Talking Travel On AAA Radio

I'm always happy to jump the 7:25 a.m. "Keystone" on Amtrak from Penn Station to Pennsylvania for the opportunity to share stories from the road with a veteran of the industry.

Last week Fenton and I taped 10 segments, which is two Saturday shows worth of radio. The first five segments aired last Saturday.

Here are the links to each (click segment numbers to listen):

Segment 1: I boldly foolishly predict Tiger will miss the cut at the Masters.

Segment 2: We discuss some of my recent travels, my mission statement for the travel section of Golf Digest and I attack the $500 green fee at Pebble Beach.

Segment 3: We talk about the Greenbrier's great escape, my schedule, reporting stories for the magazine and some general thoughts on the travel industry.

Segment 4: More travel talk, packing tips and Q&As with tour pros, athletes and celebrities.

Segment 5: Fenton tees up the show this Saturday and talks about the Golf Digest partnership with AAA -- up to 60% discounts on green fees if you're a AAA member.

In related news, my round-trip ticket from Penn to Penn. was $94. It is supposed to take 3 hours, 18 minutes each way. On the way from New York the train lost power twice and eventually we had to get on a new train to finish the trip. I was an hour and a half late and received exactly $0 off the price of my ticket. We got the courtesy "sorry for the inconvenience" over the loudspeaker. I had plenty of time to think: Shouldn't a travel "inconvenience" have some monetary value to the customer? If a three-hour trip cost me $47, shouldn't a five-hour trip be a little less? Why not? If I jumped the train that could get me there in an hour, I'd have to pay a lot more.

--Matty G.