In  This  Issue

 Article Of Interest

New Rules Will Help Protect Air Travelers

Weather And Flight Cancellations

Choosing The Best Credit Card

Delta, US Airways Ready To Up Fares To Fight Costs

Delta's Full Flat-Bed Seats Are A Huge Leap

Charging Stations At Delta Departure Gates

The Dirty Little Secret Of Car Rentals

Hotels Spruce Up Their Executive Lounges

New Rules For First-Time Passports - New U.S. Birth Certificate Requirement

Mobile Expense Reporting Taking Hold As Key Tool

Personal Cell Numbers, Texting Aid In Risk Management

Are Your Miles a Mess? Here’s How to Put Them to Use

Register Overseas Trips With Smart Traveler

 

New Rules Will Help Protect Air Travelers
Source: Chicago Tribune
Frustrated airline passengers who have lost luggage, been forced off overbooked flights and been delayed on international flights may get some relief under tough new regulations announced by federal officials. Click Here to continue.

Weather And Flight Cancellations
Source: Executive Travel
A behind-the-scenes at what happens when weather causes flight cancellations.
You've just finished packing for this morning's departure to a crucial meeting in Chicago when your smartphone pings with an alert from your airline: Your flight has been delayed—or worse, canceled—due to bad weather. Click Here to continue.

Choosing The Best Credit Card
Source: Practical Traveler
You bought the plane tickets, booked the hotel and rented the car. But have you packed the right credit card?

As credit card companies vie for a favored position in customers’ wallets, they’re pitching new travel enticements, from waiving foreign transaction fees that can add up to 3 percent to your purchases abroad to picking up fees for checked baggage. Earlier this month, for example, American Express did away with the 2.7 percent foreign transaction fees on international purchases for Platinum Card holders, and added two new travel benefits — Priority Pass Select airport lounge access in more than 300 cities worldwide and free membership to Global Entry, which offers expedited security clearance for pre-approved travelers entering the United States. Click Here to continue.
 
Airline News
Delta, US Airways Ready To Up Fares To Fight Costs
Source: Reuters
Airline travelers should expect higher fares and fewer seats in the coming months after Delta Air Lines and US Airways Group said they would take steps to deal with higher fuel costs.

The two U.S. airlines reported smaller-than-expected losses on Tuesday and their share prices rose, with Delta up 11 percent, even as some analysts questioned how much longer consumers, paying more for gasoline and food, would tolerate higher air fares. Click Here to continue.

Delta's Full Flat-Bed Seats Are A Huge Leap
Source: Conde Nast Traveler
Delta’s Business Elite full flat-bed seats are “a huge leap over Delta's previous business-class offering,” said the May issue of Conde Nast Traveler magazine.

Reporter Barbara Peterson who flew Delta on a test flight from New York to London on a Boeing 767 ER gave Delta’s full flat-bed seats a positive overall review. Click Here to continue.

Charging Stations At Delta Departure Gates
 Source: Memphis International Airport News
 Delta Airlines has installed two re-charging stations at each of their departure gates at Memphis International to provide power on the go for their passengers’ electronic mobile devices. Each station is equipped with six standard 110-volt outlets and two USB ports.
Click Here to continue.
 
 
Car News

The Dirty Little Secret Of Car Rentals
 Source: Mainstreet.com
If you’re a driver with decent credit, your mailbox will regularly contain car insurance offers promising to beat the other guy. It does pay to shop around though, as the firm that offered the best deal last year may not offer the best now. It also pays to look at some of the lower-profile policy features, like whether the bargain policy will cover a rental car. Click Here to continue.
 
Hotel News

Hotels Spruce Up Their Executive Lounges
 Source: The New York Times
 The hotel lounge was once a simple affair, offering a television, perhaps, and a small buffet to its regular customers. But as business travel has started to pick up, and revenue along with it, a number of major hotel brands are once more turning to sprucing up their executive club lounges, making them more residential in feel and providing healthier food and improved technology like free Wi-Fi. Click Here to continue.
 
Did You Know?

New Rules For First-Time Passports - New U.S. Birth Certificate Requirement
 Source: travel.state.gov
 Beginning April 1, 2011, the U.S. Department of State will require the full names of the applicant’s parent(s) to be listed on all certified birth certificates to be considered as primary evidence of U.S. citizenship for all passport applicants, regardless of age.  Certified birth certificates missing this information will not be acceptable as evidence of citizenship.  This will not affect applications already in-process that have been submitted or accepted before the effective date. Click Here to continue.

Mobile Expense Reporting Taking Hold As Key Tool
 Source: Travel Market Report
 Mobile expense reporting could become the first mobile tool that is absolutely essential in corporate travel. In a survey by AirPlus International, nearly half of respondents, 48.2%, said they were either already using expense reporting on the go (16.9%), plan to start using it within the next six months (10.8%), or are researching the options (20.5%). That’s a strong showing for a product that has only been on the market for two years, according to AirPlus. Other mobile tools, including travel shopping and booking, itinerary mangers, flight delay/cancellation and hotel check-in, are popular with travelers, but they don’t do much for travel managers. Mobile expense reporting can speed internal turn-around time and reduce the logjam of expense reports that clogs travel departments.

Personal Cell Numbers, Texting Aid In Risk Management
 Source: Travel Market Report
 Should your travel office have business travelers’ personal cell phone numbers? Absolutely, says BCD Travel’s Martin Weisskirchen, VP of global crisis management. The March earthquake and tsunami in Japan showed that many traveler profiles either did not include cell numbers or had incorrect numbers. Adding a personal cell number, to be used only as an emergency contact, can help companies contact travelers more quickly during a crisis. Weisskirchen also said that companies – and travelers – should be familiar with SMS texting, even if they seldom use it. Texting is usually the last communication service to go down under emergency circumstances and often functions long after voice contact has been lost.

Are Your Miles a Mess? Here’s How to Put Them to Use
 Source: Frugal Traveler - By Seth Kugel
 I used to be a frequent-flier miles skeptic. The rewards system world seemed so overwhelming. Was it worth it to book a more expensive flight to gain miles? And where do I keep my membership number anyway? Do I use a credit card that promises a mile for each dollar spent or the one that gives me 1 percent pure cash back? How about dining in certain restaurants or sending packages by Federal Express just to gain miles? Click Here to continue.

Register Overseas Trips With Smart Traveler
 Here's a little-known benefit offered by the State Department -- the free Smart Traveler Enrollment Program (STEP).

U.S. citizens planning an overseas trip can register their itinerary and contact information online (travel.state.gov), enabling quicker communication and assistance in the event of an emergency. Click Here to continue.

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