5 Ways to Travel Safer in 2016

 

By Robert McGarvey

 

 

As a people we are busy crossing huge chunks of the world – just about all of the Continent – as simply too dangerous for 2016 travel.  Mistake.  The hunger for safety makes perfect sense of course, but there is no need to pull the blinds tight and declare the world a no go zone.

 

Five steps will make your travels safer.

 

And none of them involves crossing off Europe.

 

But some are hard and some – definitely – are new for 2016.

 

Such as?

 

Some countries are better at this than others.  You will hear from the optimists, “Belgium has to be a lot safer now.”  (Substitute name of the place of the latest atrocity.)  You won’t hear that from me.  When a country has utterly failed in its anti-terror and, in particular, when it has failed against predictable strikes, it will not raise its security performance to world class in a matter of short days. Nor weeks. Nor months.  It takes time to get good at security. London is very good but it has been at this for 40 years.  New York City is very good but it had 911 to deal with.

 

Don’t ask travel security people where they recommend not going. Most will mumble about North Korea, Afghanistan, Pakistan, and a few other places you have no interest in visiting anyway.

 

Ask them instead: where won’t you personally go?

 

And also ask: where wouldn’t you let your 15 year old daughter go?

 

You will get interesting responses. One consultant told me he had crossed off Argentina and Brazil (due to crime, not terror).  Another said to avoid Bali.

 

The long way to get these insights is to pore over the State Dept. travel warnings and alerts. Tips are there, although often buried.  The same from the British Foreign Office is also worth a look.

 

Consider this about Belgium from the Foreign Office: “There is a high threat from terrorism. Attacks could be indiscriminate, including on public transport and transport hubs and in other places visited by foreigners.

“Brussels hosts a number of international institutions (EU and NATO) and government and foreign embassy buildings which are sensitive locations.”

To me, that says stay away – and if you must go, steer clear of international government buildings.

Cross off the right countries to not visit and you will be that much safer.

In Europe now, to me that means avoid Belgium, France, Netherlands, and Bulgaria. Sorry. But that is how I read the tea leaves, at least right now.

 

Avoid public transit. I hate typing that. But it is clear that terrorists have identified mass transit – especially subways – as points of vulnerability.  

 

Buses are probably fine, although large bus depots are also high risk.

 

The safest way to get around: walk. It’s also good for your health and there is no better way to really see a city.

 

Watch for Patterns. In assessing real risk in a destination, don’t look for single incidents, hunt for patterns, that is, multiple terror incidents. See a pattern and you have a right to be creeped out.

 

Use Google News to search for terror incidents in any prospective destination.  See a pattern? A frequency? Don’t go.

 

Some experts point to Turkey and Bali as places where real patterns seem to be forming. That is not good news.

 

Stay in  modest hotels – or even better Airbnb.

 

Terrorists target hotels, especially branded, American upscale hotels.

 

That’s why there is greater safety in modest, locally owned properties.

 

But even better probably are accommodations found via Airbnb and similar sharing economy networks.

 

Bomb a five star hotel and there are headlines.

 

Another plus of local accommodations: there likely will be fewer Americans. That’s good because often we are in fact targets.

 

Get out of town.  Terror attacks have centered in big cities – occasionally at high end resorts – there is no interest in tiny towns.
Go there.  Not only will you get an authentic travel experience – I learned more about Ireland in a week in Donegal Town (population 2607) than I did in weeks in Dublin – but you are likely to be much safer, not just from terror but also street crime.

 

Don’t hide from Europe in 2016. Go. Just go with your eyes open.

What You Don’t Know About #Medicare Will Cost You – TheStreet http://bit.ly/1RFCEXN My reporting

After the Brussels Attacks, Should You Cancel Your European Vacation? – TheStreet http://bit.ly/1UOAria My reporting

6 Bargain European Destinations You Can Afford This Summer – @TheStreet http://bit.ly/1T4bD5N My reporting on faves such as Belfast

Why Millennials Aren’t Drinking – @TheStreet http://bit.ly/1SVYXxU My reporting

After Erin Andrews: How to Stay Safe in Hotels Now – @TheStreet http://bit.ly/1RM3eiq My reporting

Baby Boomers Embrace Online Dating: How’s that for a Retirement Plan? – @TheStreet http://bit.ly/1Wj6ipY My reporting

Home Flipping Is Back And Is Maybe As Big As Ever –@TheStreet bit.ly/2230ibQ My reporting

You Waste 10% of the Food You Buy: Here’s How to Stop – @TheStreet http://bit.ly/1XeJwQj My reporting

The War on Resort Fees Gets Hotter

 

by Robert McGarvey

US Senator Claire McCaskill – the senior Senator from Missouri – is on your side.  She has introduced legislation that, if enacted into law, would put a fast end to sneaky, greedy resort fees that are ever more popular with hoteliers looking to goose their margins.

 

“It’s clear there’s a bait-and-switch going on when it comes to these hidden hotel fees, and consumers are paying the price,” said McCaskill, the former Chairman of the Consumer Protection Subcommittee, in a press statement. “What I heard from Missourians was clear—families who’ve saved for a well-deserved vacation are too often facing sticker shock when they’re slapped with their final bill. This legislation provides a commonsense solution, requiring hotels to be upfront about mandatory costs by including them in room rates.”

 

Understand, McCaskill is not saying the Senate should get involved in regulating hotel room rates.  Her beef is simple. When a hotel tells you the rate is $199, but at check out another $10 to $50 is slapped on in a resort fee, that practice is plain wrong, suggested McCaskill.

 

The FTC, last year, after some waffling on resort fees had asked Congress to take some definitive action.  The McCaskill bill is a step in that direction.

 

McCaskill’s bill, S 2599, has been referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation.

 

The language of the bill pulls no punches.  Pricing that does not disclose mandatory fees is “deceptive,” according to the bill.

 

That, by the way, is indisputable fact.  Imagine a restaurant where the menu says “hamburger, $4.99.” You are later given a bill that says $4.99 plus $3.00 “facility fee” to cover a dish, a napkin, silverware, and possible use of the lavatory.  Absurd? Indeed. But that is what hotels are doing with their resort fees.

 

What is especially irksome about them is the rampant lack of disclosure.  Try to find a resort fee when booking on mobile (which ever more of us do).  At check in, did the front desk advise you about the resort fee in clear, unmistakable language? It probably did not.

 

Worse: what is the logic of a hotel that clearly is a resort charging an extra fee for guests using the stuff that brought them to the place in the first instance? That’s swimming pools, towels, a fitness center, etc.

 

And know that at most resorts the good stuff – the premium hikes, tennis lessons, yoga with good teachers – well, all that comes with premium fees. It’s not included in the resort fee which, generally, includes a bunch of banal stuff that had always been free such as parking (at suburban resorts) and pool towels.  

 

What’s the probability McCaskill’s bill will become law?  In this fraught year it is perilous to make predictions.

 

But whether it becomes law or does not, the good news is that simply putting it in the hopper has warned the hotel industry that there are watchdogs who question resort fees.

 

Hoteliers will tell you – they have told me – that “no one complains about resort fees.” That is rubbish and McCaskill’s bill makes it clear there are antagonists.  

 

It also has to have empowered Federal Trade Commission mandarins who wanted a signal from Congress about resort fees. McCaskill’s bill is an unmistakable signal.

 

You don’t want to wait for Congressional action. That raises this sharp question: What can you do to fight back against resort fees?

 

Know that it is a tough fight in some towns – notably Las Vegas where ever more hotels charge ever more fees.  Even worse, usually what’s included in a Vegas resort fee is free local calling – I have never used the in-room phones in Vegas – and also WiFi which, if you have been on the Strip, you know is generally wretched.  I do not even use it to read newspapers.  I’ll bring up my own hotspot which is faster and more secure.  The Las Vegas resort fee generally delivers absolutely no value.

 

You can fight back.  Many travelers say they have ducked resort fees – in Las Vegas too – and even when they haven’t, they feel better because they protested.

 

Complain at checkout. Raise a stink. Insist the resort fee was not fully disclosed, either at booking or at check-in.  If you have not used any of the “amenities” covered by the resort fee, get specific.  Many hotels will fold at that point and void the charges.

 

Email the Federal Trade Commission.  They are said to be keeping files on resort fees. Help the files get thicker.

 

Email your US Senators, expressing support for McCaskill’s bill and urging them to do likewise.  It couldn’t hurt to also email your member of the House.

 

If the property won’t budge and forced you to pay a resort fee, put up a snarky review on TripAdvisor which has emerged as perhaps the single more important review site in travel.  Be clear, be honest, and in a few words explain why this property’s resort fee is a rip off.

 

Hit hotels in the pocketbooth and they just may retreat on resort fees.  But unless consumers raise a protest, they will continue to grab the money.  That is fact.