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Sheraton and Four Points by Sheraton will implement a smoke-free policy at more than 300 properties in the U.S., the Caribbean and Canada.

Both brands expect to be completely smoke-free in the U.S. and Canada by Dec 31. The two Starwood brands have begun converting all smoking guest rooms to nonsmoking rooms in preparation for the new policy.

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Major Hotel Chains´ Internet services

Best Western
Free Internet is a standard in the United States. The brand is working on making it a standard in Europe.

Carlson Hotels
Began phasing in free Internet service as an in-room amenity at Radisson Hotels & Resorts in 2005 and into Latin America this year. Some lobbies offer free WiFi.

Hilton
Extended Stay, mid-price brands offer free Internet access. Individual upscale properties offer free access.

Hyatt
Upscale properties generally charge for Internet access. Midprice Hyatt Place offers free WiFi throughout hotels.

Intercontinental
Holiday Inn offers free Internet access. Extended stay brand Staybridge Suites made WiFi a free amenity in both the lobby and in rooms this year. Upscale properties generally charge for in-room service, although some offer free lobby Internet.

Marriott
Introduced free high-speed and WiFi to guest rooms three years ago at its midprice and extended stay brands and this summer announced that it is eliminating WiFi charges for guests in public areas. Upscale and luxury brands still charge for Internet Service.

Omni
Among the first upscale brands to make free WiFi a brand standard

Starwood
Four Points by Sheraton offers free wired and wireless Internet access. Many W Hotels offer free WiFi access, but in-room Internet connections usually carry a charge.

Wyndham
Free Internet access for mid-priced brands. Select upscale properties give Wyndham ByRequest members access.

Hotels

Holiday Inn Express Hotel & Suites Opens in Downtown Boston
InterContinental Hotels Group is opening a 72-room Holiday Inn Express Hotel and Suites in downtown Boston. The hotel is expected to open this summer after a $2 million renovation to a historic 100-year-old building.

It is on Friend Street, directly across from the TD Banknorth Garden, and within walking distance to Boston’s famed historical attractions, including Fanueil Hall, Boston Commons, Beacon Hill and the Old North Church.
(Source: InterContinental press release)

Car

Hertz NeverLost Launches Online Trip Planning
The Hertz NeverLost in-car navigation system has added a new feature: Online Trip Planning. It means you can plan your trips online from your home or office by going to www.neverlost.com , then save it on a USB storage device and then insert it into the Hertz NeverLost system.

Online Trip Planning incorporates information from the Yellow Pages, establishments along highway corridors, city guides and other information.
(Source: Hertz press release)

Rail

Amtrak Institutes New Security Procedures
Amtrak is deploying its new specialized Amtrak Mobile Security Team to patrol stations and trains and randomly inspect passenger baggage. The Mobile Security Team supplements ongoing patrols already in place.

The Mobile Security Team’s squads may consist of armed specialized Amtrak police, explosives-detecting K-9 units and armed counter-terrorism special agents in tactical uniforms.

They will screen passengers, randomly inspect baggage and patrol stations. These squads also may sweep through trains using K-9 units.
(Source: Amtrak press release)

Spot Light

E-Commerce Customer Satisfaction
A University of Michigan report finds that customer satisfaction with the e-commerce industry has improved, with one exception: online travel. The American Customer Satisfaction Index found that, in aggregate, online travel was down 1.3 percent to 75. Expedia (78) and Travelocity (74) both dropped 1.3 percent. Orbitz registered the only gain (+1.4 to 75). The reasons, according to the study: Big online travel agencies are seeing stiff competition from supplier

• sites such as hotels and airlines as well as from online search engines like Kayak
  or Sidestep
• The pool of people booking online is not increasing. In fact, a Forrester Research report says that nine percent fewer people booked online in 2007 than it 2005. The industry is losing shoppers, although those who do shop online are spending more money.
• That means that, to get new customers, online players have to woo them from their competitors. Customer service is the way to do that, but online travel agencies also have to compete on the low prices that supplier sites and search engines promise consumers.

(Source: University of Michigan press release)

Hotels

Hilton HHonors Eliminate Blackout Dates and Capacity Controls
The Hilton Family of Hotels has ended all blackout dates for all members of its HHonors loyalty program. As long as a standard room is available, members can confirm that room. All standard rooms are available, not just a limited number each night. No additional points are needed to avoid blackout dates.
(Source: Hilton press release)

St. Regis Washington D.C. Opens
St. Regis Hotels & Resorts has reopened the St. Regis Washington, D.C. after a 16-month renovation. The hotel, which first opened in1926, is two blocks from the White House. The restoration included a complete renovation of all guest rooms and public areas, including the lobby, ballroom, fitness center and meeting rooms. It now has 175 rooms instead of 193, which allows it to offer 11 suites. The Crystal Terrace is now the Astor Terrace.
(Source: St. Regis press release)

Car Rental

National, Northwest Partner on “Drive Your Way to 25K” Worldperks Promotion
Until March 10, Northwest WorldPerks members can earn 25,000 Bonus Miles if they rent six times from National between Dec. 10, 2007, and March 10, 2008.

All rentals must be of a midsize car or above for at least three days or more.
(Source: Northwest press release)

Customer Satisfaction

When it comes to keeping their customers happy, hotels are improving, car rental companies are doing slightly better, while customer satisfaction with airlines continues to drop, according to the annual Market Metrix Hospitality Index.

• Overall customer satisfaction with hotels showed a four point increase over last year
• Airlines continue to struggle, hitting their lowest customer satisfaction levels (76) since 9/11
• Car rental was up slightly, by .75 percent
• Kimpton Hotels scored highest among hotels overall, 90.6
• Enterprise continues to dominate, again scoring highest, but Advantage and Payless showed big improvements
• Sun Country, the St. Paul, Minn.-based low-cost carrier, was the sole bright spot among airlines, earning the highest airline score, 85.3.

Source: Market Metrix press release

Hotels

New Hyatt Regency Dallas to Open Next Month
The 342-room Hyatt Regency North Dallas/Richardson in Richardson’s telecom corridor will open in North Dallas in February.

Formerly the Richardson hotel, the property recently underwent an $8 million renovation and is getting another $6.4 million in enhancements before it opens. The 17-story hotel has state-of-the-art technology and sophisticated business and leisure facilities. It has 13,000 square feet of meeting and banquet space, including the 7,800-square-foot Texas Ballroom. (Source: Hyatt press release)

Hotel Indigo in Brooklyn in 2010
One of the first Hotel Indigos in New York will is scheduled to open in Brooklyn in 2010.

The 164-room hotel, which will also have more than 15,000 square feet of retail space, will be n the Downtown Brooklyn area, which includes the New Fulton Mall and the Atlantic Yards projects, as well as a host of new construction and development in the residential, commercial and retail sectors. (Source: InterContinental Hotels press release).

Car Rental

Avis Launches Online Tools for Business Travelers
Avis Rent A Car has added a new function to its Where2 portable GPS navigation system.

Before picking up your rental car, you can go to myWhere2.com and save destination information found there, or anywhere else on the Web onto a memory card that can be transferred to the Where2 unit when you pick up their rental vehicle.

To use this, you must first download a plug-in available at Avis myWhere2 and create a bookmark to send addresses of places you want to visit to their personal SD card. Then you can use any Web site or tool to find an address or point of interest and save the addresses directly to your SD memory card, and then transfer that to your Where2 unit.

The Where2 site also features “Avis Quick City Guides.” (Source: Avis press release)

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What 2008 Holds for Air Travel

Airline expert Terry Trippler has made his New Year’s predictions for air travel.

• There will be fewer fare increases, but airlines will reduce the number of seats they offer at lower fares, meaning you’ll pay more.
• A la carte ticketing will increase. That is, more airlines will charge for items such as soft drinks, checking bags, seat assignments and more.
• More airlines will offer special coach seating, a la Northwest Airlines’ and United Airlines’s Premium Plus, which give better seats and more choice, for more money.
• More airlines will experiment with in-flight internet service, for a fee.

(Source: Terry Trippler)

When you stay just two separate times at any Comfort Inn, Comfort Suites, Quality Inn, Sleep Inn, Clarion or MainStay Suites hotel in the U.S., Canada, Caribbean or Mexico, you´ll earn enough Choice Privilege points for a free night on a future stay at more than 1,000 hotels.

The more you stay, the more free nights you can earn. Choice Privileges rewards program is easy, fast and free to join at www.choicehotels.com.

• Free nights worldwide at Choice Privileges locations
• Free nights at Preferred Hotels & Resorts and Summit Hotels & Resorts
• Airline Rewards
• Other travel rewards
• Gift cards to retailers (including Wal-Mart), restaurants, entertainment providers, gas stations and Choice hotels
• Memberships
• Charitable donations
• Best of all, there are no blackout dates for reward nights

Airline Rewards

Earn Airline Rewards with participating airlines for qualifying stays at any Comfort Inn, Comfort Suites, Quality, Sleep Inn, Clarion, Cambria Suites, MainStay Suites, Suburban Extended Stay, Econo Lodge and Rodeway Inn hotel in the U.S., Canada, Mexico and the Caribbean. Plus, you can earn Qantas Frequent Flyer points when staying at many of our other destinations.

North American Airline Partners
250 total miles per stay with Aeroplan, Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan, American Airlines AAdvantage® program, Continental Airlines OnePass, Delta SkyMiles, Frecuenta by Mexicana, Northwest Airlines® WorldPerks, United Mileage Plus or US Airways Dividend Miles.

Or, receive 0.5 credits with Southwest Airlines Rapid Rewards.
International Airline Partners
You can earn 3 Qantas Frequent Flyer points for every Australian dollar charged to your room for qualifying stays in Australia.

or 600 Qantas Frequent Flyer points at any Choice hotel in New Zealand, Singapore, Papua New Guinea, Fiji, American Samoa and New Caledonia.

Join Choice Privilege

Car Rental

The Avis Where2,
a GPS system with real-time traffic alerts, is now available nationwide. The roll-out includes over 130 major markets including New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Philadelphia, San Francisco, Dallas, Boston, Washington, D.C., Atlanta and Houston. The system notifies drivers of upcoming traffic snarls, construction tie-ups and automatically suggests alternative routes. When available, it also provides information on weather delays.

Avis signed a deal with Autonet Mobile,
a technology company that has developed a portable WiFi device capable of connecting
to the Internet from remote locations. Avis said it would make the Internet devices, which can be used in most major cities, available to renters at a rate of $10.95 a day later this year.

Hotels

Candlewood Suites,
part of the InterContinental Hotels Group, is beginning its international expansion with locations in Montreal and Toronto. The international properties are part of more than 100 in the Americas pipeline, 50 of which are scheduled to open during 2007.

Those properties also include the first mid price extended stay property in New York. The growth plan positions Candlewood Suites to become the largest brand with-in the mid price extended-stay segment, according to the company.

The Grand Hyatt DFW Hotel
began a pilot project with the Transportation Security Administration, under which registered hotel guests can pass through a security checkpoint to reach the retail shops in the secure concourse of Terminal D, which is normally accessible only to ticketed passengers.

The experiment is expected to yield insights for the TSA and other airport, retail and hotel interests about making airport retail areas more accessible.

Homewood Suites, a Hilton brand,
plans to launch a tool that will enable loyalty club members to select their rooms online, in much the same way that airline passengers can select seats online. Homewood Suites said its Suite Selection program would be “the hotel industry’s first interactive room-selection tool.”

The tool will enable members of the Hilton HHonors program to view a floor plan and select a suite based on their preferences - higher or lower floor, near or far from an exit or elevator, etc. Users will also get a bird’s-eye view of the hotel so they can know in advance what direction their room will face and whether the view will be a parking lot, a highway or a park.

In addition, the program will show users landmarks and points of interest, such as nearby restaurants. If a room is not available, that will be immediately apparent, although guests can check availability again upon arrival.

The service, which will be made available in late March, will offer floor plans, photos and descriptions of every room type in the nearly 200 Homewood Suites properties in the U.S., Canada and Mexico. Initially, Suite Selection will be available only to those HHonors members with the highest number of points.

Later, lower-level members will be given access, and be the end of the year all members will have access to the tool. At first, bookers will only be able to select their rooms 24 hours before arrival. Starting this summer, travelers will be able to express a preference for a specific room well in advance.

Within 24 hours before arrival, they will be able to revisit the selection and guarantee it. Hilton expects to extend Suite Selection to other brands in 2008.

Hotels

 

Hilton Launches eTravel Directory Hilton Hotels has launched of its new eTravel Directory of hotels, allowing travelers to see the most current information about the brand’s more than 500 hotels worldwide at the click of a button.

The Hilton eTravel Directory can be downloaded to travelers’ desktops in both Windows and Mac formats and is compatible with BlackBerry and most PDAs. It can also be printed from a PDF file allowing users to add handwritten notes. The online directory is updated daily. Icons indicate amenities such as restaurants, gyms, wireless access, meeting rooms and similar items. (Source:
Hilton press release).

Car Rental

Enterprise Opens in Puerto Rico Enterprise Rent-A-Car has entered the Puerto Rico market, where it is serving customers at neighborhood locations in Isla Verde and Bayamón. One of its locations is at the Ritz-Carlton San Juan Hotel, Spa & Casino on Isla Verde.

It will open a full-service, on-site office at Luis Muñoz Marin International in Carolina, Puerto Rico, in spring 2007. Until then, airport customers are being picked up and served at the Ritz-Carlton location. It also plans to expand with as many as eight additional branch offices throughout Puerto Rico for island-wide service in 2007. (Source: Enterprise)

Luggage

According to the Department of Transportation, complaints about lost, delayed and damaged luggage are at an all time high. In fact, figures released recently by the Department indicate that 2006 is on course to be the worst year for lost and mishandled baggage since 1991.

And, these high levels of lost and mishandled luggage scenarios will likely persist in 2007 because airline restrictions regarding carry-on items, in place now and for the foreseeable future, mean travelers will continue to check their luggage.

American Express recommends that travelers tag their baggage on the inside as well as the outside and take photos of their luggage to facilitate finding it if it’s lost. Shipping luggage such as sports equipment is another option, as are carrying spare clothing and essentials such as medicine in your carryon.
Finally, remember baggage insurance. their customers.

American Express, for example, provides a fee-free baggage insurance plan on many of its charge and credit Card products. (Source: American Express press release).

TSA, Hyatt Launch Pilot Guest Access Program at DFW
The Transportation Security Administration has given the Grand Hyatt DFW, which adjoins Terminal D at DFW International Airport, authorization to implement a unique pilot program - Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport Access Authorization to Commercial Establishments Beyond the Screening Checkpoint Pilot Program (AAACE Program).

TSA’s AAACE Program gives qualifying hotel guests staying at the Grand Hyatt DFW an opportunity to proceed through security screening at Terminal D in order to gain access to the facility’s specialty shops, restaurants and other commercial establishments.

The AAACE Program is voluntary and is limited to only registered overnight guests at the Grand Hyatt DFW. Department of public safety officers will vet guests.

Experts Predict 2007 Airline, Hotel, Car Rental Costs To Rise

A spate of forecasts issued by corporate travel industry consultants and travel management companies call for across-the-board supplier price increases in 2007, largely driven by corporate demand.

Though a handful of analysts predicted airfare hikes would cease for the remainder of 2006, particularly as the price of fuel slips back from record highs, most forecasts call for higher fares in 2007.

BCD Travel, for example, estimated airfares would increase 7% to 11% in 2007 from this year’s levels. This would continue an established trend: Domestic airfares have risen to their highest level since the end of 2001, with average ticket price at $247 for a one-way trip, up 13% from last year, according to American Express Business Travel Monitor, which tracks a variety of travel expense categories booked by American Express Business Travel clients.

The hotel industry has reaped the most benefits from the growth in business travel during the past few years, and 2007 does not promise an end to that trend.

Very strong demand coupled with a dearth of new full-service hotel development has allowed hoteliers to raise rates. BCD predicted 2007 daily hotel rates would average
6 percent higher than 2006 rates, with some markets rising as much as 10% to 14%.

Average negotiated corporate rate increases won’t be lower than the 5.25% rates increased this year, said Bjorn Hanson, head of the Pricewater-HouseCoopers hospitality and leisure practice, and gateway city increase could reach into double-digit percentages.

Car rental companies are facing pressure from increasing fleet costs caused by the struggling automobile industry-which is trying to improve its bottom line by de-emphasizing agreements with car rental firms – and likely will attempt to raise rates in the neighborhood of 10% from 2006 figures, said Neil Abrams, president of Purchase, N.Y.- based Abrams Consulting Group. BCD estimated car rental costs would rise 5% to 7%.

Meanwhile, in the second quarter of 2006, American Express Business Travel clients saw car rental costs rise 4 percent to $67.26, compared with the second quarter of 2005.

Marriott International
last week detailed its growth plan to add 85,000 to 100,000 hotel rooms worldwide within the next three years. Overall, this plan represents a 5 percent -6 percent compound growth annually, and the growth will focus strongly on international properties.

Marriott expects to add more than 30,000 new hotel rooms outside of North America by 2009, which would be an increase of more than 30 percent.

Additionally, as much as 60 percent of additions to Marriott’s full-service brands will come outside of the United States, which it currently reports at less than 1 percent.

Confort Inn
When you stay just two separate times at any Comfort Inn, Comfort Suites, Quality Inn, Sleep Inn, Clarion or MainStay Suites hotel in the U.S., Canada, Caribbean or Mexico by December 15th, you earn enough points for a free night on a future stay at more than 1,000 hotels.

And the more you stay, the more free nights you can earn. Choice Privileges rewards program is easy, fast and free to join at www.choicehotels.com.

Hyatt
Earn a free night at Hyatt Hotels & Resorts worldwide after every two eligible Hyatt stays between November 1, 2006 and January 31, 2007, when you pay with your MasterCard card. Register at www.goldpassport.com.

After three consecutive years of strong increase in occupancy, U.S. travelers should find major city hotel lobbies a little less crowded in 2007.

While the number of hotel rooms occupied will continue to grow at a 1.4 percent pace, the number of new accommodations is projected to increase by 2% in 2007. The net result is a forecast of a slight 0.6% decline in occupancy for the nation’s largest lodging markets.

Hotels are approaching the peak of the current business cycle,
according to R. Mark Woodworth, president of Atlanta-based PKF Hospitality Research (PKD-HR). A slight slowdown is likely, although the hotel industry is still expected to see continued growth in revenue and profits.

The average occupancy rate is still projected to be a healthy 68% in 2007, which is still well above the long-term average of 66.4%. That means that travelers could still have some trouble booking hotels in certain markets.

Woodworth said that 24 of the 52 cities PKF tracks will see an increase in occupancy in the coming year.

XM Satellite Radio
is back in the National Car Rental fleet –at no charge! The service is available on various models within the midsize, full size, premium, luxury, mini-van and SUV car classes.

XM is America’s number one satellite radio service. The 2006 lineup includes more than 170 digital channels, including music, sports, talk, comedy, children’s and entertainment programming.

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