Upscale Hotels Doing Well
So despite the fact that the media is decrying a recession, there are at least a few people that aren’t letting it affect their travel habits – the well to do, the higher end business traveler and those, like honeymooners, who have saved and waited and deserve this splurge!
These groups have allowed luxury hotels to continue to fair well, even with the economic pressures. Having learned from the aftermath of September 11th, when it took hotels years to recover from their deeply discounted prices, hotels probably won’t be unloading those 5-star rooms for $88 on Priceline either. In fact, some brands would rather have a room sit empty than lower their price.
Luxury hotels are keeping themselves competitive with high tech toys, personalized experiences such as butlers and concierges and emphasizing the value that they offer.
Despite my general disdain of all things USA Today, I highly recommend this well written article, which you can find here.
Travelers Keep to the Road
Despite the increasing prices of groceries and fuel and the decreasing value of the stock market and the housing industry, Americans are still taking to the skies in record numbers. With so few vacation days a year, Americans are reluctant to cancel their holiday trip. Instead, they’re utilizing alternatives to compensate for the higher costs, such as traveling to Eastern Europe instead of the U.K., or flying on Tuesdays and Wednesdays when airfare is traditionally cheaper.
Surprisingly, despite the poor exchange rate, U.S. citizens continue to travel to popular countries like France and Spain. Conversely, visitors from countries with strong currencies like the Euro are visiting America in record numbers.
Read more about the must travel bug at the NYT.
The Next Airline to Crash?
Budget Travel has an excellent review of why Skybus and other airlines ‘crashed’ last week and offers not so encouraging reviews of what’s more likely to go down next…Airtran and Frontier. United looks a dicey as ever too, which makes me nervous as that’s an airline I’m likely to fly. Read up on all the reasons Skybus wasn’t to be (even if European low cost airlines are succeeding left and right) at http://current.newsweek.com/budgettravel/2008/04/airlines_why_did_skybus_die_an.html (WordPress’ new system is a little buggy and times out when I try to hyperlink).
Fighting for Carry On Space
I know why I love the NYT. I think to myself, man, I was to know more about (fill in the blank), or (fill in the blank) really bothers me. And then, sure enough, within a week, there’s always an article on it.
Case in point is their write up on the fight for overhead carry-on space. I got to experience the jostling first hand not once but twice today as I made my way back to Portland from Washington D.C. Because I was going directly into work from my flight, I didn’t want to waste an hour waiting for my bag to show up (assuming it would make the connection in the first place.) On my first flight, finding room was no problem. The flight was about 2/3 full and it departed at 6:15 a.m. – far earlier than I think most people were willing to make sure they complied with all the TSA regulations for a carry on. Much easier to check a bag. There was plenty of room in the overhead bins.
Fast forward two hours and I’m getting ready for my second flight. This one, unfortunately, is totally full – not a spare seat on the plane. Because my bag is too large to sit below the seat and I’m sitting in the front part of the plane – the one that is last to board – I immediately start to plan how I’ll get on the plane and make room so all my preparations won’t be for naught. Basically, this consists of me fretting and doing that ‘hover around the gate until they call my section and jump in line’ thing that I normally find so obnoxious.
Luckily, my lurking rewarded me with the ‘first go’ at the overhead bins in my section…although many, as I feared, were already crammed full with the luggage of those who went before. I found room, however, and settled down in my seat to watch hapless other guests attempt to fit purses, large shopping bags, briefcases and luggage in the crammed space. Although everything fit, it was a close call.
For tricks on getting your space (hint: there aren’t many), read Waging the Battle of the Overhead Bin.
Europe Travel Getting Easier?
According to the NYT, air travel to Europe is about to get easier – and hopefully more affordable – as the open skies agreement goes into affect on Sunday. I obviously think this is a great idea…more flights to Europe, more reasonable prices and hopefully we’ll have an easier time heading over there from poor PDX, which only had one non-stop to Europe every day until now. Next month, however, we’re doubling it and can now fly direct to Amsterdam. Woo hoo! This is actually very helpful because flights out of AMS can connect to Africa, making it just a little bit easier for us to get there as well.
Mud Marriage
While some people might think their marriage is mud, a selection of resorts in New England are encouraging couples to make the most of the spring weather and embrace the slimy sauce.
The ‘Dirty Elopment’ Packages are one of the most creative themes I’ve seen, offering everything from mud baths to Trash the Dress sessions in the namesake stuff. There is plenty of the traditional stuff too. For more info, check out the packages on NewEnglandInnsandResorts.com.
Slum Tours
The New York Times is giving the head’s up on the increase in popularity of slum or poverty tours, things that the ‘poorism’ opponents decry as exploitative to the local communities.
I went on one of these tours in South Africa, through the townships of Cape Town with the Direct Action Center for Peace and Memory. The educational tour was conducted by former child soldiers – armed guerrillas that fought against apartheid in their youth. I found this Budget Traveller article online that more or less sums up my experience – eye opening, informative and if exploitative, then exploitative in the least derogatory way. We didn’t peer out the windows like we were on safari, and we infused money into the local economy. While it does leave you with an increased appreciation for what you have, I have a difficult time understanding how that insight could be a bad thing.
Self Select Lines
I so hope that TSA rolls this out in PDX: Expanding self-select lines
It seems like it is working really well and helping cut down on congestion.
Airline Mergers
A few airline mergers are being discussed in the United States. Although they would undoubtedly help the airlines, the benefits to the consumers is harder to see. US News has put together a great grid of cities that would be affected by the change…usually in the form of higher prices on certain routes, with less competition and fewer flights.
Worst Travel Agents
The Aviation Consumer Protection Division, a government agency, has released their most-oft complained about ‘travel agencies’ in 2007. Not unsurprisingly, machine driven dot-com services dominate the list for issues with reservations, ticketing and refunds.
5. Priceline.com & Cheapoair.com
4. CheapTickets.com
3. Expedia.com
2. Travelocity.com
1. Orbitz.com
