Todd Carlson 0:16

Explore your world. It's the Inside Travel Talk Podcast and Radio Show. Presented by Blue Planet Vacations.com. Call or text the show now. 801-649-3700. 801-649-3700. And check out the podcast at InsideTravelTalk.com. And now, here are your hosts, Patrick Wiscombe and Mark Faldmo.

Patrick Wiscombe 0:54

Welcome to the Inside Travel Talk Podcast, a radio show. Hello there. I am Patrick Wiscombe. And if you are brand new to this radio show and podcast, our entire purpose to help you book and plan your next vacation, or just give you ideas of where you may want to vacation next. And

Welcome And Week’s Travel Rundown

Patrick Wiscombe 1:14

we are presented by BluePlanetVacations.com. And just a sincere thank you for taking the time to stop and listen. And this week we are talking about Spirit Airlines filing for bankruptcy yet again. I think, Mark, I think this is the second time in 2025. Have I got that right?

Mark Faldmo 1:32

Well, it's the second time in the past calendar year.

Patrick Wiscombe 1:36

Jeez. So cold weather is on the way, so we're going to be talking about some other destinations other than Hawaiian and Mexico to go on vacation. But we're also going to talk about Hawaiian, Mexico. $849 to go to Egypt and just a smidge more to go to Greece. And we'll be talking about solar eclipse cruises in 2026. So that is just a handful of stories that we'll be talking about this week on the Inside Travel Talk Podcast, a radio show. But first, we have to get to the travel news headlines. Mark, let's start with the uh probably the biggest story of the week, which is Spirit Airlines filing for bankruptcy for a second time in the past calendar year. What details do we have for listeners and I guess potential travelers?

Mark Faldmo 2:28

For potential travelers, Spirit vows to continue operating as normal. They are using this chapter 11 bankruptcy to restructure. They did this November of 2024, so 10 months ago. They came out of it. They first tried to merge with Frontier Airlines.

Spirit Airlines Files Bankruptcy Again

Mark Faldmo 2:46

Then JetBlue agreed to buy Spirit, which was which was prevented by the Department of Justice. So ever since they've come out, they've just struggled. There isn't a lot of room for the budget airlines. People still fly them, but people are starting to value more of a value than that overall cheap fare. And that goes in phases. Probably in five or ten years, it'll probably swing back the other way. But right now, Spirit Airlines, especially, and Frontier, some of the other budget airlines are really struggling. But if you do have a ticket on Spirit, they still do continue operating and they're just trying to use this to position themselves to be better in the future.

Patrick Wiscombe 3:29

Southwest is in the news, but this time they're making headlines for a different reason. It looks like that they vinked some kind of a partnership with another airline.

Mark Faldmo 3:38

They have they have an interline partnership with Eva Airways, which is based in Taipei, Taiwan. They will connect the Southwest Network to Asia. A few weeks ago, we talked about Southwest partnership with Iceland Air. So now they have a partnership that will link them to Europe and a partnership that

Southwest Links Up To Asia

Mark Faldmo 3:58

will link them to Asia. Eva Airways' main hubs in the US are Los Angeles, San Francisco, Seattle, and Chicago. Those airports are all very big. Well, actually, I take that back. It's Chicago O'Hare, which is not really big for Southwest. They fly out of Midway mainly. But Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Seattle are very big Southwest markets.

Patrick Wiscombe 4:22

I've never flown Eva Airlines, have you? I have. Yep.

Mark Faldmo 4:25

I I flown Eva Airlines to Thailand. I thought they were a great airline. I thought it was interesting. Safety video was all Hello Kitty. Landing at the terminal. Like there were a couple of gay areas that were all Hello Kitty areas. So it was kind of fun. But Eva Airline, I really enjoyed that for a long haul carrier. A lot of those Asian airlines do a really good job. Are you a Big Bang Theory fan?

Patrick Wiscombe 4:51

I am, yes. That reminds me of uh hello, hello kitty. Yep. We want you to be part of the show each and every week. So if you have travel related questions, please text them during the week or while we're on the air. 801-649-3700. 801-649-3700. We did receive a text question from Garrett, and he says, I want help, Mark, planning a winter vacation. I want to go somewhere warm, but I don't want a typical beach vacation like Hawaii and Mexico. What are some options?

Mark Faldmo 5:27

I'm going to answer to this in a two-part question. We're going to take part of this question in the

A Listener Wants Warm Winter Options

Mark Faldmo 5:31

cruise segment when we talk about cruises. But what came to mind right away was one of the Globus Escape Tours. Now we've talked about these, they're off-season tours. We talked about Ireland and a few other tours. Those aren't really warm weather destinations, but they do have some of these escape tours, which are in warm weather destinations. And I think these two options would be a very good option if you're looking for something unique and different, also to go when there are less crowds. Oh, yeah. The first one, it's a seven-day tour. It's called Greek Escape. So it starts in Athens, two nights in Athens, and then it spends three nights going around to different places, uh, including Olympia, and then back for a last night in Athens. So you do get a really good overview of Greece. Oh, yeah. And that seven-night tour starts at $1,049 per person,

Greece Escape Tour Value Breakdown

Mark Faldmo 6:25

which is amazing for uh seven nights. Now you do have to add your airfare onto that. But one thing that I really liked about this, you could add a two-night additional stay on the island of Santorini. Which you would probably recommend. I would do that. These tours all run November to March. And if you can get to Santorini when there are no cruise ships there, as we've said a couple of times on the show, that would be amazing. That is one option. You also could add on a four-night cruise to the end of that seven-night tour, which does go to Santorini, but also goes into Turkey and a few other Greek Isles. There are some really good options, and Greece in January would be probably a very delightful place. Now that is not your typical beach destination. Oh no. But you could get that ocean experience, especially if you added on that Santorini.

Patrick Wiscombe 7:24

For a thousand forty-nine a person, starting, of course, you have to add the airfare, like Mark said. I bet there are some people listening right now going, I'm sorry, Greece for a thousand forty-nine. Yeah. Sign me up.

Mark Faldmo 7:37

Yeah. And you know, again, this is a full tour. So you have all of your transportation to all the different cities. You have a guide with you, and they have a few meals included. So with the touring and activities that are included, now they do have some additional extra cost activities you can do, but it is a great value if you want something different for your winter vacation.

Patrick Wiscombe 7:58

That's the Greek portion of Garrett's question. What about the Egypt option starting at $849 a person?

Mark Faldmo 8:06

This price just kind of floored me. $849 for a six-day tour. It's a couple nights in Cairo and a couple of nights in Alexandria. This $849 includes

Egypt Highlights Plus Nile Add On

Mark Faldmo 8:19

the Great Pyramid, the Sphinx. After you spend your time in Cairo, you head over to Alexandria. You do get to stop in the Wadi El-Naturn. Wadi is desert in that area of the world. And you stop at a Coptic monastery. A what monastery? Did you say Coptic? So yeah, so they're uh Coptic Christians, which are in Egypt. It is kind of like the domed buildings you kind of think of when you think of mosques, but they have the Christian crosses on top. So they're it's Christian monastery out there. And then in Alexandria, which is a wonderful port town. This is kind of where you'd get your water and ocean in. You go to the biblioteca, which back from the Indiana Jones days, they spent a lot of time in there looking for things. And then you head back to Cairo after Alexandria. And here you drive through the El Baharia Desert, which is called the Red Land, because when you drive, there's a red hue to everything because the sand is red and everything kind of reflects red. And then if you want again another add-on, you can add a three-night Nile River cruise that goes up to Karnak and Luxor. And then you're also in a Swan area. So you can get that Nile River experience to be added on to the six-day tour. So you know, so those are two different kind of warm weather destinations that aren't Hawaiian Mexico.

Patrick Wiscombe 9:55

So, in addition to the Greek vacation and the vacation in Egypt, we're also going to be talking about Hawaiian, Mexico. This is going to be the hot travel deal of the week. And we are going to help our listeners save up to $550 off per package

Hawaii And Mexico Package Discounts

Patrick Wiscombe 10:16

to Hawaiian, Mexico, but really, this is good worldwide.

Mark Faldmo 10:20

We introduced this special last week, but as I as I was going through and updating the Blue Planet Vacations.com website, I noticed that from when I did this the week prior, everything has dropped between $25 and $150 per person. Really? So this save up to $550, as we talked about last week, is good for travel January 1 to December 31st of 2026. There also is a smaller discount for traveling this fall. And I just kept with travel dates this fall because the prices were so good. Probably the biggest drop that I found, and this was for a mid-November date, was to the island of Maui in Hawaii. Oh, you don't see discounts to Maui very often. You don't. And you know, I think their tourism is still suffering from the fires, from just that perception, which unfortunately was never really true. I you've been to Maui uh since the fires. I I have not. We kind of celebrated, I think it was about three weeks ago when we saw Maui finally dropping below a thousand dollars per person. Now I found a Maui rate for $919 per person. That's airfare and five nights hotel at the three and a half star Royal Kahana. Typically, we kind of leave everything at four star and above on this show, but I've used the Royal Kahana quite a bit. And I actually my neighbor, which I sent there, stayed at the Royal Kahana and they loved it. It's a great family property. And with prices this low, $919 per person. That is a very good option. That is phenomenal, especially with the airfare. Yes. I love anywhere in Hawaii, but it's a great place to visit.

Patrick Wiscombe 12:14

919, including the airfare, that is just unbelievable. Call Mark as soon as we get off the air. You'll probably get his voicemail right now. Just leave a message. He will return your call, or someone in his office will. 888-718-7717-888-718-7717 is how you get a hold of Blue Planet Vacations and BluePlanetVacations.com. Coming up in the next segment, it is time, it is time, it is time for the infamous Just Cruising segment, the segment of the show that has made us famous worldwide. We will be talking about Haunt America adding an astronomy expert for their solar eclipse cruises. A great company getting into the river cruise business will tell you who that is. And MSC is extending their Labor Day sale. 30% off cruises plus a whole bunch of freebies. We'll talk about that next. When the Inside Travel Talk podcast or radio show continues, I am Patrick Wiscombe. He is Mark Faldmo. We'll be right back.

Todd Carlson 13:26

Taking you to destinations around the world. The Inside Travel Talk Podcast and Radio Show is presented by Blue Planet Vacations.com. America's best travel advisors. Call or text the show now. 801-649-3700. 801-649-3700. Thanks for listening. We'll be right back.

Patrick Wiscombe 14:49

Ahoy. Coming up in this segment of the show, the infamous just cruising segment. It is only about cruises, and it's only about the cruise news of the

Just Cruising Segment Begins

Patrick Wiscombe 15:09

week. And we've got some offers for our listeners 30% off MST cruises. That's good for all cruises, not just select destinations. Have I got that right, Mark?

Mark Faldmo 15:23

You have almost, except it's 40% off. Oh, yeah. Okay. That's even better. Yeah, yeah. We'll talk about that a little bit later.

Patrick Wiscombe 15:31

Let's jump into I was gonna say that the uh the cruise news headlines, but I neglected to bring something up in the last segment. And let's just start there. We were talking about save up to $550 off Hawaii in Mexico. I made a mistake. We only talked about Hawaii. I forgot to bring up Mexico. What destinations are there?

Mexico Deal And Price Guarantee

Patrick Wiscombe 15:52

And then we'll get to the cruise stuff.

Mark Faldmo 15:54

Yeah, so just quickly, Porta Vallarta, again, another destination that's under $1,000 for a five-night package for mid-November dates. Stay at the four-star Villa del Palmer, all inclusive. So all your meals, drinks, starting at $9.59 per person. So that's flights from Salt Lake City, five nights hotel, round trip transportation, all your meals and drinks, $9.59 per person.

Patrick Wiscombe 16:36

That is so good. I can't believe that we're talking about Hawaii and Mexico with airfare for $919. That was Hawaii on Maui specifically. And what'd you say? $9.59 for Mexico, all inclusive.

Mark Faldmo 16:49

Yeah, for Porto Villar to that. Yeah. That's incredible. There's some really good deals. As I mentioned, almost all of the destinations and hotels I looked at were 30 to 120 or so per person less than they were a week ago or two weeks ago. What happens if the price drops? Well, the company that we book this with has a price guarantee. And so if you purchase their travel insurance, which is always recommended, they will rebook you to the lower price. Okay. Otherwise you're locked in. Otherwise, you're locked in whatever you've purchased. Okay. All right. And that's mainly the airline, because the airline is locked in.

Patrick Wiscombe 17:29

Good point. Now it's time for the cruise news headlines. Let's get to Holland America adding some astronomy experts to their solar eclipse cruises in 2026.

Mark Faldmo 17:40

Every once in a while we've talked about these solar eclipse cruises. And in fact, I think about two months ago we talked about how cruise lines were kind of unprepared for the demand, and they've started adding. In fact, Holland America is one that added two additional solar eclipse cruises for 2027 because there's been such a high demand for these. So in 2026, the eclipse is going

Solar Eclipse Cruises With Experts

Mark Faldmo 18:03

to be on August 12th. Holland America has three voyages, and I believe you can still purchase these voyages, but they have added an astronomy expert to all of these. So the three voyages are an 18-day voyage of the Vikings, a 13-day Mediterranean solar eclipse, and a 28-day legendary solar eclipse with Greenland and Scotland. So those are the three solar eclipse cruises that Honda America is offering. And this astronomy expert will be on board to give lectures, QA sessions, live commentary during the eclipse. I think it'd be very interesting to be on board and get that commentary from a professional.

Patrick Wiscombe 18:46

Could you say that the cruise industry was in the dark about eclipse cruises?

Mark Faldmo 18:51

Yes. That's exactly what I would say. These little unique things, these travel moments, people are looking for, and I think they just didn't think these would be as successful. But everyone, several cruise lines have them and have added more salines.

Patrick Wiscombe 19:08

If you were listening to segment one of the show, there was a text question from Garrett wanting to go on a winter vacation, but did not necessarily want to go to Hawaii and Mexico. There is a second portion to his question that we didn't answer in the first segment. What other options did you have for Garrett?

Mark Faldmo 19:26

But it is cruise related. This is a cruise, it is to Mexico, but it's a very unique product. And it's on Uncruise. We had a few weeks ago, we had Captain Dan on. Oh, he was terrific.

Uncruise Sea Of Cortez Adventure

Mark Faldmo 19:38

Yeah, to talk about Uncruise. And they're a very unique company. And you know, as we talked about last week with expedition cruises, they would fit within this expedition adventure type cruise. They offer seven night Sea of Cortez and 10 night Sea of Cortez cruises that are round trip La Paz. Right now they're offering $500 per person, or if you're a solo traveler, so just an individual, they have 50% off single supplements. And then also any kids are $500 off as well. So this is a very good offering from Uncruise. The ship's name that they're on is the Safari Voyager. It's a 66 guest expedition ship, which is designed for this type of voyage. The Sea of Cortez, Jacques Cousteau, called the Aquarium of the World. Heather and I had the opportunity a few years ago to cruise in the Sea of Cortez. It was fabulous. I mean, the whales that you see are cruising amongst whales, the ports are different. And I think it was last week again we talked about the magic towns. Um you'll really get to visit some of those magic towns that are not visited as much, and you will really get into the culture of the Baja, which is totally different from the rest of Mexico. They mainly do Alaska, but in the wintertime, they need places to send their ships. So one place is a Sea of Cortez. Also, one thing that's interesting, the Ten Night Cruise is called in Steinbach's Wake, and it actually retraces John Steinbach's expedition across the Sea of Cortez. So, you know, for those of you that are interested in the literary aspect of that, they kind of really bring that into this voyage. Both the seven and ten-day sale between November and April, but you know, specific to Garrett's question, he wanted to go in January. They do offer these cruises. And so if you're interested in that kind of small with just 66 guests on board, and everything's all inclusive. So your meals, beverages, excursions, local activities, everything is included in and on cruise.

Patrick Wiscombe 21:57

Let's go over to the cruise deal of the week, which is I said 30%. It's actually 40% off all MSc cruises. This is their Labor Day sale. It's been extended for us, because of Laura, correct? It has, yeah. Okay. So let's get to the cruise deal of the week.

Mark Faldmo 22:14

MSC cruises. So MSC cruises, again, like you said, 40% off and kids sale free. Now this 40% off only goes through Monday. Uh oh, so we gotta move on this September 8th.

MSC Sale And Low Winter Fares

Mark Faldmo 22:27

So you can Call on Monday to get it. It may be extended, or you could go on blueplanetvacations.com to search for a cruise and book it as well. So that is available uh right now to book if you call today. Um, I can also get one of my agents to help if you want. As we've talked about several times, just does a very good job with their product. Yeah, they they had a rough start to launching in the US, but I think over the last 18 months they've done a really good job on that.

Patrick Wiscombe 22:57

Yeah, it seems like they've really hit their stride in like the last one to two years. Something special is has happened. Yeah. Let's talk about one of their sailings. Which one do you have in mind?

Mark Faldmo 23:09

The one that I have in mind is leaving from Galveston. This is a January 11th date. Uh so again, if you're looking to get out of the cold, I predict it'll be under 30 degrees on January 11th here in Salt Lake. So according to my meteorological skills, which I can do just as good as the guy on TV, probably. Shots fired. Yes. So an inside cabin on January 11th, $449 per person, but for just a little bit more. And if you've never cruised in a balcony, this balcony is lower than most other cruise lines inside rates, six hundred and sixty-nine dollars per person or a balcony. And is is that on the seascape? I think it's on the Seascape. MSC Seascape.

Patrick Wiscombe 23:59

If you don't know what MSE Seascape is, it it first of all, it's just the name of the ship, but uh just do a Google search for MSE Seascape and you'll see what a beautiful ship it is.

Mark Faldmo 24:09

A few weeks ago, we talked about how they're really launching that ship in Galveston for families. You know, they've added a lot of family themed things on that. So with kids sell-free, you could probably, if you find the right date, you could probably get a family of four on this in a balcony for less than fifteen hundred dollars for the whole family, plus your airfare and other things that go along with the cruise. It's a very good cruise experience for a very good price.

Patrick Wiscombe 24:35

Yeah. And the food's good too. That's the other thing that a lot of people don't mention is that MSC has really up their food game, too. They have. Yeah. Take advantage of those offers. Call Mark in his office, just get the conversation started. No obligation, but you won't be disappointed if you decide to go. 888-718-7717-888-718-7717. And you can also get the contact information and some of the uh the sailing information right on Blue Planet Vacations.com. You can listen to this award-nominated show again tomorrow morning, Sunday at 11 a.m., right here on this very radio station that you're listening to right now. But if you can't listen in real time, you can stream, download, and subscribe to the podcast at inside traveltalk.com. We're on all the major podcast platforms. And if you just want to stream the show, you can just stream it right on inside travel talk.com. It is now your

How To Book And Final Advice

Patrick Wiscombe 25:42

turn to get out and explore the world while you can because you never know what curveballs life is going to throw at you. And you know what I'm talking about. Live your life deliberately, live your life intentionally, and a sincere thank you for listening. We don't have a show or a business without you. Thank you. Have a great week. We'll talk to you next Saturday and Sunday.

Todd Carlson 26:11

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 Wiscombe and Mark Faldmo. Presented by BluePlanet Vacations.com. Book your adventure right now. Call 888 718 7717. That's 888 718 7717. Thanks for listening. Have a great week.