TravelResearchOnline.com Blog

Over the years, I have written hundreds (maybe thousands) of articles both for consumers and the trade alike. Some of my most popular consumer articles were the down and dirty advice stories. You know, the ones that tell you what to do on the off chance (wink wink) that something might go wrong when you [...]

By the title, you would think that this week’s column is full of doom and gloom. If you thought so, you would be wrong! Since I got my first “real job” to now, I have been involved in retail management (5 years), construction management (8 years), and travel (13 years). I know it doesn’t explain [...]

Did you hear the one about the fat guy who was thrown off a plane? Sort of sounds like the opening of a joke doesn’t it? Well, it isn’t and right now Southwest Airlines is dealing with a public relations backlash because the passenger took to social networking to air his grievances. Here is how [...]

I hate winter personally. But, I love it from a business standpoint. Being in the mid-Atlantic, we do get crappy cold weather and it usually makes people get the itch to travel. But when we get hammered like we did this past week, it really makes people want to travel—which is good for business. And [...]

It seems that Carnival realized they opened up a hornet’s nest with their new policy of requiring passengers to leave their luggage unlocked at the pier.  Judging from the comments on last week’s column, both customers and travel professionals were not happy about the new policy.
We followed up with Jennifer De La Cruz to see [...]

Every now and then, it seems that an utterly ridiculous policy is enacted in the travel world. Usually, when you see them, the Transportation Security Agency (TSA) or the airlines have their fingerprints all over them.  But this past week, we discovered a doozie of a ridiculous policy at the hands of Carnival Cruise Lines.
Under [...]

A few nights ago in a final middle finger salute to NBC, Conan O’Brien had a 1.7 million dollar Bugatti Veyron decked out as a mouse. The car can do 212 miles per hour; I was thinking that in terms of speed,  the travel industry might have it beat.
Think about your daily life as a [...]

We have officially closed the books on the 2009 version of the Travel Agent Diaries. Hopefully, you learned a thing or two and were able to benefit from the success (and failure) of others. To me, one of the best things about Travel Research Online is that most of our members are not afraid to [...]

In the travel industry we have become experts at adapting and changing with each challenge which is tossed our way. Commissions, SARS, wars, recessions, terrorist attacks, disease, regulations, pestilence– you name, it we have seen it all and adapted.  I know in my own business, my business model has changed several times over and with [...]

Yesterday, the world ushered in 2010 and kicked 2009 (thankfully) to the curb. On February 14, 2010, the Chinese will celebrate the beginning of the Year of the Tiger according to the Chinese Zodiac.  But what about the travel professional? While we all hope it somehow becomes the “Year of the World Cruise on Crystal [...]