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July 2006
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This is Kaleel Sakakeeny with your XM Go Travel Update
No question,
the web is great place for finding hotel and flight deals.
But top hotels are complaining that the wrong kinds of guest are filling
their rooms because of on line hotel bookings.
Call it the snob factor, but one hotel’s general manager urged his
colleagues to keep prices high this summer to discourage the internet
from filling rooms with the wrong kinds of people.
What are the wrong kinds of people?
The GM says it’s those customer who are seeking cut rate prices and are
socially out of their depths and badly behaved.
The cut rate part sounds a like me. But the same hotel executive points
out that it’s not really about dress codes It’s about a person's inner
values and self-esteem.
He means, will the children of the wealthy meet the right kind of
people.
I’d like my daughters to meet the right kind of people, but I’m not sure
an upscale hotel with such snob appeal is the way to do it.
So, I’ll keep on seeking quality places at the best price and hope I
don’t behave badly.
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This is
Kaleel Sakakeeny with your XM Go Travel Update
 Worried
about your frequent flyer miles? You’re not paranoid. With airline
bankruptcies and the elimination of pretzels to pillows, why wouldn’t
frequent flyer miles be next on the list to go?
Some experts say because it’s now easy now to collect frequent flyer
miles, there are about 10 trillion miles in accounts that will never get
used, that’s 92 % of all frequent flyer miles.
So, what are best ways to get your miles to work for you?
Pick up the phone. Travel advisor Bernard Gavzer says since most online
booking systems are flawed, pay the fee and talk with an agent
Remember there are very few seats allocated for frequent flyer miles,
only about 8 in 100 and they’re available around 330 days before the
flight. So plan ahead
I often use my miles to upgrade to business or first class. You’ll still
pay for an unrestricted coach ticket, but you’ll fly in comfort
And remember, you may have better luck using your frequent flyer miles
for car rentals and hotel stays.
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This is
Kaleel Sakakeeny with your XM Go Travel Update
One of travel’s most vexing
tendencies is renting as car and having to pay for a second driver,
sometimes having to fork over between 3 to 15 bucks a day extra. That’s
a lot of money.
With typical logic, the car rental companies tell us that the odds of an
accident increase when more than one driver takes the wheel.
We rather think that it’s safer to have two drivers share the road work
and besides, that’s an issue for the insurance companies, not the car
rental companies.
But how to avoid paying the extra fees makes more sense than trying to
figure out how they got there.
Most car rental companies won’t charge for a second driver, if it’s a
spouse.
In some cases if the two drivers are members of AAA or AARP they’ll be
no charge and some places give a pass to, well, Business Associates.
Nevada says adding a second driver must be free..and so it goes with
each state having different requirements
So, driver beware… and make the best deal possible.
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This is
Kaleel Sakakeeny with your XM Go Travel Update
 This may be
the worst lost luggage summer yet.
Seems the rate
of lost or mishandled baggage rose 23% from last year And with security
tie-ups and staff shortages, it’s getting worse.
There are
fewer personnel to deal with even more baggage, experts are saying, and
airport managers across the country have hired more laborers to help the
screeners. The new hires will concentrate on non-security work such as
loading bags on bomb-detection machines.
One big
culprit in the lost luggage lunacy are flight delays. According to an
airlines executive, minimizing flight delays may be the single best cure
for lost luggage or luggage delays.
Private
luggage companies are stepping in to ease the pain. Companies will pick
up, shrink wrap and personally deliver luggage to a traveler’s
destination.
The extra
price, a few bucks per pound, may be a lot cheaper than buying new
clothes when your bags disappear. And they very likely will...
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This is Kaleel Sakakeeny with your XM Go Travel
Update
It shouldn’t
be surprising given the lack of government transparency these days, but
it comes as a shock nevertheless.
The Department
of Transportation is considering allowing airlines to advertise fares
that can conveniently omit taxes and fees…meaning, an airline may be
able to advertise prices that are much less than the actual flight
costs.
We thought we
fought and won that battle with car rental companies, insisting on
quotes that are the complete and total price to rent a car.
Guess not.
The airlines
argue that since fare setting by the government ended a log time ago,
the government should have no say in how a company advertises its
prices.
Fortunately,
travel companies like
cheapflights.com
and the Society of American Travel Agents (ASTA)
argue that the airlines are wrong.
(view ASTA's case for
"All-In-Price" airline far advertising
here)
Pricing is
confusing enough, they say, and this possibility makes comparison
shopping even more difficult.
So much for
friendly skies
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