Now that they’re owned by TripAdvisor, anyone at all can list their tours, so there is zero filtering, no quality assurance. If you go directly to Viator site, you can’t even cross check the tour company on other sites or that company’s own site, because Viator only reveals the name AFTER you have paid. I’m assuming they do this so you can’t bypass them and book directly with the actual business, which is just shady and wrong. Going through TWO third-party booking sites to book a tour also leaves travelers open to bigger issues, such as the millions of clients who had their credit card details stolen when Viator’s website was hacked in 2014. Caveat emptor, book at your own risk. And it’s no surprise TripAdvisor gives preferential placement on its website to only tour companies using Viator. They even fool travelers into paying more than the official price for popular tourist sites.

This effort to save face proved to be a miscalculation. Elements of the Japanese 38th Division attacked on December 8. With the advantage of air and artillery superiority, veteran Japanese troops quickly overwhelmed the British defenders. Governor Sir Mark Young surrendered the colony on Christmas Day, 1941. Many Japanese atrocities followed. Marshal Zhukov’s winter counteroffensive safeguards Moscow: In late November, the leading troops of Army Group Center’s Second Panzer Division — many of them frostbitten, without proper winter clothing, short of fuel, and weakened by earlier fighting — halted within sight of the Kremlin’s spires. Elsewhere, Army Groups South and North were already stalled. Then, on December 5, Marshal Zhukov launched his major counteroffensive, striking Army Group Center with the 17 armies of his Western Front. They pushed the Nazi Germans back 60 miles, thereby safeguarding Moscow. U.S. Marines defend Wake Island: The 1942 film Wake Island commemorated America’s defense of the tiny Pacific atoll in December 1941. Initially, just 450 U.S.

Dive deep into the local vibe and take in all the sights and sounds up close. Enjoy complete freedom to pause your journey whenever something catches your eye. Keep moving and stay fit even while you’re away from home. When you’re out exploring new places, finding a place to stay can take up a big chunk of your budget. With hostels, you get to sleep in dorm-style rooms which are way cheaper than getting a hotel room. They also give you the chance to meet other people who love traveling just as much as you do and even make some friends along the way. By couchsurfing, not only do you save all that money since it’s free, but you also get an amazing opportunity to experience life like the locals. Both these choices are great for anyone looking to cut down on their accommodation costs while still having an awesome travel experience.

St. Jude meets Better Business Bureau guidelines, which call for charities to maintain reserves of less than three times total expenses, but other experts expressed alarm that the hospital had accumulated such a large sum of money. The size of the St. Jude reserve is “staggering,” said Laura Otten, the director of LaSalle University’s master program in nonprofit leadership. She said a typical reserve for a nonprofit the size of St. Jude is one to two years of expenses. Donors generally want to know their dollars are being put to work, she said. The hospital said it needs a large reserve because its unique operating model relies on donations to fund annual operating costs. ” the hospital said in a written response to ProPublica questions. But the hospital’s reserve is already more than large enough to buffer against recessions and potential drops in donations, said Ge Bai, a professor of accounting and health policy at Johns Hopkins University.

So any given tour company can briefly pop up to number one if a bunch of their clients all post their reviews on the same day (by the way, this is how every single book on the planet becomes a best-seller on Amazon, even if just for a few minutes). This of course favors companies who ask (or in my mind, pester) their customers to leave a TripAdvisor review over companies that don’t. It also favors businesses that operate year-round without any break in the low season. How does having one ranking for all tours – where the Hop-on, Hop-off bus tours, Versailles bike tours, free walking tours and private, custom tours like mine are all put into one big category – useful for anyone? Same problem with ranking palace hotels like the Four Seasons and Ritz in the same category with little boutique hotels or youth hostels. Or rankings where burger joints are competing with Michelin-starred restaurants. This doesn’t help travelers make informed decisions.