Episodes

  • Smile for Security: Facial Recognition in Travel

    Smile for Security: Facial Recognition in Travel
    Apr 11 2024
    Using my face as my boarding pass to get on a flight to Oaxaca, Mexico and then as my passport to get back in the US got me thinking about how facial recognition has permeated the travel experience. To help us understand where this is going, we talk with two travel industry experts, Dr. Sheldon Jacobson and Henry Harteveldt. But before that, we talk about eating grasshoppers, an EV experience with Avis, and a couple of my travel tips that need to be revised.

    Check out this episode's show notes for a transcript of the episode and links I mention here
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    40 mins
  • London Vacation Rental Woes; Hertz's EV Retreat

    London Vacation Rental Woes; Hertz's EV Retreat
    Feb 28 2024
    I walked by Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre after a weekend of wrestling with Booking.com and TravelNest‘s service agents, trying unsuccessfully to not let them screw up my London vacation rental. The Macbeth soliloquy about a tale “full of sound and fury, signifying nothing” pretty much summed up my experience — lots of talk that yielded nothing. But before that, we catch up on Hertz’s EV reversal, Sioux City, Iowa’s embrace of their SUX airport code, and a flash-in-the-pan airport delay betting app.

    Check out this episode's show notes for a transcript of the episode and links I mention here
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    28 mins
  • Renting a Tesla; 2023 Traveler Gift Guide

    Renting a Tesla; 2023 Traveler Gift Guide
    Nov 7 2023
    It’s the sustainability episode of the TravelCommons podcast, talking about my experience renting a Tesla from Hertz and my road-tested list of Christmas gift suggestions for the frequent traveler(s) in your life. I also talk about some new TSA biometrics equipment I faced (literally) in Nashville and yet another update on the EU’s ETIAS system and the US’s Real ID.

    Check out this episode's show notes for a transcript of the episode and links I mention here
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    25 mins
  • Cheers to Beer Tourism and Travel

    Cheers to Beer Tourism and Travel
    Sep 29 2023
    In this beer-focused episode, John Holl, editor of All About Beer, gives us his take on beer tourism and tips on how to beer travels. I talk about my experience planning my Asheville, NC taproom visits with ChatGPT. We also dive deep into the new JD Power Airport Satisfaction Survey and do a quick update about the EU's delayed ETIAS system.

    Check out this episode's show notes for a transcript of the episode and links I mention here
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    29 mins
  • Checking Out Holland’s Tulip Festival

    Checking Out Holland’s Tulip Festival
    Aug 25 2023
    In this episode, I dive deep into our Dutch tulip-themed trip last April. Before the tulip festival stories, I randomly wander through a potpourri of travel topics — TSA passenger volumes returning to pre-COVID levels, having a surprisingly satisfying customer service experience with American Airlines, Hertz’s EV push, and a bit of a chuckle about the misplaced visa panic in the news coverage of the EU’s impending ETIAS system.

    Check out this episode's show notes here
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    30 mins
  • Best Laid Travel Plans; Roaming Entropy

    Best Laid Travel Plans; Roaming Entropy
    Jun 20 2023
    Back behind the microphone after, despite my finely tuned travel plans, I had to resort to being stubbornly cranky to fix a ORD connection drama when coming home from a tulip-peeping trip in Holland. We also wander into the world of flâneuring, aimlessly walking around a city as a way to swerve overtourism. Listeners weigh in on Priority Pass lounge access and online passport renewal experiences, and I count all the apps I needed to go cashless in Holland.

    Check out this episode's show notes here
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    27 mins
  • New Year Travel Planning Tips; Gin Conquers the World

    New Year Travel Planning Tips; Gin Conquers the World
    Jan 26 2023
    With COVID travel restrictions gone, I expect people to revert back to their old ways where January is the biggest travel planning month. I wade into the debate between booking direct with travel providers vs. booking with agents and 3rd-party sites. I see how well my travel tips did during the Southwest cancellation chaos, and then pull out a little more of my conversation with Jeff Cioletti, author of the new book Imbibing for Introverts; this time about how gin is going global with a local twist.

    Check out this episode's show notes here
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    24 mins