Everybody likes to go on vacation. I’ve never found an exception to that statement. Going on vacation recharges the mind and soul and yet it’s the one activity humans put off year after year because life gets in the way. The entire purpose of this podcast is to help you get out and see the world. We do that by helping you plan and book your next vacation or give you ideas where you should consider going next. Plus, we give you the travel news that actually matters and general news that's simply entertaining.
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Southwest built a brand on “two free checked bags,” so when that promise changes, it is more than a policy tweak. We walk through what Southwest’s new checked bag rules mean for flights booked after May 28, who still qualifies for free bags, and why the airline claims its analytics show many travelers pick the lowest fare on the screen without pricing baggage into the real total. We also dig into the early backlash and the surprising math Southwest is citing around bag-fee revenue versus short-term lost bookings.
Then we shift to options that can make flying feel easier, including JSX, a public charter airline that operates from the general aviation side of the airport and flies regional jets in a roomy, first class style layout. If you are tired of long lines and crowded boarding zones, the JSX model is worth understanding even if you do not fly it every trip. We also touch on Spirit Airlines’ attempt to rebrand with bundled fares, and how to compare bundles so you do not get fooled by a cheap base price.
Listener questions take us to Croatia travel planning, with our favorite timing, what makes Dubrovnik unforgettable, and the best ways to see the country, from classic land tours to cruises and small yacht-style sailings along the Dalmatian Coast. We wrap with Hawaii travel news, why Maui is still lagging, and a Hawaii vacation deal breakdown across Oahu, the Big Island, Kauai, and Maui, including resort picks in Waikiki and Kaanapali.
Subscribe, share this with your favorite travel planner, and leave a review. Got a trip you want priced out? Call 888-718-7717 or text the studio at 801-649-3700.
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Thank you for taking the time to listen to the show. There are literally thousands of podcasts from which you can choose, yet you listened to this show.
The entire purpose of this podcast is to help people plan and book their next vacation or give listeners ideas of where they might consider going on vacation next. Our goal is to help our listeners live their lives deliberately and intentionally. You only get one shot at life so you might as well make it count. Make memories with those that matter most to you.
TAKE ACTION: Quit talking about going on vacation, just do it. If you want more information about any of the destinations we discussed during the show, or have your own custom vacation in mind, I can help you. Please call, text, or email me.
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 InsightTravel Talk.com. And now, here are your hosts, Patrick Wiscombe and Mark Faldmo.
Patrick Wiscombe
Good morning. Welcome to the Inside Travel Talk Podcast and Radio Show. Hello there. My name is Patrick Wiscombe Mark Faldmo will be in the studio here in just a minute. He's off printing some things in the other room. The entire purpose of this radio show and podcast is to help you plan and book your next vacation or give you ideas of where you would want to or at least consider to go on your next vacation. And this show is presented by Blue Planet Vacations.com. And thank you so much for taking the time to stop and listen. Whether you are listening to us live on the radio on Saturday and Sunday, or you're listening to us at a later date via the podcast, you can stream and subscribe to the podcast at inside travel talk.com. And uh Mark is making his entrance into the studio. It's good to see you. I haven't seen you all week.
Mark Faldmo
Good to be here. I've been away this past weekend at a family's cabin up in Dreggs, Idaho. Family's doing skiing at Targy and just relaxing in the cabin. It's a nice weekend.
Patrick Wiscombe
Nothing better than having it snow outside and you're inside the cabin. That setting is just awesome.
Mark Faldmo
Yeah, and it did snow the whole time we were there. So that's nice.
Coming up on this show, we're going to talk about Southwest's bag policy. We talked about it last week, how they said no more carry-on bags. Well, we have an update. Oh, I'm sorry. Yeah, check bags, but we do have an update on that policy. In fact, Mark, let's just start there. What new information do we have about Southwest's new bag policy?
Mark Faldmo
And just to quickly review, for any flight booked after May 28th, you will no longer get two free checked bags. Unless you're a Rapid Awards A-list member or traveling in business select, then you get the two free checked bags. If you have a the Southwest Rapid Awards credit card, you do get one free checked bag. So that's the changes. But there's been some pretty big backlash to this. Southwest has actually already seen bookings decline because of this. And I saw an interesting article, just one little piece that I pull out of it. Southwest officials estimate that bag fees will bring in about $1.5 billion a year.
Patrick Wiscombe
Wow.
Mark Faldmo
But they also expect it to cost the airline about $1.8 billion in lost business.
Patrick Wiscombe
So a net negative.
Mark Faldmo
They say over time in the next few years, as people get used to that, they expect the fee to outweigh the loss in business. But they are already starting to see the loss in business.
Patrick Wiscombe
Massive upheaval right now, but really what they're saying is let that die down, people are going to come back anyway.
Mark Faldmo
Another thing that the CEO of Southwest Airlines out defending this said that that was a mainstay, but the analytics support that people don't care about the free bags. Oh, interesting. Um why is that? Southwest has allowed their fares to be out on the online travel sites and the meta search sites, and their numbers show that people chose the lowest fare regardless of bag policy. Basically, what they're saying is if Southwest was $100, but airline A was $90, people are always choosing airline A, even though they might have had to pay $35 for their checked bags. Oh, interesting. Which does make that more expensive, airline A more expensive. But they were choosing what they saw on the screen and not taking into account the cost of baggage anyway. So that's one reason why Southwest decided to change this because their internal analytics show that people that that perk of two free bags was not affecting people's decision to fly with Southwest.
Here's something that I want to do with you. I think we should do it with Heather. Now, of course, Nikki. I say we jump on JSX Airline. And the first question to whoever's listening is who is or what is JSX Airline? To me, this is very exciting.
Mark Faldmo
JSX Airline has been around for a while. They're based in Southern California. And what they are, it's called a public charter service. They call it Hopon Jet Service. They fly the Embra Regional Jets. They're configured basically in all first class.
Patrick Wiscombe
One person on the left side, one chair on the right.
Mark Faldmo
On the right. Yeah. So one one. And they fly several places for our audience in Salt Lake. They fly from Salt Lake to Burbank, California, Denver, Colorado, Las Vegas, Nevada, and Scottsdale, Arizona. And they don't use the main airport terminals here. They fly out of what's called a fixed-based operator. So basically out of the general aviation side of the airport.
Patrick Wiscombe
Not airport number two in West Jordan, but this would be east of the Salt Lake International Airport. Is that the general aviation? Kind of a private.
Mark Faldmo
Okay, got it. Yeah, where a lot of the private jets fly in and out of. Okay. Last week when we talked about the TikTok trend about saying you can show up 20 minutes before your flight and still make it, that actually is the case for JSX Airline.
Patrick Wiscombe
So Okay, so if you want the challenge, go on something that actually works.
Mark Faldmo
Yes. Although I still wouldn't do that in this case. No, I wouldn't either. Um their flights because their prices are not all that much higher than regular flights to any of the places that they fly from Salt Lake are about $200 one way. Yeah. A little bit more than $200 one way, which is slightly higher, but that's probably about what you'd pay for the comfort plus seats, let's say on Delta, but you're flying in first class in a more, I guess, luxurious
Spirit Airlines says that they're gonna rebrand and become a premium carrier. I don't think at this point they really have a choice because they're sinking anyway.
Mark Faldmo
Spirit has always been kind of the brunt of jokes. You know, people saying you're gonna need to take a pocket full of quarters in case you need to use the restroom because they're charging for everything and you need to pay for the seatbelt latches and everything. There's been jokes like that because they really did seem to kind of nickel and dime you. Last fall they went into chapter 11 bankruptcy. They just recently emerged from bankruptcy a few weeks ago, and they're really focusing more on these bundles, similar to what the airlines are doing. They're gonna have still their very cheapest seats, but they're also gonna have bundles where you can get a seat where you can get a bag, premium seats, first class seats. And so they are starting to bundle the fares more like the mainline airlines are.
We received a was this a text or a did someone call the office? Uh this was a phone call to our podcast uh radio line. So if you have travel-related questions, text or call the studio at 801-649-3700. 801-649-3700. She called and said that she wants to know more about Croatia. No one loves Croatia more than Mark.
Mark Faldmo
That area of the world I just find so fascinating. When we grew up, that was a war zone. Yeah. Uh, and now it's one of the most beautiful places in the world to visit. When is the best time to visit? It's like a lot of Europe. I think the best time to visit is May and September. The peak season is the summer months of June, July, and August. I think the best city to visit is Dubrovnik, especially for those that are Game of Thrones fans. Cersei, that's John Snow. That's where a good part of that was filmed. There's actually Game of Thrones tours. It's about a three-hour walking tour of the city, and they take you to all the points of where the show was filmed at. What else do you like doing there? Dubrovnik is a walled city on the ocean, and so you can get up and walk around the whole city on the city walls, which is pretty cool. And it's a small that inner city of Dubrovnik is small. There's a harbor and then the walled city. You have to walk in through the city gates. It really puts you back kind of in medieval Europe. Did you say you can walk on the walls? On top of the walls, yeah. Oh, that'd be fascinating. Yeah, so there's a whole trail that goes around the whole city, and it's small. I think that whole track is probably two miles or less if you walk all the way around it. So it's not too far.
Patrick Wiscombe
So when you say it's a small city, you're not kidding.
Mark Faldmo
Yes. But Croatia in general has mountains. So you can have ocean, island life, you can have mountains, streams, lakes, waterfalls, and then you can have the history and culture in Croatia.
Patrick Wiscombe
What do you think are the best ways to see Croatia then? Other than hiking the wall.
Mark Faldmo
Yeah. So there are kind of three ways that you can see Croatia that I would recommend. One is a land tour. So you know, we've talked often talked about Globus, yeah, which does have a seven-night, eight-day tour in Croatia. You can do it by river cruise, which sees the eastern part of the country. Done that before. I've talked about the Budapest to Bucharest, Romania. Yeah. It does have several stops there in Croatia. The other is on ocean. And that's how I've done it most is also you did the cruise then. Yeah, so a cruise. So either stops in Dubrovnik, Split, or both, which I've been to both places in Croatia. Or I think the best way, and I have not done this, but I really want to do this. It's called Katarina Line, and they do Dalmatian coast cruises. That whole coastline of Croatia is islands. They take small yachts with anywhere from 10 to 30 people on them, and you just hit all of these places along the Dalmatian coast.
Patrick Wiscombe
Oh wow.
Mark Faldmo
They have several different small ships that you go on. They have classic cruises and deluxe cruises. But if you take one of their classic cruises, you can do these seven-day cruises. They start at 1350 euro per person, so 1,350 euro. So that's roughly $1,500 a person for these small cruises that just cruise the small islands and interesting ports in Croatia. And they have eight or nine vessels, several different itineraries.
Patrick Wiscombe
There is no bigger advocate for Croatia than Mark Faldmo. How many times have you been there? Probably eight times. Oh. Between ocean cruises and river cruises. Go to Croatia. I haven't been there. I know that Nikki and I will get there. Did Heather go? Heather has been.
Mark Faldmo
Okay.
Patrick Wiscombe
All right. Call Mark at his office. Nicole, if you are interested in going to Croatia or have additional questions, certainly you're going to have more. Call Mark at his office. Get it booked. Ask the questions. 888-718-7717. 888-718-7717. To get the conversation started, no obligation. When we come back, it is the hot travel deal of the week. We've got some additional travel news headlines and we're talking Hawaii. Save it up to $200. That is next when the Inside Travel Talk Podcast or Radio Show continues. Alongside my good friend Mark Faldmo. My name is Patrick Wiscombe.
Todd Carlson
Taking you to destinations around the world. The Inside Travel Talk Podcast and Radio Show is presented by BluePlanet 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. You're listening to the Inside Travel Talk Podcast and Radio Show, presented by Blue Planet Vacations.com. America's Best Travel Advisors. Call or text the show now. 801-649-3700. 801-649-30700. And check out the podcast at Inside TravelTalk.com. Here's Patrick and Mark.
Patrick Wiscombe
Broadcasting from the Whiskom Faldmo Radio Studios in Salt Lake City, Utah. You are listening to the Inside Travel Talk
Podcast, a radio show, alongside Mark Faldmo. My name is Patrick Wiscombe. Coming up in this segment of the show, we have the hot travel deal of the week. We are talking about Hawaii and we're going to tell you how to save up to $200. And then we've also got some additional travel news headlines. But uh Mark was telling me a funny story during the break that I wish he would have brought up on the air, but I guess we're on the air now. Can I put you on the spot here for a second? Yeah, that's fine. Okay. So if you missed the first segment of the show, we were talking about vacationing in Croatia. Nicole had that question. And something kind of unfortunate happened to your tour guide, but then it also got you too.
Mark Faldmo
It was one of the walking tours that's there inside the walled portion. Tour guide was standing there talking, looked up. One of the many seagulls got her.
Patrick Wiscombe
Oh, a her.
Mark Faldmo
I thought it was a guy. No, it's uh it was a her. And Mark has a pretty easy gag reflex, so every everyone can guess from there. So the seagull pooped gratuitously. And Mark lost it.
Patrick Wiscombe
You know what?
Mark Faldmo
But other than that, Croatia is wonderful. Heather is a big shopper for Christmas things for nativities and the wooden carved Chris Kingles. Chris whatever he is, Chris Kringles. Yeah, Chris Kringles. Chris Kringles. And they have a great Christmas shop in Croatia there.
Patrick Wiscombe
I'm sorry that happened to you, but that is funny. Yes. Let's get to the travel news for this segment, and then we'll get to Hawaii. Consumer price index shows good news for consumers a four percent drop in airfares.
Mark Faldmo
Between January and February, there was a four percent drop in airfares according to the consumer price index, which is the first drop since last July. Year over year, in January, fares had been about seven point one percent higher. And so wow. Now there's lower fuel cost, there's less demand, and so airfares are it's starting to drop, which is good news for consumers, not necessarily good news for airlines, but we'll see where that gets us.
Patrick Wiscombe
Construction has started on Margaritaville Island Reserve Resort in Rotan, Honduras. Also one of your favorite destinations.
Mark Faldmo
Yeah, I think we talked about Rotan last week. I've only been there on a cruise, but I'm very excited for this Margaritaville Island Reserve Resort.
Patrick Wiscombe
Hawaii tourism. I love Hawaii. Anytime I can get to Hawaii, I will go to Hawaii. Hawaii tourism is stable, but it's also not
Aside from Maui, which is still struggling, Hawaii is kind of seeing an a shift in their markets where the US market is strong, growing a little bit, but other markets that they rely on, particularly the Japanese market, is not recovering well. Japan's economy is a lot slower than a lot of places in the world. And so it's really affecting Hawaii tourism. Looking at the overall hotel rates, they've actually dropped a few percentages the last few months. Maui in particular is facing probably its lowest occupancy rate ever.
Patrick Wiscombe
So they must have thought the entire island caught on fire. That's just a little tiny corner Maui is where the wildfires are.
Mark Faldmo
It was a dramatic event. Oh, yeah. But it was still a smaller portion. Unfortunately, it was Lahaina, which I think was the best place in Maui.
Patrick Wiscombe
Yeah.
Mark Faldmo
But people just still aren't going to Maui.
Patrick Wiscombe
That's unfortunate.
Mark Faldmo
I think airfares and hotel rates are gonna have to come down even further to Maui to kind of stabilize at least the tourism numbers.
Patrick Wiscombe
Right near Lahaina, what's the name of that place that you like to go when you're on Maui? Kanapali. Yeah, Kanapali. You love it there.
Mark Faldmo
I do. Yeah.
Patrick Wiscombe
So when you go to Maui, that's your preferred spot?
Mark Faldmo
Well, there's two spots. I like the Grand Wileia on the other side of the island. I think that's probably my favorite. But Kanapali would be number two. There's more hotels in the the Kanapali area. There's and actually more affordable hotels in the Kanapali area as well.
Patrick Wiscombe
That will lead into our hot travel deal of the week, always the second segment of the show. And what are the details to get over to Hawaii?
Mark Faldmo
And where exactly are we going? So it's your discount based on the overall cost. It basically equates
to about a four or five percent discount in the hotel cost when everything's said and done. But I'm gonna go through and give prices for all the four main islands. These are for the end of May. This is a May 17th departure. Oh date for five nights from Salt Lake City. We'll first start in Oahu, so Waikiki Beach area. Packages start at $9.99 per person.
Patrick Wiscombe
Wow. And that includes the flights?
Mark Faldmo
That includes the flights. And that includes also all of the estimated resort fees and everything. So taxes, resort fees, all of that. $9.99 for five-night stay and airfare from Salt Lake City. I think probably the best deal on Oahu Waikiki is the Hyatt Regency Waikiki Resort, which is a four and a half star resort.
Patrick Wiscombe
Nice resort.
Mark Faldmo
Nice resort for $14.89. Or the Moana Surfrider, which is a Weston, also a very nice five-star resort, $14.99 per person.
Patrick Wiscombe
Okay.
Mark Faldmo
The Weston is on the beach, and on one side of it, there's only beach, no other hotels. And then the other side of it is the I believe it's the Outrigger Waikiki.
Patrick Wiscombe
Man, that's a nice resort too.
Mark Faldmo
On the other side of it.
Patrick Wiscombe
I wish I was going this year instead of last year. Yeah. Holy cow, it's a whole lot less expensive.
Mark Faldmo
And then we'll move on to the big island, which also has rates starting at $9.99 per person. Staying at the Royal Kona, three and a half star, starting at $9.99 per person. Royal Kona is one of my favorite hotels. It is a three and a half star hotel, but I love the location of it. And they recently just renovated the rooms about two years ago. They have their restaurant, it is just right out on the point. So there's kind of ocean all around, you know, three sides of the restaurant, and it's a wonderful location. And then probably one of my favorite hotels in all of Hawaii is the uh Hilton Waikaloa Village. Four and a half star hotel starts at $11.89 per person. When I was younger, we stayed there, and I was just fascinated by it. They have three different towers, and you either take a tram to get to the towers, or they have a boat transfer that takes you to all of the towers. So it's a unique hotel. And then we'll go to Kauai, which has rates starting at $1,029 per person. Five nights airfare from Salt Lake City. And this is at the Hilton Garden Inn, Wailuo Bay, which is a hotel that is beachfront. And so you know it's a good three and a half star hotel. And then I think my pick on the island, it's the Royal Sinesta, starting at $13.29 per person. The Royal Sinesta used to be a Marriott Hotel. It's right by the cruise port. When you were there on the cruise, yeah, it's right there. Yep. It's on a golf course, it has a little beach that's protected by the marina area. It's a great hotel there on Kawaii.
Patrick Wiscombe
Kauai was nice. It was lush and green. I didn't know that there could be so much difference between all of the islands. And Kawaii was amazing. Yep.
Mark Faldmo
Any promotion for Maui? Most expensive of the islands, but still a pretty good rate. So Royal Kahana by Outrigger, three-star hotel, starts at eleven thirty-nine. My pick on that would be the Outrigger Kanapali Beach Hotel that starts at 1459 per person.
Patrick Wiscombe
That is a beautiful part of the island.
Mark Faldmo
Yes, yeah. And both of those hotels, the Royal Kahana is a little bit further west than the Outrigger Kanapali Beach Resort.
Patrick Wiscombe
I follow what is it, Millie, Hawaii or something on Instagram, and every day, or almost every day, they have a picture coming out of Kanapali Beach area that I'm just like, why do I live here? I love Salt Lake. I love living here. But it is just different living there. And it is spectacular just visually, just to be part of the island. If you have not been to Hawaii, go to Hawaii. It is a vacation that you will never forget, and it will be a something that you will talk about for the rest of your life. I've been to Hawaii. How many times have you been there to Hawaii?
unknown
Roughly.
Mark Faldmo
I can't count. Probably 25-30 in there, maybe more.
Patrick Wiscombe
I've only been there, I think it's three or four times. It is it's just different. It's special. It is paradise. Call Mark during the break. Just get the conversation started. No obligation. And of course, you're gonna have questions about where you would like to stay, and he'll customize a vacation for you. Call him into the office 888-718-7717-888-718-7717. When we come back, it is time for the cruise news of the week, the infamous Just Cruising segment. We'll be talking about Norwegian's Aqua. We'll be talking about MST World America, and we'll be talking about how to save up to $6,000 on a Europe River cruise. That, when we come back, thank you so much for allowing us to be part of your weekend. We'll be right back.
Todd Carlson
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, presented by Blue Planet Vacations.com. America's best travel advisors. Patrick and Mark will be back after these messages.
