In  This  Issue

 Articles Of Interest

Hub Consolidations Leave Air Travelers With Fewer Options

What Do Airline Alliances Mean For You?

What Do Airline Alliances Mean For You?

The Elusive Hunt For Legroom On Planes

View The Airport Upgrade List From Your iPhone

U.S. Airlines Collected $5.7 Billion In Bag, Change Fees In 2010

Can't Call Southwest A Discount Airline These Days

JetBlue Airways Gives Customers Even More: Introducing Even More Space and Even More Speed

Hotels Encourage Guests To Throw Away Their Keys

At New NYC Hotel, A Robot Handles The Luggage

Redefining Rental: Evolving Car Rental Programs Target Corporate Users

Essential Business Travel Apps

4 Packing Problems And How To Avoid Them

Paris To Tokyo On Hypersonic Jet

Hub Consolidations Leave Air Travelers With Fewer Options
Passengers face closed concourses, more connecting flights, higher fares
Source: MSNBC.com
In the newest round of airline mergers, some airports will lose a significant chunk of scheduled service and, in some cases, their regional hub status. Click Here to continue.

What Do Airline Alliances Mean For You?
 Source: CNN
 The airlines love to tout their participation in one of the "Big Three" airline alliances as being great for consumers. While there are some benefits, the alliances are far from providing a truly seamless experience for travelers. For less frequent fliers, the benefits are slim to none.
Click Here to continue.

The Elusive Hunt For Legroom On Planes
 Source: CNN
 If you're tall and you travel, then finding seats with the best legroom is an incredibly important exercise. Unfortunately, it's very difficult to do.

It's made far more difficult since legroom is measured using an awful proxy called "seat pitch." Click Here to continue.
Airline News

View The Airport Upgrade List From Your iPhone
 Source: Delta Air Lines
 Download our updated app to access the airport upgrade list, your seat assignment and more. Enjoy more convenience on the go with our new, updated Delta app for the iPhone. Click Here to continue.

U.S. Airlines Collected $5.7 Billion In Bag, Change Fees In 2010
 Source: USA Today
 U.S. airlines collected $5.7 billion in fees from their customers last year. That's billion, with a "b."

Baggage fees were the top source of fee-based revenue for the airlines, netting the 20-biggest U.S. carriers a collective $3.39 billion in 2010, according to numbers out from the federal Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS). Click Here to continue.

Can't Call Southwest A Discount Airline These Days
 Source: The Wall Street Journal
 Southwest Airlines Co., the king of low fares, is feeling its crown slip. 

High fuel prices, the end of lucrative fuel hedges and a changing route network have led Southwest to push its prices up dramatically, faster than many other airlines. With last-minute fares of more than $1,000 round-trip in long-haul markets, some nonrefundable fares over $900 and average prices in some markets higher than competitors, it's hard to call Southwest a "discount" carrier anymore. Click Here to continue.

JetBlue Airways Gives Customers Even More: Introducing Even More Space and Even More Speed
JetBlue.com
 JetBlue Airways introduced the first of its Even More suite of products and services: Even More Space and Even More Speed. Even More Space is an expansion of the airline's Even More Legroom product, now re-branded to include early boarding and early access to overhead bin space in addition to extra legroom. The new Even More Speed offering gives customers access to expedited security in 15 select JetBlue airports. Click Here to continue.
 
Hotel News

Hotels Encourage Guests To Throw Away Their Keys
 Source: The Wall Street Journal
 Hotel companies are racing to create a better room key.

Some chains are adopting permanent keys that repeat guests can carry in their wallets and use for multiple trips at a variety of properties. Other establishments are doing away with physical keys altogether; instead, guests can open their room doors by holding their cellphone next to the lock. Click Here to continue.

At New NYC Hotel, A Robot Handles The Luggage
 Source:AP
 Forget the bellhop. Meet the luggage robot.

It's the first of several high-tech, sleek amenities guests encounter at the Yotel, a new hotel that aims to provide a trendy stay at an affordable price. Click Here to continue.
Car News

Redefining Rental: Evolving Car Rental Programs Target Corporate Users
Source: Business Travel News
 You've just reserved a rental car. Instead of picking it up at a retail storefront, it's parked a few blocks from the office. You use your smartphone to unlock the vehicle, turn a key that's already in the ignition and drive to your meeting on the other side of the city or to the airport. When you arrive, you park and walk away. There's no annual membership fee, no line at the rental counter, no minimum rental length and no clipboard-toting attendant ensuring the returned vehicle's tank is filled with gas. Click Here to continue.

 
Did You Know?

Essential Business Travel Apps
 Here's what to do when bad weather or, say, a volcano gets in the way of your travel plans.
 Source: PC Magazine
 The big story in travel these days seems to be the weather. Severe storms are impacting flights across the U.S., and the eruption of the volcano in Iceland is a painful reminder of last year's travel woes as millions were stranded for days when flights were cancelled due to the volcanic ash. As of last Thursday, Eurocontrol, the European Organization for the Safety of Air Navigation, said a total of 900 flights had been cancelled between the 23rd and 25th. While an extreme case, this does bring the need for proper planning front and center. So, what to do when your flight is delayed or cancelled? Click Here to continue.

4 Packing Problems And How To Avoid Them
Avoid the spills, breakage, rumpled look and other oops
Source: IndependentTraveler.com
 Have you ever paid an excess baggage fee, left your passport at home or cleaned up a messy shampoo spill in your suitcase? If you've encountered any of these packing crises, chances are your suitcase-stuffing strategy could use a little work. To help your trip preparation go more smoothly, we've pinpointed the warning signs of four common packing problems and identified a few easy, effective solutions for each. Click Here to continue.

Paris To Tokyo On Hypersonic Jet
Project aims to send jets above atmosphere; commercial flights won't happen for decades Source: REUTERS
 LE BOURGET, France — Fancy traveling from Paris to Tokyo in two and a half hours? Do you yearn for the Concorde days? Click Here to continue.

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