Airlines

Save up to 75% on European Business Class

Last winter, airlines began offering savings of as much as 75% off on transatlantic business class fares booked 50 days in advance, says airfare maven Terry Trippler. When Footnotes ™ checked these fares in late June, those savings translated into fares as low as $2,000 from Northwest and Delta on flights from Minneapolis and Atlanta to European capitals such as London and Paris. A business class ticket on those routes can cost anywhere $6,000 to nearly $8,000. The tickets generally require a one-week minimum stay. Trippler predicts that airlines will introduce these highly discounted fares to Asia. Contact us for more details at (800) 962-3020.

Slowing for Savings

USA Today reports that airlines, seeking more ways to save money in the face of high fuel costs, are trying to shave costs in a variety of ways, from flying at higher altitudes (the air is thinner so it causes less drag) to flying more slowly. American Airlines lobbied the FAA for six months to get permission to carry 5% more fuel than it would normally use to fly across the ocean instead of the usual 10%. It’s still safe, of 130,000 flights in 2002, only 1,000 dipped into that fuel reserve and none consumed more than 40% of it. In a Memorial Day weekend experiment, Ted slowed its flights, adding four or five minutes to flight time, saving 18 gallons of fuel per flight, 3,100 system wide. One airline may reduce the number magazines, another is moving toward paperless cockpits, dumping heavy manuals whose information is stored in laptops. Southwest pilots are making tighter turns and pilots are trying to fly at higher and more energy efficient altitudes longer, making for shorter approaches to airports. (Source: USA Today)

Continental Targeting Business Travelers

Continental Airlines said it began offering more moderately priced coach and first-class advance-purchase fares without Saturday-night stay restrictions in an effort to stimulate more business travel. The nonrefundable fares are only available in select markets, and are offered with limited availability and at least a seven-day advance-purchase requirement. Continental said it now has discounted business-travel fares in about half of its markets. Higher-cost carriers have been quick to match discounter prices but reluctant to change their overall fare structure, where they offer domestic coach prices as low as $100 or so for leisure travel and as high as $2,000 for business customers. With business travelers rebelling against the high fares and increasingly turning to discounters, network airlines have been under pressure to offer better value for corporate customers. (Source: Wall Street Journal)

Automating Troubleshooting

To expedite customer service during flight delays or cancellations, Delta will automatically print amenity vouchers from its gate readers. Passengers can get itinerary receipts, which act as new boarding passes, plus vouchers for hotels and meals. This should means shorter and fewer lines and more passenger control.

AAdvantage Mall

Airline frequent flyer programs continue to launch online shopping malls; American Airlines’ AAdvantage eShopping Mall (www.aa.com/aadvantageeshopping) is the latest. American teamed up with The Database Group to offer more than 50 brand-name retailers, including The Gap, Barnes and Noble.com and Best Buy. Shoppers earn AAdvantage points for every dollar spent. Other airline frequent flyer programs with online malls: Continental Shop OnePass, Delta SkyMilesShopping, Northwest WorldPerks Mall, United Mileage Plus Mall and US Airways Dividend Miles Mall.

Air Canada to Close Zip

Air Canada has revealed plans to close its low-cost carrier, Zip, as it continues to restructure its activities while under Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. The Canadian national carrier integrated the operations of its Toronto-based subsidiary Tango into its mainline activities earlier this year and will now complete a similar process with Calgary-based Zip. (Source: Air & Business Travel News)

Hotels

Budget Hotel Makeover

Budget hotels –those costing $100 a night or less—are getting a makeover, according to the Wall Street Journal. Rooms in the $60-to-$100 range did well as business slowed and business and vacation travelers tried to cut costs. But it’s also a market that shows wear and tear quickly and consumers want a fresh look, according to the Journal, making it a market in which a new face does better. PriceWaterhouseCoopers says nearly 100,000 new hotel rooms will be built next year, up from 75,000 last year. This doesn’t mean that upscale hotels are in trouble. Smith Travel Research, which tracks the hotel industry, reported that upscale hotel pricing is on the upswing, reflecting gains in business and convention travel. The research company expects those prices to hold steady during the summer, even though business travel may see a seasonal slowdown, and remain firm through fall as business and meeting and convention travel picks up.

Security Update

U.S. to Allow Private Firms to Screen at Airports

Private companies will be allowed to replace federal airport security screeners at U.S. airports by the end of 2005 under a plan announced yesterday by the Department of Homeland Security, reported the Washington Post. Nearly all of the nation's 429 commercial airports are staffed by employees of the TSA, which was created after the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001. The law that created the TSA allows airports to apply this November to return to a private security workforce. The TSA said that it will select the airports and qualified screening firms to perform the work and that it will maintain responsibility for oversight and regulation. (Source: Washington Post)

Spotlight on.... Northstar Travel Media Survey Results

Here’s the final installment of the Northstar Travel Media Travel Behavior Study. Most of its findings are what you’d expect, but the first was a bit of a surprise.

• Despite the frequent complaints you often hear about business travel, 84% of the business travelers surveyed generally like or even love to hit the road.
  
  
• Forty-four percent of these business travelers enjoy flying, another 29% don’t mind it

• Among unhappy flyers, women outnumber men, 22% to 12%

• The biggest bugaboos: flight delays and cancellations (90%), poor service at the airport (88%), overcrowded flights (85%), delays in retrieving luggage, airport check-in delays (81%), airport security delays (55%)

• Important airline amenities include on-time arrival and departures (95%), seat comfort (94%), efficient, courteous onboard service (94%), frequent flyer perks like upgrades (69%)

• Important hotel amenities include free local calls (88%), convenient self-parking (88%), on-premises dining (85%), free toll-free calls (80%), free high-speed Internet connections (70%)
  

Ethan Allen Travel is committed to providing you with useful information on the latest developments in the travel industry. The following information has been compiled from a variety of sources and is updated monthly.

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