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Why do you only get one luggage rack in your hotel room? Why can't pools stay open longer? What's the best compact suitcase for overhead compartments? What outdoor brands should partner up with hotels? Burning questions, spicy answers! Plus one of our predictions about hotel partnerships actually came true.

Ok, no more messing around. Travel expert Samir Bhatnagar tells us about getting compensated for delayed European flights, skipping ATM fees around the world, the best airline pajamas, the future of airport lounges, taxi tips when abroad, and the most useful travel apps. Stuff we mentioned: https://www.aerolopa.com https://www.rome2rio.com https://www.forbes.com/advisor/credit-cards/travel-rewards...

We got going on hacks and could not stop. TSA lines, travel pants, airport lounges, bandanas, detergent pods ... there are so many ways to make your trip easier, cheaper, and much more pleasant. Stuff we mentioned: https://sudshare.com https://www.hydroflask.com/32-oz-wide-mouth https://www.mollyjogger.com/products/ccc-legacy-bandana https://seatosummit.com/collections/dry-bags https://www.chase.c...

Boutique and lifestyle hotels are everywhere now. Why? And how do you define "boutique," exactly? And are we headed towards a world where every hotel is a lifestyle brand? What are lifestyle hotel brands you should check out? We'll answer these questions! Links: https://www.graduatehotels.com/ https://www.piaule.com/ https://www.21cmuseumhotels.com/ https://www.sbe.com/hotels/mondri...

What's our favorite travel statistic of the year? Our favorite travel tool? The most gratifying travel news? The most interesting corporate acquisition? The dumbest buzzword? Season 2 kicks off with a snappy roundup of the year that was.

Hopper's Nima Vaez and Tucker Holland drop in to tell us what's happening with "the world's fastest-growing mobile-first travel marketplace." Splashy new partnerships, machine learning, and fintech solutions are part of it, but what's the secret sauce?

Vegas literally defines itself as an experience, but is it selling something people want? As implosion comes for the casino icons of the 80s and 90s, our collective sense of what makes a satisfying user experience is changing. Is Vegas capturing the right “UX” of the moment, or just going through the motions? Is the architectural and experiential design of the town still, what’s the word … fun?

Part 2 of our interview with Matt Cornelius, EVP at Airports Council International - North America gets into the real nitty-gritty: how exactly do airports make money? How do dominant carriers affect the cities they're based in? And, most important, what's the best way to board an airplane?

What do movies and TV shows get universally wrong about hotels? What do they (occasionally) get right? What movie hotel would we want to visit? Wait, Stanley Kubrick never filmed a movie outside of the UK? Links: The design team that worked on interiors at the Park Hyatt Tokyo: https://superpotato.jp/en/ The inspiration for The Shining's Overlook Hotel: https://www.stanleyhotel.com The Andaz...

Executive Vice President at Airports Council International-North America Matt Cornelius tells us where the buck stops at airports, and explains how they really run. Also, what's the best-run airport in America?

We just inherited a boatload of cash with one deeply eccentric stipulation: we have to build a hotel with it. But where? And why? And in which places does Jeff tell Matt we definitely CANNOT build one? And wait, somebody's building a hotel in Antarctica? 

Jeff talks with Eric about Greenview 's role as the world’s leading provider of sustainability programs and data management for the hospitality and tourism sector. What's the current narrative around sustainability in tourism, and where can you make a difference as a hotel owner and a responsible traveler?

They're big and they buy things. Why aren't the tech giants taking over online travel ? Or maybe ... they already have!? We also talk about the illusion of choice when it comes to booking online. Major players like Expedia gobbled up other travel sites, so when you're shopping around, often you're just browsing different floors of the same department store.  Plus, it's onl...

Online Travel Agencies - a euphemistic way to describe the robots that (maybe) help us find deals on hotels, plane tickets, and a growing number of other travel-related services. How did the Expedias of the world get so dominant? What do hotels actually think of them? How does everybody (except you) make money off them?

Lodging Analytics Research & Consulting issues a quarterly U.S. Lodging Industry Outlook that's essential reading in the hotel business, and Ryan stops by to talk about LARC's Q1 report, coming trends in 2022, markets to watch, the pandemic's impact on commercial real estate, Airbnb regulation, and the Tuscan sun. See what else LARC is up to at https://www.larcanalytics.com

What's it like to work in the orbit of the most famous theme park in the world? We're in the midst of Disney World's 50th Anniversary, and it got us thinking about all the usual stuff: utopia-building, timeshare economics, land use in central Florida, job reports, tourism dollars, Westworld,  civic ecosystems, the Orlando airport. Just your typical winter vacation daydreams.

This week our crystal ball is crystal clear. The unholy union of Frontier and Spirit Airlines got us thinking: what if a wisecracking genie appeared and gave us three wishes to change the airline industry? Fees, genuine competition (that's where the archaic yet lyric-friendly "cabotage" comes in), passenger comfort ... it would be a whole new world!

Which passports give you the most juice, and why? We get into passport rankings, how politics and economics affect those rankings, underrated and "golden" passports, and the ups and downs of traveling to China.

Shortened schedules, pruned expectations,  and fewer exhibitors didn't stop one of the world's biggest trade shows from bringing in the new year. But in a world of stricter health precautions, new travel restrictions, and changing tastes, can CES change too? Does it even need to?

What was the most overused word in hotel marketing in 2021? What will be a hot destination in 2022? What was the biggest ah-ha moment in tourism economics this year? What are good ways to keep up with the industry? What's a sneaky trend nobody's talking about (but should)? What's the best state fair? What luggage should I buy? And more! Links mentioned in the episode: The Points Guy...

Black Friday, Cyber Monday, Small Business Saturday...welcome to the Advent Calendar of Capitalism! Everybody has ambitions to "own" a shopping day. Why not travel? And between Omicron and lingering pandemic wariness/weariness, what's going to happen to hotels 3 weeks from now? Also, Question of the Week: What’s the worst night during the holidays for a hotel manager?

It happens every time, that feeling of resignation and frustration when you're checking in/checking out and there's this laundry list of fees below the price you had stuck in your head when you booked the hotel. What are resort and destination fees, are they really "deceptive," and are hotels and travelers stuck with them forever?

Expedia and ARC just released their annual 2022 travel hacks and it got us thinking about why hotel and flight deals happen when they happen, how work and leisure schedules are changing, and Anthony Bourdain's maxim on why restaurants push seafood on Mondays.

Every day there’s a flurry of articles about how the hotel and travel industry are trying to rebound and readjust to covid-era life. When there’s talk about speeding up that rebound the topic invariably touches on vax passports and why they’re so hard for a decentralized system like the U.S. to do. One body that shows up consistently in these conversations is IATA, the International Air Transport...