¶ Journey to Prague
The Inside Travel Talk podcast and radio show contains travel deals , promotions and offers that may be time sensitive . All offers and information were accurate when the show aired . Travel deals and offers change constantly and are capacity controlled and subject to change without notice .
Explore your world . It's the Inside Travel Talk podcast and radio show . Call or text the show now 801-649-3700 801-649-3700 . And check out the podcast at inside travel talk dot com . And now here are your hosts , Patrick Wiscombe and Mark Faldmo .
Could it be true , Mark Faldmo , that we are entering season two of the Inside Travel Talk podcast and radio show ? That's amazing to me . That's amazing , starting season two , Episode number 17 . Heard worldwide every Saturday . Let's get to it . But thank you for allowing us to be part of your Saturday .
If you have travel related questions , we will answer them during the show . Call us or text us either now or during the week , because Mark gets all those calls . It's 801-649-3700 , 801-649-3700 .
Coming up in this edition of the show we are going to talk about the most on time United States based airlines and , I think , something that can't be underrated , and I'm sure that you'll feel this same way as me . What are the safest airlines in the world According to airline ratingscom ? We'll get to that here in just a second .
Always in segment one , we have the hottest travel deal of the week . This time we're headed to Prague . We'll give you the pricing here in just a second to Prague . But let's start off with the most on time airlines . So we're just coming out of the travel season . According to this news article , Delta Airlines , which you love , you've booked what ?
Two million miles there ? A little over two million , over almost three million miles . American Airlines , united Airlines , southwest Spirit , frontier and Jet Blue . Those were the most on time airlines in 2023 . What's considered on time ? Flights that arrive within 14 minutes of the published schedule times ? And a little kudos to ourselves here here in Salt Lake .
The top performing airports of the world are Minneapolis , st Paul have you been through there Several times ? Oh , I've never been there and Salt Lake City International , so about 40 miles to our north .
That is very interesting because those are two airports that can be affected by winter conditions , which can cause delays . So you know , very interesting , that those two are the top performing airports .
What I'm hearing you say is that everyone's got to pull their way elsewhere . Yes , if we can do it in the snow , what's your problem ? Everyone else yes . What are the safest airlines in the world ? Give me two that you think should be on there , based on your experience .
Well , probably based on past ratings , I would probably say Alaska Airlines is on there .
Yeah , actually they are .
Air New Zealand or Qantas , one of those down under .
I know you've been on Alaska . You've been on Alaska , but if you've been on Air New Zealand or Qantas I have flown on Qantas . Virgin Australia was one of the safest Alaska which you brought up British Airways , hawaiian Airlines my favorite because it takes you to Hawaii , which I love .
Did they fly out of Salt Lake ? They are starting to fly out of Salt Lake ? Oh , I believe it was in May , really so .
OK , may of last year Of this year , oh , ok . So coming up , american Airlines and United some of the safest airlines in the world according to airline ratings dot com . Now here's how they judge the safest airlines . The website monitors 385 different airlines .
The editors of the website analyze serious incidents over two years , audits from aviation governing bodies , the age of their fleet and airline crew training . They say in this article all airlines have incidents every day which obviously you never hear about . That Many are aircraft or engine manufacturing issues , not airline operational problems .
It's the way that the flight crew handles these serious incidents that determines a good airline from an unsafe one . I never really thought about that .
It's all about training and crew training and how you handle things . That does help in an emergency situation . So analyzing how things are handled is a good way to measure safety as well .
US Airlines finished 2023 with the lowest cancellation rate in 10 years , according to the US Department of Transportation .
After the beating the airlines took last December . Oh wow , and how they handled things . They really have been proactive about canceling flights before storms hit so that planes are in the right position to start back up again , which causes a lot less cancellations down the line .
And Southwest Airlines . Man , they got hammered . They left 2 million people , if memory serves , about 2 million people stranded when their system went down and I think we reported last week that they were hit with a hundred 40 million dollar . Fine , yes , they should have .
I don't remember hearing anything negative about Southwest Airlines , maybe a delay or two , but that was about it . Yeah , they did have some issues .
Oh , they did , it was all . It wasn't systems like the year previous , it was all because there was weather in Chicago , here , one of their biggest airports , which they could only land a certain number of planes per hour because of the weather . So planes were delayed and canceled because of that , but it's nothing really that the airline had to control over .
In segment one of the show , we always talk about the hottest travel deal of the week . Mark found a fantastic deal . If you've always wanted to go to Prague , listen up . We want your attention for about the next three to five minutes , if you would .
You found a great deal midweek in April and let's share the details and some of the things they can do in Prague .
Prague is one of my favorite cities to visit in Europe , so it's in what was considered Eastern Europe . One of the scenes of the first Mission Impossible it would actually a lot of that movie was filmed in Prague . First of all , let's start with some prices . I looked at roundtrip airfare in April and then a five night hotel stay .
Now you may want to stay longer than that or visit other cities in Europe , but just for this base pricing from Salt Lake City , a five night and airfare starting at 1349 per person . That is at a four star hotel called the Prague Central Exclusive Hotel .
My particular favorite hotel is the Intercontinental Hotel , but it's undergoing renovations and will open up under a different name sometime later this year . I wasn't able to find it on the list , but a good alternate to that is the Hill Town Prague Old Town Square Hotel . That starts at 2049 per person .
I know you haven't stayed at the Prague Central Exclusive , but if you're saying four star , it's a nice hotel it is . Mark and I are luxury travelers when we take our wives , so we're not going to recommend something that we don't want to stay in In Prague .
I think the best place to stay is near the Old Town Square . The way Prague is situated is it's kind of like Paris , with their different districts . There's Prague one , prague two , prague three , prague four , prague five . The higher the number , the further away from the central part of town you are . Oh , it kind of spirals out .
I didn't know that . And Paris ?
does the same thing . These are both in that first district of Prague , so you're near to things .
If I understood that right Right in Old .
Town the best thing to do . I love going to the Old Town Square at nighttime . That would be cool . You know it's lit up . There's shops and vendors . My favorites are and get some famous Prague ham .
I didn't know you like ham that much .
Well , I like Prague ham .
And so is that just because you're in Prague , or is it called Prague ham ? It's called Prague ham . Oh , it is OK .
It's a special . It's brined specially and then roasted on an open fire , and so you're just . You're out there in the town square and there's a couple vendors that sell it , Sell it . The other thing that you can get in Old Town Square food wise , I'm a foodie , I love it Is called Trindle Neck . And what is that ? It's bread or a cake .
It's wrapped around a stick and then roasted over a fire . Oh really . So , it's like a cylinder cake and it's not an authentic Czech dessert , but it's just been popularized by tourists there . But it's right in that main square . And then other things you can do in Prague is the Prague Castle , which its history starts about 870 . So say that out loud .
Really old , the year was 870 . It's had several different rulers in that castle . It's up on a hill overlooks Old Town . There's also the Charles Bridge . That's where a lot of the scenes from Mission Impossible were filmed Kind of an iconic place , yes , and that Charles Bridge has vendors that show up so you can shop as you cross the bridge .
There's a good farmers market in the summertime in Prague , and then also the Jewish Quarter is pretty interesting . It has the oldest active synagogue in Europe . Have you ever been to a synagogue ? I've been outside of a synagogue several of them .
Oh , have you , I have these tours .
Okay , so yeah .
Yeah , I went into one . It wasn't in Prague , it was in New York City . Fascinating , loved it , loved that , my experience in there .
Yeah , let's go ahead and recap the price again , so the price is $1349 from Salt Lake City .
Staying at .
Four-star Prague Central Exclusive Hotel , or $2049 per person Straight at the Hilton Prague Old Town . And I also did look out of New York City just to see if prices , what the prices were , and they were about the same price .
So so there really wasn't we just stuck with .
Salt Lake City . It wasn't much of a savings to start in New York City , like there sometimes is so $13.49 from Salt Lake City , staying at the Prague Central Exclusive .
Or , if you want , you can also stay at the Hilton Prague Old Town Square , which is what Mark is recommending $2049 a person . How many times have you been to Prague ? Been to Prague three ?
times Worth every penny . It is . Yeah , A lot of people might say . You know , five nights is too short . And a good thing to do is come do a Prague and Budapest store , combine those two cities , or Prague and Vienna . They're all pretty close .
Okay , we'll take a break here to take advantage of that particular offer . Call Mark 801-649-3700 . 801-649-3700 . More of the Inside Travel Talk podcast and radio show . In the next segment we're going to talk about the Royal Caribbean's icon of the seas and we also have the cruise deal of the week . Thank you so much for allowing us to be part of your Saturday .
We will be right back .
¶ Cruise Deals Downunder
Now back to the Inside Travel Talk podcast and radio show . Call or text the show right now 801-649-3700 . 801-649-3700 . And check out the podcast at insidetraveltalkcom . Here's Patrick Wiscombe and Mark Faldmo .
It is time for the just cruising segment here on the Inside Travel Talk podcast and radio show . My name is Patrick Wiscombe . Mark Faldmo sits to my right in the Wiscombe Faldmo radio studio in beautiful London , Utah , Coming up in this segment . It's the just cruising segment , as I mentioned , and if you've always , I guess I should just say good day mate .
That's dreadful . That's dreadful . We're headed to Australia and New Zealand . If you've always wanted to go , stay tuned . We got you covered here . But before we do , let's get to the travel news of the week . Royal Caribbean's 1200 foot long icon of the seas is undergoing final checks .
It was actually seen out in the wild before its maiden voyage from Miami on January 27th . And just to refresh your memory how gigantic this boat is 20 decks and will serve 5,610 guests . I actually thought it was more than that , that number sounds low .
Well , that's probably double occupancy . Oh , they also have a number for fully loaded with quad occupancy .
Okay , and 2,350 crew members and if you're playing math at home , the 7,960 total people . That is an astonishingly long ship . Lots of things to do and see . Have you ever been on Seaborn as a cruise line ? I've not been on Seaborn . I haven't either . Seaborn has now installed Starlink Internet on all of their ships .
A lot of cruise lines are moving towards installing Starlink , which means you'll be able to stream movies now . Be fast enough , it'll be fast enough . Over the past few years , cruise lines have been moving towards different things , like putting radio towers on islands in the Caribbean , so as our ships are close , the internet is fast .
But now , with Starlink able to do that , it'll be a great experience for those that need the internet .
Mark and I are headed to the Caribbean . We're going to the Bahamas May 19th through the 26th on MSC the Maravia ship , and it's hard to say this with a straight face , but it's actually a work trip for you and I , so we will need the internet .
We will need the internet . I work all the time on a cruise ship , no matter where I'm at . Do you really ? I work .
I just thought this was interesting because Nicky and I we went to Alaska , ncl Bliss . The cruise lines are returning to traditional muster drills .
Disney cruise lines has already started that , and soon Norwegian cruise line Oceania and Regent will all return to the traditional muster drills .
So Well , let's go over what is a traditional drill .
Yeah , A traditional drill is before the ship sails . I think the official rule says within 24 hours of sailing , everyone on the ship has to be familiar with their muster station . And so they have a drill where everyone goes to their muster station .
They show you how to put on the life jackets , they show you where the lifeboats are at , give you some basic instructions on what to do Emergency stuff , common sense things on a cruise ship . They go over all of that on your muster drill and during COVID , because they didn't like large groups of people together .
They started doing e-muster , I think on Norwegian . When you went , you just had to watch either on your state room TV or on your phone . We had to do it before we even got on the ship .
As you hop on the ship , they basically said , okay , here's your muster station , have an ice trip . And we were done . It was that fast yeah .
And other cruise lines have you actually report to your muster station at your leisure and then you get some of the safety information . But now a lot of cruise lines are talking about , or have already made the move back to , the traditional muster .
Muster station is always a good picture opportunity when you're donning your life jacket , and so , although most of them don't let make you put your life jacket on anymore , but let's post that on Instagram .
Hey , the ship's going down . Thumbs up , big cheesy smile . While we're talking about cruising stuff , we have got three cruise deals of the week . All of them start in Australia . Let's go over the details here .
So we're going to start this theme today of down under cruising . I wish I had some minute work . The band , the band Carnival , as I'm looking , in April here , so April of 2024 . I have two different 10 day itineraries that leave from Sydney . One is New Zealand , which covers the North Island of New Zealand .
That has five days at sea and then five days in port . On the North Island of New Zealand that starts at $5.99 per person for an inside cabin plus taxes and fees . So a five day port in New Zealand , different ports on the North Island .
So there are five different ports on New Zealand that it visits and then it comes back to Sydney , so you can spend some time in Sydney to do that .
When were the dates on that ? Again , that one was April 1st . Okay , april 1st , so coming up here in about three months and we have to get ourselves to Sydney to start that , to start this cruise and then I think this would be the itinerary I personally would choose , and it's all Australia .
So again , it's round trip Sydney . And it goes up to Port Douglas and Carnes and a few other places in Northern Australia . So you're getting up into the rainforest , it's up there in Port Douglas near the Great Barrier Reef . Lots of fascinating things in Australia to see on this cruise . So again , that's round trip Sydney .
So basically you cruise the perimeter of Australia with several ports .
You cruise the east coast of Australia .
It's going to say if you're going to go around all of Australia , that's going to take you more than 10 days .
That'll take quite a while . Australia is pretty bad . So , and that one starts on April 11th and it has four sea days , so it has one more port than the other one .
Let's go over the price on that 10 day Australia cruise .
So that one starts at 749 for an inside cabin on Carnival .
So the 10 day , sydney to New Zealand , the Northern Island , 599 per person on Carnival , and then 10 day on the east side of Australia , 749 a person . That's just Australia . And then let's go with the 17 day cruise .
So this one is a repositioning cruise , and repositioning cruise , I think , will give you the best bang for your dollar . You'll get to see a lot of interesting ports and you start and end in a different port . So this particular cruise starts in Sydney and ends in Honolulu .
Oh , how interesting . Repositioning cruises . So right now it's winter here in the US and in Australia it's summer . So they're basically getting ready to flip seasons . It's going to be cold down there and then warmer up here , that's correct . So , repositioning cruises , they're just moving the ship to warmer area .
So this 17 day cruise starts at 1869 per person , plus taxes and fees , and it visits New . Zealand . Wait , it goes to New Zealand also . Yeah , it goes to New Zealand .
Oh , wow .
So there are two ports in New Zealand , there are three ports in French Polynesia Papiete , Morea and Raietea .
You love French Polynesia .
I do , yeah , I just choose this itinerary just for that , and then it ends in Honolulu .
So 17 days Australia to Honolulu , that's a what ? Little over $100 a person or excuse me , I'm sorry $100 a day .
A person per day .
You're right , repositioning cruises is how to do it .
It is , and also to see some of these exotic ports . It's a great way to see that .
Take advantage of those offers . They're only available to listeners of the Inside Travel Talk podcast and radio show . Call Mark . All of those calls and texts go to him , 801-649-3700 . 801-649-3700 . When we come back , how many times have you been to Paris ? Probably 10 times . Did you like the movie Ratatouille ?
I don't , I've seen it , but I don't recall .
So I guess not . There's a real life Ratatouille restaurant opening in Paris . We'll give you some of the details on that , and we'll talk about an airline that is incenting new passengers to take their first flight with them . They'll give you a monetary reward . That is next , plus a whole lot more . Thank you so much for being part of the podcast radio show .
We will be right back .
You're listening to the Inside Travel Talk podcast and radio show with Patrick Wiscombe and Mark Faldmo . Call or text the show now 801-649-3700 . That's 801-649-3700 . And check out the podcast at insidetraveltalk . com . We'll be right back .
¶ Exploring Grand Cayman
The Inside Travel Talk podcast and radio show contains travel deals promotions and offers that may be time sensitive . All offers and information were accurate when the show aired . Travel deals and offers change constantly and are capacity controlled and subject to change without notice .
This is the Inside Travel Talk podcast and radio show . Call or text the show right now 801-649-3700 . 801-649-3700 . And now here are your hosts , Patrick Wiscombe and Mark Faldmo .
It is time for the destination spotlight portion of the show . Always in segment three of the show , While you were out of the studio getting some water , we got a text from Diane asking she wants to take her family to Grand Cayman , so I'll just put you on standby for that . She wants to know what some of the best things to do are while she's there .
But before we get there , we've got some additional travel news of the week that we want to share with listeners . I don't know if you saw this article . Alaska Airlines announced new nonstop flights from Seattle and Los Angeles to the Bahamas , which I don't think they've ever had that before .
Now those are the first , I think , by any airline to fly from the West Coast directly to Nassau , bahamas .
Is that about a five , six hour flight from those cities ? It's probably about five and a half hours . So good news if you use Alaska Airlines , go to the Bahamas now non-stop .
That's made possible also by the new 737s that have longer range . Before that would have to have been done by a larger aircraft , but economically it doesn't make sense to use a larger aircraft to fly that length . Now they can do it on smaller airplanes .
You've been to Paris a few times . A real life Ratatouille restaurant has reopened , which overlooks Paris , which just happens to coincide with the 2024 Paris Olympics . I remember the movie Ratatouille , but it was kind of forgettable , honestly .
Yeah , I don't remember a whole lot of it .
New airline , Avello Airlines , is giving new passengers $100 for taking their first flight with them . Now , the operative phrase there is new passengers , not existing . First time customers will receive a $100 credit toward their next flight after booking a round trip . So what ? Buy one , get $100 off your next one , basically .
Yeah , so a couple airlines . The CEO or the guy that started Avello was a former executive at Allegiant Airlines , which is another low cost . So now you have kind of three airlines in this field of new low cost startups . You have Breeze , avello and then .
Allegiant , which isn't new , but they're kind of in that range and they mainly serve us kind of secondary markets , so not the big airports . For instance , here in Salt Lake these airlines would service Pro-Low Airport or Ogden Airport and not necessarily compete against the big guys Delta at Salt Lake Airport .
So they keep their airport fees low they do and they have less competition kind of more niche passengers . They don't fly every day , they might fly two times a week to one destination or three times a week to one destination .
So it's a little bit less convenient , but they're generally a lot less expensive .
While you were out of the break and I mentioned that . Coming back into the segment , we've got a text from a listener , diane . She sent the text to our studio line and of course this all calls if you book stuff . It goes to Mark , it's 801-649-3700 , 801-649-3700 , and you can ask your questions . So Diane asks I want to take my family to Grand Cayman .
What are some of the best things to do while we're there and what hotels do you recommend that we stay at ?
Grand Cayman is an island in the Caribbean and it's primarily a cruise port . Most people that have visited Grand Cayman probably have visited on a cruise and not actually stayed there . I think it'd be a fabulous island to visit and stay . I've not stayed overnight there , only on a cruise . Probably been there so a few hours .
Yeah , probably 12 , maybe 15 times that I've visited Grand Cayman . The most famous thing to do there is Seven Mile Beach . Seven Mile Beach is a great place for snorkeling , scuba diving . They're vibrant coral reefs , there's some shipwrecks that you can explore and it's also just a great place to relax .
The most famous thing in Grand Cayman one of my favorite things is called Stingray City . So you go out and it's a place where the fishermen used to clean out the fish on kind of a sandbar , so it's just filled with stingrays . They got so used to people that you can just get out , wade in waste deep water and play with stingrays .
That sounds absolutely frightening , actually very fun .
Oh , you've done it .
I've done it . I enjoyed it .
The first person I think of when it comes to stingrays is Steve Irwin .
Yes .
That's why I'm like , really , really , you're going to go play with stingrays .
These are pretty tame stingrays . They get fed every time the tourists come . They kind of rely on it . So since the fishing industry has kind of gone away , they still get their same food . How interesting . Another place , especially for the kids , that would like this , is the Cayman Turtle Center . I could get behind this one so .
Go there , you learn all about turtles . If you're there the right time of year , the turtles are hatching and used to be called a turtle farm , but it's now the turtle center and here they actually have a program called the keeper for a day , where you can assist with the carrying of Turtles .
So the kids would probably like that one thing about Grand Cayman is it's limestone , and so there are all sorts of limestone formations . There's the Crystal caves , which is a wonderful underground cavern you can visit , and then above ground there's a similar place and it's called hell , or you can go send a postcard from hell .
There's a post office there and it's postmark from hell , so you can send that back to your family . I've been to hell and back , yeah . So another thing that I like there there's a house there called the conch house , where the outside of the house is all conch shells . Oh really bricks .
Instead of bricks , it's conch shells that really kind of decorate the outside of the house . That's kind of cool , you know . So there's a lot of things and probably Similar to as we talked about with Venice , italy , and the cruise ships are there . There's lots of people there .
Yeah but at nighttime probably , it'd be a wonderful place , without the people there , to just sit back and relax and enjoy Grand Cayman .
What are some of the hotels for Diane where she should consider staying ?
one that's really good for families is called the Windham reef resort , grand Cayman . They offer both all-inclusive plans and European plans .
What's that all inclusive ? I get , because it includes the food , but what is a European plan ?
Yeah , so it's called European plan or EP plan , which basically just means no food . Well , that doesn't interest me , so you know . I'm gonna do that , while Grand Cayman is a place , personally I would probably do the European plan , oh really , so that I can eat at all the different restaurants , because there are probably lots of good restaurants in Grand Cayman .
So you could do the European plan or the all-inclusive plan , depending on your needs .
The all-inclusive is probably just a little bit more than the European plan , probably not by much .
It is . It's probably $100 per person per day somewhere in there , so reasonable , reasonable . Two other hotels that I've sent groups to before that I'm pretty familiar with is the Grand Cayman Marriott and the Weston Grand Cayman 7 mile Beach .
You're a Marriott person for sure , yeah , what was the one on 7 mile Beach , which is actually 8 miles ?
They're actually both on 7 mile Beach , but it was the Weston Grand Cayman . 7 mile Beach was the name of the hotel .
So , diane , hopefully we've been able to help you . If you need additional assistance , just call mark directly 801 649 3700 801 649 3700 and , by the way , that goes not only for Diane , but anybody listening to the , the podcast and radio show . When we come back , when's the next time you're headed to Machu Picchu , mark ? I hope soon .
Okay , in the next few years . We've got some news that is just coming out . A Guess it was about an hour ago when we started the show that Machu Picchu is changing the number of people who can go Per day . This is good , and we've also , you and I , are headed to Cancun in February . Cancun is changing .
Their airport will give you the details when the inside travel talk podcast and radio show continues . Thank you so much for allowing us to be part of your Saturday . We will be right back .
They've literally traveled millions of miles to answer your travel related questions . Yeah , they really have . You're listening to the inside travel talk podcast and radio show . Patrick and Mark will be back after these messages
¶ How to find the Best Travel Deal
They'll help you plan and book your next vacation . Yeah , really . Yeah , you're listening to the inside travel talk podcast and radio show . Call or text the show now 801 649 3700 . 801 649 3700 . And now here's Patrick Wiscombe and Mark Faldmo .
We really do help people plan their vacations Because , if we haven't said it before , if you , we want people to go out and explore the world . The world's a fascinating place . It really is . Different places , different cultures , microcultures in some places , very , very cool . I love traveling .
Coming up in this segment of the show , we've got another text from a listener same number , 801 649 3700 Got a listener who is asking what are some tips to get the best price for a vacation . That's from Mike . We'll get to that here in just a second , but before we do , we've got some additional travel news of the week .
This is the final segment of the Inside travel talk podcast , a radio show . I know that you're a Machu Picchu fan . For sure , mark , one of my favorite places to visit . Why do you like Machu Picchu so much ?
Just the beauty of the place . Really , it's just an amazingly beautiful place and getting there is an experience . Is that the vacation right there ? Just just trying to get there . You have to take a train to get there , and then you have to take buses up the mountain , and then you have to take buses up the mountain and then you have to walk into it .
So it's a pretty Interesting experience . Just to get to Machu Picchu safe enough , it's safe and easy . I had a nephew right before our trip broke his leg . He did all of Machu Picchu on crutches . Okay , all right .
Although after that day , once we got down from the mountain , he had to find a guy from the hotel with a luggage dolly to wheel him back to the hotel , because he didn't want to walk From the bus station to the hotel mark I can't move .
Peru is raising the visitor cap for Machu Picchu to 5600 people a day , going back .
I'm not sure exactly when it is , I'm gonna say 2016 , 2017 . They put a cap on which was about this 5600 doll , 5600 person cap per day .
I just remember there was a big rush of people that had been hearing rumors that you're not going to be able to get to Machu Picchu there Because they're limiting it , and so there's a big rush of people to go to Machu Picchu , but they were only capping the number of people per day that were able to go .
Before that , they would get Six , maybe on a busy day , 7000 people that would go to Machu Picchu . During covid , that was severely reduced and they've been bumping that back up . So now the main cap will be 4500 visitors on most days , and on certain holidays and certain dates it'll be as high as 5600 .
How do you reserve your spot to go to Machu Picchu so ?
most of those are reserved from tour companies . So tour company has the majority of those , maybe 80 percent of the tickets . There is a certain number of tickets that can be purchased on the day of From a ticket office at the bus depot where you go to take the bus up to Machu Picchu .
You and I are headed to Cancun I think it's February 8th , 12th , something somewhere in there .
So we've talked about the new Tulum airport , which is about 90 minutes to hours south of the Cancun airport , and Tulum is basically relieving the stress on Cancun , but I so I saw this story that Cancun International Airport is getting a major $1.4 billion upgrade starting this year 2024 .
Which is interesting because that airport's been under construction for 20 years . That sounds like a Salt Lake .
International .
Airport .
What it feels like .
So I know terminal three , where Delta and most of the US carriers just completed a big upgrade , so it'll be interesting to see where these improvements are coming , into which terminals .
Salt Lake International Airport is still being built out right now . It feels like it's always been under construction in my entire lifetime , but , wow , it just never seems to end .
Yep , now that terminal A is all completed , it's really nice , especially if you're flying on Delta . Terminal B is still a little bit hard to get to at Salt Lake , so you're going to be a train between terminal A and B . There is room for a tunnel in that , for a train in that main tunnel that is not open yet .
I think what I heard is there are plans for a terminal C and the train would not come and tell terminal C was open . But I can't confirm or deny that that's something I heard or saw somewhere .
So we got a text from a listener , Mike . He is asking what are some tips to get the best price for a vacation ? Now , Mike , you're hitting probably the number one question . Mark gets all week and you can get ahold of Mark directly again , 801-649-3700 . What are some ?
tips . The first tip is to be flexible when you're going . Probably , statistically , the best months to vacation anywhere are probably May and early December , after Thanksgiving , but before about the 15th of December , when Christmas season starts December 1st through the 15th . Through the 15th and most and a lot of May .
Really , or is ?
a good time to go .
So the two weeks in December and basically May , may for statistically the best prices Okay .
Well , some people have to do that , certain destinations , as we've talked before , have their high season , their low season and their shoulder season , which is in between , and these two months kind of fit the best of all of those in , and then the next consideration is midweek travel .
A lot of people want to travel on the weekends , so there'll be more availability and lower fares midweek . So usually Wednesday or Thursday's departures , or when I think the best time to travel are . What about Tuesday , tuesday's ? Pretty good as well .
Okay , so Wednesday , thursday for sure .
I've just always looked at Wednesdays and Thursdays and if I've had to , I fall back on Tuesdays to check that out .
I've always wondered why you always start with midweek and you're literally saying Wednesday's the best time to go . Wednesday , thursday , correct , okay , yeah , what other ?
It's not always the case , but again , statistically , taking a broad range of trips A Wednesday , the first week of December , is going to be one of your best prices . And then the next tip on that to get a good price is again use a travel advisor for someone who is able to sell package prices .
If you're able to bundle the air with the hotel , you'll usually get a better price . The hotels offer travel agents and other travel companies bulk fares . They're not allowed to disclose the price and it has to be bundled with the hotel , and the hotels do the same thing . So you're getting two components that are not published fares but offered together .
The price is lower than if you were to buy them separately .
I've had a couple of people ask me do you ever call Mark to book your stuff ? And the answer is yeah , I literally called you last night , last night , yeah . So before we take off , let's recap all of the offers . Let's start where we began , the very start of the show .
Let's go to Prague because that was the hottest travel deal of the week and you were talking about midweek , ironically enough , in April with a five night hotel in Prague , and I'll let you take it from there .
Yeah . So that lead and right that we found was at a four star hotel right in Old Town Prague , and it was started at 1349 with our fare from Salt Lake City . Strangely enough , it was about the same price from New York JFK .
Yeah , that's very odd . During a segment two of the show , the just cruising segment , we had the cruise deals . In this case , we've never had three cruise deals of the week . This was basically everything started in Sydney , australia .
So we had the down under theme 10 day cruise on Carnival that was , australia and New Zealand , started at 599 per person plus taxes and fees on Carnival . Another 10 day on Carnival started at 749 per person , plus taxes and fees that visit just the east coast of Australia .
And then the one that I think is my favorite on this is a 17 day repositioning cruise Australia to Honolulu on Royal Caribbean cruise line .
I might seriously consider doing this one , taking Nikki , because we will have internet on the ship . Yes , to do the podcast .
We can do it right from the right , in the middle of the ocean .
Who do we know at Royal Caribbean that we could just do it live ?
I have some contacts , I can check so we really can .
Yeah , live might be hard , but we can see .
Okay , and then that one 17 days Australia or Sydney to Honolulu starts at 1817 per person .
Again on Royal Caribbean , I will call you for that one . I don't know , but maybe it could be tough . 17 days going from Australia to Honolulu . I'm not sure how many sea days would be on that , about six , five , seven , 10 sea days ? Ooh , that might be a tough sell on Nikki though .
And they're broken up , Okay well , that's okay , we probably go to New Zealand , Tahiti and then Hawaii . Eight . $1,817 a person . 17 day Australia to Honolulu repositioning cruise . Thank you so much for allowing us to be part of your Saturday . We got to go . If you want to book any of these vacations , please just call Mark directly .
You can call us , you can text us 801-649-3700 801-649-3700 . If you want to book any of the cruises , just text the word cruise to 801-649-3700 . Thank you so much for allowing us to be part of your day . We will talk to you next Saturday .
That's it . That's the end of the show You've been listening to the inside travel talk podcast and radio show with Patrick Wiskum and Mark Faldmo , presented by blue planet vacationscom . Book your adventure right now . Call 888-718-7717 . That's 888-718-7717 . Thanks for listening . Have a great week .