Jonny Talks with Marita Williams from AAA

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https://www.pittsburghtravelshowcase.com/

Episode Transcript

(00:04):
And welcome in. This is theGo Go Travel Show podcast. I'm your
host, Johnny heart Well. Weare podcasting a live from the Pittsburgh Travel
Showcase and we're talking to Marita Williamsfrom Triple A. This is this is
this, This is your super Bowl, isn't it? It is our super
Bowl seven years. This is ourseventh year. So we're really excited to
be here once again. How aboutyou? What what's when did you start
with Triple A? Oh, I'veI've been here a long time. I'm

(00:27):
like a dinosaur. So I've beenin Pittsburgh for twenties. I've been here
in pits versus the earth was cooling. I think I got you beatn Okay,
Yeah for Pittsburgh, you do.I started out in Ohio at the
Triple A there many many years ago. I've been with a club thirty nine
years. And so you know whenwhen when when you think about travel,
I personally think Triple A. Thankyou. And so when people come to

(00:48):
you, do people kind of havean idea of where they wanted to go
or do you kind of guide themthrough the options of what maybe is available.
We get a little bit of each, a little bit of both.
Like for since your coworker here justasked about Paris and I asked her a
couple of questions to be able torecommend the proper vendors for her to check
out today here at the show case. So we get both. We get

(01:11):
people that don't want to that don'tknow where they want to go. They
just came down because they know theywant to go somewhere. And then we
have people that have their bucket listand they're checking it off so they know
where they want to go this year, and we're able to help them that
way as well. You know I'vebeen, you know my passport is full.
And it all started with Triple A. It was when my son graduated
from from high school and we wantedto take a family vacation. We didn't

(01:34):
know what to do. We justknew it wanted to be a warm location.
We went to Triple A. Theygave us the location. So in
the first place we ever went wasJamaica, and I fall in love with
the Caribbean. So I'm so oncepeople get an introduction to travel, it
all it becomes and their bucket listgrows and grows. The A word,

(01:57):
but you do get addicted to travelabsolutely, especially listen, I love Pittsburgh,
but I absolutely have to get outof the city two or three times
a year. There you go.All right, So when somebody comes to
the travel showcase, what can theyexpect to see and do? Well,
Actually, we have the world here. We really do have the world here.
We have adventure travel if they wantto let's say Antarctica. We have

(02:21):
two expedition cruise lines here, Herdigrutenand Aurora. They're here, They're ready
to talk talk all about those differentLike I'm a cold weather person, I've
been. I've been to Antarctica.I've been to Alaska in the winter,
to Iceland and Finland all wintertime.I know, I'm Weirdland and Alaska,
so you know, those are hotdestinations. But they come and some people

(02:46):
are for their first time. Theydon't know what to expect. But we
have a whole area of the islandsand right now here in Pittsburgh with the
weather, people are ready to goto the Islands or Florida. And we
have Hawaii represented. So we havethe world, whether it's expedition or tropical
or a guide into a Caribbean aisle. Then you have like some driving the

(03:08):
drive market's really big this year overthe rail and you have the crew's options,
and of course you have this theaterhere and the Discovery Theater. So
if you're interested in hearing somebody talkabout, you know, travel options,
you have that. So we actuallyhave three theaters three yeah, run two
three right down the aisle, andthere's a talk going on at each one

(03:30):
every hour on the hour, allright, So generally, you know,
if you can't make it to theshowcase, you recommend going to maybe a
Triple A location. Yes, aTriple A Travel store, which is what
we call our branches, and there'sagents in all of our local Pittsburgh region
branches, so we have a lotof seasoned agents that are able to help

(03:50):
you and they're training our newbies.So but here on the floor, we
have thirty travel agents right now fromall of the different branches. And what's
the advantage of coming here or thebook your vacation? So at the Travel
showcase, there's many advantages. Thefirst one is the Triple A luggage.
When you book and deposit here atthe show, we're giving away luggage depending
on your spend. Get me,you may walk out with one piece of

(04:13):
luggage. You may walk out withsix pieces of luggage. Then also the
vendors. This is what we callwave season in the cruise in the cruise
industry and the travel industry, andthis is when the best offers for the
year are January and February. Allright, So thank you for initiating my
love of travel. Best luck toyou, Murray, thank you, thanks
for having us, Y