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Oct
8
Hotels
Choice Hotels, American Express Offer
Double Rewards for European Stays
Members of Choice Privileges, Choice Hotels International’s loyalty program who use their American Express card when they stay at Choice Hotels International in Europe will earn 10 bonus points per $1 spent, in addition to the base 10 points (a total of 20 points per $1 spent).
The offer is good through Nov. 30 and includes Comfort, Quality and Clarion brand hotels. Travelers can register at choicehotels.com/axp. (Source: Choice press release).
Car and Rail
Dollar, Thrifty Offer American Express
Cardholders Special Rates in Florida
Dollar Rent A Car and Thrifty Car Rental, are including Pass24 Prepaid Toll Service with select car rental rates at participating Florida locations when customers use any American Express Card with Promo Code AX13.
This offer is valid at participating location in Florida through Dec. 15. Ordinarily, Pass24 pre-paid toll service costs $5.95 per day or $27.95 per week in Florida.
Enterprise Makes Car Sharing
Program Available Nationwide
WeCar, Enterprise Rent-A-Car’s business-to-business sharing program, is now available nationwide.
It provides hourly car rentals for corporate campuses, government installations, and colleges and universities. After enrolling in the program, members can reserve a vehicle online for all transportation needs, 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
The cars are strategically placed in designated, easy-to-find parking spaces. (Source: Enterprise press release).
You and your PDA
Eighty-seven percent of workplace professionals take their PDAs to bed, according to a work-life study commissioned by Sheraton Hotels & Resorts, but believe it enables them to spend more time away from the office and with family and friends. lounge. lounge. (Source: Sheraton press release)
- 85 percent say technology makes them feel compelled to be connected to work 24/7
- 84% check their PDA-s just before going to bed and as soon as they wake up.
- 85% say that PDAs and cell phones let them spend more time out of the office
- 84% say it gives them more quality time and flexibility with family and friends
Sheraton commissioned the study as part of its launch of its “Link-Sheraton experienced with Microsoft,” lobby lounge that helps travelers stay connected on the road. (Source: Sheraton press release).
Oct
7
Airlines Business Travel for Oct 2008
Filed Under Airlines | Leave a Comment
United, Continental and Frontier Add or Up Baggage Fees
Airlines continue to try to deal with high oil prices by upping or adding baggage fees. United Airlines has doubled the fee for the first checked bag to $50 from $25 one way, unless you’re flying in United First or United Business, have Premier status with United or Star Alliance, or are active duty military personnel traveling on orders.
United estimates that the $50 service fee will apply to one out of seven customers. Customers may pay these service fees at an airport.
Easy Check-In kiosk or with a skycap. Ultimately, United aims to give customers the option of paying these baggage fees online. Continental now charges you $15 for the first checked bag unless you’re traveling First, BusinessFirst or full fare economy. OnePass Elite and SkyTeam Elite First and military personnel are exempt.
Frontier Airlines will begin charging $15 for your first checked bag and $25 for the second, starting Nov. 1. The Department of Transportation estimates that the aviation industry collected $182.6 million in excess baggage fees in the second quarter of 2008, up from $122.3 million in the first quarter and $113.0 million in the second quarter of 2007. (Source: airline, DOT press releases).
Air Canada to Offer Inflight Internet Starting Next Spring
Air Canada will offer inflight internet beginning next spring aboard Airbus A319 aircraft on select flights to the U.S. West Coast and will be accessible by customers with a standard, wi-fi equipped laptop or Personal Electronic Device (PED).
Initially, the Gogo system will be powered by its partner Aircell’s existing network and only available in the U.S. to make Air Canada’s rollout fast, economical and simple. (Source: Air Canada press release).
Delta Introduces Two-Class Shuttle Service
Delta Air Lies will offer two-class Shuttle service with 12 seats in First Class and 128 in Economy, keeping its open-seating policy for each class. Sky Miles Medallion members qualify for upgrades. During November, there may be a mix of one- and two-class Shuttle aircraft as Delta reconfigures its nine MD 88 Shuttle aircraft (Source: Delta news release).
If You Can Afford It,
There’s More Room in the Front of the Plane on International flights. The numbers of international premium class travelers actually dropped in July, according to the International Air Traffic Association.
Some of these travelers have probably moved to the back of the plane, but the sharp decline in premium travel also reflects a fall in business travel due to the increasing weakness of major economies. Most of the drops were in markets connected with Asia, but cross-border European numbers also shrank.
South America and markets connected to the Middle East and Africa did the best. Economy class continued to grow, but even that pace slowed sharply to just 0.9 percent in July, following a 3.4 percent growth in June and 4.6 percent for the first half of the year.
IATA’s August figures shows that international air travel growth overall is continuing to decline. After growing by 5.4 percent in the first half of the year, it slowed to 1.9 percent and July and 1.3 percent in August. (Source: IATA press releases)
Southwest Cabins Go Cashfree
Southwest Airlines has equipped its aircraft with handheld credit card devices and no longer accepts cash. The carrier accepts all major credit and debit cards for payment as well as Southwest Airlines Drink Coupons.
Customers paying with their Rapid Rewards credit card from Chase receive double reward dollars by using their card onboard. (Source: Southwest press release).
Clear FastPass Launches in Atlanta, Boston
Clear, which provides fast access through airport security, has launched at Boston Logan’s Terminal A and at Atlanta’s Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport.
The Clear card is now accepted at 20 airports and the Clear lanes have been used more than 1.5 million times at participating airports, including San Francisco, Denver, New York’s JFK and LaGuardia, Washington, DC’s Reagan and Dulles, and Orlando International Airport. (Source: Clear press release).
Sep
9
Hotel Car & Record Airfare Updates for Sept 2008
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Hotels
Sheraton Opens at JFK
The Sheraton JFK Hotel, a new build, has opened at New York´s John F. Kennedy International Airport. The 150-room hotel is a full-service hotel with meeting facilities, complimentary shuttle service to and from the airport, a restaurant, indoor pool, business center, fitness center and Club floor. (Source: Starwood Hotels Resorts press release).
Marriott Raleigh City Center Opens The 400-room Raleigh Marriott City Center has opened next to the new 500,000-square-foot Raleigh Convention Center. The 16-story hotel is attached to the convention center and has more than 15,000 square feet of meeting space, a business center, swimming pool and fitness center. It has two Italian restaurants and a 1,400 square foot Starbucks. (Source: Marriott press release).
Cars
Avis and Budget Offer Flicks to Go
Avis Rent A Car and Budget Rent A Car are introducing Flicks-To-Go, portable DVD players that attach
to the back of a car’s headrest. They include a choice of speakers for multiple viewers or two high-quality headphones which customers can keep. (Source: Avis press release).
Record Airfares
If it feels as though you’re paying more for airfare, there´s a reason. The latest American Express Business Travel Monitor reports that domestic and international airfares hit record levels in the second quarter of 2008. The good new is that companies can save money by emphasizing travel policy compliance.
Among the study’s findings:
- The average one-way domestic fare was $260, up $24 from the same period last year, a 10 percent increase, and up $27 from the first quarter, a 12 percent increase.
- The average one-way international fare hit its highest level since the inception of the Business Travel Monitor in 1999. These fares increased 11 percent over the same period last year, averaging $1,080.
- The percentage of international business class tickets dropped to their lowest level since 2004. Increases in the percentage of tickets purchased for the back of the plane indicate that travelers are trading down.
(Source: American Express press release).
Sep
5
American, BA, Iberia Form Transatlantic Alliance
Airlines continue to seek scale by working ever more closely together. The latest example of this is the business agreement between American Airlines, British Airways and Iberia. The airlines say the deal will give their customers more destinations to choose from while helping the airlines to save money and attract new customers, which in turn would ease the upward pressure on airfares due to rising fuel costs.
Fuel prices are dropping but continue to take their toll, as evidenced by the shutdown of the discount transatlantic carrier Zoom Airlines (Source: American, BA, Iberia press releases and Zoom website).
American, Delta Offer WiFi
In-flight Delta Air Lines made its´ announcement first but American Airlines was first out of the gate with in-flight WiFi. American now has inflight WiFi on its Boeing 767-200s flying between New York and San Francisco and Los Angeles.
The service costs $12.95 on flights of more than three hours; travelers simply turn on their WiFi enabled devices, including laptops, smart phones and PDAs, once they hit 10,00 feet and are connected to Aircell’s Gogo portal, the WiFi provider, where they sign up for the service. Delta, meanwhile, will offer WiFi on its domestic fleet of 330 mainline aircraft, also with Gogo, introducing it on its MD 88/99 aircraft this fall and rolling it out fleet wide in the first half of 2009. The service will cost $9.95 on flights or three hours or less and $12.95 on flights of three hours or more. (Source: American, Delta press releases).
TSA Lets You Leave Your Laptop in Some Bags
The Transportation Security Administration will now let you leave your laptop in its bag when you go through security as long as it meets new checkpoint friendly standards.
These bags should have a designated laptop-only section; they must completely unfold to lie flat on the X-ray belt; no metal snaps, zippers or buckles inside, underneath or on top of the laptop-only section; no pockets on the inside or outside of the laptop-only section and packed in the laptop-only section other than the computer itself.
The TSA worked with laptop bag manufacturers to come up with the new standards. (Source: TSA press release).
Airline Eliminates Life Jackets
Air Canada Jazz is eliminating life-jackets, calling them redundant since seats act as flotation devices. Transport Canada permits flotation devices, like the seats, instead of life jackets if the planes fly within 90 kilometers of shore.
The seat cushions lift off and have restraints on the bottom through which passengers can slip their arms through. There will be life jackets available for infants. The idea is to save on weight
and fuel. (Source: Travel Pulse Daily).
United Furloughs Flight Attendants, Tests Charging for Meals Over Atlantic
United Airlines is furloughing 1,500 flight attendants as a result of flight reductions it announced this summer. That is about 10 percent of its cabin workers and part of its efforts to cut 7,000 jobs by the end of 2009. It also began testing charging for in-flight meals over the Atlantic.
On transatlantic flights out of Dulles, it is testing selling Buy on Board options, including sandwiches, salads and snack boxes. It will evaluate results at year’s end. (Source: press reports, United press release).
Americans Divided on Inflight Cell Phone Use
In-flight wireless services could presage in-flight cell phone use. Americans are divided on whether or not passengers should be able to use their cell phones in-flight, according to a study by the Department of Transportation.
The younger you are, the more likely you are to favor it-almost half (47.7 percent) of 18- to 34-year-olds approved of the idea. Only a quarter of those over 65 favored the move; those between 35 and 64 almost evenly divided-40 percent say they should allowed, 46 percent said they should not and the rest aren’t sure. Source: DOT press release).
Jul
9
Security and Car Rental news
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Security
TSA, Delta Offer Mobile Check-in at La Guardia
Delta Air Lines and the Transportation Security Administration are launching paperless mobile check-in on Delta and Delta Connection flights at LaGuardia Airport.
Customers can download their boarding pass to their mobile devices via delta.com and drop their bags at the baggage drop counter.
The TSA will scan the electronic boarding pass, check the customer’s ID and process the customer through security; customers then present their electronic boarding passes to the gate agent at boarding time.
(Source: Delta press release) .
Car Rental
Hertz Cuts Refueling Prices, Introduces New Express Check-in
Hertz is now basing its refueling pricing for both its the Hertz Fuel & Service Charge (FSC) and the Fuel Purchase Option (FPO) on the average price per gallon as set by the Oil Price Information Service (OPIS) in the geographical area where the car is rented.
The FSC-for those who don’t fill the tank–will be based upon local market fuel prices, plus a one-time refueling fee of $6.99.
The FPO–for those who do refill the tank–will reflect local market fuel prices minus a small discount of approximately $0.15 per gallon.
In addition, Hertz is starting a new self-service check in program that guarantees that you get your car in ten minutes or less.
(Source: Hertz press releases) .
Airport Traffic and Customer Satisfaction
Prices might be rising and airlines might be cutting costs, but if you’re still flying, don’t expect to see fewer people at the airport. Total airport traffic continues to grow according to Airports Council International, which just released its May 2008 figures.
- The Africa and Middle East regions grew the most– 20 and 15 percent respectively
- Europe, the largest international market, grew by six percent.
- North America grew four percent, Asia Pacific three percent.
- Domestic traffic was flat in North America and Europe
- Latin America-Caribbean region grew four percent; Asia Pacific grew by 3 percent.
Customer satisfaction with airports is down due to airline delays and cancellations caused by weather, air traffic issues and staff and service cutbacks, according to latest J.D. Power and Associates North America Satisfaction Study.
- Satisfaction is down 14 points from 2007 after increasing steadily for the previous four years
- Airport customer satisfaction is much lower than hotels, rental cars and even airlines
- Philadelphia is tops among biggest airports, Chicago Midway among medium airports and Dallas Love among the smallest
- What bothers customers most are service inconsistencies in the security process
(Source: Airports Council International Release & J.D. Power and Associates)
Jul
8
Airlines flight information for July 2008
Filed Under Airlines | Leave a Comment
Delta Adds Fuel Surcharge to Frequent Flier Tickets
Showing the depths to which soaring fuel prices are pushing airlines, Delta Air Lines said that it will add a fuel surcharge to SkyMiles Award Tickets originating from the U.S. and Canada.
As of Aug. 15, SkyMiles will charge $25 for award travel between the 50 states and Canada and a $50 for award travel between the 50 states/Canada and all international destinations, including the Caribbean, Latin America, Puerto Rico, the US Virgin Islands, Trans-Atlantic and Trans-Pacific.
(Source: Delta Air Lines press release).
United Follows American With $15 Fee for First Checked Bag
United Airlines is adopting American Airline’s policy and charging passengers $15 to check one bag for domestic travel each way.
To check three or more bags, overweight bags or items that require special handling will increase from $100 to $125 or from $200 to $250, depending on the item.
It will not charge first and business class passengers and customers with premier status with Star Alliance airlines.
(Source: United press release).
Continental Eases Same-Day Change Rule
Continental Airlines now lets you change flights within 24 hours of your original scheduled departure
for a fee. Within the 24-hour “same-day” period, customers with restricted tickets may change to another flight departing within 12 hours for the fee.
Continental previously allowed customers to choose from flights departing within three hours. Fees are $50, or $25 for Continental’s OnePass Platinum and Gold Elite members.
(Source: Continental press release).
Airlines Tie Latest Fare Hikes to Travel Dates
Airlines are starting to tie fare increases to specific dates, says Rick Seaney, CEO of FareCompare.com.
In the past, legacy airlines either increased airfares or fuel surcharges by a fixed dollar amount or in some cases by laddering the hike based on distance across the bulk of their route system - always tip-toeing around low cost airline routes.
Now legacy airlines, along with Southwest, are starting to schedule some of their hikes by date of departure. United Airlines first increased prices on flights departing after Oct. 5. Then, Southwest Airlines announced an airfare increase of $10 to $20 roundtrip ($5, $8, $10 each way) based on distance for flights departing after Nov. 1.
(Source: FareCompare.com).
Northwest Suspends or Cancels Three International Flights Due To Fuel Costs
Northwest Airlines and its joint venture partner KLM Royal Dutch Airlines are suspending flights between Minneapolis/St. Paul-Paris and canceling flights between Detroit-Dusseldorf and Hartford-Amsterdam - effective Oct. 1.
The airline cited soaring fuel costs and decreased customer demand. Customers booked on these flights will be offered alternate NWA or SkyTeam alliance flight re-accommodations. Selective frequency reductions and aircraft type changes may also be implemented on additional trans-Atlantic flights, depending on oil prices and ongoing customer demand.
Flights will resume between Minneapolis/St. Paul and Paris on March 28, 2009.
(Source: Northwest press release).
Continental, United Plan to Merge in All But Name
Continental Airlines and United Airlines plan to link their services and networks worldwide in an effort to create new revenue opportunities and cost savings.
Continental plans to join the Star Alliance, to which United already belongs. The two carriers plan to cooperate on frequent flier programs, lounges, facility utilization, information technology and procurement.
The plan grew out of the two airlines’ earlier merger discussions. Continental will also join United, Lufthansa, Air Canada and other Star Alliance carriers working together to establish trans-Atlantic and other international joint ventures.
(Source: United, Continental press releases).
Jun
11
Hotels
Loews Hotels Introduces Baggage Buy Back Program
In the wake of American Airlines’ new $15 fee for checking bags, , Loews Hotels has introduced a new “Baggage Buy Back” incentive that will reimburse guests for their $15 checked baggage fee.
Arriving guests simply present any airline bag fee receipt at the front desk to receive the rebate, which will be issued in the form of a credit to their bill at checkout. The Baggage Buy Back rebate is available at Loews’ 18 properties in the U.S. and Canada, from June 15 through Labor Day, Sept. 1.
Loews Hotels will offer credit for up to two bags for a maximum of $30 per occupied room per stay. (Source: Loews press release).
Cars
Airline Loyalty Programs Offering Savings, Bonus Miles to Car Renters Airlines are giving their frequent flyer members a chance to earn more miles or get discounts when they rent cars.
Delta Air Lines and Advantage Rent A Car are partnering to allow SkyMiles members
to earn 200 miles per day on any class of vehicle rental through Advantage. with a maximum of 2,000 miles per rental. Additionally, SkyMiles members may earn up to 6,000 miles for rentals completed through July 13.
Northwest Airlines is partnering with Hertz to allow WorldPerks members to save 50 percent and earning double miles on weekend rentals in the U.S., Canada and Puerto Rico through June 30. WorldPerks members can earn 50 WorldPerks miles per day for Hertz rentals of one to four days, and 500 WorldPerks miles for Hertz rentals of five days or more.(Source: Advantage, Northwest press releases).
Spotlight On…..What You Really Dislike About Flying
It’s not the individual airlines that so frustrate air travelers, according to a new Travel Industry Association survey of air travelers. What irritates you most is the air travel process.
The TIA survey of more than 1,000 air travelers found that the more you fly, the more frustrated you get.
- Seventy-eight percent of air travelers believe the air travel system is either broken or in need of moderate correction
- Sixty-two percent believe the air travel system is deteriorating
- Thirty-three percent of air travelers are dissatisfied with the air travel system and 48 percent of frequent air travelers (those who do five trips or more per year) are dissatisfied
- Thirty-nine percent feel their time is not respected in the air travel process and that increases to 51 percent among frequent travelers.
The TIA is blaming flight delays caused by an outdated air traffic control system as a fundamental cause of the aviation industry’s problems and is holding a summit later this money to push Congress to address the problem.