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Inside Travel Talk
Hot Deals for Cold Weather: $849 Egypt Tours & All-Inclusive Sea of Cortez Cruises
Ready to escape winter's chill without the typical Hawaii or Mexico getaway? Discover unbelievable value in unexpected destinations as we unveil travel opportunities that will transform your vacation planning.
The travel landscape is shifting dramatically this season. Spirit Airlines has filed for bankruptcy again while continuing operations—a reminder that the ultra-budget airline model faces challenges as travelers increasingly seek better value rather than just rock-bottom prices. Meanwhile, Southwest Airlines expands its global footprint through a strategic partnership with EVA Airways, connecting their extensive domestic network to Asian destinations through major West Coast hubs.
For winter escapists seeking something beyond typical beach vacations, we've uncovered extraordinary deals to Greece and Egypt. Imagine exploring Athens, Olympia, and optionally Santorini for just $1,049 per person on a seven-day guided tour. Even more remarkable, Egypt beckons with six-day adventures starting at $849, including visits to the Great Pyramids, Sphinx, and Alexandria. These off-season "Escape" tours offer remarkable value and fewer crowds.
Traditional favorites aren't being left behind, with Hawaii prices dropping significantly. Maui packages—including airfare and five nights' accommodation—have fallen to $919 per person, while Puerto Vallarta all-inclusive experiences start at $959. These represent substantial savings compared to just weeks ago.
Cruise enthusiasts will appreciate Holland America's enhanced 2026 solar eclipse voyages featuring onboard astronomy experts, while adventure seekers should consider UnCruise's intimate Sea of Cortez expeditions exploring "the Aquarium of the World." For families, MSC Cruises' extended Labor Day sale offers 40% off all sailings plus kids sail free, with balcony cabins from just $669.
Whatever your travel dreams, now's the time to plan your winter escape. Live deliberately and intentionally—because you never know what curveballs life might throw your way.
It is time to talk travel. Welcome to the Inside Travel Talk podcast, a radio show Coming up. On today's show, mark and I will be talking about Spirit Airlines filing for bankruptcy yet again. As hot as it's been, cold weather will soon be here, so we are going to be talking about warm weather, destinations other than Hawaii and Mexico, Greek and Egypt vacations starting at $849. Greek and Egypt vacations starting at $849. Yes, you heard me right. Solar eclipse cruises for 2026 and a new river cruise provider entering the market. Let's start the show. The Inside Travel Talk podcast and radio show, presented by BluePlanetVacations. com, contains travel deals, promotions and offers that may be time sensitive. All offers and information were accurate when the show aired. Travel deals and offers change constantly and are capacity controlled and subject to change without notice.
Show Voice:Explore your world. It's the Inside Travel Talk podcast and radio show presented by blueplanetvacations. com. Call or text the show now 801-649-3700, 801-649-3700. And check out the podcast at insidetraveltalk. com. And now here are your hosts, Patrick Wiscombe and Mark Faldmo.
Patrick Wiscombe:Welcome to the Inside Travel Talk podcast, a radio show. Hello there, I am Patrick Wiscombe, and if you are brand new to this radio show and podcast, our entire purpose is to help you book and plan your next vacation, or just give you ideas of where you may want to vacation next, and we are presented by BluePlanetVacations. com. And just a sincere thank you for taking the time to stop and listen. And this week we are talking about Spirit Airlines filing for bankruptcy yet again. I think, mark, I think this is the second time in 2025. Have I got that right?
Mark Faldmo:Well, it's the second time in the past calendar year.
Patrick Wiscombe:Cold weather is on the way, so we're going to be talking about some other destinations other than Hawaii and Mexico to go on vacation. But we're also going to talking about some other destinations other than Hawaii and Mexico to go on vacation. But we're also going to talk about Hawaii and Mexico $849 to go to Egypt and just a smidge more to go to Greece. And we'll be talking about solar eclipse cruises in 2026. So that is just a handful of stories that we'll be talking about this week on the Inside Travel Talk podcast and radio show, but first we have to get to the travel news headlines. Mark, let's start with probably the biggest story of the week, which is Spirit Airlines filing for bankruptcy for a second time in the past calendar year. What details do we have for listeners and, I guess, potential travelers?
Mark Faldmo:For potential travelers. Spirit vows to continue operating as normal. They're using this Chapter 11 bankruptcy to restructure. They did this November of 2024. So 10 months ago they came out of it. They first tried to merge with Frontier Airlines. Then JetBlue agreed to buy Spirit, which was prevented by the Department of Justice. So ever since they've come out they've just struggled. There isn't a lot of room for the budget airlines. People still fly them, but people are starting to value more of a value than that overall cheap fare and that goes in phases. Probably in five or 10 years it'll probably swing back the other way, but right now Spirit Airlines especially, and Frontier, some of the other budget airlines are really struggling. But if you do have a ticket on Spirit, they still do continue operating and they're just trying to use this to position themselves to be better in the future.
Patrick Wiscombe:Southwest is in the news, but this time they're making headlines for a different reason. It looks like that they've inked some kind of a partnership with another airline.
Mark Faldmo:They have. They have inked an interline partnership with EVA Airways, which is based in Taipei, Taiwan. They will connect the Southwest network to Asia.
Mark Faldmo:A few weeks ago we talked about Southwest partnership with Iceland there, so now they have a partnership that will link them to Europe and a partnership that will link them to Asia. Eva Airways' main hubs in the US are Los Angeles, San Francisco, Seattle and Chicago. Those airports are all very big. Well, actually I take that back it's Chicago O'Hare, which is not really big for Southwest. They fly out of Midway mainly, but Los Angeles, San Francisco and Seattle are very big Southwest markets.
Patrick Wiscombe:I've never flown EVA Airlines. Have you, I have.
Mark Faldmo:I flew an EVA Airlines to Thailand. I thought they were a great airline. I thought it was interesting Safety video was all Hello Kitty landing at the terminal. Like there were a couple of gate areas that were all Hello Kitty areas, so it was kind of fun. But EVA Airline I really enjoyed that for a long haul carrier. A lot of those Asian airlines do a really good job.
Patrick Wiscombe:Are you a Big Bang Theory fan? I am. That reminds me of Hello Hello Kitty. Yeah, we want you to be part of the show each and every week. So if you have travel related questions, please text them during the week or while we're on the air. 801-649-3700, 801-649-3700. We did receive a text question from Garrett and he says I want help, mark, planning a winter vacation. I want to go somewhere warm, but I don't want a typical beach vacation like Hawaii and Mexico. What are some options?
Mark Faldmo:I'm going to answer this in a two-part question. We're going to take part of this question in the cruise segment when we talk about cruises, but what came to mind right away was one of the Globus escape tours. Now we've talked about these. They're off-season tours. We talked about Ireland and a few other tours. Those aren't really warm weather destinations, but they do have some of these escape tours which are in warm weather destinations, and I think these two options would be a very good option if you're looking for something unique and different, also to go in there, less crowds.
Mark Faldmo:Oh yeah, the first one. It's a seven day tour. It's called Greek Escape, but starts in Athens, two nights in Athens and then it spends three nights going around to different places, including Olympia, and then back for a last night in Athens. So you do get a really good overview of Greece, and that seven night tour starts at $1,049 per person, which is amazing for seven nights. Now you do have to add your airfare onto that, but one thing that I really liked about this you could add a two-night additional stay on the island of Santorini.
Mark Faldmo:Which you would probably recommend I would do that. These tours all run November to March, and if you can get to Santorini when there are no cruise ships there, as we've said a couple of times on the show, that would be amazing. That is one option. You also could add on a four-night cruise to the end of that seven-night tour, which does go to Santorini.
Mark Faldmo:It also goes into Turkey and a few other Greek isles. There are some really good options and Greece in January would be probably a very delightful place. Now, that is not your typical beach destination, oh no, but you could get that ocean experience, especially if you added on that Santorini.
Patrick Wiscombe:You could get that ocean experience, especially if you added on that Santorini For $1,049 a person, starting. Of course you have to add the airfare, like Mark said. I bet there are some people listening right now going. I'm sorry.
Mark Faldmo:Greece for $1,049?. Yeah, sign me up. Yeah, and you know again, this is a full tour, so you have all of your transportation to all the different cities, you have a guide with you and they have a few meals included. So, with the touring and activities that are included, now they do have some additional extra cost activities you can do, but it is a great value if you want something different for your winter vacation.
Patrick Wiscombe:That's the Greek portion of Garrett's question. What about the Egypt option starting at $849?
Mark Faldmo:a person. This price just kind of floored me $849 for a six-state tour. It's a couple nights in Cairo and a couple of nights in Alexandria. This $849 includes the Great Pyramid, the Sphinx, includes the Great Pyramid, the Sphinx.
Mark Faldmo:After you spend your time in Cairo, you head over to Alexandria. You do get to stop in the Wadi al-Natur Wadi is desert in that area of the world and you stop at a Coptic monastery. A what monastery, Did you say? Coptic? So yeah, so they're Coptic Christians which are in Egypt. It is kind of like the domed buildings you kind of think of when you think of mosques, but they have the Christian crosses on top. So it's a Christian monastery out there.
Mark Faldmo:And then in Alexandria, which is a wonderful port town, this is kind of where you'd get your water and ocean in a wonderful port town. This is kind of where you'd get your water and ocean in. You'd go to the Bibliotheca, which back from the Indiana Jones days. They spent a lot of time in there looking for things. And then you head back to Cairo after Alexandria and here you drive through the El Baharia Desert, which is called the Redland, because when you drive there's a red hue to everything, because the sand is red and everything kind of reflects red, and then, if you want again another add-on, you can add a three-night Nile River cruise that goes up to Karnak and Luxor, and then you're also in a swan area, so you can get that Nile River experience to be added on to the six-day tour. My word. So those are two different kind of warm weather destinations that aren't Hawaii and Mexico.
Patrick Wiscombe:So, in addition to the Greek vacation and the vacation in Egypt, we're also going to be talking about Hawaii and Mexico. This is going to be the hot travel deal of the week and we are going to help our listeners save up to $550 off per package to Hawaii and Mexico. But really, this is good worldwide.
Mark Faldmo:We introduced this special last week, but as I was going through and updating the Blueplanetvacations. com website, I noticed that from when I did this the week prior, everything has dropped between $25 and $150 per person.
Patrick Wiscombe:Really.
Mark Faldmo:So this save up to $550, as we talked about last week is good for travel January 1 to December 31st of 2026. There also is a smaller discount for traveling this fall, and I just kept with travel dates this fall because the prices were so good. Probably the biggest drop that I found and this was for a mid-November date was to the island of Maui in Hawaii.
Mark Faldmo:Oh, you don't see discounts to Maui very often you don't, and you know, I think their tourism is still suffering from the fires, from just that perception which unfortunately was never really true. You've been to Maui since the fires? I have not. We kind of celebrated I think it was about three weeks ago when we saw Maui finally dropping below $1,000 per person. Now I found a Maui rate for $919 per person. That's airfare and five nights hotel at the three and a half star Royal Kahana. Typically we kind of leave everything at four star and above on this show, but I've used the Royal Kahana quite a bit and I actually my neighbor, which I sent their estate at the Royal Kahana and they loved it. It's a great family property and with prices this low $919 per person that is a very good option.
Patrick Wiscombe:That is phenomenal, especially with the airfare.
Mark Faldmo:Yes, I love anywhere in Hawaii, but it's a great place to visit $919, including the airfare.
Patrick Wiscombe:That is just unbelievable. Call Mark as soon as we get off the air. You'll probably get his voicemail right now. Just leave a message. He will return your call or someone in his office will. 888-718-7717. 888-718-7717 is how you get a hold of Blue Planet Vacations and blueplanetvacations. com Coming up in the next segment. It is time. It is time. It is time for the infamous Just Cruising segment, the segment of the show that has made us famous worldwide. We will be talking about Holland America adding an astronomy expert for their solar eclipse cruises. A great company getting into the river cruise business We'll tell you who that is and MSC is extending their Labor Day sale 30% off cruises plus a whole bunch of freebies. We'll talk about that next when the Inside Travel Talk podcast and radio show continues. I am Patrick Wiscombe, he is Mark Fogelman. We'll be right back.
Show Voice:Taking you to destinations around the world. The Inside Travel Talk podcast and radio show is presented by BluePlanetVacations. com, America's best travel advisors. Call or text the show now 801-649-3700, 801-649-3700. Thanks for listening. We'll be right back. Inside Travel Talk is brought to you by Travelex Insurance Services, their travel insurance plans. We'll be right back. Or blueplanetvacations. com for more information, America's best travel advisors. Hit us up right now 801-649-3700. 801-649-3700. And check out the podcast at InsideTravelTalk. com. Here's Patrick and Mark.
Patrick Wiscombe:Ahoy, mateys Ahoy. You are listening to the Inside Travel Talk podcast and radio show. Alongside Mark Faldmo, my name is Patrick Wiscombe Coming up in this segment of the show, the infamous Just Cruising segment. It is only about cruises and it's only about the cruise news of the week, and we've got some offers for our listeners 30% off MSC cruises. That's good for all cruises, not just select destinations. Have I got that right, mark?
Mark Faldmo:You have almost, except it's 40% off. Oh, okay, that's even better.
Patrick Wiscombe:Yeah, we'll talk about that a little bit later. Let's jump into. I was going to say that the uh, the cruise news headlines, but I neglected to bring something up in the last segment, and let's just start there. We were talking about save up to $550 off Hawaii and Mexico. I made a mistake. We only talked about Hawaii. I forgot to bring up Mexico. What destinations are there? And then we'll get to the crew stuff. Yeah.
Mark Faldmo:So just quickly, Puerto Vallarta, again, another destination that's under a thousand dollars for a five night package. For mid-November dates, stay at the four-star Villa Del Palmer, all inclusive. So all your meals, drinks starting at $959 per person. So that's flights from Salt Lake City, five nights, hotel, round trip transportation, all your meals and drinks, $959 per person. That is so good.
Patrick Wiscombe:I can't believe that we're talking about Hawaii and Mexico with airfare for $919. That was Hawaii, on Maui specifically, and what'd you say $959 for Mexico all inclusive.
Mark Faldmo:Yeah, for Puerto Vallarta. That's incredible. There's some really good deals. As I mentioned, almost all of the destinations and hotels I looked at were $30 to $120 or so per person, less than they were a week ago or two weeks ago.
Patrick Wiscombe:What happens if the price drops?
Mark Faldmo:Well, the company that we book this with has a price guarantee, and so if you purchase their travel insurance, which is always recommended, they will rebook you to the lower price. Okay, otherwise you're locked in. Otherwise, you're locked in, whatever you've purchased. Okay, all right, and that's mainly the airline, because the airline is locked in, good point.
Patrick Wiscombe:Now it's time for the cruise news headlines. Let's get to Holland America, adding some astronomy experts to their solar eclipse cruises in 2026.
Mark Faldmo:Every once in a while. We've talked about these solar eclipse cruises and in fact, I think about two months ago we talked about how cruise lines were kind of unprepared for the demand and they've started adding. In fact, holland America is one that added two additional solar eclipse cruises for 2027 because there's been such a high demand for these. So in 2026, the eclipse is going to be on August 12th. Holland America has three voyages and I believe you can still purchase these voyages, but they have added an astronomy expert to all of these. So the three voyages are an 18-day voyage of the Vikings, a 13-day Mediterranean solar eclipse and a 28-day legendary solar eclipse with Greenland and Scotland.
Mark Faldmo:So those are the three solar eclipse cruises that Holland America is offering, and this astronomy expert will be on board to give lectures, q&a sessions, live commentary during the eclipse. I think it'd be very interesting to be on board and get that commentary from a professional.
Patrick Wiscombe:Could you say that the cruise industry was in the dark about Eclipse Cruises?
Mark Faldmo:Yes, that's exactly what I would say. These little unique things, these travel moments people are looking for and I think they just didn't think these would be as successful. But everyone several cruise lines have them and have added more sailings.
Patrick Wiscombe:If you were listening to segment one of the show, there was a text question from Garrett wanting to go on a winter vacation but did not necessarily want to go to Hawaii and Mexico. There is a second portion to his question that we didn't answer in the first segment. What other options did you have for Garrett? But it is cruise related.
Mark Faldmo:This is a cruise. It is to Mexico, but it's a very unique product. It's on UnCruise we had a few weeks ago we had Captain Dan on.
Patrick Wiscombe:Oh, he was terrific.
Mark Faldmo:Yeah, to talk about UnCruise, and they're a very unique company and you know, as we talked about last week with expedition cruises, they would fit within this Expedition Adventure type cruise. They offer seven-night Sea of Cortez and 10-night Sea of Cortez cruises that are round-trip La Paz. Right now they're offering $500 per person, or if you're a solo traveler, so just an individual, they have 50% off single supplements and then also any kids are $500 off as well. So this is a very good offering from Uncruise. The ship's name that they're on is the Safari Voyager. It's a 66 guest expedition ship which is designed for this type of voyage.
Mark Faldmo:The Sea of Cortez Jacques Cousteau called the Aquarium of the World. Heather and I had the opportunity a few years ago to cruise in the Sea of Cortez. It was fabulous. I mean the whales that you see, you're cruising amongst whales, the ports are different and I think it was last week. Again, we talked about the magic towns. You'll really get to visit some of those magic towns that are not visit as much and you will really get into the culture of the Baja, which is totally different from the rest of Mexico.
Mark Faldmo:They mainly do Alaska, but in the wintertime they need places to send their ships. So one place is the Sea of Cortez. Also one thing that's interesting, the 10-night cruise is called in Steinbeck's Wake and it actually retraces John Steinbeck's expedition across the Sea of Cortez. So you know, for those of you that are interested in the literary aspect of that, they kind of really bring that into this voyage. Both the 7 and 10 day sail between November and April. But you know, specific to Garrett's question, he wanted to go in January. They do offer these cruises and so if you're interested in that kind of small, with just 66 guests on board and everything's all inclusive, so your meals, beverages, excursions, local activities, everything is included in a non-cruise.
Patrick Wiscombe:Let's go over to the cruise deal of the week, which is, I said, 30%, it's actually 40% off all MSC cruises. This is their Labor Day sale. It's been extended for us because of Laura, correct? It has? Yeah, okay, so let's get to the cruise deal of the week MSC cruises.
Mark Faldmo:So MSC cruises again, like you said, 40% off and kids sale free. Now, this 40% off only goes through Monday.
Patrick Wiscombe:Oh, so we got to move on this one.
Mark Faldmo:September 8th so you can call on Monday to get it. It may be extended or you could go on blueplanetvacations. com search for a cruise and book it as well. So that is available right now to book. If you call today, I can also get one of my agents to help, if you want. As we've talked about several times, just does a very good job with their product. They had a rough start to launching in the US but I think over the last 18 months they've done a really good job on that.
Patrick Wiscombe:Yeah, it seems like they've really hit their stride in like the last one to two years. Something special has happened. Yeah, let's talk about one of their sailings. Which one do you have in mind? The?
Mark Faldmo:one that I have in mind is leaving from Galveston. This is a January 11th date. So, again, if you're looking to get out of the cold, I predict it'll be under 30 degrees on January 11th here in Salt Lake. So, according to my meteorological skills which I can do just as good as the guy on TV probably Shots fired yes, an inside cabin on January 11th $449 dollars per person, but for just a little bit more. And if you've never cruised in the balcony, this balcony is lower than most other cruise lines inside rates $669 dollars per person for a balcony and is that on the Seascape?
Mark Faldmo:I think it's on the Seascape, MSC, seascape.
Patrick Wiscombe:If you don't know what MSC Seascape is, first of all, it's just the name of the ship, but just do a Google search for MSC Seascape and you'll see what a beautiful ship it is.
Mark Faldmo:A few weeks ago we talked about how they're really launching that ship in Galveston for families. You know they've added a lot of family themed things on that, so with kids, sell free, you could probably, if you find the right date, you could probably get a family of four on this in a balcony for less than $1,500 for the whole family Plus your airfare and other things that go along with the cruise. It's a very good cruise experience for a very good price.
Patrick Wiscombe:Yeah, and the food very good price. Yeah, and the food's good too. That's the other thing that a lot of people don't mention is that MSC is really up their food game too. They have, yeah, take advantage of those offers. Call Mark in his office, just get the conversation started. No obligation, but you won't be disappointed if you decide to go. 888-718-7717. 888-718-7717. And you can also get the contact information and some of the sailing information right on blueplanetvacations. com.
Patrick Wiscombe:You can listen to this award-nominated show again tomorrow morning, Sunday, at 11 am, right here on this very radio station that you're listening to right now. But if you can't listen in real time, you can stream, download and subscribe to the podcast at InsideTravelTalk. com. We're on all the major podcast platforms and if you just want to stream the show, you can just stream it right on InsideTravelTalk. com. It is now your turn to get out and explore the world while you can, because you never know what curveballs life is going to throw at you, and you know what I'm talking about. Live your life deliberately, live your life intentionally. And a sincere thank you for listening. We don't have a show or a business without you. Thank you, have a great week. We'll talk to you next Saturday and Sunday.
Show Voice:That's it. That's the end of the show You've been listening to the Inside Travel Talk podcast and radio show with Patrick Wiscombe and Mark Faldmo, presented by BluePlanetVacations. com. Book your adventure right now. Call 888-718-7717. That's 888-718-7717. Thanks for listening. Have a great week.