A few things you may find useful
Over the weeks, I see releases, promotions and news items that don’t warrant individual treatment but might still be of use or interest to you.
FTC junk fee comments now open:
The Federal Trade Commission recently posted a docket open for consumer comments on a possible ruling against “junk fees.” It’s clear that the fees consumers resent the most are “resort,” “destination” and similar mandatory fees that hotels exclude from the rates they post initially but hit you for when you check out. As I’ve covered previously, these fees are pure deception: devices to make a hotel rate look lower than it really is in price comparisons and advertisements. For several years, FTC has dodged this issue, but President Joe Biden’s recent nudge about junk fees seems finally to give the issue some urgency.
However, FTC seems to be more concerned with disclosure than prohibition. That’s misguided, because disclosure is not an adequate remedy for deception. You can make your voice heard at regulations.gov/ docket/FTC-2022-0069/ comments.
Best ski deals: The folks at Home ToGo just posted a compilation of the “most affordable” ski destinations. The compilation rates designations by a combination of the costs of ski lift tickets and accommodations, per person in peak season. Lift ticket prices are a straightforward basis of ranking, but accommodation costs are tough. Home ToGo is a vacation rental search system whose cost for accommodations is based on rentals, so figures may not reflect relative costs for travelers who choose commercial accommodations.
The compilation found Mount Hood Meadows, Oregon; Gore Mountain, New York; Whistler BC; Kimberley, BC; and Mission Ridge, Washington, to offer daily ski lift costs less than $100 and total daily costs less than $150. Among the most popular areas, Keystone, Montana; Whistler,
BC; and Breckenridge, Colorado also offer lift tickets at less than $100, but accommodation costs put totals at $236 to $314. Top total costs at Vail and Park City run $345 to $368. Check the full report at hometogo.com/ inspiration/ski-vacation.
Drink tap water?: Many travelers from the U.S. hesitate to drink tap water anywhere else and instead pay for bottled water. And residents of many countries with safe tap water still insist on ordering the bottled stuff at restaurants. To help you decide whether to drink tap water, the folks at the Family Vacation Guide compiled data from the CDC Travelers’ Health Destination Guides into a summary.
The list of the 53 countries where tap water is safe includes all of Western Europe plus the Baltics, Croatia, Czechia, Greece, Hungary, Poland, Slovakia and Slovenia, but not in the other Balkans. In Asia and the Pacific, tap water is OK in Australia, Japan, New Zealand, Singapore and South Korea. In the Middle East, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates offer drinkable water, but not Egypt or Israel. All of Africa is on the “don’t drink” list, as is all of South America except Chile, all of Central America except Costa
Rica and most Caribbean countries except Martinique. Check the full listings and associated maps at thefamilyvacationguide. com/travel-guides/wherecan-you-drink-tap-wateras-a-tourist.
Medical tourism: Many U.S. residents travel to other countries for big-ticket medical and dental procedures that aren’t covered by their medical insurance and that they could not afford at home. A new release from HealthCare.com shows why. It compiled typical costs for a long list of common procedures in the U.S. with costs in Mexico, Thailand and Turkey — three of the most popular medical tourism destinations. Overall, Turkey fares best, with prices 39% to 92% less than U.S. costs, but Mexican and Thai prices are close behind.
Medical tourism involves a bunch of issues and risks, and I can’t vouch for the provenance of HealthCare.com’s data. But the tables and links at healthcare.com/ medical-travel-soars-pastpre-pandemic-numbers119300#inflation are a good place to start.