United Airlines pilots are holding “informational picketing” at 10 airports across the nation today (Friday), ahead of the busy summer travel season. They join pilots at Southwest and American Airlines in demanding better pay and working conditions.

The union said it expects at least 2,000 of its 14,000 pilots to picket at major airports, including Cleveland, Chicago, Dallas, Houston, Los Angeles and Newark.

Southwest and American pilots already have authorized strikes, while the United pilots say they have not had a salary increase in more than four years.

Delta Air Lines, alone among the major carriers, settled its issues with its pilots earlier this year, raising pay by 34% over the next four years. United offered a similar deal to its pilots, but the union has not accepted it.

“We expect our contract to raise the bar from Delta’s contract,” union chief Garth Thompson told Reuters. “We’re not just looking for more money; we’re looking for several areas of improvement that we’ve been waiting a long time to achieve.”

But the airlines are not likely to actually strike, as US law forbids them to take such action until federal mediators have determined that further negotiations are not likely to have a positive result. But they could disrupt travel in other ways, like refusing to work overtime or holding sick-outs.

The United States will finally lift the COVID-19 vaccine requirement for inbound international air travelers on Friday, May 12th, that has been in place since October 2021.

“Considering the progress that we have made, and based on the latest guidance from our public health experts, I have determined that we no longer need the international air travel restrictions,” President Joe Biden said in a proclamation announcing the change. “As we continue to monitor the evolving state of COVID-19 and the emergence of virus variants, we have the tools to detect and respond to the potential emergence of a variant of high consequence.”

Biden also announced an end to vaccine requirements for federal employees and contractors, and for foreign nationals at land borders. The Department of Homeland Security, meanwhile, said it will no longer require vaccinations for non-U.S. travelers entering at ferry terminals.

Industry groups including the U.S. Travel Association applauded the change. “Today’s action to lift the vaccine requirement eases a significant entry barrier for many global travelers, moving our industry and country forward,” said president and CEO Geoff Freeman.

The CDC does still recommend that U.S. travelers be up to date on their COVID vaccinations before leaving the country, however.

If you’re not part of the solution, they say, you’re part of the problem.

The travel business literally revolves around Planet Earth, and we all share a responsibility to sustain it, says Internova CEO J. D. O’Hara. To that end, the travel company is committed to becoming carbon neutral by the end of the year. And when they invited some top suppliers to talk about their own efforts to cut down carbon emissions and sustain the Earth, they also called on travel advisors to do their part to help. Read the rest of this entry »

Check out my video highlights from back-to-back Burgundy barge adventures in April 2023. Afterward you may want to see How Locks Work On The French Canals or read Back From Back-To-Back Barge Trips. Also for your reading and visual pleasure, Barging In Burgundy Week One and Barging Through Burgundy: Week Two Of Our Adventure.

My experience last week with a failed trip to South Africa on United Airlines convinced me that South Africa needs its national carrier and should find a way to maintain it no matter what the cost. There’s no way to put a number value on what that airline brought to the country.

I was booked on a United Airlines flight from Newark at 9:15 p.m. that was supposed to land in Johannesburg at 5:45 p.m. the next day, after 14 hours and 40 minutes in the air. Many people won’t take a flight that long, and for good reason. Sitting in an airplane for 15 hours is not many people’s idea of fun. It can be fun, but it has to be tiring. It was particularly trying last Thursday, and the flight never left the ground. Read the rest of this entry »

Just ahead of opening sales for the 2024 season, Walt Disney World announced a handful of sure-to-be-popular changes that seem designed to turn things back to the way they used to be.

Leading the list is the return of Disney Dining and Disney Quick Service Dining Plans, which again will be available on Disney World packages that include a Disney Resort hotel stay, beginning January 9, 2024. The plans include more than 100 dining venues across the park.

Also beginning January 9, guests will no longer be required to have theme park reservations in order to buy date-based tickets at Walt Disney World, and annual passholders and cast members will be offered occasional “good-to-go days” when they can visit the parks without a reservation.

Disney also said that early park entry (for all Disney Resort hotel guests) and extended evening hours (for guests staying at Disney Deluxe Resort Hotels and Disney Deluxe Villas) will continue through 2024, and that it is working on ways to help guests plan Disney Genie+ service and Lightning Lane selections in advance of their visits, rather than only on the same day.

Tickets for the 2024 season at Walt Disney World will go on sale May 31, and Disney then will also release complete details on the new dining plans, it said. But the company did say the plans will allow guests to make dining reservations up to 60 days in advance of their trip.

Insiders attribute the renewed focus on the guests experience to the return of Bob Iger, who six months ago canceled his retirement and returned to Disney as CEO. Since then Walt Disney World has stopped charging for overnight self-parking, allowed annual passholders to visit after 2 p.m. without a reservation, offered free digital downloads of photos on rides for guests using Disney’s Genie+, ramped up character meet-and-greets, added new characters, and restored annual passes.

My wife and I have been cruising to Australia for nearly 25 years. During that time, we have never paid gratuities on any ship we’ve sailed. Some have been luxury lines, such as Silversea, where gratuities are never charged; others have been mid-priced, such as Azamara and Celebrity, where tipping is customary despite the fact they are (or were) owned by the same corporate entity.

The reason is explained in an article by Sally Macmillan, Tipping on Ships: An Australian Culture Clash, which starts off: Read the rest of this entry »

I have always endorsed the practice of identifying one’s strengths and focusing on that strength to make even stronger, or more prominent. Many sales professionals think it is time well-spent to isolate a particular weakness and focus on improving upon that lacking skill. I suppose there will always be two sides to that coin. Read the rest of this entry »

We all know the basics, right? Traveling is an exciting adventure to explore new places, cultures, and experiences. However, no matter how well planned, unforeseen circumstances can always arise, risking financial loss and physical harm. The solution? Travel insurance! And not only does it protect your client, but it also pays you handsomely as well.  But how to impress upon a client the need?

We only need to look at the  Celebrity cruise where a deceased passenger was held in a beverage cooler. Insurance would not have prevented the death but would have covered a re-patriation if needed. Read the rest of this entry »

How we see ourselves and the profession of travel counseling has much to do with sales psychology. For travel agents the problem is two-fold: The first aspect concerns societal perception of the travel profession in general. The second deals with the individual travel consultant’s personal self-image. Being consciously aware of the influence of these two aspects of one’s personality and working to place self-image in its appropriate context is a worthwhile exercise in becoming a better travel professional. Read the rest of this entry »

Adventures by Disney is expanding its repertoire of destinations for 2024, for the first time adding Colombia, home of its hit movie Encanto, and Canada’s Atlantic Coast.

Bookings will open on May 12 for the two itineraries—an eight-day “Colombia: Bogota, the Coffee Region, Cocora Valley and Cartagena,” and an eight-day “Canada’s Maritimes of Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island,” and for a third new tour, an enhanced 12-day New Zealand itinerary.

The Colombia tour will include guided tours in Bogota and Cartagena, a visit to a coffee farm, an arepa-making class, trekking in a dry forest, and snorkeling in the Rosario Islands. Guests traveling in 2024 will get a signed lithograph featuring art from the animated movie Encanto. Rates begin at $4,999 for children and $4,999 for adults.

The new Canada itinerary will include visits to the Sugan Moon maple syrup farm in Nova Scotia, the Wood Island Lighthouse and the Millbrook Cultural Heritage Centre to learn about the indigenous Mi’kmaq Peoples, plus horseback riding and kayaking at the Bay of Fundy. Rates start at $5,109 for children and $5,399 for adults.

Adults-only departures for both itineraries will be available on select dates.

Next week, I am headed to Budapest to sail with Avalon Waterways on the Danube. I first sailed with Avalon Waterways in 2021, when I was invited to sail the Rhone River on an Active & Discovery itinerary. These “A + D” itineraries have quickly become my favorite way to travel because of the type of travelers to whom they cater and the fast-paced style of travel that they offer.

The name itself attracts a certain type of traveler looking for active and authentic experiences in a destination. When I sailed the Rhone with Avalon, I immediately noticed that my fellow passengers had a real “can do” attitude and came ready to get active (and even get a little dirt on our hands). And at night, there were more of us dancing in the lounge than I had seen on any previous voyage. It was clear that everyone on board was there to do one thing: have fun. Read the rest of this entry »

What do you do when your passport is lost and you are cruising to Alaska in two weeks? You take any appointment that’s available at any US Passport Office, and get in your car and go.

If the closest office is in Portsmouth, NH, though, you’re in luck. Think of it as a road trip to a quaint and peaceful New England town, where the passport office is small and uncrowded, and the staff really does try to be helpful. Who cares if it is 280 miles from home, and your appointment is the day before you sail? Read the rest of this entry »

Browsing through the headlines on Saturday morning, I saw that a woman in Phoenix attacked a TSA employee for taking her apple juice. Elsewhere that day, a brawl broke out on a flight from Australia, leading to a forced landing, and four passengers arrested. That’s just from a quick browse through the top headlines on Saturday, a random day. It seems like it’s a pretty common thing now to hear about disruptions, fights, brawls, temper tantrums breaking out on planes and at tourist sites and all over. Because some aspects of travel do put pressure on people, a certain amount of that stress erupts on flights, in airports, and so forth. Read the rest of this entry »

In the past, Peru endured a significant wave of protests and violence that has led to many casualties. This path of unrest resulted from former President Pedro Castillo’s removal from power, which was viewed by many as a controversial decision. Nevertheless, things are now calm, and the United States State Department has lowered its travel advisory from level 3 to level 2.

The reduction of the travel advisory to Peru is excellent news for people who have been waiting to travel to the country. However, it is essential to note that there are still some considerations travelers need to make before embarking on a trip.

While the country is now safe to travel to, the recent unrest is a reminder of the need for adequate preparation before any journey. Therefore, it is vital to research thoroughly about the destination and stay up to date with any information that might be relevant to travelers.

After 15 years of cruising in Japan, MSC Cruises on May 1 opened sales for its first-ever winter season in the Land of the Rising Sun, beginning this year.

The new program will start in November 2023, sailing on MSC Bellissima, and include 6-, 9-, and 11-night sailings from Yokohama. Then from January to March 2024, MSC Bellissima will add 4- and 5- night itineraries within Japan and to Keelung, Taiwan (China), visiting Okinawa, Ishigaki, and Miyako island, sailing out of a homeport in Naha/Okinawa.

MSC Bellissima is the second ship in the MSC Meraviglia class and one of the largest in the MSC fleet, holding 4,500 guests. It features 12 dining venues and more than 20 bars and lounges, including a steak house, the French specialty restaurant L’Atelier Bistrot and Chocolate & Café, home of unique and elegant chocolate desserts.

Question: Mike, are you implying that the simple practice of “follow up” is a skill?

Answer: Yes I am.

Question: Are you also implying that professionals in the travel industry do not know the importance of, nor practice on a regular basis, the simple task of following up? Read the rest of this entry »