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| Quick Hits | | |
Survey says: Men are MORE likely to Take Sick Days When Stressed
While 31% of working women say they often feel stressed compared with 24% of men, men are more likely to take sick days because of the anxiety, one survey found. Women, on the other hand, are more likely to talk to a professional about their stress, experts say. "Female stress is often expressed and dealt with. They're more likely to take preventive measures," says one expert.
Travel to Mexico - Be Careful
Attackers threw gasoline bombs into a Cancun, Mexico, bar last week, killing at least eight people and doing further damage to Mexico's tourism industry. The bar was not frequented by tourists and is located in a residential area outside the resort zone, but the killings are expected to hinder the country's efforts to attract tourists.
Editorial Comment - I've always loved going to Mexico on vacation. The people at the resorts have been so nice and the service has been great. But I won't be returning until the government of Mexico wins the war against the drug traffic. While tourist areas may not be affected right now, who knows when the drug lords will want to make a point to their government by attacking a resort. If you choose to go, be very careful where you go and stay alert at all times.
Caution - Airport Wi-Fi and Secure Access to the Internet
Airports are under tight security, but that same approach may not cover the Wi-Fi access provided at many major airports. Travelers should exercise extreme caution when linking up with publicly available Internet access terminals, writes Dong Ngo for CNET. "A few minutes of negligence might result in costly consequences that could take a long time to fix," Ngo warns.
Worker Strikes In France and England May Delay Travel
Tourists and commuters in France and London were forced to find alternative means of transportation as they bore the brunt of discontent by transportation workers who are striking over the government's cost-cutting initiatives. French unions organized a strike that reduced services on buses, subways, trains and planes. The walkout was over the government's plan to increase the retirement age by two years. Job cuts prompted the strike by London Underground workers.
No Firm Plans for Continental Hub in ClevelandContinental Airlines says an internal memo showing its Cleveland hub shrinking by 84% following a merger with United Airlines was designed simply to show one of several scenarios for the airport. "Other simulations showed Cleveland maintaining its size and others showed it growing," CEO Jeff Smisek said in a statement. "This was never a plan for Cleveland or any of our hubs." The document emerged as part of a lawsuit by passengers seeking to block the merger.
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U.S. Travelers Getting Hooked on Use of Smartphones
New
data from a Ypartnership/Harrison Group survey of American travelers show that
nearly a third of all cellphones in the U.S. now are so-called smartphones -
Web-enabled devices that make surfing the Internet for information easy for
people on the go. And nearly 20% of U.S. travelers have downloaded one or more
travel-related applications to their smartphones.
"Mobile
devices are destined to play an increasingly important role in the distribution
and sale of travel services in years ahead," says Peter Yesawich, CEO of
Ypartnership.
The
rapid adoption of smartphones as a prime tool for shopping for travel
information and services is a big challenge to travel service and travel
experience marketers. That's one of the big conclusions drawn from the survey
of more than 2,500 households with annual incomes above $50,000.
"Just
having your website available" for smartphone users to access "is not
good enough," says Scott Myers, a Ypartnership partner. "You've got
to have your information available in a format that works easily and quickly
with smartphones."
Still,
the pace of change is staggering, Myers says.
The
survey found that of those travelers who downloaded travel-related applications
to their smartphones:
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47% used GPS functionality to find their way to a destination.
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46% searched for flight updates.
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29% compared airfares or hotel rates.
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18% booked air travel or lodging.
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15% viewed virtual visitor guides.
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11% downloaded and/or redeemed coupons.
Jerry
Quintiliani Jr., a regional account manager from Peoria, Ill., is among the
growing number of road warriors who are shifting to smartphones. Using his
BlackBerry makes checking on a flight's status and finding alternatives when
necessary easier, he says. But, he says, it's "still not as easy as using
a laptop, which travels with me as well."
Editorial Comment -
We strongly recommend that companies who have not already adopted a policy governing the use of Smartphones and travel do so as soon as possible. Otherwise the company will find itself trying to play catch up in this exploding field. C I Travel Management can help. Ask us how.
Online Booking Tools (OBTs) clearly save corporations thousands of dollars when the OBT being used is a managed, corporate mandated booking tool. Allowing travelers to go to the Internet and book off of any travel site not only diminishes the chances that the company will lower their costs, it also opens up the potential for serious safety and compliance problems.
While C I Travel endorses the Rearden Commerce Personal Assistant as the most advanced, technologically sound and forwarded looking OBT on the market, we also maintain the ability to privately brand two other OBTs for our clients. Call our Account Executives today and tell them you'd like to look at OBTs. To contact your CI Travel Account Executive, click here to send an email or call 757-461-0022.
See the link to the demo below and give us a call! Also check out the story below the contact information.
Click here to see the CI Travel Flash Demo on our online platform powered by ReardenCommerce. |
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D.O.T. Releases Updated Handbook for Air Travelers
The Department of Transportation's updated handbook for consumer air
travelers outlines everything from choosing loyalty programs and making
official complaints to the new three-hour tarmac delay limit.
Last week, the department released a revised version of "Fly Rights: A
Consumer Guide to Air Travel," adding information on the department's new
consumer protections, which include the tarmac delay rule, reporting
requirements for on-time performance and the airlines' obligation to respond to
complaints.
The guide, first published in 1973, offers advice on topics such as finding
the best air fares and avoiding travel scams as well as information on federal
regulations protecting air passengers.
"We take the rights of airline passengers very seriously," U.S.
Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood said in a statement.
"Ensuring that the flying public has access to the best possible
resources and consumer information is an important part of our mission, and
this new version of Fly
Rights will help air travelers better understand their rights as
consumers."
The DOT also recently released a guide
for parents of minors flying alone.
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| Survey Fnds Consumers Mad As Hell About Hidden Airline Fees
The Consumer Travel Alliance (CTA), Business Travel Coalition (BTC) and American Society of Travel Agents (ASTA) today released the results of an online survey of 1,396 travelers showing widespread surprise and anger over hidden airline fees for services such as checked baggage, advance seating and priority boarding.
Responding to traveler anger, the groups announced the launch of a new web site, MadAsHellAboutHiddenFees.com, that will allow travelers to tell their own hidden fee stories, create YouTube videos, and sign a petition to the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) urging it to take action to require airlines to disclose those fees in advance through every ticketing channel. The groups also announced that they were marking September 23rd as "Mad As Hell Day!" and planned to deliver thousands of traveler petitions to the U.S. DOT on that day.
"As we come to the end of one of the busiest air travel periods of the year, millions of Americans are returning from their summer vacations tanned, rested, and mad as hell," said Kevin Mitchell, Chairman of the Business Travel Coalition. "They are tired of arriving at the airport and finding huge unexpected costs for travel services they thought were part of the ticket price. It's time for consumers, corporate travel managers and travel agents to stand up and say 'we're not going to take it any more!'"
Conducted over the last two weeks before Labor Day, the hidden fees survey found:
· Two-thirds (66%) of respondents said they had been surprised at the airport by unexpected fees for things such as checking bags, requesting a seat assignment, getting extra legroom, or flying standby.
· Nearly a third (29%) said they were surprised often or nearly every time they travel via air by such fees.
· Nearly two-thirds (65%) said such fees placed some or a great deal of unexpected financial strain on their budget for the trip, while more than a quarter (26%) said that those fees placed a great deal of unexpected strain.
· A nearly unanimous 99% of respondents said that they think airlines should be required to disclose all of their fees in advance on every web site that sells airline tickets.
· When asked to rank the fees they found most annoying, respondents rated carry-on baggage fees the most annoying, with 91% calling those fees "very annoying," followed by seat reservation fees (88% very annoying), checked baggage fees (74%), and telephone reservation fees (67%).
"Hidden fees are a violation of a traveler's most basic right: to know how much they will have to pay for their trip," said Charlie Leocha, President of the Consumer Travel Alliance. "When two out of every three air travelers say they have been surprised by hidden fees at the airport, you know the current system is broken and needs to be fixed. Airlines should have to share their fees with every traveler, through every ticketing channel, to every point of sale."
The three groups have called on Congress and the U.S. Department of Transportation to take swift action to ensure that all ancillary airline fees are fully disclosed to travelers through every distribution channel in which carriers participate so that the total cost of air travel options can be compared among carriers.
"For a travel agent, comparing air travel costs without fee transparency is like trying to read a book with half the pages torn out," said Paul Ruden, Senior Vice President of Legal and Industry Affairs for the American Society of Travel Agents. "We must level the playing field to ensure that travel agents and their customers can make apples-to-apples comparisons of the costs of each trip."
Methodology
The survey was conducted among 1,396 air travelers from August 20 - August 31, 2010. Respondents were recruited from the readers of online travel newsletters distributed by organizations such as Consumer Traveler and the Consumer Travel Alliance, and the survey was conducted online via SurveyMonkey. Full results of the survey can be found at MadAsHellAboutHiddenFees.com. |
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C I Travel
Business Travel Newsletter
September 10, 2010 |
Greetings!
Many of our corporate clients are beginning to work on updating or changing their corporate travel policies preparing for 2011 and beyond. Travel Managers are also getting requests from hotels asking to be added to the company's preferred hotel programs. Therefore this is a good time to review some principles, some terminology and some best practices recommended by NBTA. Check out the column below, TRAVEL 201 for our recommendations on these and other subjects that should be considered for your corporate travel programs. Remember, our Account Executives (AEs) are available and trained to help you develop travel policies based upon your company's culture and goals. Use their expertise.
Thank you again for your business! We appreciate your trust in our abilities and our will to assist you in managing your travel programs.
Chris Nicholas and the Employee/Owners of C I Travel
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Hotel Negotiations - 201 - The Advanced Course
Corporate hotel travel policies are generally based upon company culture, purpose of travel and needs of the organization. There are common threads that run through all corporate travel policies and terminology that anyone working with hotels on rate negotiations should be familiar with. Lets take a closer look at some of the more common ones:
There are similarities between how hotels and airlines price their rooms and seats. The system used to determine which rates apply may be best termed - yield management. The goal is to manage their inventory, seats or rooms, so that they can be as profitable as possible on a particular night or flight. For hotels, knowing your company's travel history is very important when you sit down to negotiate a discounted rate specific to your company.
In addition to knowing the number of nights your travelers usually stay over in a particular location, the hotel sales manager may ask the following questions -
- What is the average length of stay, 1 night, two nights or more?
- What nights do your travelers stay in the area, Monday - Thursday patterns or weekend patterns?
- Can you or will you give the hotel a guarantee to use 100 nights per year or more?
- Would you like a direct bill set up? If so, the hotel will want to negotiate terms and what can and can't be charged. Most hotels have stopped direct billing companies.
- Do your executives and VIPs require additional services? Upgrades?
- In order to load your company rate code into the GDS systems the hotel will need to know your company's code. GDS systems assign three digit codes to identify company rates. You'll want to know what the code is so that C I Travel Management can get your rates loaded into the system so that your rates show up in the Online Booking Tool (OBT) and in the GDS.
Terms you need to know -
LRA - Last Room Availability - This means that your rate code will not be closed out and will always be available, even if only suites are available. This MUST be negotiated into the agreements and is difficult to obtain in many cases. Hotels do not like to offer LRA unless your company does a lot of business with the property. A lot of business can be defined in many ways - room nights (generally more than 300 per year, event functions including Food & Beverage and room nights, etc)
ADR - Average Daily Rate - What is the average rate the hotel gets per standard room? per suite? You may be able to negotiate off this price.
BAR - Best Available Rate - If your company doesn't have LRA, then if your rate is not available, the hotel may offer the BAR rate. Not usually very attractive, try negotiating for something more substantial. But know their BAR rates regardless.
Hotel Government Per Diem - All contractors know that GSA sets hotel rates for contractors. However, many hotels will offer their 'government rate' and it may be higher or LOWER than the GSA Per Diem rate. Know what the Per Diem rate is and see if the hotel honors the GSA Per Diem rate or has a higher or lower rate for contractors.
Two last points -
- If you make too many agreements and can't live up to your commitments with hotels, you are shooting yourself in the foot. Do not make too many agreements in a particular area that will dilute your chances of making your commitment to a particular hotel or hotels. Make a deal that is a win-win deal for your company and the hotel. If another hotel comes in after you've already awarded the business to another hotel, tell them to come back next year - they will respect your decision and you'll be in a better position to negotiate next year - because you've upheld your end of the agreement.
- You are not alone in this process. Our Account Executives (AEs) are skilled at negotiating with hotels on your behalf. When you make all hotel reservations through CI Travel (and why shouldn't you), then we have all the data on hand. We can negotiate a better deal for you, get the rates loaded in the GDS and help you manage the program so that your objectives can be met. Use our consultative skills. That's why we are here.
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Ground Transportation News
Avis Raises Offer for Dollar/Thrifty
Avis
Budget Group last Thursday upped the cash portion of its offer to acquire
Dollar Thrifty Automotive Group and rebuffed analysis Hertz issued earlier this
week that Avis Budget would face more difficulty with antitrust approval than
Hertz in the acquisition.
Under its
new offer, Avis Budget will pay shareholders $40.75 cash per share, instead of
the previously offered cash portion of $39.25 per share, along with 0.6543
shares of Avis Budget stock, which Avis Budget said is a 22 percent premium
over the Hertz Global Holdings' offer. Hertz in April signed an agreement with Dollar
Thrifty to acquire it at $40 per share, or about $1.2 billion, and Avis
Budget posed its initial counteroffer
in July.
"The
Avis Budget offer is clearly superior to the Hertz offer in the two ways that
matter: We are offering a substantially higher price and a more meaningful
divestiture commitment," Avis Budget said in a statement.
Hertz,
meanwhile, issued a presentation on Tuesday saying that an Avis Budget/Dollar
Thrifty merger faces a higher antitrust risk than a Hertz/Dollar Thrifty
merger. Hertz said pricing data show that an Avis Budget acquisition would give
Avis Budget and Enterprise-through the Budget, Dollar, Thrifty, Alamo and
Enterprise brands-total control of the airport leisure segment.
"If
Avis Budget merges with Dollar Thrifty, all of these brands and, thus, the
value leisure segment, will be controlled by either Avis or Enterprise, and
that's a bad deal for car rental customers," Hertz chairman and CEO Mark
Frissora said in a statement. "One can only conclude that Avis Budget
knows it will have a difficult, if not impossible task, to finalize a merger
with Dollar Thrifty without divesting a large brand or without a revenue
carve-out, perhaps exceeding well over $500 million."
Dollar
Thrifty shareholders will vote whether to approve Hertz's offer on Sept. 16.
Avis Budget said it would sign its merger agreement within five days of that
meeting should shareholders reject Hertz's offer.
Editorial Comment - The heavyweight battle over which company wins the hand of Dollar/Thrifty stockholders continues on. What this may be really about is which of the two, Avis or Hertz, can significantly add cars to their fleets in order to compete with Enterprise Holdings. Enterprise Holdings brands of Enterprise, National and Alamo have more cars than the the other top five companies have - combined! This is clearly a battle for who's going to be in second place.
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U.S. to Add Fee for Travelers From Visa-Waiver Countries
Visitors traveling to the United States from the 36 countries that participate in the Customs and Border Protection's visa-waiver program currently have to fill out an online form called the Electronic System for Travel Authorization, or ESTA, prior to entry. Starting on Sept. 8, that registration process will require a $14 fee, paid by credit or debit card.
ESTA approval, which went into effect in early 2009, allows travelers to enter the United States without a full travel visa, which can cost over $100. The ESTA authorization lasts for two years (or until the individual's passport expires), and is valid for multiple entries.
This creates another potential roadblock for visitors from ESTA-participating countries, who will now need both Internet access and a MasterCard, Visa, American Express or Discover card (or a debit card within those networks). (The C.B.P. says it is looking into expanding to other forms of payment.)
The bulk of the $14 fee will fund tourism promotion, with the remainder going toward operation of the ESTA program.
Of course, visitors from those participating countries - mostly European and far East Asian - will still need a valid passport for entry.
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Airline News
News from Southwest Airlines
Southwest Airlines plans to begin 18 daily flights early next year at Newark Liberty International Airport as part of a deal put together to ease the concerns of regulators over the United-Continental merger. Southwest announced Friday it will lease slots from Continental, boosting low-cost competition at the largest hub airport in the New York area.
Southwest to End Transferring Unused Tickets to Other Passengers
Southwest Airlines, which had allowed passengers with unused tickets apply those funds to travel by another passenger, is ending that policy Jan. 28. A Southwest spokeswoman said that Southwest's official policy had been the industry standard: tickets can only be used by the original passenger. However, it frequently made exceptions to that rule as a goodwill gesture towards its customers. But that's changing. Southwest is aligning its practices with that of the industry in general so that it can prepare for other opportunities, such as codesharing. (Source: Southwest public relations department).
News from Delta Air Lines
Delta Makes a Run at Heathrow Airport
American Airlines and British Airways were ordered to give up some precious take-off and landing slots at London/Heathrow Airport in order to get anti-trust immunity for their Oneworld Alliance. And guess who wants the slots? Delta Air Lines, part of SkyTeam, an also-ran at Heathrow. If Delta gets its way, it will launch twice-daily flights to Heathrow from Boston and daily flights from Miami. Delta says it wants to begin the new service next March in cooperation with its SkyTeam partner Air France. The third major airline group, Star Alliance, is the second-largest player at Heathrow. BMI, now a subsidiary of Lufthansa, has more operating assets at Heathrow than any carrier except British Airways. What's odd about Delta's request, however, is its lack of heft either at Boston or Miami. Neither is a hub for the nation's largest carrier. Delta claims it's the second-largest carrier at Boston, but it has been fading there in recent years. Delta also claims to be Number 2 in Miami, but it is dwarfed there by American.
With Southwest Airlines announcing it will lease 18 slots at Newark Liberty International airport, analysts say Delta Air Lines may challenge an FAA decision blocking it from acquiring additional slots at New York LaGuardia. Delta in July called off a slot swap deal with US Airways after regulators said it must divest some of the slots. Analysts say there is "no doubt" Southwest's expansion at Newark will lead to new conversations with the FAA regarding the slot-swap deal.
Delta Air Lines next year will begin equipping its 16-plane Boeing 747 fleet with full flat-bed seats in business class and newly designed economy seats with personal entertainment screens and more under-seat storage capacity, the carrier said on Thursday. Delta's 747s primarily fly from Tokyo's Narita International Airport.News from American AirlinesStarting next month, trans-Atlantic frequent fliers will be able to accumulate miles on either American Airlines or British Airways as the two carriers kick off their long-awaited joint venture. Soon after that, the airlines will begin coordinating schedules to ensure better connections for their passengers. "We're going to work a lot harder with the other airlines to make sure that when our customers connect at key airports, like Chicago, like London, New York or Madrid, that the connection is a lot smoother," says an official with BA. News from Continental / United Airlines
Connecting in Houston for Star Alliance customers traveling on United and Continental is now more convenient. United began operating all of its flights out of Terminal C, gates 20 and 21 at Houston's George Bush Intercontinental Airport. The space features eight new check-in counters in the newly renovated Terminal C lobby, two curb-side check-in counters adjacent to Continental's and a United baggage service office. The government has approved Continental Airlines' merger with United Airlines, but even if the deal closes in October as expected, passengers won't notice many changes until spring. On May 3, Houston-based Continental and Chicago-based United announced their plans to create the world's largest airline. The merged airline will be called United, have its headquarters in Chicago and be led by Continental CEO Jeff Smisek. Last Friday, the Department of Justice announced its approval of the merger. Continental had to give Dallas-based Southwest Airlines 18 of its round-trip flight slots out of Newark Liberty International Airport to address one of the merger's biggest hurdles: concerns that it would stifle competition. Shareholders for Continental and United must still approve the merger at meetings on Sept. 17.
In an employee bulletin Monday, Continental said the two airlines expect to close the merger on Oct. 1 but will operate as two separate airlines for at least a year. The first big change after closing day will be the move to Chicago of Smisek and other Continental managers selected to help lead the merged company. And in the months after the closing, the United name will begin to appear on Continental's planes.
But in the short term, the two airlines will run their own customer service and marketing operations, use Continental and United flight numbers, and maintain separate frequent-flier programs and airport lounges. Airport signs will stay the same.
Sometime in spring of 2011, on what the airlines have dubbed Customer Day One, the companies' reservations systems, websites and kiosks will be linked. And employees for either airline should be able to check in passengers, collect fees and give upgrades regardless of which company operates a flight.
About a year after the October closing, the merged company expects to receive its single operating certificate from the Federal Aviation Administration so the two airlines can operate as one, with employees using the same procedures and manuals. The merged company will start to produce new uniforms for its more than 80,000 employees by early 2012, and employee benefits will be integrated sometime that year. |
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Hotel News  ASK YOUR CI TRAVEL CONSULTANT FOR AVAILABILITY AT GREAT CI SELECT HOTELS ACROSS THE COUNTRY! Contact Your CI Travel Consultant to Reserve Rooms at great hotels throughout the U.S.
Get a Scorecard - Lots of New Properties Opening
The lodging industry, mired in the worst occupancy and nightly-rate slump in years, continues to exacerbate its problems by continuing to open hotels at a breathtaking pace.
From Starwood comes a 265-room Westin in the Park Plaza development in Mexico City. It also opened a 147-room Aloft in Brussels and a 136-room Aloft in South Tulsa, Oklahoma.
From Hyatt comes a 129-room Hyatt Place in King of Prussia, Pennsylvania, and a 126-room Hyatt Place in Columbus, near the campus of Ohio State University.
From Marriott, there's a 128-room Fairfield Inn in the Briar Creek area of Raleigh, North Carolina, and a 456-room Courtyard in Shanghai's Puxi district.
From InterContinental comes an 87-room Holiday Inn Express in North Houston. It has also converted the former Renaissance hotel in Syracuse, New York, to a Crowne Plaza, slapped the Holiday Inn brand name on the Waikiki Beachcomber in Honolulu and converted a former Ramada in Riverhead, New York, to a Hotel Indigo.
From Hilton comes the 540-room Doubletree in the Golden Triangle district of Kuala Lumpur. It has also put the Doubletree name on the Park Vista hotel in Gatlinburg, Tennessee.
A 240-room Radisson resort has opened in Split, Croatia. A 372-room Langham hotel has opened adjacent to Terminal 3 of Beijing Capital Airport. If that sounds somewhat familiar, it's because Hilton opened a hotel adjacent to Terminal 3 of Beijing Capital Airport last month. |
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Airport News
The Battle for Raleigh-Durham
|  American Airlines opened and abandoned a hub in Raleigh-Durhamin the 1990s and it and Southwest Airlines have been fighting for control of North Carolina's second-busiest airport ever since. But now Delta is challenging the status quo with flights to five new cities and more service on three of its existing RDU routes. Beginning November 1, Delta and its commuter partners will launch two daily flights to Hartford, Connecticut; three daily flights to Orlando; two daily flights to Tampa; two daily flights to St. Louis and daily flights to Columbus, Ohio. Delta will also add one daily flight to three airports: its Minneapolis-St. Paul hub; its New York/Kennedy hub; and Boston/Logan.
Southwest, American and JetBlue already fly on some or all of those routes, so this could be a battle to watch. The long-delayed rail line linking Bangkok to Suvarnabhumi Airport has now opened. The prosaically named Bangkok Airport Train takes either 15 minutes (express) or 30 minutes (commuter service) to reach the Phaya Thai station in central Bangkok.
Airlines Agree to Pay Atlanta Hartsfield-Jackson Airport More
Airlines have agreed to pay $30 million in supplementary rent at Atlanta's Hartsfield-Jackson Airport. The increased rents, spread over four years beginning in 2013, will help the airport build its new international terminal without damaging its credit rating.
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The entire team at CI Travel thanks you for working with us! Our goal remains to Improve your travel ROI one trip at a time. We sincerely appreciate your business and look forward to your next call!
Sincerely,
Chris Nicholas
CI Travel
757-640-9206 |
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