Greetings! I just returned from attending the 2013
Travel Goods Show in Las Vegas, so I will be featuring some of the cool travel gadgets I discovered in future newsletters. The event took place in the Mandalay Bay Resort, but instead of spending the night in their massive hotel I stayed in a luxury hotel that’s located in their hotel. Here’s the
story and hotel, which actually lets guest opt-out of their resort fee.
Speaking of resort fees, I was back in Las Vegas a few weeks ago doing a segment for The Today Show on hidden hotel fees (
video). I was so disgusted by all of the hotelier’s hidden fees and tricks to sucker guests that I decided to write a post about it (
story). On top of that, would you believe I even got scammed by the taxi company? I had no idea that Las Vegas taxis charge an extra $3 to pay by credit card – what a rip off! They mask it by using the word ‘voucher’ (
see photo). I was in a hurry so I didn’t catch it until it was too late. Tip: No matter where you are in the world, before paying be sure to ask if there’s an extra charge for using your credit card.
On the subject of scams, a few days ago I woke up to this
e-mail in my inbox. Crooks are back with another travel scam where they hack someone’s e-mail account and send a cry for help to all of their contacts. I’ve received similar ones before and it really irks me to learn that friends have fallen for it and wired money. If you get one of these e-mails, the best thing to do is delete it and then call, Facebook message, or use your friend’s alternate e-mail to alert them. Chances are they have no idea they’ve been hacked. They can then change their password ASAP.
To end on a positive note, on Sunday
Swiss Tourism invited me watch the Los Angeles Clippers play the Oklahoma City Thunder. One of the Thunder’s star players is Thabo Sefolosha who is the first person from Switzerland to play in the NBA. He's from Vevey which is the same town where milk chocolate was invented! I sat next to his brother, Christopher Rudolph, who is the GM of the
Grand Hotel du Lac in Vevey. After the game I got to meet Thabo Sefolosha (
photo) who seemed like a really cool dude. And I just touched down on a
SWISS flight to attend the world’s largest travel conference. You can follow along on my
Twitter feed and
Facebook page.
P.S. This week’s contest is two tickets on Porter, a Canadian airline that specializes in short-haul flights. Learn more about the airline
here, and enter to
win two tickets to anywhere Porter flies. (All fees and taxes included with airfare!)
Great tips on avoiding travel scams! I’ve used Ezybook airport parking before, and it’s reliable. Do you think prepaid parking could also be a target for scams?
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