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Best of Travel: Share Your Picks
Help Latin Business Traveler and Latin Trade choose the Best of Travel 2015. This month, we're asking our readers about general bests in the region. Next month, we'll ask about your favorites in specific cities.
Click to email and share your opinions on any of the following - or other important "bests" we didn't ask about.
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GENERAL:
- Best Convention Center in Latin America
- Most accepted Credit Card
- Best mobile communications provider
- Best mobile hardware for business travel
- Best regional travel agency
- Best travel Internet engine/solution
- Best travel insurance service
- Best airport in the region
HOTELS:
- Most impressive hotel expansion in Latin America
- Best loyalty program
- Best hotel app
- Best Website
- Brand to watch
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AIRLINES:
- Most improved in Latin America
- Best loyalty program
- Best overall route network
- Most impressive airline expansion
- Best global alliance/partnerships
- Best food and beverage
- Best airline app
RENTAL CARS:
- Best overall in Latin America
- Best pan-Latin presence
- Rental car company on the rise
- Best luxury/exotic car option
- Best VIP/loyalty program
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Travel News
Security and Safety Updates
Severe landslides in Chosica, Lima have caused disruptions to the Carretera Central Highway in Peru.
Lawstreetmedia.com has named Detroit, Michigan the "Most Dangerous City in America" with a population of more than 200,000.
New Airline Routes and Route Changes
South America
Avianca has added Boeing 787-8 service on one of its five daily flights between El Dorado International Airport in Bogota and Lima's and Jorge Chávez International Airport.
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Mariscal Sucre International Airport
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American Airlines will increase capacity by adding Boeing 767 service on one of its two daily flights between Miami International Airport and Quito, Ecuador's Mariscal Sucre International Airport from June 4 through July 15.Alitalia will reduce operations between Fiumicino International Airport in Rome and Caracas's Simón Bolívar International Airport to one flight per week between May 1 and October 3.Mexico and Central America
Volaris has launched thrice-weekly service between Guadalajara International Airport and Houston's George Bush Intercontinental Airport.
Caribbean
Sunwing Vacations will begin weekly service between Juan Gualberto Gómez Airport in Varadero, Cuba and Ottawa/Macdonald-Cartier International Airport in Ontario, Canada, on May 11.On May 21, Choice Aire will begin public charter service via Swift Air, serving Miami International Airport with nonstop flights to Cuba, Aruba and Curacao.International Connections
Delta Air Lines has begun seasonal nonstop service between Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport in Atlanta and Dublin International in Ireland. The flights will be a joint venture with Air France-KLM and will run through October 24. Airline Alliance News
JAL and TAM began a codeshare partnership to cover service in Brazil and Japan, as well as flights via the U.S. and Europe. JAL will place its code on more than 20 TAM flights out of Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo, while the TAM code will appear on four JAL flights out of Tokyo Narita.Delta Air Lines and Virgin Atlantic have expand their summer services, adding six new daily services and up to 39 return trans-Atlantic flights per day between the U.K. and 15 destinations across The U.S., including 10 daily flights between New York (eight from JFK and two from Newark) and London Heathrow. Korean Air and low-cost carrier Jin Air (South Korea) began a codeshare partnership, placing the KE code on flights from Seoul, South Korea's Incheon to Guam; Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia; Macau; and Nagasaki and Okinawa, Japan.QATAR Airways and S7 Airlines expanded their codeshare partnership, placing the QR code on 20 domestic Russian flights out of Moscow Domodedovo.Asiana Airlines will partner with S7 for the summer season, expanding codeshares out of Seoul Incheon to destinations in Russia.Other Airline News
In response to the recent Germanwings crash, in which a co-pilot locked the pilot out of the cockpit and crashed the plane, airlines around the world have instituted new rules requiring two authorized crewmembers in the cockpit all times.
Loyalty Program News
US Airways Dividend Miles members were officially moved into the AAdvantage program as of March 28, with total conversion expected to be complete by April 1.
JetBlue True Blue members can earn double points for flights between New York and either Los Angeles or San Francisco between now and May 27.Virgin America Elevate members can earn triple points for all qualifying flights booked and flown between Dallas Love Field and San Francisco, Los Angeles, Austin (Texas), Washington, DC or New York, when the refer three new members to the program, from April 7 through June 6.Wyndham Rewards members can earn double miles on AeroMexico, Air Canada Aeroplan, Alaska, American, Hawaiian or Southwest for first, second, and third weekday stays at any Wyndham hotel and quadruple United miles on the second, third, and fourth stays at Wyndham Hotels and Resorts, Wingate by Wyndham or Hawthorn Suites by Wyndham.Hotel News
Mexico
Los Cabos's The One & Only Palmilla will reopen April 20 after being closed since last September as a result of Hurricane Odile. The resort has added Jean-Georges Vongerichten's new Seared steakhouse, refurbished guest rooms and suites, new outdoor lounge areas and a new spa with 13 treatment villas and a new farm-to-table restaurant.Caribbean
The Baha Mar casino resort in the Bahamas has pushed back its opening until at least May. The 1,000-room Baha Mar Casino & Hotel was supposed to begin opening March 27.The beachfront Paradise Beach Nevis opened with seven three-and-four-bedroom villas complete with private outdoor showers and private plunge pools. The property includes concierge and butler service and guests can walk 10 minutes to the nearby Four Seasons for restaurants or spa treatments.Miami
The 200-room Shelborne Hotel reopened in late 2014 as the Shelborne Wyndham Grand South Beach in Miami Beach after a full renovation.The first 1 Hotels eco-luxury hotel has opened in Miami Beach, Florida. The 1 Hotel & Homes South Beach includes 426 guestrooms, 600 feet of beachfront and a food-and-beverage operation headed by chef Tom Colicchio as well as a 112-foot rooftop pool. An 18,000-square-foot spa is slated to open by the end of the year.Hotel Pipeline
Hilton Worldwide has partnered with Mexico's Grupo Aldo Promotora de Inversion SAPI de CV to build and operate a 120-room Hilton Garden Inn in Salamanca, Mexico. The property, which will be situated close to both business and leisure areas, is scheduled to open in 2016.Ground Transportation Services
Car rental company Hertz has installed cameras in a selection of its vehicles. The company says the cameras are not currently operating, but will be used to facilitate services such as live chat with Hertz representatives.Travel Services
Google Flights has added flight amenity data to its search results, allowing users to view Wi-Fi availability, in-seat and USB power and on-demand video for flight results.
CheapOair was fined $185,000 by the U.S. Department of Transportation for misrepresenting multi-airline flights as one carrier as well as showing multi-stop flights as nonstop. The company has now fixed its search engine. Beginning in December, standard U.S. passports will increase from 32 pages to 52 pages, but travelers will have to re-apply for a new passport once the pages are used - rather than ordering extra pages for their current book.
Mariscal Sucre International Airport by OgreBot via Wikimedia Commons; Asiana Airlines by Aero Icarus; U.S. Passport by Tony Webster
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