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Glaring Mis-representation by NYTimes Travel Ad
Of course, I read every travel brochure which hits my mailbox. Today we received a tour wrapped into our New York Times.
Headlined: 9-Day Exclusive Tour * * * * *
The hotel page of the tour brochure sets the five stars in gold highlighted rectangle entitled PURE LUXURY * * * * * as five stars.
But read further, ladies!
The hotels are then listed as 3*, 3* and 4*. Admittedly the cost is dirt cheap but as they say in the movies: cheap is cheap.…
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Exactly what flight am I on?
It used to be that your ticket had one flight number which you searched for on the departure board. The captain announced the same number, in that uber-male ‘Welcome Aboard’ speech. Today you will see multiple flight companies and numbers for your flight, flashing one by one on the departure boards! And today these will all be announced when you board. These are codeshare flights.
Under code-sharing, an airline sells seats on ‘partner’ flights, but the flights are operated by a separate airline.…
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How to Choose A Women's Trip in 10 Minutes
Tips to Choose a Trip in Ten Minutes. Designed for the impulsive buyer of travel Not recommended, but if you are going to blitz the info, do it with some structure from us. We are noticing more travelers are too busy to really do their homework so we created this “quick and dirty” list to help out.
1. Make sure the people in the materials look like you!
2. Small print averse? at least read cancellation penalties.
3. Hotel quality: google the hotel used in the capital city on the itinerary for a general flavor.… -
Womens' travel statistics and review sites.
Statistically women do more research than men for choices on travel. But research is hard to find for more exotic travel. So after reading the brochures (If any), women will go behind the scenes to get the ‘skinny’.
Where do we go? We use review sites. Love them or hate them, statistically review sites are used by women more than men. We rely on Tripadvisor,Yelp, Chowhound, Trivago, Hotels.com and others.
Women know how to filter out whinny women- a necessary evil-, so we are experts in filtering out whinny reviews.…
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New Health Plans and Overseas Travel?
Medicare does not cover Americans overseas so I contacted the new government site for the Oct. 1 launch of federal health care. This is what I got from the Live Chat on the federal site? And I do believe in national health care options….With an answer like this, I’ll still buy Travelguard for myself and recommend it to you when you travel!
Upcoming India and Morocco tours have $Solo $Savings for solo travelers and travel insurance from Travelguard is still available.…
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A new travel phrase: Solo Savings $$
After deciding to offer guaranteed shares on our trips, we heard,hat too many women ask what that means. It means you get a room share if you ask for one. And, if there is no share available, you get a room as a single with no supplement to pay.
So rather than keep explaining our new money savings policy for solo women travelers. We are going to call it Solo Savings or $Solo $Savings. We specialize in offering exotic travel and many of us prefer to use the cash to shop in bargain places like India or Morocco.…
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How to Tell if a Travel Review is Fake
Headline news today about the NY Attorney General going after companies that create fake reviews on Yelp, TripAdvisor and such. Who knew these companies were out there?
When you look at reviews, assess the following:
Do they all use the same vocabulary?
And the same themes?
Are they all generic on-line names?
Were all the reviews flooded in on the same days?
Do you see bad grammar or poor spelling, especially if either of these is repeated in more than one review?… -
5 Tips for Travel Agents to sell Women's Tours
Remarkably few travel agents actually sell women’s tours. Why?
Most women’s tour groups do not even sell through agents, as they are small sole proprietorships.
Most women’s tours do not pay commission: SITA our partner does!
Most do not have the professional licensing required by agents.
Reaching clients who want women’s tours is different marketing than traditionally done by travel agents.
Room share guarantees for solo women on women’s tours are not an understood service. (The Women’s Travel Group offers this deal on India, Morocco and beginning in 2014 on most trips)
So here are tips for travel agents who wish to enter this untapped market:
Have an in office women’s evening.…
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Solo Travel: Tips to Make Safe New Friends
TEN TIPS FOR MAKING FRIENDS WHEN YOU TRAVEL
So let’s say you are now traveling for the first time as a solo. Maybe the last solo travel was in college and involved hostels? How do you present yourself and open this new door:
Here are tips for solo women travelers, to help you make safe new friends.
Know your destination. Study the area and check online for what is happening now. A good site is Time Out. You might find events that attract others who also do their research in English.…
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Yelp.com the new best travel friend
Yes, I did invest in Yelp as I was so impressed with the service. For a woman traveling solo, it was invaluable.
Here is why I like yelp.com: it is easy to use, nothing technical, nothing complicated. Here is how I have used it while traveling solo and did not have others to ask for advice:
For a hairdresser in Los Angeles within walking distance of where I stayed. Yelp listed several with consumer reviews of who was good at what kind of hair and how much it cost.…
