Guest Senior Editor PJM, London, England: Sorry to see honest, hard-working people lose business, but we believe bricks and mortar travel agencies may soon have to close up shop.

Over the years, we’ve had experiences with excellent, good, so-so and inept local agencies. With the ever-expanding internet, we now click travel sites on our computer to do most of our comparison shopping.

We’ve been all over the globe, including Italy, France, Belgium, Germany, Russia, Las Vegas, Reno, Mexico, Panama Canal, Hawaii, Alaska, South America, the Caribbean, Canada, USA and many more destinations.

There are few places in the world where tips are not expected. In some, handing out the cash is actually required. Whatever the situation, it’s always a bit confusing and/or embarrassing.

For example, a friend recently booked an all-inclusive, one-week cruise for the amazing online price of $39.95. He packed bags, flew in and dashed up the gangplank. A steward looked at the ticket and escorted him to his assigned quarters.

No one wants to talk about the nasty critters, but they too often show up when we roam the world. You could find them, whether overnighting in a grungy hostel or sleeping at the most luxurious hotel.

Your travel4seniors.com editor most recently encountered them in Las Vegas. It wasn’t at one of the posh new resorts, but a supposedly clean hotel on the Strip. After a night’s sleep, my spouse noticed several bites on her ankle. When we rolled down the covers, we could see several bugs on the bed sheet.

Q: We keep getting phone calls, some of them recorded, about very economical vacation packages to Florida, Las Vegas, Hawaii, Mexico, the Bahamas and other places. Some actually begin with: Congratulations, you may have already won a trip to....

The low prices and freebees sound just too good to be true. Should we buy one of those packages or at least follow up, call the 800 numbers and get more info? ARMcN, Omaha NE

A: In a word or two: HELL, NO! In our experience, we’ve never found any unsolicited telemarketing travel offers, no matter how exciting, cheap or absolutely free they seemed, that were honest. Not only should you ignore such calls, but NEVER call back and give personal info, especially credit card and other financial ID info.