TravelCommons
Travel
The Frequent Traveler's Podcast. The voice of the frequent traveler -- it's more about the journey than the destination
Location:
United States
Description:
The Frequent Traveler's Podcast. The voice of the frequent traveler -- it's more about the journey than the destination
Twitter:
@mpeacock
Language:
English
Website:
http://travelcommons.com
Episodes
Wrapping Up the TravelCommons Journey
5/23/2024
Finishing up 19 years of thinking way too much about travel, I indulge in a little bit of nostalgia and talk about my personal travel philosophy. But before that, we compare three Mid-South river cities -- Nashville, Louisville, and Memphis -- talk about the recovery of business travel, and enjoy a full listener mail bag.
Check out this episode's show notes for a transcript of the episode and links I mention here
Duration:00:25:58
Smile for Security: Facial Recognition in Travel
4/11/2024
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
Duration:00:39:59
London Vacation Rental Woes; Hertz's EV Retreat
2/28/2024
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
Duration:00:28:07
Renting a Tesla; 2023 Traveler Gift Guide
11/7/2023
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
Duration:00:25:18
Cheers to Beer Tourism and Travel
9/29/2023
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
Duration:00:29:14
Checking Out Holland’s Tulip Festival
8/24/2023
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
Duration:00:29:42
Best Laid Travel Plans; Roaming Entropy
6/20/2023
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
Duration:00:26:38
Making the Most of Miles; Nashville vs Nash-Vegas
3/31/2023
Doing a bit of winter travel, the bar tab from waiting out a weather delay got me rethinking the economics of airport lounge memberships. Doing yet more travel planning but with a focus on making the most of the points and miles we accumulated on credit cards during the pandemic. And after eight months in Nashville, I compare the two sides of the local music scene -- the Nash-Vegas honky tonks vs the smaller, eclectic off-Broadway scene.
Check out this episode's show notes here
Duration:00:24:52
New Year Travel Planning Tips; Gin Conquers the World
1/26/2023
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
Duration:00:23:35
My Notes on Italy and Split, Croatia
12/24/2022
Hard up against the Christmas deadline, we compare long-distance drive times between gas and electric cars, and my travel tips vs. those from the ChatGPT AI chatbot. We talk about the latest Real ID deadline delay, and impressions from my trip to Positano, Rome, Florence, and Split, Croatia.
Check out this episode's show notes here
Duration:00:24:54
My Travel Tech Stack; Imbibing for Introverts
10/31/2022
Back behind the mic after 3 week of travel in Croatia and Italy. The trip went amazingly well up to the last leg, when United's Newark team couldn't get our bags on our plane. But, I'd stuffed Apple AirTags into our luggage, so we were able to track their movements 'til they got home. That experience and a listener's tweet led to me re-visiting my travel tech stack. We then talk to Jeff Cioletti, author of the new book Imbibing for Introverts, about the art of drinking alone.
Check out this episode's show notes here
Duration:00:28:22
Why We Travel; When The First Flight Isn’t Best
9/22/2022
Lots of different voices in this episode. Listeners growing our list of travel tips, and conversations with Dr. Sheldon Jacobson about why one of those tips — always catch the first flight out — isn’t always right, and Patricia Schultz about her new book, Why We Travel: 100 Reasons to See the World.
Check out this episode's show notes here
Duration:00:31:47
My Top 13 Tips to Survive Travel Chaos
8/18/2022
Back behind the microphone after a couple of months of setting up the new studios in Nashville. I've been dishing out travel advice to friends and family swept up in this summer's travel chaos. I've distilled all those texts and messages down to my top 13 travel tips to help those traveling through the rest of the year. We also talk about the countries that have dropped all of the COVID testing requirements for inbound passengers, noodle about the rationale for JetBlue's dogged pursuit of Spirit Airways, Delta's new time limits for their Sky Club lounges, and why frequent flier award travel is suddenly a bargain again.
Check out this episode's show notes here
Duration:00:23:56
Moving to a Non-Hub Airport; What Makes A Great Taproom?
5/26/2022
The last episode recording in Chicago before we relocate the TravelCommons studios, and our lives, down to Nashville. We close out our threads on in-flight mask mandates and hotel housekeeping, and critique an academic paper about the moral hazard of frequent flier elite status. I talk through the changes I’ll have to make when flying out of a non-hub airport. And then, as I’m making a list of the Chicago breweries I want to re-visit before leaving, I think through the characteristics that makes a taproom great.
Check out this episode's show notes here
Duration:00:28:04
Mask Mandate Scramble; Small Airport Survival
4/21/2022
We recap the bouncing ball history of the in-flight mask mandate as we try to figure out where it's going land now that it's in the courts. But before that, I recap my trip to Santa Fe, NM, take the flight tracking app Flighty for a spin, and wonder why CLEAR keeps giving away annual subscriptions. Then we dig into the current state of regional airports with Joanne Magley, of Daytona Beach International Airport
Check out this episode's show notes here
Duration:00:24:08
Notes on Louisville; Changing Mask Mandates
3/28/2022
As the great American philosopher Ferris Bueller once said, “Life moves pretty fast” and in this episode, we talk about the rapid changes in hotel service, and in-flight mask mandates. Then I go into detail about our recent trip to Louisville, complete with recommendations for food and drink
Check out this episode's show notes here
Duration:00:19:32
Figuring Out Stealth Travel Inflation
3/3/2022
In the travel world, what goes up -- rules, fees, prices -- often stays up. It's the ratchet effect and it's a theme running through this episode. Inflation is on everyone's mind, and so we dig into travel inflation, comparing today's prices with pre-pandemic levels. We also talk about US passport renewals ahead of the summer vacation season, and some good Cuban food in Louisville and a questionable food trend in London.
Check out this episode's show notes here
Duration:00:23:19
COVID Test Anxiety; Michelin Dining Adventures
1/16/2022
No travel since the last episode, but lots of travel planning. Are we making our way back to pre-COVID travel planning patterns? Omicron has lots of people worried about testing positive and getting stuck abroad. Michael Giusti of InsuranceQuotes.com talks about how travel insurance can help. A blogger’s brutal review of a Michelin-starred restaurant where we ate in October gets me thinking about food as an adventure.
Check out this episode's show notes here
Duration:00:25:17
Yet More COVID Changes; Words That Mean Adventure
12/10/2021
Back in front of the microphone after a two-week trip to the UK, getting back home just before the new Omicron travel restrictions hit. We talk about getting to London, surfing the waves of changing travel requirements, a new way to renew Global Entry, moan a bit more about the inexorable advance of the cashless society, and finish up talking with Josh Glenn about his new book The Adventurer’s Glossary.
Check out this episode's show notes here
Duration:00:28:34
Travel Potpourri for $600; 2021 Traveler’s Gift Guide
11/13/2021
No travel since the last episode, so just talking through a random potpourri of travel stuff. There's more travel planning; this time for a couple of weeks split between London and Wales which means sorting through a new set of COVID travel requirements. We look at some stats -- Uber's latest financials and how deeply last year's lockdown hit Nashville airport vendors. I marvel at how much European mobile data rates have fallen, strip down my English to have a deeper chat with an Italian...
Duration:00:24:40