the travel
show. We'll see it at theWarriors Fest this Friday,
Welcome to the Travel Show, theBest two hours in Radio. I'm Larry
Gelwicks then get Away Guru, joinedtoday by Wendy Frakia, the Group department
manager at Morris Columbus Travel, andthe Argentinian gaucho himself, Carlos Feeda,
director of Latin American Sales at MorrisColumbus Travel. Wendy and Carlos welcome back
(00:23):
to the show. Yeah, hello, hello, oh very good. We'll
be hearing about some of the benefitsof group travel. We got a great
show lined up today with some interestingstuff that you Disney fans will love.
The Christmas traditions Australia New Zealand threeAirlines are paying nine hundred million dollars to
(00:48):
passengers. I'll give you all thedetails that maybe you are one of them,
Pavel tips when booking a Hawaii vacation, and some British and Iceland fun
facts and special guests later on inthe show. Well, Wendy, you
and I were talking before we startedthe show today that the only thing better
(01:10):
than cheap is free. Free.Free Frontier Airlines is giving away free flights
for a year. That's a lotof FS. Yeah, that's how to
win So if you love to travel, perhaps there's no sweeter phrase than free
flights, and that's exactly what FrontierAirlines is offering up in its Family Summer
(01:37):
Getaway Sweepstakes. Now. One luckygrand prize winner will receive a one thousand
dollars flight voucher each month for ayear. All in all, that's enough
for about an estimated twelve round triptip trips for a family of four.
You can take your family with you. The vouchers not just good for you,
(02:00):
anybody who wants to travel with you. Plus one hundred additional winners will
receive a one time one thousand dollarsFrontier Airlines voucher. Where can I go
with you? Buy? Actually there'sa lot of places you can go Frontier
Now, Well, hold on,Carlos, I'll tell you where to go,
(02:20):
where to go one way, andhow to get there anyway you have.
There's nothing to buy, but youhave to enter the sweepstakes now.
The sign in web is eighteen mileslong, so I don't give that over
the air. It's one of thoseyou'll never remember, but I can tell
you where to find it. It'snot it's not on their homepage website which
(02:45):
is Flyfrontier dot com. But ifyou will simply google this and you can
remember this, folks, which whatairline is it? Frontier? Okay,
so we'll start with Frontier Family Summerget Away, Frontier Family Summer Getaway,
and then it will google up thelink which is that very long address.
(03:08):
It'll be confusing, give it,but why not enter it? Or you
know what, even if you don'tlike Frontier, there is a lot of
forgiveness that could be given with freefree. Now, I tell you one
thing that Frontier does, and thereare terms and conditions attached to this.
They offer all all you can flypast. I mean, this is as
(03:30):
much. It's called the go Wildall right, all you can fly past.
You can book it for a monthfor one hundred and forty nine dollars.
You can fly as much as youaint. Now that's only you,
Okay. So you were traveling witha spouse or partner of friends and it
is half you each have to buyit. Yeah, sorry, now I
(03:51):
was just going to say it islimited. I remember researching this because you
know, need to go and spendtime seeing the grandkids. However, there
they do have limited So the mostpopular days and the most popular flights.
It's like those categories of seats oneach of the flights, so they're only
going to put so many of thesefree seats on every flight. So just
no, you may not get atfirst pick on everything. But again it's
(04:14):
free, and they have the advancedpurchase requirement, so you can get a
month will go Wild All you CanFly past from Frontier Airlines for as little
as one hundred and forty nine.Now there may be some taxes on top
of that if you're going to gointernational for the summer four hundred and ninety
nine bucks. But I'll tell youthe one that I really like is the
(04:39):
entire year five ninety nine. Ithink about that, Carlos five hundred and
ninety nine bucks. And there maybe some associated fees you're taking extra luggage
and things like that. But fora year, Frontier flies to more more
than one hundred day destinations throughout theUS, Central America and the Caribbean,
(05:04):
including popular destinations is concuon Miami,LA. Anyway, again for the free
giveaway, google Frontier Family, SummerGetaway, Frontier Family, some are getaway.
If you're interested in the Go WildAll you Can Fly pass, it's
(05:25):
fly it's flyfrontier dot com. Thatis on their website, on their homepage
flyfrontier dot com. Now, Wendyand Carlos, do you remember, oh,
probably a month or two ago,we talked about more than one occasion
where it Hurts rent a car whichhas in my view, systemic problems.
(05:48):
Oh my goodness, I don't.I try to avoid renting from them.
I just do because the half ofthis we reported on this show reports that
Hurts was dinging renters who had electriccars like a Tesla a refueling fee,
(06:12):
not for electricity, but for gasolinethat usually ran three hundred to four hundred
dollars. They charged for a tankof gas at these inflated prices, and
people are saying, I can't putgas in this car. Don't know what
you want me to do it.Hurts reportedly would not back off from that
fee. Now, the hall ofshame for Hurts rent a car continues.
(06:38):
Reported just over the weekend, aHurtz customer accomplished a new feat in the
in the annals of rental car companydiscservice, actually being charged for a red
light ticket running it before even rentingthe vehicle. Now, listen, these
folks rented a vehicle on fifteenth atthe Calgary Airport for a period of six
(07:02):
days, starting at ten thirty pmbecause they were on American Airlines arriving in
the evening. However, the Hurtzagent at the airport inadvertently logged the rental
time as starting at ten thirty am, so then they were first hit with
(07:23):
an air but they didn't pick itup till ten thirty pm. They were
first hit with an extra day's chargebeyond the period they actually had the car
for. Oh, you got atten thirty am, and then the previous
renter ran a red light at twothirty three pm. I guess it was
picked up on a camera camra yep. But since the system now saw them
(07:46):
having the car at the time,their credit card was hit for four hundred
and thirty six dollars and fifty centsfor the bill. Now, it would
have been impossible for the customer tohave the car at three pm because they
were in flight on American airlines.They provide when they objected to this,
(08:07):
they provided copies of their boarding passes. Well, Hertz agreed with them about
the rental time start, so theyremoved the extra day charge that was the
right thing to do, but Hurtsstill refused to budge on the red light
ticket or the extra fees associated withthe extra day rental, and now Hertz,
(08:31):
when asked about it by the media, refuses to comment. So what
we had is three charges, theextra day, the extra day fees,
and the red light. So theytook off the extra day, but they
won't take off their extra day extrafees, and they won't take off the
(08:56):
red light. So it's called bymany Hurts toll scam. Remember we charged
they charged customers to rent Tesla's forfailing to fill up an electric vehicle with
gasoline, and Hurts, reportedly bythis news report, is refusing to admit
(09:18):
its mistake lest the police stop believingthem when they file false police reports.
You remember when Hurts was a premierrental car company and they were right,
Yes, they were wonderful on service. And this is just so so hard
(09:39):
for me to believe. So Ican't believe it, such as stories just
keep coming, so you know,it's just it's just incredible. I think
what I would almost be as madabout is the time it would take me
to be fighting this. Yeah,and they won't back off on that listen.
When we come back right here onthe Travel Show, I want to
(10:00):
tell about an appearance I make everyMonday on KUTV Channel two with a travel
news update, travel news, nota commercial travel news. And then I've
got an idea for a neat newtour that I have not even told you
about, Wendy, and I wouldlike your opinion and our listener's opinion if
(10:24):
this one really works. It's somethingexciting nobody has ever done before. All
that and more, when we comeback on the Travel Show. You're listening
to the Travel Show on Talk Radioone oh five nine knrs. Just listen
(10:45):
and you'll know you're listening to theTravel Show. I'm Larry Gowicks, the
getaway Guru, your humble host,the baron of truth in travel. Yes,
the Maha Larry of Travel himself,joined today by Wendy Frakia and Carlos
Feda with Morris Columbus Travel The TravelShow. Yes, Carlos humility a character
(11:11):
trait I have never been accused of, she said, character, and I
was going to accentuate characters. Thankyou very much. The Travel Show is
brought to you by Morris Columbus Travel, where you always travel more and pay
less and Norwegian Cruise Line the homeof freestyle cruising. Well, I'd mentioned
(11:31):
in the last segment that every week, in fact, it's been for the
last fifteen years, I appear onKUTV on the noon news, the number
one news station in the market forUtah and southern Idaho and the six people
who live in Wendover, Nevada.But it's not a commercial, it's a
news report, you know, prepandemic. I would go into the studio,
(11:56):
sit with the anchors on the set. They're in nice suits and dresses.
I always wear a Looha shirt.It's branding and I've actually had people
say I recognize your shirt absolutely,and it's been really fun. For the
last fifteen sixteen years. It's alwaysa news report. Maybe your passport details
(12:18):
are changing, or Frontier Airlines ishaving a big super shale, something is
going on as a report. Well, during the pandemic, they said,
we want to reduce foot traffic inthe KUTV studio, so film it outside
the studio and just send it in, which I did for a couple of
years. The COVID is over.The pandemic, excuse me is over,
(12:45):
and they said, okay, backin the studio er and I said,
no, you're one of those remoteworkers who are refusing to come back.
Years. I'd been filming it anywherein the world where I was, and
it brought some people said, gee, he's in Europe, he's in Africa,
he's wherever. So I said,let me film it wherever I am
(13:07):
in the world. The one thatplayed earlier this week on Monday was filmed
in Hong Kong at Hong Kong Disneyland. And so it's an exciting thing every
Monday on the New News. Usuallyit broadcasts between twelve forty and twelve fifty,
so if you tune in, it'sit's a really fun say, it's
(13:28):
about two minutes with some travel newsupdate, breaking news that you won't want
to miss if you're a real traveleror an armchair traveler. You know.
And I can also do a plugfor the Morris Columbus website because you can
find all the news stories. Ifyou happen to be out at an appointment
(13:48):
or working and you don't see thenews story, if you go to the
Moorriscolumbus dot com website, move tothe bottom, and you can not only
see the spots from the TV,but you can also so re listen to
these broadcasts that we do every Saturday. Morriscolumbus dot com. Now let me
tell you about this new tour idea. Okay, yeah, maybe it's crazy.
(14:09):
Wendy doesn't even know about this.Carlos doesn't know, and thank you
very much. I was at asI mentioned last week, in Hong Kong,
and I visited Hong Kong Disneyland.Do you know the There are six
Disney parts? Can you name them? I'll give you thisets here. Okay,
(14:35):
let me tell you the original Disneylandin Anaheim, California. Then there's
Disney World and the Magic Kingdom inOrlando, Disneyland Paris, Disneyland Tokyo,
Disneyland Shanghai, China, and thenDisneyland Hong Kong. Okay, esh they
(14:56):
go crazy over it. So herewas my thought. I enjoy Disney It's
kind of expensive, but I enjoyit. My daughters absolutely lose their mind.
Megan, who works in our groupdepartment, her husband Braden, is
a complete these Disney freaks, andthere's a lot of people. I have
(15:20):
several friend every who love everything Disney. Wendy, I have several friends who
are absolutely that way, and itis one hundred percent of culture, a
very big culture here in Utah.And I'm sure said where listeners are everywhere,
they really are. So here's myidea. What if we organized an
(15:41):
Asian Disney tour that went to HongKong, Shanghai, and Tokyo with two
days at each park, staying ata Disney property at the park, Plus
we'd have a day or two ofsight seeing in the city, like a
couple of days in Hong Kong sightseeing, not Disney, and then we'd
(16:04):
have a couple of days at HongKong Disney, then a couple of days
Shanghai sight seeing, a couple ofdays at Shanghai Disney, and then to
Tokyo for a day or two ofsight seeing and a couple of days at
Tokyo. Now that's not a tourfor everyone, but could we find thirty
or forty people? And I'll tellyou when I'd like to go. I
(16:26):
tell you know, you can goin the summertime the kids are out,
but it is hot and humid.I mean I went to I took the
family when I was trying to bethe good dad. We went to Orlando
in June and it was hotter thanHaydes And I'm standing in line out in
the humidity, thinking I am payinggood money to be tortured, you know.
(16:52):
So I'm thinking, Wendy, midApril, late April, early May,
something like that. Maybe do itover like the Granite School District or
Salt Lake School District vay case.I was going to say, this is
a very family thing. Yeah,we've got to find the holidays that would
correlate and the kids went and beout of school quite as long. Yeah,
(17:14):
so because if you're going that far, this is going to be more
than a spring break. Oh yeah, yeah, but that takes out a
good chunk of it from school.Anyway, Wendy, lets you and I
talk about that. I'm thinking I'dlike to do it, and yeah,
we need to. Okay, I'mgoing to just put out that the Getaway
Guru has a Facebook page and itis. You can just find him online
(17:41):
Facebook, the Getaway Guru Salt LakeCity, I believe, and you'll find
your page. I think it'd beinteresting for your listeners to put face to
put feedback on your Facebook page.Those who do Facebook. Yeah, and
I need to send you some morephotos, which I will do. Hey,
when we come back, I wantto talk about group travel with Wendy,
(18:03):
the group department manager. There aresome real benefits of traveling with the
group, and there's some misconceptions likeit's going to be a herd. Yeah,
you know, cannon drive. SoWendy's going to talk to us about
that. And we got a coupleof interesting group tours we'll mention right here
on the Travel Show. Welcome backto the Travel Show. I'm Larry Gelwicks.
(18:45):
They get Away Guru joined by CarlosFieden Wendy Frakia with Morris Columbus Travel.
Check out the Morris Columbus website Morriscolumbusdot com, Morriscolumbus dot com,
or give them a call at oneeight hundred triple nine forty six forty six.
That's eight hundred nine nine nine fortysix forty six. Wendy, you
(19:11):
serve as the group department manager.I do. That's a big job at
Morris Columbus Travel and so much fun. So it is, and I think
group tours are fantastic. What doyou see and what do you hear from
people? As some of the benefitsof travel. You know, since I
(19:32):
have been lucky enough I'm to escorta couple of tours recently. And then
the calls and the conversations I've hadover the years, what I hear most
often is people just really enjoy lettingus take care of them and they get
to go and enjoy the destination.And I think that that has been one
of the biggest things that we tryto do for people, is let them
(19:53):
have the experience and not the stressof the travel. And then they love,
particularly our trips, the small sizeof them that they are not cattle
carted like We've talked about that severaltimes. And then of course the value
because we do so much. Youjust had somebody on one of your cruises.
(20:15):
They didn't want to do your pretour before the cruise, and then
they called like two days later andsaid, you know what, we've priced
everything that you're doing and you're somuch cheaper, so please put us on
that tour. Yeah, that's theSydney to New Zealand tour was we have
a three day pre cruise. Actuallyit's four calendar days, three hotels.
(20:40):
It's a cruise. Dates February fifteento twenty eight of next year, we'll
sail from Australia to Auckland, NewZealand and Fjordland that's Lord of the Rings
country, to Melbourne to Tasmania,christ Church, Tarana. It's a fabulous
tour. We'll be having in ourown shore excursions and onboard activities. But
(21:03):
this guy's understand it, said,well, I think I can do it
cheaper. Yeah, and he wentapples to apples. It comes back very
nice. I can't touch it withthat. Well. The other thing too,
is that you, as a tourhost, you're looking for any kind
of situation that may arise in anycountry that you travel that happened to me
(21:25):
in Ecuador a year or eve anda half ago. So you can diffuse
anything and the people if comfortable becauseyou are in charge. You're a step
ahead of everything. That's that's correct. You know. One thing you talk
about information. A good program ourlistens should enroll in is the STEP program
st EP Smart Traveler Enrollment Program foundat Travel dot step dot gov. And
(21:53):
what it does is you register freeof charge online. It's maintained by the
US State Department with the country orcountries you'll be visiting. And then the
embassy of that country or countries willsend you information updates local conditions, if
there is some civil disobedience or astrike, natural disasters. It also allows
(22:19):
the state department and your family toit makes it easier to contact you in
the case of an emergency back hometravel dot step dot gov. Now I
know that Morris, Columbus offers alot of group tours. Yeah, that's
(22:41):
growing and by request, it's growing. And you know what I've always told
the groups that I host is they'rewell planned, they're comprehensive, the price
is great. There is only onething you have to remember, what time
to show up in. That's justwhat time to show up to see.
A group is only as efficient asits slowest members. And if you have
(23:07):
any disability or if some mobility issue, be sure to disclose that. Because
some tours are not appropriate for amobility issue. I don't mean that in
an offensive way. They're just simplynot a and some we can accommodate,
and if we know ahead of time, we can make arrangements. Because I
(23:27):
can think of some tours that wereabsolutely not appropriate for wheelchairs. And again
that's not discriminatory. You're in somecountry that there's no ada. Yeah,
yeah, you can do it.And I've had the occasion of showing up
at the airport and there's someone ina wheelchair. Again, no offense,
(23:51):
I don't mean any offense. Well, there's not. And I'm taking this
tour to Switzerland in September October thisyear and we have a couple on the
tour and the lady is not asphysically able to do as much walking as
her husband, and they let meknow that. And because this is a
more physical tour, we've already madearrangements on how to accommodate her limitations with
(24:15):
the activities we're going to be doing. It's not a bad thing, No,
it really isn't. By the way, speaking of unique tours, you
know, last week Carlos and Iwere talking and I asked him the question,
what are people calling about? Now? You know, Hawaii, Mexico,
the Caribbean, and Europe. They'rewonderful, but they'll always be there.
(24:36):
But what unique experiences outside of theUnited States? And Carlos said,
well, that's what it is.People want safe, but unique experiences,
experiential travel, and you have one. Because I talked about it last week,
I just mentioned it. Oh mygosh, sure this is I wish
I were taking this group, butI have another group at the time.
(25:00):
It's the twenty twenty five Venice,Croatia and Monte Negro on the Royal Clipper.
But by the way, that's atrue sailing vessel. But to put
it into perspective, if you've beento a soccer or a football game.
Of course, yes, it isone and a half times the size of
a football field. Now think aboutthat holds about two hundred and twenty people.
(25:26):
Now it's a sailing vessel, butit also has propellers. It is
and it is an amazing experience andit's something that you fall in love with.
I know that we talked about oryou had mentioned that we're doing the
webinar that happened this week and it'srecorded and if it's something that you didn't
(25:48):
get to listen to but you wouldlike to see, it's going to be
on the website real soon. Butif you just call the office, you'll
be able to find it or justsee it on the web page. But
the Star Clipper experience, especially tothat part of the country in Italy and
Croatia, because we start in Veniceand the cruise ships, as we've talked
about over the time on the show, have been cruise ships are not allowed
(26:12):
in Venice anymore because of the pollutionand the number of people that they are
bringing. But the Star Clipper stillgets to dock right in Venice and sell
the Grand Canal. It is oneof the only cruise lines that still has
access to the Grand Canal. Couldyou imagine being on a tall sailing ship
(26:32):
sailing the Grand Canal in Venice.I'm just I'm gitty about it. The
big cruise ships are not allowed.They're not allowed. With that now,
I wouldn't talk about traditions because Iwill be hosting one of the most fantastic
cruise tour itineries that Joe said.I've done this before and I'm giddy about
(26:52):
going back. If you like myword giddy, thank you very much.
It's the Christmas markets on the danyou've December fourth to the eleventh from Nuremberg
to Budapest, Germany, Austria andHungary, and the Christmas Markets are a
six hundred year tradition throughout Europe whereevery town, village, big city,
(27:14):
small city city completely loses their mindat Christmas with an outdoor festival. It's
not department stores. Wouldn't chiaos bedecked with evergreen boughs. It's music,
it's food, it's drink, andit's shopping for all things Christmas that you
can use outside of Christmas. Also, now, speaking of traditions, at
Christmas traditions, we are only onehundred and eighty sixty daties from Christmas.
(27:41):
So let me you know, foodis a big part of any holidays celebration.
Back home in Argentina, what isa typical Christmas food? Assado asado,
barbecue a barbecue. Of course,Christmas is a summer holiday south of
(28:02):
the equator. It's hard for meto think of shorts, flip flops.
It's not a Norman Wendy. Yes. In your home, what is a
typical food item or centerpiece or entreefor Christmas dinner? You know, the
(28:22):
ham and the roast and the funeralpotatoes are always a staple. Well,
and that's I think in the USAroast turkey, ham and in Utah funeral
potatoes, which I love absolutely.I don't have to wait for a funeral.
Here's some favorite Christmas foods around theworld. In Germany, roast goose
(28:45):
with stuffing and apple sauce. Ilove it. I love it when I
get goosed. It's uh okay aPoland perogi, which is a Polish dumpling
and I love pogi stuffs with potato, cheese, mushrooms or sauer krap.
Now, what would you guess inthe UK as a center piece? Is
(29:11):
it lamb? Actually Lamb is Australia. Well they eat lamb there, but
Lamb is the centerpiece in Australia.That doesn't mean they don't eat other things.
But in the UK it's prime ribwith Yorkshire pudding. Now, this
one is gonna surprise you, butit's a very popular Christmas item on Christmas
Day in Japan, KFC no,no, on Syria, you fact check
(29:37):
me, Carlos, You go aheadand fact your And yeah. It started
with an ad in the nineteen seventieslinking KFC fried chicken to Western style and
a holiday festivity. Christmas Eve isthe most popular time to go out the
(30:00):
NFC in Japan. Mexico Tamali's andPassolo Pasoli. Now, pasola is a
classic Mexican soup with homni pork chickencooked in a very rich and spicy breath.
Two more Switzerland fondue. Imagine thatEgypt Fata fata is layers of rice,
(30:29):
peeda, bread and lamb, drizzledwith garlic, tomato sauce and finished
off with yogurt, crispy fried breadand almonds. It actually originated in ancient
Egypt, but became part of theCoptic Christian Christmas traditions. Hey, when
we come back, there's one moregroup I'd like you to talk about.
(30:53):
We're talking about Christmas. Taking aChristmas group Ranson. Hey, I mentioned
the Christmas markets of the Danube Decemberfourth, the eleventh. There is nothing
like it in the world, andit's so limited now on the cabins,
I think we need to know.We only have a few less Morris Coolumbus
(31:15):
dot com. Morris Coolumbus dot com, and we're gonna hear about Christmas in
Branson when we come back. You'relistening to the Travel Show on Talk Radio
one oh five nine ken Rs.Just listen and you'll know thank you for
(31:40):
listening to the Travel Show. Welove spending our weekends with you. I'm
Larry Gelwicks, the Getaway Guru,joined today with Carlos Fina and Wendy Frakia,
both with Morris Columbus Travel. Maywe give you a very sincere thank
you know, we joke around alot, we have a lot of fun.
Really, thank you, thank youvery much showing the door. But
(32:04):
without you, we don't have aradio show. In fact, without you,
we don't even have a Morris ColumbusTravel. So we are very deeply
grateful to spend this time with you. As I put it, whether you
travel or you're an armchair traveler anddream about it, we'll tell you where
to go and how to get there. Wendy, we were talking about group
(32:24):
travel and this Christmas market December fourthto the eleventh. We also have a
pre cruise the area option that I'llmention. We fly to Munich. The
cruise tour starts at Nuremberg, whichis the absolute best, absolute best Christmas
market in all of Europe in myview, and I've been to most of
(32:45):
them. But we'll fly into Munichand we'll go down to Bavaria, to
ober Amagao, to No Swanstein,which is the castle that walked This used
exactly for the Cinderella Castle. Itwas his inspiration. And that would be
(33:07):
a couple of three days earlier.Anyway, you also have Tim Taggert,
who's one of our favorite tour hosts, tour directors. Yeah, with a
Christmas in Branson. You know,we are so grateful to have Tim leading
tours with us. He's been doingtours for twenty plus. Actually he started
(33:30):
back in the eighties individually, buthe does this wonderful traditional Christmas to Branson
tour, and again, just likeyour tour, it is such a fabulous
way to kick off the holiday andto make these memories with friends and family.
Even if you're just going as acouple, or if you're going as
a family, or if you're justgoing as couples, it's something so fun
(33:53):
to do and to enjoy the holiday, and it should become a tradition like
all these different ones you do.But this tour with Tim Taggert is December
sixth through the eleventh. It stillhas some availability. It starts out at
only sixteen twenty nine. That's great, gru Bear, you know, and
(34:14):
again we're just going to take careof you. Brands and tours are so
fun because literally we talked about mobilityBrands and tours. You literally go from
airplane to bus to hotel to restaurant, to bus to you know, you're
just you're you're never walking. Idon't think any distance it is. It
(34:34):
is definitely one that you're going toeat and enjoy shows and do a little
bit of Christmas shopping, but reallyit's mostly entertainment. It's fabulous and all
the details at morriscolumbus dot com onthe homepage. Just scroll down a bit
you can see the group tours,the ones we've talked about, and the
whole list of others. Well,three airlines are being required to pay almost
(34:57):
one billion dollars in passenger refunds thatthey were legally required to do and just
flat out refused. We're not goingto give you your money back. So
these three airlines will pay nine hundredmillion in refunds to passengers for canceled or
significantly changed flights due to the COVIDnineteen pandemic. The US Department of Transportation
(35:23):
announced just last week that Lufthansa,the German De Deutsche Luftansea, South African
Airways and KLM Royal Dutch Airways arereed. They say, guys, you
have to provide refunds the dot requiresfor flights that are purchased in the US
(35:45):
for flights traveling within the US ortraveling in the US overseas. If your
flight is canceled, you can getrebooked by the airline or demand a refund
for any unused portion of the ticket. It also says in the DOT rules
that if your flight is significantly delayed, quote unquote, you're entitled to a
(36:10):
refund or rebooking. The one problemwith that is the DOT does not define
significantly delayed. Well. United Airlinesdefined it for them twenty six hours and
then which they then dropped that therewas such a public outcry twenty six hours
(36:34):
and we'll give you we'll give youyour money back. Well, these three
airlines just I guess refused or didnot pay for whatever reason, almost a
billion dollars. My brother lives upin the state of Washington and bought a
ticket for one of our Holy Landtours on Elal Israeli Airlines, and he
(36:58):
would fly out of the Seattle Airport, and of course with the COVID the
country shut down, we canceled that. It took him over a year with
me getting involved and l I'll justignoring us everything where I was even making
telephone calls to the district sales manager. Oh yeah, yeah, yeah,
(37:19):
but they're gonna you know, youdo it. Now, tell you what
you can do. Go to dotdot gov and then in the search bar
put canceled flights and it will giveyou the DOT the federal government dot's Department
of Transportation rules. By the way, these airlines were also in addition to
(37:43):
the nine hundred million, they werefined two and a half million in civic
penalties. Dot dot gov and thensearch for canceled flights. When we come
back, we're going to talk aboutinsider secrets to book a Hawaii vacation and
(38:05):
a airline ceo has complained about quote, wheelchair abuse on airlines. We'll talk
about all that and more here onthe Travel Show. You're listening to the
(38:25):
Travel Show, the Best two Hoursin Radio. I'm Larry Gelwicks, the
Getaway Guru, joined by Wendy Frakia, Group department manager at Morris Columbus Travel
and Carlos Fieda, Director of LatinAmerican Sales at Morris Columbus Travel. By
the Way, Morris Columbus Travel wasawarded the Best of State designation as the
(38:51):
Best Travel Company, Best travel agencybest travel advisors in the great state of
Utah for the fourth year in arow. And I'm will say that Carlos
and Wendy are part of the reasonfor that, along with all of our
great support team and travel advisors.Congratulations, Morris, We've got the best.
(39:12):
Yeah, we really do. Anda lot of experience. Rather than
saying we're old fogies, it's justa lot of experience. Yeah, with
that, just out of curiosity,how many years have you been involved in
the travel business, Carlos since nineteenseventy nine? Well, how many years?
That would be six? I'll goforty six. Wendy, I am
(39:37):
going on thirty two. Does thatyour age or years years in the business?
Larry, I wish I was thirtytwo. You look pretty good.
I started really young. But thankyou. That is just the three of
us. I've been in forty fiveyears. Look, Jenn, thank you.
(39:58):
Just between the three of us,that is one hundred and twenty three
years of travel experience. Yep,right, you know, and boy that
makes a difference. One of myfavorite places on Earth is Hawaii. I
have made one hundred and seventy tripsto Hawaii. I've kept track my first
(40:25):
me. My first was in nineteensixty six. I was sixteen years old.
I grew up as a surfer boyin California. I used to cut
school and go surfing with my buddiesand forge my father's signature. I had
a perfect forgery as an because Iturned a note to be excused. Of
(40:46):
course, thank you very much.Did you confess? Yes, I'm confessing
right now to my father. Heaven'sno. Heaven's no anyway. But my
very first trip was in nineteen sixtysix and I went surfing. Did you
get your first wine shirt on thattrip? I think I did it.
I mean, like, if youlook at my wardrobe now, I probably
(41:09):
have fifteen. I love Aloha shirtsbecause as I get fat, I don't
have to buy any shirt. Thankyou very very much. And I have
kept track. There were years andyears where I was commuting at least once
a month, sometimes twice a monthto Hawaii. We were doing so much.
(41:29):
We had back to back tours thatI would be hosting over there,
and I mean, boy, whata tan I had to But I've kept
track. And this last February wherewe had the no, let's see the
one. No, it was April. I'm sorry, April was Tahiti to
(41:49):
Hawaii. That was my one hundredand seventieth trip. I don't say that
braggingly, just matter of factly.But you want to be very careful when
you book a Hawaii trip, andI think there's some real insider tips.
For example, I'm asked all thetime, is there really such a thing
(42:12):
as secret airfares to Hawaii and otherdestinations? And the answer is yes,
because I call them secret airfares becauseairlines will contract with a handful of travel
companies, Morris Columbus being one ofthem, including Carlos. You've negotiated some
South America air fass that are unpublished. You can't buy them, and I
(42:37):
call them secret. If you callthe airlines reservation desks, they don't know
anything about it. They can't quotethem to you. But the airlines have
a stipulation. These are so drasticallydiscounted. They want to fill the airplane
and they know historically how many emptyseats they're going to have that they want
(42:57):
to do it in a way thatdoesn't upset most of the people that are
paying a high fare. So whatis the restriction, Wendy, Well,
you have to work with the rightpartner, right and you cannot well you
cannot purchase it the secret by themselvesair only. It has to be bundled
with something. Could be a hotel, it could be a car something.
(43:20):
So there really are secret airfares thatare not available to the general public from
the airline. So yes, thereand Morris Columbus is one of the few
travel companies that actually has these secretair force and number two one islander two.
(43:42):
Now, Wendy, if I'm goingto be there for a week,
how many islands should I visit?One? If you really want to relax
and enjoy it. Yeah, unlessyou're on the Pride of America, which
is a Norwegian cruise line and selthat sales every week and visits a wah
Maui, Kawaii and the Big Islandand on the Big Island both Hilo and
(44:05):
Kona. That's a great way becauseyou're packing unpackaging this cruise. Yeah,
yes, so have I and you'renot there at the airport waiting for flights
and eating up your vacation time.I think if you want to visit absent
of the cruise of two islands aminimum of ten days, you want to
spend there and then just let itgo. Number three be oh my gosh,
(44:30):
I hate these be aware of theparking and resort fees. They have
gotten so far out of control.But yeah, you really do need to
know, and don't have a rentalcar for the entire time if you're not
going to use it. If youwant to do something on the other side
of the island, rent it forthe day. Yeah, that's number four.
(44:51):
Do I really need a rental carbecause the parking fee at most hotels
is forty to fifty dollars yes,day a day. Now, I'll tell
you. For example, at theout in Laier, the Marriotte Hotel there,
it's just a big parking lot andyou pay like fifteen bucks a day
(45:13):
or something. But in waiki Keiand at like Turtle Bay and some of
these others, then the upscale resorts, it'll run your forty to fifty dollars
a day plus tax. And theresort fee is absolutely evil. It's a
fee on top of your rental fee. Most hotels it's thirty to fifty dollars
(45:34):
a day for that newspaper you don'tread. Yeah, and local phone,
unlimited local phone will calls like whoam I going to call? Yeah,
it's like the cable company, thethings they bundle in. President Biden has
repeatedly stated, and he said itin his last State of the Union address,
that he was going to do awaywith these junk fees and make them
(45:55):
that's what he calls them, junkfees for hotels. It's a resort or
destination fee. And I hope heremembers that he committed to get rid of
these. This is what the FEDSdid with airlines. Remember they'd advertise an
airfare plus tax, and in somecases the taxes are more than the airfare.
(46:20):
The FEDS made them put it allin one price. Mandatory fees like
I see the assignment or luggage.You know, it's not mandatory. And
Biden said he'd do that with thehotels. The resort or destination fee must
be added into the advertised price.It hasn't happened yet. Like I said,
I hope he remembers. Well,that's like the new cruise transparency pricing
(46:45):
as well, that you have tonow see the complete cruise price, government
taxesport taxes, everything included in thatrate. See it had and I think
that takes effect July. First watchit. It's going to be coming.
So it's going to seem like cruisinghas gotten a lot more expensive if you're
(47:05):
just looking at the advertised pricing,it hasn't. It is just the inclusive
pricing. Don't you think that?Why is Mexico so popular Because it's a
better value. It's a better valueand everything is included in growing the transplantation
from the airport to the resort.So those are insider tips for booking Hawaii.
(47:25):
Now. The CEO of Frontier Airlinescomplained about wheelchair abuse, and all
airlines have commented. I'll give youan example. Baltimore to Fort Lauderdale earlier
in the year with Southwest Airlines,there were thirty two passengers who requested wheelchairs
(47:46):
on the departure. It gets thezips them through TSA. And remember Southwest
does not have assigned seating, butthey have a board like Group A,
Group C, and you can buya good position. But who gets on
first the wheelchairs? Thirty two peopleboarded with wheelchair assistants in Fort Lauderdale.
(48:12):
Twelve people needed wheelchair disembarkation. Othersjust walked off. There is a great
abuse, and I'll tell you.The other abuse that just fries me is
airlines give the priority to people whoneed a little extra time and assistance.
Now, I'm all for wheelchairs,grandma, crutches a cane, I'm all
(48:37):
for it. But I see peoplewho appear to be perfectly healthy and they
got big shopping bags they want becausethere's a fight for the overhead space.
I asked a Delta agent where itwas just obscene the number of people that
were doing it, some deserving,some not, and she simply said,
(48:58):
I'm not going to turn any wentaway anyway we come back, I'll finish
up that one a lot more hereon the Travel Show as we head to
South America. You're listening to theTravel Show on Talk Radio one oh five
nine kN rs. Just listen andyou'll know Welcome back to the Travel Show.
(49:21):
I'm Larry Gelwicks, that get AwayGuru and Wendy Carlos and I were
talking in the last segment about wheelchairBruce and airlines management is complaining. It's
a tough thing because people who trulyneed extra time and assistance should be accommodated.
(49:43):
As I said, people in wheelchairs, disabilities, crutches a cane,
you know certainly Carlos should always getearly boarding for his conditions. I was
gonna say, for his regged goodlooks. That's right, that's right,
s mui bonito. Yes, I'llget you even or was that s muigrdito,
(50:09):
that's you, that's me, yes, thank you very much. Anyway,
But I just I see what appearsto be abused. Now that maybe
that's judgmental because you don't know what'sgoing on. But when people walk on
at a normal pace, at evena fast pace, with bags and bags,
what they want is the overhead space, which gets really tight. And
(50:32):
you were telling a story about whenContinental Airlines used to fly to Lima.
Lima, there wasn't there was aline like twenty twenty wheelchairs with people waiting
there first. And so the managerthis was in Lima. There wasn't Lima
flying back to the US coming back, you know, people that were returning.
So the manager said to me,Carlos, I tell you all these
(50:55):
people are perfectly well and they canwalk. So I would nouns boring the
first class, of course, baringthe people with freaking fliers, and then
we were bored. Last we wereboard the people and who chairs more than
half of them stood up immediately andran, you know, to be in
line with the rest of them.That's that. That's Jesus in flight,
(51:19):
instant healing, insteam. On that, can I get an amen on?
Thank you very much, Thank youvery much. Carlos, you are the
walking Google on all things Latin America, and you and I have teamed up.
We were talking Wendy about group tours. I think the most incredible unique
tour. People want something unique,and we have a group. It's about
(51:44):
half full in March to Peru,to Chile and to Rapanui Eastern Island.
I remember, Larry when we talkedabout this fair it was last year.
And we work on details in ourdetails that will make the people extremely happy
when they hit these places. Wego from sal Lake City or any other
(52:08):
destination within the United States to Lima, Peru. We go see the city
of Lima, because city of Limaused to have a bad connotation because of
the province. Anymore, not anymore. It's the curmet capital of South America.
That's very important. Then we flyto Cusco. We do Cusco,
(52:29):
Cusco, Machu Pitch of the SacredValley, everything else in between, and
we do it at it's not arushing tour because we even have a day
in Awas Calientes. What is aCalentes. That's a small town. You
take the dome train from Cusco inthe Sacred Valley le Vista Doom and down
(52:52):
to Agua Calientes. They changed thename to what Sudad de machu Picchu.
Yes, but it never in anobody calls it that the city of Machu
Pichu. We call it August Calientis. Calentis means hot. Of course there's
water, but they have hot springsthere. So when you go down.
And what's interesting about the and thesemountains is they don't roll up. They
(53:16):
explode literally straight up, and youhave a it's a dome train, so
the top is glass. You cansee it. So there's this small town
there that is Agua Calientthis it's asmall village that is everything you dream of
(53:36):
a South American and restaurants and shoppingand it's not a big place and it's
right at the base. And thenyou take usually vans up. The bus
can't drive up to bat vans comingup. But I think it is the
important thing here is we don't doit just the usual way. Arrive at
(54:00):
nine o'clock in the morning in oasColindis on the train and then return at
five o'clock on the train back toGusco. We stay one night, which
allows you to see Machu Picchu onthe first day, then Machu Picchu on
the second day, which allows youto climb to the Waina pitch of that
famous mountain. You know what's interesting, Wendy about the overnight is they now
(54:27):
regulate by reservation how many people cango to Machu Pichu, and so the
train comes down in the morning witha lot of people. We can get
up there before the train arrives.And it's not like we have it only
to ourselves, but we have itonly to those people who overnighted in Algua
(54:50):
Calientis. Now from Machu Pichu,where do we go, Well, Machu
Picchu, we take a flight.There is only a flight once a week
to Santiago, chilein and then fromNonStop flight. It's a non stop it's
a very short flight by the way, because you know, Cousco is south
of Peru. Then we fly toRapanui, eastern island. People said,
(55:15):
what am I going to see?Instral Easter Lina was the first island in
the world declared by UNESCO a worldwideworld side which everybody wants to see there
Now people said, well, isthere a museum? What am I going
to see? The whole island isa museum with these huge mais. These
(55:36):
moies were built now the mawai whenthe you know what it is, it's
those elongated statues. We only seethe head right now, but most of
it is underground a body. There'snine hundred of them, and there is
no consensus of what the purpose was. There's a mystery. Now Rapahannure Easter
(56:00):
Island is a Polynesian It's closer toTahiti many that it is to Chile,
which has the governance of it rightnow. One of the most unique experiences
that you'll ever have on Easter Island. Rapanui and I like because now the
government has imposed a rule that saysso many in so many tourists can go
(56:25):
to the island. Everybody. Sothe plane is a big plane, but
they can take so many tourists.The dates are March eleventh to the twenty
third. Next year March eleventh tothe twenty third. You can contact your
favorite Morris Columbus Travel advisor, callthe Group department direct check it out at
Morris Columbus dot com. Scroll downto our group reservations. When we come
(56:51):
back, we have got Iceland andthe British Parliament. You're listening to the
travel show. I'm Larry Gelwicks,they Get Away Guru, joined by Carlos
Feda and Wendy Frakia, both withMorris Columbus Travel, and thank you for
(57:13):
joining us. You know we weretalking Wendy and Carlos about people looking for
unique experience. It's perfectly safe,but something not just out of the ordinary,
but extra ordinary, something to makethe vacation experience more unique to them
(57:34):
and their interest. Yeah, andyou'd mentioned that star Clipper tall ship.
I love the tall ships with starClippers, and you're going to be sailing
on the Royal Clipper. It's oneand a half times a football field,
so you're not on some little TheMinno with Gilligan in July July ninth to
the twenty sixth next year Venice,Croatian Monteenegro and the good news is you'll
(58:00):
be your personal host and tour guide. And I'm excited about that. But
not only that, there's other experientialtravel that the group department does. Just
go to the website, like youwere saying, and take a look at
some of the other things that wedo. We're going to be doing trips
that are going to be hiking TabachiPeache. You just talked to that.
(58:20):
Who wants to go on the Incatrail? You are going? I booked
you there absolutely. You know,I think I am so blessed. I've
been in the travel business forty fiveyears. I visited one hundred and thirteen
countries, three new ones this yearI'll have. But I think of memorable
experience, there's so many. I'vebeen actually on the floor of the Houses
(58:45):
of Parliament, the House of Lordsand the House of Commons. Right on
the floor I stood where Winston Churchillspoke we will fight them on the beaches,
we will fight them on land,we will fight them on sea.
We will now ah surrender. Istood right where he stood when he gave
that. You know, I wasthinking the other day, and in fact,
(59:07):
my wife Kathy and I were outfor our morning walk this morning,
and we were talking about some ofthe great experiences we had and one that
came to mind was on a tripto Iceland. We did a snowmobile adventure
on a glacier. Wow, andyou go with a group, they give
you all the gear. It isyou know, it's snow and ice and
(59:31):
you're on a snowmobile, either oneor two people who went on the two
person one. I did learn thatCathy has a lead foot, not only
in the car but on the snowmobile. So we're on this glacier and you
just follow the leader. There's aboutsix or seven snowmobiles and with a leader,
you follow him in all the safeareas of the glacier. And then
(59:54):
it started to snow. This wasin the month of October, and so
we just pulled over and enjoyed thissnowfall coming down. We also went to
the Blue Lagoon, which is geothermalhotpools, and I mean, these things,
it's just incredible. Iceland is afascinating country. It's really settled in
(01:00:19):
eight seventy four AD by a Vikingchieftain from Norway ingrf artisan is. They
have records he settled it. What'sinteresting is that fifty percent of the population
believes in ELFs and trolls seriously.And when you build a building. You
(01:00:44):
have to get a permit where theycheck if there's elfsertrolls living underground. You
can talk to people who will tellyou they have seen them absolutely. And
there's also an elf school, nota school to become an elf, but
you can go to school to learnall about elves and how to interact with
them. You know, there's onlywhat three hundred and fifty thousand people there,
(01:01:09):
and so that when you get marriedyou have a Icelander book to make
sure you're not marrying your cousin orsomething. I mean, it's so incredible.
Do we talked about Remember we talkedabout Christmas tradition. Remember what's interesting.
A traditional gift in Iceland for Christmasis a book. Now, I
(01:01:31):
think that's a great that's a greatidea. Hawaii has sixteen volcanos, three
active, sixteen. Iceland has onehundred and thirty volcanoes and thirty active.
I have I have so enjoyed mytime in Iceland. By the way,
(01:01:52):
there's no mosquitoes there either. It'stoo cold for the mosquitoes. Okay,
sold, okay, Now I'd loveto have you folks join me in Iceland
next year. I will be personallyhosting a cruise tour where we sail from
Rekuevik, Iceland the capitol, andwe make three stops in Iceland including rekuvic
(01:02:15):
then on to three stops in Norway, Olisen and Bergen, and then Flom
which is the Fjords in Glacier area. Then down to well, I'll be
Amsterdam in the Netherlands, Bruges,Belgium. Have any of you been to
Bruce Is that maybe maybe the mostbeautiful city in all of Europe? And
(01:02:42):
then across the English Channel to Southampton. We will have a post cruise London
option on that, Wendy, Ibelieve you're working on that. The cruise
dates are actually June twelve to twentytwo. June twelve to twenty two.
I will be your host and tourguide. But a better reason to come
is my wife Kathy will also beyour hostess. So this time next year,
(01:03:07):
exactly this week next year, youwill be in Iceland and got some
fantastic rates. We'll be doing ourown shore excursion in most of the ports
where you go at a lower pricewith a lot more included. Now I
say we're going to go to London. I didn't I state that I've been
to the actual right on the floor. I was going to ask you what
(01:03:30):
you're being charged with. No,you did, that's not an indictment.
That's before the High Court. Carlosasked me that all the time. Well,
the Houses of Parliament are split intothe House of Lords and the House
of Commons. Currently there are aboutsix hundred and fifty members of Parliament.
(01:03:53):
But the members of the House ofLords are appointed by the monarch. The
House of Commons are elected by thepeople. The houses of Parliament were hit
by bombs fourteen times in World WarTwo during the Blitzkreek. Now they still
(01:04:15):
have a law that if you gointo the House of Parliament, Carlos,
you are not allowed to wear asuit of armor. Now this dates back
to the year thirteen thirteen. Whybecause they're trying to keep the knights coming
in with swords and lances and killthe king. Killed the king, so
(01:04:36):
you can't wear a suit of armor. And the houses of Parliament are actually
owned by King Charles the monarchy.Now here's here's what's interesting. Big Ben
is part of the Houses of Parliament. But you know Big Ben is the
(01:04:58):
tower and the clock. Everybody assumesthe clock is big Ben it's not.
The clock is called the Elizabethan clockTower and it's part of the Tower of
Parliament. So we're going to havea great time. June twelve to twenty
two Iceland to London, including Norway, the Netherlands and Brussels. We already
(01:05:23):
have a nice group booked on this. We still have some space available.
You don't want to miss this one. It's unique. And by the way,
this is with Norwegian Cruise Lines ontheir new ship, the Prima.
I've sailed on the Premium. It'sa fantastic ship. They also have a
new feature there. I mean youhave your buffet, your restaurants Japanese Tempanyaki,
(01:05:49):
cagn these steakhouse, and a varietyof optional restaurants. But they actually
have a food court where they havea pad there and order it from your
table and they bring it to you. They have about I don't know,
seven or eight different kitchens. Youcan just spend the entire cruise eating.
(01:06:10):
I do think well, I thinkwhat's interesting is this is the second time
you're doing this. Itinery, butwe do not have plans for you to
do it again, So this isnot something that you can say I'm going
to catch us when he does thisnext year or maybe in two years.
We don't know that this will besomething you'll be repeating. I don't know
if NCL will be repeating it exactly. I currently have no plans to do
(01:06:32):
this again. This will be mysecond time thoroughly enjoyed it. If you're
interested in the British aue, nowwe have that Iceland to London June twelve
to twenty two. I'll also behosting as an Anglo file a British Isles
group July seven to twenty and thisis with Princess Cruise. As we'll see
(01:06:53):
England, Ireland and Scotland and France. You'll have an opportunity in Laha to
take the train into Paris for theday. So we've again England, Ireland,
Scotland and France. And one ofthe highlights for me will be at
(01:07:14):
Cork, Ireland. Now Cork isthe gateway port, a short distance from
the Blarney Castle. And yes youcan kiss the Blarney and the legend is
if you kiss the Blarney you aregiven the gift of gab Mark. Falbow
made the comment, well, ifthat's true, Larry made out with the
(01:07:36):
Blarney stone. Oh my gosh.Let me ask you turn to a hot
topic in social media, Wendy,what are your thoughts about people? You're
on board a flight and a strangercomes and asks you to switch seats.
I've had this burn me before,so I have a series of questions.
(01:07:58):
I ask, now, if thishappens, is it the same type of
seat aisle or window or is itpremium? Does you know all these things
that I like on my flight?And I don't feel bad anymore if I
have to tell them no, that'smy personal feeling. Well, but there's
another thing for exactly it happened tome many times. This is what happens
here is the wife on one aisleseat, the husband wants to see by
(01:08:24):
the wife in the middle seat,and they would ask me, would you
trade? And I said, sure, it's the same seat behind you or
in front of the aisle for mile, window for window. Not to put
me in the middle seat. No. Well, the other thing we're seeing
some requests you could read them onsocial media is there was a case recently
where a woman she and her husbandwere in coach in Maine cabin she got
(01:08:47):
upgraded. This is on air Canadaand she got upgraded to business class,
which had live flat seats there flyingI think from Quebec City to Vancouver,
and she asked this guy in businessclass if he would trade with her husband
(01:09:08):
so they could sit together. Well, he asked some other questions. Where
is the seat? Yep, itwas back in coach and he had paid
for a business class seat and shegot so huffy when he said no.
Another case recently, Oh, canI say we want to sit with our
kids? Well, how old arethey? They're both in their mid twenties
(01:09:30):
on a two hour flight and hewas going to have to go to their
middle seat. So I would say, I have changed, but it's got
to be an equal deal, equalequal. Hey we come back. I
want to tell you about the WarriorsFest that's coming to Salt Lake on the
Travel Show. You're listening to TheTravel Show on talk radio one oh five
(01:09:53):
nine kN rs. Just listen andyou'll know Welcome back to the Travel Show.
I'm Larry Gelwicks joined in studio todaywith Carlos Fieda, director of Latin
American sales for Morris Columbus Travel,and Wendy Frakia group department manager also at
(01:10:14):
Morris Columbus Travel. Check out theirwebsite Morriscolumbus dot com. That's Morriscolumbus dot
com. And for a list ofall of the exciting group tours offered by
Morris Columbus, just go to thehomepage and scroll down and click on the
group travel. We want to remindyou that for those of our listeners who
use the Salt Lake Airport, atwenty percent parking discount available at Parkinjet,
(01:10:40):
which is the only locally owned offairport parking facility. They'll pick you up
right at your car, But goto Morriscolumbus dot com, scroll down and
print off your own discount co infact, print five or six of them
and just keep them in the car. And I'll say it, Carlos,
that twenty percent discount will add uppretty quick, I'm sure and very good.
(01:11:04):
You know, we have kind ofa unique final story that's near and
dear to my heart. We've talkedabout rugby. You know, thirty six
years I coached the Highland rugby team. My eight year old grandson Oscar is
playing rugby now and it's tackle rugby, and I will simply tell him,
(01:11:24):
of course, I'm a proud grandfather. He is a beast on the field.
I am absolutely confident the New ZealandAll Blacks the national team, will
be taking a close look at him. Hey, I want to welcome to
the show my friend Greg Cooper,the head coach of the Utah Warriors,
which is Major League Rugby we haveright here in the great state of Utah.
(01:11:47):
Greg, Welcome to the Travel show. Thanks very much, Larry.
Now, in addition to the gamesthat you've been playing the Utah Warriors,
you are hosting a unique festival calledthe Warriors Fest. Tell us about that.
I believe it's Friday, June twentyeighth. What is the Warriors Fest?
(01:12:12):
Well, Larry, it's a gameagainst la first and foremost in the
MLR, and obviously a game thatwe're pretty excited about hosting them here in
Salt Lake City. But on topof that, we're having an American Purst
Shield and we're aiming for a recordcrowd in an MLR. So I think
(01:12:32):
the crowd record at the stage isabout eleven thousand in San Diego. We
played in San Diego last year inSan Diego, so we're hoping for fifteen
thousand plus so a real showcase andreally wanting the people of Utah, obviously
Salt Lake City and the rest ofthe state to get along and help us
(01:12:53):
create a record of fifteen thousand plusspectators. What are the activities and we're
going to be out there, Myfamily and I will be there strong.
You mentioned the America First Field.I believe that was previously called Rio Tinto
Career. Yeah, and so manypeople may know it as Rio Tinto Now
(01:13:14):
in the Warriors Fest, there's thatkids fest I believe starts at six o'clock
again, this is Friday, Junetwenty eighth. That Rio Tinto now known
as America First Stadium. What isinvolved in the Kids Fest? Oh well,
I mean there's you know obviously wherethere's a huge amount of entertainment.
We're actually trying to create a worldrecord of beach balls. Now I don't
(01:13:39):
actually know the amount, but there'sonly be a beach ball pit there as
well as well, so that isgoing to be one exciting thing. We're
trying to get ourselves at the beginnessbook of records were there. So that's
the entertainment and you know for thekids, who's going to be leedy of
opportunity to get involved and many activitiesthere. So you know it is a
festivil as you know, the rugbyis obviously the highlight, but you know
(01:14:02):
the opportunity for families and kids toactually enjoy the spectacle not only a rugby
at all the activities around that.And as a said, we are trying,
we are trying to get a worldrecord of beach having a beach ball
pit with the most amount of beachballs as the amount. But it's going
to be. There will be planning, There'll be plenty a lot of fun.
It will be games, prizes,challenges for the kids. Will the
(01:14:25):
kids be coming down on the field, Yeah, they will and that's exciting
the plan Yeah. Well, Imean but for us also, like I'm
from New Zealand and you know I'mfrom the day you probably show my age
now that Larry, but from theday when crowds came onto the field,
it was pretty exciting. You know, you're out there as a player and
the crowds along there, they're gettingautographs and it's that it's that real sense
(01:14:48):
of closeness to given esus. Yougo out there to rew battle, as
you know with rugby, with thelittle background and the rugby. You go
out there, you do battle.It's a pretty ferocious sort of a game.
But afterwards it is actual your community. You're being you know, you
go to the aft image functions.You know, you're the players on the
field, you're the stains on thefield. It's pretty special. It really
(01:15:08):
is something that growing up with somethingI really appreciate it. You know,
I've heard it, said Greg,and we're speaking with Greg Cooper, head
coach of the Utah Warriors. Thedifference between rugby and soccer. Soccer is
a gentleman's game played by hooligans,and rugby is a hooligan game played by
gentlemen. How you take its startfor the Warriors Rugby Fest at just fifteen
(01:15:34):
dollars now. The kids fest startsat six pm. There'll be live local
music, eight point thirty the kickoffthe Utah Warriors against LA with postgame fireworks.
If you want some more information,go to Warriors Rugby dot com Forward
Slash Warriors Fest, not Festival festFest. That's Warriors Rugby dot Com Forward
(01:16:01):
Slash Warriors Fest. It's going tobe a great, great event there.
We are going to set a newMLR record. Greg Cooper, head coach
of the Utah Wars. Thank youfor joining us on the travel show,
and my family and I will beout there again Friday, June twenty eighth.
Warriors Rugby dot Com forward slash WarriorsFest. Thanks Greg, thanks all
(01:16:28):
right, all the best. Hey, thanks for joining us on the travel
show. We'll see it at theWarriors Fest this Friday,
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