Podcast: TravelCommons
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Podcast #136 — Is Cash A Waning King; Don’t Make It Hard to Cash in on Loyalty
After traveling with younger colleagues who pay for everything with cards, I wonder if I’m the last generation of cash payers. I also talk about the upcoming smart luggage ban on US airlines and a long Saturday afternoon trying to redeem some British Airways Avios points. All this, a new Uber driver story, and a Continue Reading →
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Podcast #135 — Airport Bingo; My New Old Travel PC
Here’s something to listen to while in the Thanksgiving airport lines and traffic jams. We list out some of the squares we’d like to see in an airport bingo card, and I end up going back to the future with my new travel PC. We also talk about my growing stack of subway “tap” cards Continue Reading →
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Podcast #134 — Value of Loyalty; Need Those 5 Stars
Finding a Jag in the Hertz Presidents Club aisle has me thinking about the differing value of loyalty from hotel, airlines, and car rental companies while 5-star rating schemes are pushing grade inflation. All this and comments on luggage discounts, traveling while injured, and #metoo while flying at the direct link to the podcast file or Continue Reading →
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Podcast #133 — Packing Pro Tips; Traveling Injured
Fitting 10 days of clothes for rain, hiking, and Michelin restaurants into a 22-inch carry-on forced me to pack ruthlessly, and to distill my packing thoughts into 5 packing pro tips. Flying to Hungary right after a cycling accident reminded me of the hassles of traveling on the injured reserve list. All this and listener Continue Reading →
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Podcast #132 — Travel Apps on My Phone
It’s a listener request podcast. A fellow Peacock, this one named Jack, asked “What travel apps do you have on your iPhone?” Paging back through the TravelCommons archives, I’ve covered different categories of travel apps, — in the most recent iteration of my Top 10 Travel Tips I recommended some flight tracking apps and way Continue Reading →
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Podcast #131 — Twitter Concierge Customer Service; London Tube Story
This past week in Atlanta Hartsfield Airport, when I traveled across four terminals to find a restaurant serving a nice selection of local Atlanta beers, I finally had to admit that I have a craft beer problem. In addition to this confession, I talk about about taking the London Underground back from the big Adele Continue Reading →
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Podcast #130 — Notes from Hungary
It’s a Mitteleuropa episode, talking about last month’s travels through Vienna and Hungary. I came away with good first impressions of Austrian Airlines and the Vienna airport. And, for the first time in many visits, saw Hungary through a tourist’s eyes, spending time in Budapest and the Tokaj wine region. We also talk about how Google Translate Continue Reading →
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Podcast #129 — Airport Fight Club; The Bourdain Effect
Difficult to do a travel podcast without talking about this month’s incidents on United and American Airlines. The videos that hit social media were damning, but as more of the facts came out, the stories around each incident became more complex. On a much lighter note, we also talk about the explosion of food tourism, Continue Reading →