I’m in Chicago to speak at the Travel Blog Exchange today. But yesterday I had the privilege of meeting up with Lisa Lubin, the Emmy-award winning producer, travel blogger and Windy City resident, who showed me two remarkable attractions that I had somehow missed on my last trip to the area.
From the monthly archives:
July 2009
When Eileen Mather lands in Mexico City on her way to Tapachula, Mexico, she learns her airline ticket isn’t valid. Her airline forces her to buy a new one. Mather asks her online agency, Cheapoair.com, for a refund, but more than six months later, she’s still out $879. Is she also out of options?
Bad news: Business travel is flatlining, and will continue to flatline for the next four years, according to a new projection from Egencia and the National Business Travel Association. More bad news: It’s going to affect your next vacation.
Warning: Wireless Internet connections are coming to a plane near you. I ought to know. I just boarded one.
Check out my exclusive interview with Hotwire’s president, Clem Bason, in which he predicts the demise of this summer’s bargains. Also, read about a travel agent accused of an ethical lapse and how one hotel is upgrading its customer service.
Conventional wisdom says that during a recession, you cut, cut, cut your way back to profitability. That includes slashing resources devoted to customer service. But some hotels are going against the grain.
Glen Segal didn’t make it to Reykjavik. He’d paid $2,628 for a one-week vacation package to through Icelandair that included accommodations at the Hilton Nordica. He’d even shelled out an extra $200 for Access America trip cancellation insurance. But in the end, none of that mattered.
I had to wonder what was wrong after numerous travel agents posted furious responses to today’s story about an agent that acted in an apparently unethical manner. Why were they being so defensive of a colleague who probably ought to be looking for another line of work?
Jerry Ginnis’ says his first mistake was asking a travel agent for a quote on a Bermuda vacation. He’d already found a terrific price online — a week at a luxury resort for $2,800, about 40 percent off the normal rate — but a friend suggested that he call.
If you thought fees, or nonexistent customer service or high fuel prices were the biggest problems facing travelers, think again. It’s traffic, according to the Texas Transportation Institute’s 2009 Annual Urban Mobility Report.
Vivian Rouleau missed her connecting flight to Akron, Ohio, because of baggage. Not hers, but everyone else’s. Worse, her airline didn’t seem to care about the resulting connection problem, even though it seemed to be entirely preventable.
Why are more travel companies just saying “no” when you ask for something? Find out in this week’s MSNBC.com column, plus get the latest on nightmare flights, car rentals gone wrong and cruise ships that ought to be scuttled.
Philip Getson thought he’d have to pay $270 for his Hertz rental in Cancun. He though wrong. His final bill came to a shocking $1,227.
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