When you think of airport hotels, you probably don’t expect anything more than a place to sleep with basic amenities. But these days, airport hotels are offering some unusual ways to spend time before your flight out.
After a $43 million renovation, the Grand Hyatt in DFW Airport’s Terminal D offers a unique food and wine-pairing experience for $25, which you select through a virtual menu.
Near Tampa International airport, guests at the Renaissance Tampa Hotel can take hands-on cooking classes from a local celebrity chef.
At the Crystal City Marriott hotel by Reagan National Airport, you can catch a Broadway-style show at the 50-year-old Arena Stage Theater.
And, if you’re looking for some entertainment at the Westin Detroit Metropolitan Airport hotel, registered overnight guests have access to nearly 90 shops and restaurants in the airport’s McNamara Terminal, which is just on the other side of airport security.
As usual, it has been a crazy week in the airline business.
If you watched the Today show earlier this week you saw me talking about all the nickel and diming that is going on now—every airline is trying to charge you for everything short of breathing and there are some charges out there that you need to know about.
You may already have heard me talk about the $25 charge for your second checked bag. I laugh about that because the airlines used to lose my bags for free. I mean why would I want to spend $25 for them to lose it?
But moving on from that it is getting even more insidious. United Airlines is the biggest culprit here. They just raised their fee for changing one of your discounted tickets from $100 to $150. That’s more than what the ticket usually costs! There is no labor there. So, who are they kidding? They’re just trying to generate revenue.
BACK-TO-BACK TICKETING
But you want to get me really angry? Remember the movie Saturday Night Fever? Well, the airlines have caught it again. They’re reinstituting that dreaded Saturday night stay requirement on discounted tickets.
Many of you remember those “good old days” with that dreaded requirement. It meant that discounted ticket going anywhere, no matter how far in advance you reserve the flight, you had to stay over a Saturday. It’s meant to hose business travelers.
I was the guy, among other people, who fought that and came up with the idea of the back-to-back ticket. The airlines didn’t like that—in fact, they marched on NBC and tried to get me fired for participating in fraudulent, criminal behavior. And you know what? There is no fraudulent, criminal behavior.
Let me tell you how it works …
If you wanted to make a reservation, let’s say two weeks from Monday to go from New York to San Francisco, but you needed to return on a Thursday, four days later, you won’t get a discounted ticket because you didn’t stay over Saturday night. And that would mean a ticket fare of about $1,200 in coach.
But if you stayed over the Saturday night, it could be as low as $298.
So, here’s how we’re going to beat the airlines at their own game by playing by their own rules: You make a reservation two weeks from Monday going from New York to San Francisco, coming back three weeks later, that is $298. That is reservation one.
Reservation two is that you make a reservation two weeks from Thursday, flying from San Francisco to New York coming back two weeks later and that is $298. So, less than half for what they wanted to charge you for one round-trip ticket you get two tickets. If you plan it properly, you get to fly all four segments and get double the miles!
When the airlines when nuts about that, I basically ask this question:
If I go out today and buy a six-pack of Coca-Cola and I only drink three of the sodas, does the Coca-Cola police come and throw me in Coca-Cola prison? They do not. It is my choice. I am flying on the dates and times specified on the ticket, on a ticket I bought myself under my own name. So, if anything the airlines are guilty of breach of contract if they throw me off the plane for flying on a back-to-back ticket.
Why don’t the airlines just be fair about this and disclose it? I am a big fan of full disclosure. We know what fuels cost and we know the airlines have a very big problem, in trying to even break even. Okay, we acknowledge it.
Just tell me what the airfare is, don’t charge me $5 for breathing. Don’t put on pay toilets. Just tell me what it is going to cost.
THE DREADED ASTERISK
The same things happen in the way they structure their fares. An airline will advertise a fare just to be competitive and then there is the dreaded asterisk. And that dreaded asterisk means that you got to scroll to the end of the page to find out that the $400 fare has a $450 surcharge.
We just found an example of that on a Web site that we talked about on the Today show last week. A fare from New York to London was advertised as $400* and you find 25 paragraphs of small print later it carried a $450 surcharge so the ticket was really $850.
We’re not stupid. Just tell us what is going to cost us. Once again, we know that airfare is going to go up, but stop nickel and diming us. Because otherwise guys like me will continue to go on the air and tell people how to get around stuff like that because it is insidious.
Another example: Los Angeles to New York is $184*.
The asterisk meaning that it’s a one-way fare requiring a round-trip purchase. That’s $368, not $184! It’s really pissing me off.
Bottom line is we need to be much better consumers because the airlines, in their struggle to stay above water, (OK, above the runway) are looking to generate revenue any way they can.
The Saturday night stay restriction—we had a huge backlash when they tried in the ’90s. I know because I led the fight against it.
And you know what ended it? When airlines like JetBlue and Southwest started selling one-way tickets. It is going to happen again.
SUMMER TRAVEL … GETTING WORSE BEFORE IT GETS BETTER
Now having said all that, you know it is going to get worse this summer before it gets better. It is going to get worse because the airlines have shrunk their domestic capacity—they make very little money on leisure markets like Orlando, Fort Lauderdale, Las Vegas, and Hawaii.
So they’re pulling a lot of planes off that market and moving them overseas. Why overseas? Because the dollar is getting so beaten up that the U.S. is a bargain.
So, you are going to be on a plane this year that is going to be totally crowded and you are going to be sitting next to people that don’t speak English because it is a bargain for them. We are pricing ourselves out of our own market.
Hotels in New York are $600 a night—not because we don’t want to spend the money, but because foreigners don’t even blink about spending that money. Their market not only will bear that, it will totally handle that and more.
The other night, I had to fly from Los Angeles to Miami on a non-stop flight and you know what the equipment was? A 737 non-stop from L.A. to Miami because they pulled the big planes off to go to Europe.
Now that is all going to be fine … until when? Until September, when guess what? Nobody is going to be flying anywhere and that is when you are going to see real trouble in the airline business.
You thought you saw trouble already this year with so many bankruptcies? Well, get ready stand in line, buy the ticket and watch the show because it is not going to be pretty. I am sorry to be the doom-and-gloom guy, but you know what? It doesn’t have to be all doom and gloom. I just told you how to get around the Saturday night stay restriction. So, say thank you.
I ran around the country talking to everybody from the National Transportation Safety Board to the FAA. It’s the system that is getting frayed and it is not pretty. Remember, we are dealing with a downward economy, a spiraling problem with aging aircraft and outsourcing and maintenance. That is the makings of a perfect storm.
ANOTHER AIRPORT TESTING SELF-SELECTION LANES – Minneapolis Star Tribune Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport (MSP) is testing out a new program to ease travelers’ frustrations at the dreaded security checkpoint. The new design lets travelers choose from three lines to wait in: families, casual travelers and expert travelers. In February airports in Denver and Salt Lake City began testing these self-selection lanes and have as of late since expanded the program to all security checkpoints. Some airports using just two lanes, one for experts and one for families, have shown a considerable amount of success. Hopefully, the new lane design will help ease MSP’s congestion—and passengers’ nerves.
HOOKAH BANNED IN TURKEY’S ENCLOSED LOCALES – Al Jazeera The Turkish government is forcing tobacco smokers to put out their butts while in public places. The new law has stirred mixed results, especially considering that two-thirds of the male population smokes. The law, which passed in January, restricts people from smoking in government offices, workplaces, shopping malls, schools, stadiums and hospitals, but some of these locations do have designated smoking zones for those who really need to light up. Cafes and restaurants have some time to crack down on patrons, given that their ban doesn’t go into full effect for them until July 2009. If an establishment violates the ban, it first will receive a written warning, followed by a fine for as much as $4,000. An individual will be fined $40. Nearly 60 percent of men and 20 percent of women are smokers in Turkey, and a fifth all the country’s deaths are blamed on tobacco-related diseases.
RIDERS GRUMBLE AS NEW YORK’S SUBWAY ELEVATORS STILL FAIL – The New York Times Failing elevators have prevented New York’s subway riders from reaching their train on time. According to New York City Transit, one of every six elevators and escalators in the subway system was out of service for more than a month in 2007. And, the 169 escalators in the subway averaged 68 breakdowns or repair calls each in 2007. Since the early 1990s the agency has invested nearly $1 billion to install more than 200 new elevators and escalators, but now it needs to spend nearly as much in the next decade to remedy the failing machines.
SPY CAMERAS IN UK CITY EYE MOTORISTS’ MOVES - Manchester Evening News A new network of police spy cameras is designed to snap a photo of every car driving into Manchester, England. The Automatic Number Plate Recognition cameras will capture 600,000 motorists’ journeys every day, and the data will be stored for five years. Twelve main routes traveling into the city will have cameras installed, so sneaking into the middle of Manchester without one’s license plate being recorded nearly will be impossible. The database will be able to identify stolen vehicles, track cars used by terrorists, criminals and banned drivers and locate car tax and insurance dodgers. Cameras can scan cars that are speeding up to 100mph.
IN THE MARKET TO BUY AN ISLAND? – Agence France-Presse A tiny Channel island off the northern coast of France has gone up for sale. It is one of eight inhabited Channel islands. The firm Martel Maides said it was hunting for a new buyer to purchase the 40-year leasehold of the island Herm. Complete with its own jail, “The island offers a beautiful place to live with a remarkable lifestyle, supported by a thriving tourist based business,” according to a description on the firm’s Web site. The island also has a manor house, a 13th century chapel, the world’s supposedly smallest jail, farmland, white sandy beaches, pub, restaurants and a hotel sans clocks, televisions or telephones … talk about an off-the-grid vacation.
Don’t leave home without these gadgets for the business traveler on the go.
Gadget and tech guru Phil Baker fills us in …
Livescribe Pulse Smartpen: Practical, powerful and affordable
Pulse is a souped-up pen from Livescribe that takes notes using specially designed notebooks.
When it’s docked to a computer, the notes are transferred and displayed in the Livescribe desktop software, just as they appear in the notebook, arranged page by page.
The notes can then be copied into other documents, emailed, archived, or shared with your friends and workers using your personal online location provided by the company.
Most significantly, your notes can be searched on your computer using the built-in word recognition software. If this sounds vaguely familiar, you may recall Logitech offered a peripheral that also took notes. But it was much larger and had none of the intelligence of the Pulse. Both are based on dot paper technology from Anoto, a Swedish company.
Where Pulse really shines is taking what’s called “Paper Replay” notes during a meeting or lecture. Pulse can record the audio while you’re writing, always keeping both in sync.
That means you can go back and review your written notes, and by just touching a word, hear what was recorded at the time you wrote it. This adds a completely new dimension to note-taking and learning.
The pen can also be used to do other things by touching the point to objects that are printed on paper or even objects you draw. For example, just touch the keys of a drawing of a calculator printed on the inside cover of the notebook and it works like a real calculator. The answer appears in the display on the side of the pen.
A demo lets you draw the keys of a piano and touch them to play, and another lets you write a word in English and the pen will speak the translation in another language.
Searching worked remarkably well. It quickly found words in sentences and in diagrams, almost like magic. Imagine being able to search through pages of a several notebooks in seconds to retrieve an old note.
Costs $149 with 1 GB memory and $199 with 2 GB (capable of recording 100 hours), www.livescribe.com
Mophi Juice Pack: Extend your iPhone battery
The Mophie Juice Pack is a good solution for extending the run time of an iPhone. The JuicePack is a combination lithium battery and case. Slide the iPhone into it and it will double the run time, providing eight hours of talk time or 24 hours of music.
An LED battery gauge on the back tells you the charge status. While the battery increases the size, mostly the length, the iPhone is still pocketable. Another way to use it is as a portable charger: When the main battery is running low, plug it in and it will charge it up. $100, www.mophie.com
Kensington SlimBlade Trackball Mouse
With the millions of mice sold you’d think it would be hard to come up with something new. But the SlimBlade Bluetooth cordless Trackball mouse is one of the more clever designs, particularly for travelers.
It has two modes, conventional and trackball, switchable by the push of a button. The trackball mode is best for limited space as on an airplane tray or for added precision. It’s powered by two AA batteries and is flat for easy packing. About $50, www.kensington.com
Briggs and Riley Verb Soft Computer Case
Briggs and Riley’s new stylish, feather-light Verb Move Business Case (#VB402) adds some style to their line of durably made travel bags. It has a padded computer pocket, a collapsible fan file section that can hold power adapters and magazines, and a well-designed front organizer section for a phone, iPod, keys and other equipment, all lined in bright orange. $147, www.briggs-riley.com
InCase has two even thinner cases. The Black Leather and Nylon Sleeve for the 15-inch MacBook Pro or similar-sized PCs has a soft leather flap that covers two pockets for the power adapter, phone and iPod, and a large soft fleece lined pocket for the computer. $80. Or buy just the sleeve in a variety of colors that lets you slip your computer into your rolling bag. $35, www.goincase.com
The Sanctuary Charging Station
Designed to sit on the night table at home or one the road, this clever product from Bluelounge solves a problem simply and elegantly, charging our devices. Place all of your devices on the tray and charge everything without a tangle of wires and adapters. Under the tray are a dozen connectors, all attached to the housing for thousands of different devices. Just select those for your devices and plug in. No lost adapters or forgetting to bring the right ones along. $129, www.bluelounge.com
On some tours, you’ll find yourself in a cramped bus filled with photo-snapping tourists, but if you’re looking for a more meaningful experience, try something called a reality tour.
The company Global Exchange offers a tour in India that’s actually led by Gandhi’s grandson. The “Gandhian Legacy” tour visits Gandhi’s home, as well as development cooperatives and grass-roots projects throughout the country.
The Brazilian company Favela Tour gives tourists a glimpse of Rio de Janeiro’s Rocinha district, a slum located near one of the city’s richest areas.
The tour operators hope to change the negative perception of Brazilian slums by putting tourists in contact with the district’s unique way of life.
Lastly, Reality Tours & Travel offers guided tours of the Dharavi district in Mumbai, India, an area known as one of the biggest slum in Asia.
The company is allied with an NGO which provides job training to local residents.
China Holds Three Days of Mourning for Quake Victims
Fuel Prices at the Bottom of Travel Woes
Fighting the Mafia With Your Travel Dollars
MEXICO ANNOUNCES TAX INCENTIVE TO LURE TRAVELERS - BusinessWeek For the first time, Mexico has announced a shopping tax break to boost American tourism starting in June at five main airports. Foreign travelers that have spent at least 1,200 pesos ($115) in approved shops can reclaim the 15 percent sales tax from kiosks at Mexico City, Cancún, Guadalajara, Los Cabos, and Puerto Vallarta airports. Airports in Cozumel and Mazatlán will offer the same service in 2009, followed the country’s remaining airports and cruise ship ports. Half of that money can be claimed in cash, up to a maximum of about $955, and the rest will be credited to bank accounts or credit cards within 40 days. Tourism is Mexico’s third most important source of foreign income, bringing in $14 billion in 2007.
DOT ANNOUNCES PROPOSAL TO EASE AIR CONGESTION - MSNBC The Department of Transportation announced Friday that slot auctions, designed to reduce delays and increase competition, will soon be in place at JFK and Newark airports. Similar slot auctions were announced last month for New York’s LaGuardia Airport, which will require carriers to auction off some existing slots over the next five years. Proceeds would be invested in New York-area congestion and capacity improvements. Some critics argue that this move will do little to ease delays, including the Air Transport Association which said that the government has no authority to impose auctions and threatened legal action. The DOT also announced that the industry and government must work on improving procedures regarding aircraft maintenance and safety to avoid the massive cancellations that left hundreds of thousands of passengers stranded in April.
CHINA HOLDS THREE DAYS OF MOURNING - NPR China will spend three days in mourning to mark the devastating earthquake that killed an estimated 50,000 people. The government announced that the official mourning period would start Monday and asked residents to observe three minutes of silence starting at 2:28 p.m.—exactly one week from the day of the massive quake. The Olympic torch relay also will be suspended during the mourning period. Despite remarkable tales of survival among the buried, hope is dwindling that rescuers will be able to find trapped survivors. The confirmed death toll is currently at 32,476 and the number of injured is more than 220,000.
FUEL PRICES AT THE BOTTOM OF AIRLINE WOES – Salon.com A never-ending series of airline woes continue to make headline news, including bankruptcies, safety scandals and rising fees—and the culprit behind all of this is the soaring price of fuel. According to the International Air Transport Association, fuel increases have cost airlines $65 billion, and things aren’t getting much better. Pilot Patrick Smith estimates that there’s a chance that oil will reach more than $200 a barrel, which will mean “massive realignment and consolidation” for airlines. And moving commercial aviation away from fossil fuels is a daunting, if not impossible task. Some results of this crisis include airlines cutting unprofitable routes and “unbundling” ticket prices—aka nickel and diming passengers for every perk imaginable.
FIGHT MAFIA CRIME WITH YOUR TRAVEL DOLLARS – The Guardian (UK) Sicilian locals are fighting back against decades of Mafia rule by asking travelers to spend their dollars at establishments that refuse to pay protection money. The Cosa Nostra mafia extorts an estimated $250 million from Palermo businesses each year, and about $2.5 billion from the island of Sicily. More than 80 percent of Sicilian businesses, including hotels, restaurants and cafes, pay between $300 and $1,500 in protection money, or pizzo to the mafia, meaning that a portion of these fees come from tourist dollars. For a list of pizzo-free businesses, visit http://www.addiopizzo.org.
Flight Attendant Accused of Playing with Fire in Aircraft Toilet
Parents Forget Toddler at Vancouver Airport
L.A. Turns to Sewage for Drinking Water
Tall Travelers’ Comfort Often Left Behind
FLIGHT ATTENDANT ACCUSED OF PLAYING WITH FIRE IN AIRCRAFT TOILET – USA Today Vexed about being assigned to work a flight to Saskatchewan, a flight attendant has been accused of igniting a fire in the aircraft lavatory. The flight had to make an emergency landing on May 7, and the flight attendant appeared in court Thursday. Carrying 72 passengers, the Compass Airlines flight departed Minneapolis/St. Paul and was headed to Regina, Saskatchewan. After 35 minutes into the flight, he pilot reported noticing an indicator light signaling smoke near the rear bathroom. Two attendants and one passenger quickly put out the fire. A person found guilty of lighting a fire on a civilian aircraft can serve a maximum sentence of 20 years in jail.
PARENTS FORGET TODDLER AT VANCOUVER AIRPORT – Associated Press Many of you remember how badly Kevin’s mom felt in Home Alone when the family left behind the mischievous boy at home. But, imagine how devastated an immigrant family felt when they left their 23-month-old boy in the Vancouver airport and didn’t even notice until they were contacted during the next leg of the trip. Jun Parreno, the boy’s father, said confusion spiraled as he, his wife and two grandparents scrambled to reach their connecting flight. “We had 10 minutes before boarding. We were running for the gate,” he said. Apparently, he thought the little one was with the three adults who were in front of him and charging to the gate—they thought the boy was behind them with the father.
L.A. TURNS TO SEWAGE FOR DRINKING WATER – Los Angeles Times You may want to steer clear of tap water and opt for bottled instead, if you’re vacationing to Los Angeles. Due to key and mostly distant water sources dwindling, officials in Los Angeles will resurrect a controversial method of obtaining water—by recycling sewage water. The effort may cost nearly $2 billion, and residents would have to replace their clothing washers, as well as abide by new restrictions on when lawns could be watered. Builders would also be required to install waterless urinals, porous parking lot paving and weather-sensitive sprinkler systems. Department of Water and Power General Manager David Nahai said, “I think overall this plan is going to be a beacon for other cities.” Along with other Southern California agencies, Orange County is pouring treated sewage water right into the drinking supply. David Coffin, a Westchester Neighborhood Council member who tracks water issues, said “I don’t think they’re going to make any headway. They’re adding 14,000 to 16,000 housing units a year in the face of water shortages. How are they going to supply all those people?”
TALL TRAVELERS’ COMFORT OFTEN LEFT BEHIND – The New York Times It’s bad enough that travelers feel cramped when traveling, but for those of you who are tall, it’s a nightmare. Tall travelers have to endure ducking under shower heads and letting their feet dangle off the hotel bed. “I truly believe it’s a serious disconnect. I end up literally booking everything myself, travel agents haven’t a clue,” said R. J. Brennan, director of strategic workplace for IA Interior Architects, who is 6-foot-8. “In economy, my knees are embedded into the wire of the seat pocket — I’m literally wedged in and can’t move.” Two years ago, SeatGuru.com unveiled a site that offers airline comparison charts, so passengers can judge “seat pitch.” Some airlines, like JetBlue, have reconfigured their seats to allow for more room, but the only hotel that seems to have jumped on the bandwagon—back in 1995—is Kimpton Hotels, which offers “tall rooms.” These rooms have 96-inch beds, higher showerheads and higher door frames.
If you’re traveling abroad and plan on buying clothing as a gift or souvenir, different size standards can be confusing. Here are some tips that will help you navigate the clothing rack.
If you’re planning on bringing bikinis home from Rio de Janiero, keep in mind that sizes in South American countries tend to run on the smaller side.
So if your friends wear a small size in the U.S., tell them not to be offended when you bring them back a medium-sized gift.
If you’re buying a men’s shirt in Europe or Japan, a shirt that is a size 15 in the U.S. translates into a size 38.
And, if you’re shoe shopping in Italy for a guy who wears a size 8, you’ll have the most luck snagging a size 40.
Need more sizes? Check out the size conversion chart at Fashion 411.
Fortunately, sizes for gloves, socks, and stockings are generally the same in the U.S. and Europe.
There hasn’t been a crash by a major American airline in the news for quite a few years.
Don’t leave home without these gadgets for the business traveler on the go.
