It’s puzzling why in the United States, one of the most lucrative travel markets in the world, the concept of airport transit hotels is so foreign. There are signs that may be changing, but current plans seem more like baby steps than bold decision-making.
A recent trip to Asia reminded me of the lack of entrepreneurial thinking exhibited by many U.S. airport operators. Readers of this column may remember my praise for terminals in Hong Kong and Singapore earlier this year.
Beyond design, comfort and cleanliness, having such a time- and hassle-saving convenience as a hotel under the same roof as your departure gate makes a lot of sense at a large international airport. It’s not hard to imagine that it could be a moneymaking venture…
As Washington policymakers continue to question the value of global airline alliances, Continental Airlines has shown them a benefit they most likely never suspected: increasing the transparency of sensitive data tightly held by many carriers.
That may not have been what Continental set out to do, but it’s a positive side effect. The very day it officially joined the Star Alliance last week, it uploaded on its Web site “award” seats made available by other alliance members, which its customers can book using Continental frequent-flier miles.
It took “nine months of planning and implementation” and “involved the creation of more than 1,100 new ‘reward’ codes and all the processes to make them work,” said Continental spokeswoman Mary Clark…
Are you one of those airline junkies who not only do for themselves almost everything a travel agent does, but also often help friends and colleagues — or even people they barely know? Have you reached the point of frustration that eventually comes with anything time-consuming one does for free?
I’ve been close to that point for a few months now, for years having booked trips for others, checked them in for flights online, kept an eye on departure times and helped them redeem miles for “award” tickets. I suppose the frequency of those free services hasn’t become abusive quite yet, so I haven’t changed my ways.
But some other fellow junkies who also write about travel have had enough. They happen to be bloggers who, along with commenting on various airline news items, offer travel advice — including responses to e-mail inquiries about airfares, flight delays and resolving post-travel issues…
Here is some good news for those of you seeking an alternative to Tokyo’s vast and faraway Narita International Airport: The Japanese government will likely soon allow nonstop flights between the United States and the city’s much smaller and nearby Haneda Airport.
There is, of course, some not-so-good news. Unless U.S. negotiators manage to pull a rabbit out of a hat, those flights will arrive and depart only between 10 p.m. and 7 a.m. — which means that takeoffs and landings at U.S. airports may have to occur in the middle of the night, too.
Access to Haneda is one of the issues being discussed between the United States and Japan as part of ongoing negotiations of an Open Skies Agreement. Washington has similar accords on liberalizing air travel with more than 90 countries, said John R. Byerly, deputy assistant secretary of state for transportation affairs, who oversees those negotiations…
Do you sometimes find yourself unjustifiably envied by friends or colleagues for taking a business trip to a place known as “paradise on Earth”? Do you try to explain to them that you don’t really have time to enjoy it, or have you given that up?
“Tough life” is a sarcastic exclamation I often hear before traveling overseas, and to some extent I understand it.
As often happens, at the beginning of the summer several friends asked me about my upcoming trips with Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton. Two of our planned destinations were the Greek island of Corfu and the Thai resort town of Phuket. No wonder people think I lead a charmed life. Although I have no reason to complain, the reality is very different…
