Podcast Transcript:

Hey folks, it's Mark Murphy with TravelTube.com. Great to be back with you.

TravelTube.com is the Travel Expert Channel. That's why I feature travel agents, travel influencers, suppliers, and destinations — coming soon — because we want to get that information out to you. This industry is fragmented, with people traveling all over the world to different places at different times. We want to bring that collective knowledge together in a single visual platform: TravelTube.com.

Consumers come here as well — we can see that through our traffic, which has been building nicely over the last nine months. But we can't do it without the travel agent community actively sharing this information, promoting it, and most importantly, following TravelTube.com on the site and on your favorite podcast apps. The content can be consumed anywhere. It's a podcast, but the video is great too, and that's how we spread it across TikTok and everywhere else.

If you're a travel agent, you'll want to be interviewed on this platform. The average interview gets over 10,000 views across all our followers and the main platform — and we're not even a year old yet. We're only going to get bigger and better.

So with that said, I appreciate those who are following and sharing, and I'd encourage others to do the same. I've done more to promote the value of travel agents on national TV over the last 15, 16, 17 years than anyone else combined. That's not a brag — it's just a fact. One year alone, my reach was over 110 million consumers hearing travel-related content where I mentioned the value of travel agents. That wasn't an outlier — that was just one year. I had a great publicist — shout out to Anna D'Souza — who did a fantastic job getting me in front of people. Even today she still gets requests, and just this week I appeared on Newsmax.

So like, follow, and share everywhere you see TravelTube.com if you want to support travel agents and the industry.

Today's Topics

Here's what we're getting into today:

The partial government shutdown and how it's impacting travel — plus a segment I did on Newsmax where I gave yet another shout-out to travel agents.

Geography lessons — Europeans love to say Americans are unsophisticated for only speaking one language. I've got a reality check on that.

Politics and travel — how political tensions are driving people away from certain destinations.

Southwest Airlines assigned seating — it's getting better for some travelers, but others are getting hit hard. Who's right: the passenger or Southwest?

Hotel stays before a cruise — is booking a pre-cruise hotel room cheaper than missing your cruise? Spoiler: yes, unless you're staying in a $30,000 penthouse.

Missing the boat — literally. A family filed a formal complaint after Carnival departed without them. Carnival said, "Not our problem." Who's right?

And finally — can you lose your travel perks for protesting? Somebody just lost their TSA PreCheck and Global Entry. We'll get into that.

So again — like, subscribe, and follow us everywhere. Support those who support you.

Newsmax Appearance: Spring Break & Travel Agents

This week I went on Newsmax to talk about what's happening: government shutdowns and their impact on travel, high booking periods, and what travelers should do when flights get canceled.

I always get called before the holidays for advice, and I always say the same thing: you should have called me three months ago. I would have told you how to book it properly. I would have told you to take an extra day or two to arrive early so you didn't miss your cruise. But now you've missed it — so who am I helping at that point?

At least I can spread the word about travel agents, which is exactly what I did on Newsmax. Here's what I said on air:

"Whenever you have busy travel periods like spring break — and it's now spread over about the next two months — you're always going to have more delays and more cancellations. I always recommend using a travel agent, because those folks will give you exactly that kind of advice at the time of booking. They'll tell you to book a pre-stay for the cruise so you're not chasing the ship as it pulls away from the pier."

That's what I do. I support travel agents, and I'm happy to do it. All I'm asking in return is that you click the share button and sign up with your email at TravelTube.com. You'll actually become a better travel agent as a result — you'll learn from your peers and from travel influencers who are excellent at capturing content from around the world.

And if you're a travel agent who just got back from a trip or has experience to share, I'd love to have you on the show. Go to the bottom of TravelTube.com, click on "Travel Agents Get Featured," fill it out, and I'll reach out to schedule a time.

Geography Lesson: Why Americans Speak One Language

Now let me get into geography — specifically, the common European critique that Americans are unsophisticated for only speaking one language.

We have 50 states — 50 — many of which are completely unique in terms of geography, climate, customs, culture, and food. Our country is absolutely remarkable from that standpoint. And yes, English is our primary language. If you live in the United States, there's no practical reason to learn another language.

Here's why. Take a map of Europe — Portugal, Ireland, the UK, Sweden, Norway, Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Poland, the Netherlands, Croatia, Serbia, Greece — all of those countries can fit inside the United States. So if you live in France and drive to Germany, of course you're speaking a different language. That's like someone living in New Jersey driving to New York and suddenly needing a second language. Except in the U.S., driving from New Jersey to Ohio takes six hours just to cross Pennsylvania.

Want to drive across Texas? Starting in West Texas, heading toward New Orleans, you're looking at a very long day. Imagine if every U.S. state had its own language — of course you'd grow up multilingual. But it's a bit disingenuous to look at Americans and say, "I can't believe you only speak one language." We've never had to learn another one.

And for the record, I've been to around 80 countries. I love traveling. But you don't need to learn every language to travel the world — though I will say, when I was in South Korea, nobody spoke English and I absolutely needed a translator. Apps help with that now.

The U.S. is roughly 2,500 miles wide. Driving straight across at 70 mph without stopping takes over 24 hours. If you drove 24 hours in Europe, you'd pass through dozens of countries and languages. The comparison simply doesn't hold up.

And yes — I did once struggle to understand a Cajun guide named Captain Lou on an airboat tour south of New Orleans. He was speaking English. But man, that accent was something. Just like Americans visiting Scotland sometimes can't follow the Glasgow dialect. Accents and regional dialects are real — but it's still one language.

Politics and Travel

Let me get into the intersection of politics and travel — something I've been covering since my days running TravelPulse.com, where I called it "the intersection of travel, finance, and politics."

Travel is directly impacted by geopolitics. Wars, tensions, sanctions — they all hit the travel industry hard. But what we're seeing now is something a bit different: political sentiment driving individual travel decisions.

In Canada, there are people saying, "I'm not traveling to the U.S. while that man is president." And look, I started a company in Canada back around 2014–2015. I never once said, "I'm not going to Toronto because I don't like Trudeau." A country is not its prime minister or president.

But we're seeing real numbers. Japan — historically a top destination for Chinese travelers — has seen a 61% drop in Chinese arrivals because of political tensions: disputes over territorial waters, overfishing, and more. It's impacting travel in a major way.

The same thing is happening with some Canadians in Florida. People who've spent six months a year here for 10 or 15 years are now considering selling their homes and leaving — over politics. And the thing is, whoever is in office will be gone in a few years. Does it make sense to sell your house, take a financial hit, and potentially not get back into the market at the same price — all because of a politician you'll never meet?

I understand travel is used as a political and economic lever. China's leadership can discourage Chinese tourists from visiting Japan to put economic pressure on that country. Canada uses tourism as part of its response to tariff disputes. These are real geopolitical tools. But for individual travelers making personal decisions? I'd encourage people to separate political frustrations from the joy of travel.

Tariffs are real. Inflation was real — peaking at 9% and now trending well under 2%. But there's a lot of hyperbole on all sides. The key is being able to distinguish the underlying facts from the noise.

And the media amplifies everything. A protest or enforcement action in one state can make the whole country look like it's on fire — which discourages international visitors from coming here. That affects every destination in the U.S., including states like Florida that are peaceful and welcoming.

My bottom line: don't let politics dictate your life. We aren't here forever. Get out and travel. Meet people. You'll find that most of us don't care where you're from, what language you speak, or what your politics are. Come to Lauderdale-by-the-Sea on a Saturday afternoon and you'll see Canadians, Latin Americans, Brazilians, Russians — everyone enjoying the beach, the music, the food, and each other's company. That's what travel is really about.

Southwest Airlines Seating Situation

Let's talk Southwest Airlines. They've changed their seating model, and things are getting complicated.

First — the policy on larger passengers. Southwest now requires travelers who can't fit in a single seat to purchase a second one. If you show up at the airport without having booked that second seat, they'll charge you on the spot. People are upset, but here's the reality: if you take up two seats, you pay for two seats. It's not unlike checking 200 pounds of luggage versus a backpack. These logistics matter when you're flying a commercial aircraft.

Second — and this one's more complicated — a story out of the New York Post: a father was separated from his toddlers on a Southwest flight because he didn't pay for assigned seating. People online are calling him cheap. But I actually see both sides.

My take: if you want to sit together on a flight, yes — you should pay for assigned seats. That's on you. But here's the thing: the airline has the ages of every traveler in the booking. If the system shows that passengers include a two-year-old and a five-year-old, there should be a pop-up or alert that says, "You have minors who cannot sit unaccompanied — you'll need to purchase assigned seats." That didn't happen. The father assumed the software would flag it. It didn't.

This is exactly where a travel agent adds value. A good agent would have said, "Hey, you've got two little kids — you need to choose your seats, otherwise Southwest is going to scatter your family across the plane. Here's how to handle that."

In the end, I land on the side of the traveler — but I think the fix is on Southwest's software side. If you're going to process a transaction, take someone's credit card, and you have the data on the ages of the travelers, you have an obligation to flag that these people need to sit together and ensure that's reflected in the booking flow.

Missing the Cruise: Who's Responsible?

Let's talk about the family who drove from Georgia to Port Canaveral for a Carnival cruise — and missed it.

They got stuck in bumper-to-bumper traffic on I-75. They arrived about an hour before the scheduled departure, but embarkation had already closed. The ship was still visible at the pier, but they were denied boarding. They filed a formal complaint. Carnival said: not our problem.

Here's the hard truth: Carnival is correct.

If you're driving 450 miles — roughly 6.5 hours without stops at 70 mph — that's a lot of uncertainty. Traffic, accidents, construction — anything can happen. And cruise lines operate under Homeland Security regulations: the final passenger manifest must be submitted at least 60 minutes before sailing. Once it's filed, no additional passengers can board, period. It's the same as airline gate closure — once those doors shut, no one else gets on.

The final boarding time is always listed clearly on your documents. If you miss it, you miss the ship.

What should they have done? Booked a hotel the night before in the port city. That's it. A pre-cruise hotel stay is a fraction of the cost of missing a cruise. And the upside is real — once the ship opens for embarkation, you can board hours before departure, and your vacation starts right then.

I took a Bermuda cruise out of New York when my daughter was four months old and my son was two and a half. We drove 35 minutes from our home in Rye, NY, parked, walked to the pier, and were on vacation within an hour of leaving our house. Door to door — one hour. It was incredible.

Book the pre-cruise hotel. Don't chase the ship.

Losing Travel Perks for Protesting

Finally — can you lose your TSA PreCheck and Global Entry for protesting?

Yes. And here's how it happened.

A traveler — a woman, by the reports — lost both of her trusted traveler credentials after being documented impeding federal law enforcement officers from carrying out immigration enforcement duties. This happened three days after the incident.

TSA PreCheck and Global Entry are privileges — not rights. To receive them, you go through fingerprinting, an in-person interview, and a background check. The government grants you expedited access because they've determined you're not a security threat.

If you're filmed actively blocking federal law enforcement, that information can be run through their databases. If you're willing to impede law enforcement on a public street, the logic follows that you may be a security concern at an airport. The programs exist for people who can be trusted to pose no security risk.

Americans absolutely have the right to protest. But there are legal boundaries — and obstructing federal law enforcement crosses one of them. If you do that and it's documented, you may lose these privileges.

The bottom line: you're lucky you're not facing criminal charges. Complaining about losing your PreCheck on social media after getting filmed doing something you shouldn't have been doing? That's not the hill to die on.

Closing

Thanks for hanging in there with me today. We covered a lot of ground — Newsmax appearances and travel agents, geography and language myths, politics and travel, Southwest seating, missing cruises, and travel perks.

Do me a favor: support travel agents, support TravelTube. Follow us everywhere. Sign up for the newsletter at TravelTube.com — we send it out weekly so you always know what we're highlighting.

And if you're a travel agent with something to share, click the "Travel Agents Get Featured" link at the bottom of the site. I'll reach out and we'll schedule a time to get your knowledge and experience in front of our audience.

This is Mark Murphy and TravelTube.com — the Travel Expert Channel — signing off.