4 secrets for upgrading your next vacation travel
March 1, 2010 ·
Think this is bad? It could get worse. Much worse. Travel is still at the beginning of its long descent into mediocrity. Airlines seem to invent new surcharges and passenger-hostile rules every week. Hotels aren’t far behind. Just the mention of the word “customer service” in the back office can be enough to evoke cackles [...]
Bargain your way to better hotel rates
February 23, 2010 ·
As an airline employee in Omaha, Ron Wolfe loves to travel and hates to overpay for hotels. Consider his recent experience at the Comfort Suites in Grand Cayman. After checking rates and confirming availability online the night before, he flew in, hopped a cab and walked in without a reservation. “I talked to the front [...]
How to negotiate hotel upgrades
February 23, 2010 ·
Joel Rudy, chief operating officer of camera products supplier Photographic Solutions, is a frequent business traveler who delights in receiving travel upgrades. Last spring Rudy was living in New Jersey and traveling often to his company headquarters in Boston, Mass. His hotel of choice, The Westin, became his home away from home while on the [...]
Lufthansa pilots strike, upend airline travel
February 22, 2010 ·
Thousands of travelers scrambled to find flights, trains, hotel rooms or rental cars on Monday after Lufthansa pilots began a four-day walkout over job security that grounded at least 800 flights and upended travel across the continent. Deutsche Lufthansa AG quickly rushed to get a court injunction to halt the strike and send 4,000 pilots [...]
9 spring travel tips: How to save money and sanity
February 17, 2010 ·
As I write this here in the Northeast, the rodent saw his shadow, a snowfall fell the next day and we’re headed for a single-digit deep freeze this weekend — all of which are indicators that it is time to distract ourselves with dreams of spring travel. Of course, planning a trip these days can [...]
Hotels rolling out the yoga mat
February 17, 2010 ·
Like Wi-Fi, on-demand movies and fitness centers, yoga is becoming an amenity many hotels and resorts just can’t do without. Long popular at spas and retreat centers, yoga classes have been spreading to mainstream hotels, resorts and tour operators over the last several years. As the ancient stretching and meditation practice gained popularity, the travel [...]
Top 10 most romantic hotel bedrooms
February 15, 2010 ·
Trying to renew your romance, or surprise a new partner with a gasp-inducing getaway? Boutique hotel experts Mr. & Mrs. Smith have rounded up a list of the top 10 sexiest hotel bedrooms. 1. Il Salviatino, Florence, Italy Standing amid lush gardens perched on the hills of Fiesole above Florence, this 15th-century villa has all [...]
