Coming up on this episode of the travel show, advanced secrets for using Google flights, how Las Vegas is planning to welcome visitors back, an app that gets you the best deals on last-minute hotels, and have the TSA completely lost their minds? You won't believe what they've done. I'm Andrew Lock, and this is the show that shares the secrets to smarter travel. Hello and welcome to the show. My name is Andrew Lock, and as a frequent flyer and travel pro, I'm excited to bring this show to you, along with my Swedish sidekick, Gabriela Soutine.

Before you say it, I know, I know! We are officially insane for launching a travel show during a pandemic, but our goal is to get you prepped and excited for when you can travel. As the world opens up again, we'll be showing you some fascinating places to visit. And of course, there's no shortage of those. We'll be showing you how to get more perks, upgrades and VIP status when you travel. And of course, we'll discuss the impact of covid.

You know, it never ceases to amaze me the weird and wonderful ways different people like to travel, the latest fad seems to be tours to Chernobyl, to see what a radioactive wasteland looks like. Here, I'll save you the trip. Believe it or not, Chernobyl are incredibly popular. This website does a review of the top 15, which prompts the question, how many are there!? What kind of person wants more radiation in their lives?

"Honey, our microwave, mobile phone and Wi-Fi aren't sterilizing us fast enough, let's go visit a reactor zone." Do these maniacs just do Chernobyl or is there a whole radiation road trip? Do they start at Three Mile Island, then do Fukushima - maybe a quick stop at an Iranian weapons facility - and then head to Chernobyl for a final toasting? These people have gotta look like human guacamole by the time they're done. And what adventures are next for this type of thrill seeker? Tea with the Taliban? Dinner with drug lords? Or perhaps the ultimate risk... coffee with Carol Baskin!? Be careful with that one. You might be the one who gets eaten.

Well, let's talk about covid-19, because that's always fun, isn't it? As you know, the last 12 months have been pretty miserable. Most of us have been trapped at home. And who would have ever thought anyone would ever say the phrase, "I've finished Netflix."

So many stores are closed around here... the hairdresser's, the nail salons, the tanning places all closed. Yeah, it's about to get ugly out there. Thankfully, travel lovers can now celebrate because at last there's a vaccine. Now, I know there's a lot of false info out there, including rumours that it contains mind controlling nano-bots developed by ancient aliens, powered by 5G rays beaming out of Blake Shelton's teeth.

For the record, none of that is true.

The Covid jab is tested and ready, and it's being rolled out as we speak. Just to reassure you, I read that the odds of being killed by the vaccine are the same as getting hit by lightning while getting hit by lightning. So if you are the type of person that tends to get sizzled by electrical bolts from two distinct weather systems at the same time, then you should definitely ask your doctor if the covid vaccine is right for you. But for the rest of us, the upside is enormous.

Not only can we avoid this dreadful disease, we'll also be able to keep our sense of taste and smell. So just think soon we'll be in Paris enjoying the bouquet of their wonderful perfumes, traveling to Naples to enjoy the aroma of fresh baked pizza, or even sunning ourselves in Singapore while enjoying the unique fragrance of durian. So let's celebrate the fact that we can now start preparing to safely tour our wonderful world. And now, it's time to hear from travel presenter Gabriella Soutine.

Have you ever wondered what that little hole in the back of the plane is for? Yeah, me too. Well, wonder no more thanks to our friends at Destination Tips who reveal the secret.

Well, thank goodness for the hole in the tail. There's a phase I never thought I'd say on TV.

Well, airport security has been in the news, again. As you know, the TSA, which stands for "Tear Suitcases Apart," are the organisation tasked with stressing you out at the start of your trip, I think just about everyone has a story about how they've been shouted at, groped, or had their luggage pulled apart on a cold metal table. Don't get me wrong, I'm all for security checks. But what I'm against is how some of their staff treat people.

The irony, of course is, if you refuse to be patted down, they arrest you. What's the first thing they do when they arrest you? They pat you down. I don't know if you heard about this, but their latest blunder was handcuffing and detaining a 5 year old American boy for four hours, because and I quote, "he could have posed a security threat." Really?! What did they think he would do, stab someone with a crayon, smash someone over the head with a teddy bear?

I know some toddlers seem like tiny terrorists, but it's not an actual crime for kids to lay in the overhead bin. Come to think of it, that might actually be a good idea. Anyway, people were obviously outraged by the treatment of this 5 year old kid. So to improve relationships with frequent flyers, one TSA officer thought it would be a great idea to offer travelers a downloadable TSA calendar, the kind you hang up on the wall. Honestly, I think his brain must have been fried from standing in front of an X-ray machine all day, because how many travelers do you know that say, "Oh, I just love the TSA!? If only they had a calendar, we could ditch the one with all the sunsets in paradise."

I know what's going to happen! Other government departments are going to think this is a great idea, and the next thing we know, they'll all be trying to inflict calendars on us... The IRS calendar of tax penalties, where every day it'll feel like there's an audit officer looking over your shoulder, or maybe the CDC calendar of infectious diseases every month features a debilitating disease along with graphic photos.

Seriously, what government official thought this would be a good idea? What were they thinking? And now here's Gabriella again with a great way to save on last minute hotels.

last-minuteIf you're a traveller, you'll know that it's easy to spend a lot of money on a 15 by 15 foot box, also known as a hotel room. Traditionally, most travelers book their hotel rooms weeks in advance using one of the big online travel agencies like Expedia or Hotels.com. That used to be how I did it, too.

But now, unless I have to commit in advance to specific hotel in a specific part of the city, I tend to book rooms in the last minute for a substantial savings. And with the impact of covid, you're pretty much guaranteed to get a good deal. One of my favorite apps for last-minute bookings is called Hotel Tonight. It's available for both iPhone and Android devices and it's really easy to use. The home screen automatically detects where you are and it'll find hotels for that night.

If you're still on your way to your destination, you can search any city, and within a few seconds you'll be shown the best deals you can. Then browse through the list to find something that suits your taste and budget. You pay easily through the app using a credit card or PayPal, and you'll get an immediate confirmation. And the best thing about Hotel Tonight is the prices. You really can save a bundle on hotels and you'll often receive discounts you generally won't find anywhere else.

Personally, I found there's always availability, so you don't need to worry about getting a room. So check out Hotel Tonight and let us know in the comments if you are to use it. I'd love to compare notes with you. That's all for now. Back to you, Andrew.

Thank you, Gabriella. That's a great resource for travel pros. One of the US cities that's been most affected by the downturn in travel is Las Vegas, because, of course, most of it revolves around tourism and conventions. I visited Las Vegas airport to see how they're preparing to welcome visitors back.

Las Vegas, the place where you can sleep in a pyramid, get married by Elvis, and try 17 foods on one plate. As one of the most popular destinations for both gambling and entertainment, Vegas normally attracts around 40 million visitors a year. In the last 12 months however, the pandemic has slashed that by more than 80 percent. But now, as Vegas starts to welcome guests back again, the airport has created a series of covid related messages themed around what else but gambling, unlike most airports, rather dull instructions.

These are pretty creative. One reads, "Don't roll the dice, stay six feet apart" and another says "hand hygiene. Bet on it." There's about half a dozen of these messages in use all over the airport from small signs on seats to the large billboards.

Ironically, with passenger numbers so low, social distancing is pretty easy and for once, everyone can find a seat at the gate. Still feels very strange here, though. Most of the shops and restaurants are closed, some due to lack of demand and others, sadly, because they've gone out of business. I was given special permission to record this piece without a mask after a negative covid test. But in case you forget to bring a mask, there's now vending machines offering personal protective equipment of various places around the terminal.

I even noticed a Covid-19 essential store. I'm not quite sure what's considered an "essential." Although the recovery from the pandemic is slow. On the bright side, room rates are ridiculously low. I stayed at Harrah's on the strip for just ten bucks a night, with no resort fee. How is that possible? Well, it does take a bit of insider knowledge. First, I signed up for Founder's Card, at www.TheFoundersCard.com. It's promoted as being for business owners or founders, but actually anyone can apply.

And one of the many benefits is instant Diamond status with Caesars Rewards. In Vegas, Caesars owns 10 hotels: Planet Hollywood, Paris, Rio, of course, Caesars Palace and many others. So with your VIP status, not only do you get 20 percent of room rates, you never get charged a resort fee, which is normally a whopping forty-two dollars a night. So for a one week stay, that would have added up to four hundred and eighty one dollars, which is actually quite reasonable for the Strip.

But thanks to Founders Card and my Caesars rewards status, all I paid was a flat ten dollars a night. So it was just seventy dollars for the entire week. Now, because of Covid, I did have to do my own housekeeping, but for ten dollars a night I'm more than happy to make my own bed. And I bet you would too.

Most travel pros are familiar with using Google flights as a research tool, but there's a lot more to it than just simple flight searches. So let's dive in and mention a couple of advance strategies. Suppose we wanted to research a transcon flight from L.A. to New York once we were on Google.com/flights, we enter LAX in the 'from' box and NYC in the 'to' box. Then we select a date range. So we'll select April 14th to the 21st.

Google instantly displays the flight results for us in order of the lowest price first, and you're probably familiar with this view so far. What a lot of people miss is this option - to view the data grid. When you click on that, Google shows you the prices for all the surrounding dates. On one handy chart. And sometimes you can find a much cheaper price by choosing a different combination of dates. Along the top you can see all the possible departure dates, and down the side are the return dates.

At a glance, you can see which combination of dates gives the best prices, and those are shown on the boxes highlighted in green. There's also another handy function too. When you click on 'Price Graph,' Google shows the prices for the same length of trip in this case seven days, but departing on the 60 days following the date we entered. So we can quickly see whether it's possible to get a better deal by departing later than the dates we'd originally entered.

We can even use the back and forward arrows to see even more date choices - further backwards and further forward. Pretty nifty, right? Lastly, if you're not ready to book just yet and you want to keep an eye on the prices, if you turn on the toggle marked track prices, as long as you're logged into an account, Google will monitor the search for you and send email updates whenever the prices change. So try out those search tips for Google flights and let us know how you get on with it.

There's certainly plenty of flight deals to be had right now. Well, if you enjoyed this episode, please consider becoming a subscriber so you don't miss out on all the fun. And also visit TravelProShow.com, where you can grab the nifty free guide seven top travel hacks to save you money on your next flight. It's the ultimate blueprint for getting the best deal. We'd love to hear your opinion and feedback about any aspect of the show, even if it's just to compliment us on the shade of orange in our logo.

By the way, we greatly appreciate it when you share this show with your travel buddies, so thank you very much for dinner and I'm sure they will thank you, too. If you want more travel tips and inspiration, check out the phenomenal content at www.ThePointsGuy.com. And on Instagram, check out Murad Ossman @muradosmannjaw-dropping, whose travel photos are jaw dropping. They all feature his beautiful wife extending her hand. We'll put links to both of those resources below, so be sure to check those out.

Join us again next week when I'll be checking out the covid situation at Atlanta Airport. Maybe I'll even bump into Sir Elton John, who recently moved there - to Atlanta that is, not the airport. And we'll also show you an amazing travel hack that will save you money on virtually any flight. You're going to love it. And finally, here's a lost in translation sign from my travels. This one's from Starlight Gourmet Coffee in Hong Kong, where they proudly offer milk, coffee or "tasteless coffee!" Hmmm, something's definitely lost in translation there. See you next week!