• At the risk of beating a dead horse, have you heard an announcement is likely this week regarding a possible American-US Airways merger? Board meetings scheduled for today were pushed to Wednesday.
• Delta Air Lines today announced a new expansion of Terminal 4′s Concourse B at JFK that will add 11 more gates. The new project is in addition to the previously announced $1.2 billion redevelopment at Terminal 4 set to open in May.
• JetBlue celebrated its 13th Birthday today. JetBlue inaugurated service between New York’s JFK and Fort Lauderdale with two daily nonstop flights on February 11, 2000. Oddly, there’s no press release for this year’s milestone. But they do have mention of it on their landing page.
• There’s a report surfacing today that an off-duty British Airways crew was in a “drunken rampage”on a Heathrow to Washington D.C. flight last month. According to the article, “Stewards and stewardesses were seen downing bottles of champagne and red wine in front of stunned onlookers in First and Club premium cabins.” British Airways is investigating.
• United Airlines has been fined $130,000 for failing to notify passengers on a Chicago to Tokyo flight they could deplane after repeated mechanical delays. The tarmac rule states an airline must advise passengers of their right to deplane if a plane is delayed at the gate. The aircraft, however, did push at least once from the gate, according to the article.
• Las Vegas drew 39.7 million visitors in 2012, beating a record set in 2007 by a half-million travelers. Viva Las Vegas!
• Starwood Hotels now has a Luxury Collection property in Poland. Hotel Bristol in Warsaw officially re-opened today after a multi-million dollar renovation.

Related posts:

Notable Airline, Hotel and Travel News: February 5, 2013

Notable Airline, Hotel and Travel News: February 1, 2013

Notable Airline, Hotel and Travel News: January 31, 2013

• American’s inaugural of its Boeing 777-300ER occurs tomorrow flying from Dallas to Sao Paulo. We’ve all seen the exterior and interior images from American, but here are some new ones from the Dallas Morning News blog.
• Sheraton Hotels (part of Starwood) will open 30 new hotels over the next 12 months. Half of the new properties will open in China with additional new locations sprouting up in Latin America, the Middle East and Turkey.
• Spirit Airlines will be adding several new routes, including Houston to LAX, Baltimore and Philadelphia to Las Vegas, and Minneapolis to Denver. Fingers crossed for a fare war, though legacy airlines tend to distance themselves from Spirit’s “sales.” One of these days I’ll fly Spirit just for the sake of trying them out.
• Brussels Airlines announced that Washington Dulles will be their next U.S. destination. Service is slated to begin June 18th with five weekly flights IAD-BRU using Airbus A330 aircraft. One Mile at a Time (Ben) just flew them from JFK in business class. At the minimum, it’ll bring another Star Alliance mileage redemption option to Europe from the East coast.
• Emirates Skywards members can now redeem miles for JetBlue flights. The partnership between the two airlines previously only allowed Skywards members to earn miles on JetBlue.

Related posts:

Notable Airline, Hotel and Travel News: January 29, 2013

Notable Airline, Hotel and Travel News: January 28, 2013

• I blogged about it separately, but American Airlines  unveiled a new identity today, ahead of any announcement regarding a merger with US Airways. The intro video is #avgeek spectacular, in my opinion.
• Delta Air Lines officially announced a new Medallion Qualifying Miles requirement starting in the 2014 program year. I shared my thoughts on it in a post yesterday. Which U.S. airline will be next to introduce a spend threshold for elite status? My guess: United, and within the next three months.
• Alaska Airlines officially announced Emirates as a Mileage Plan redemption option. Earning miles when flying Emirates has been offered to Alaska’s members since March 2012.
• United Airlines sent emails to MileagePlus members offering buy-up Premier Qualifying Miles to achieve a higher elite status. Many Flyertalkers reported their targeted offers in the linked Flyertalk thread.
• Leave it to Spirit Airlines to launch a fare sale surrounding the confusing Manti Te’o scandal/controversy/hoax/whatever you want to call it. Always good for media exposure. Per the Spirit sale/website, “So, if your girlfriend is around (and real), plan that trip that you’ve been talking about without paying too much for it. And tell those high fares to RIP!”
• Starwood Hotels has signed on to be the exclusive hotel partner for the Chicago Cubs, Wrigley Field and other related businesses/charities. SPG members will have a chance for exclusive access to events and other experiences as part of the SPG Moments program.

Related posts:

Notable Airline, Hotel and Travel News: January 16, 2013

Notable Airline, Hotel and Travel News: January 15, 2013

Notable Airline, Hotel and Travel News: January 14, 2013

[Edited 9/5/12: This offer has now expired and I've removed the links.]

In the unlikely event you haven’t read about the limited time credit card offer from Starwood and American Express, here it is.

If you apply for the card before September 4, 2012, you can earn up to 30,000 bonus Starpoints in the SPG hotel loyalty program. Both the Personal Card and Business Card feature this upgraded bonus, so for those of you who have a business (sole proprietorship included), this could be a fantastic way to rack up 60,000 bonus Starpoints.

Application page for the Starwood Preferred Guest American Express Credit Card

Application page for the Starwood Preferred Guest American Express Business Credit Card

Here are the offer details:

• Earn up to 30,000 bonus Starpoints – 10,000 bonus points after making your first purchase on the card and 20,000 bonus points if you spend at least $5,000 in the first 6 months of cardmembership.
• $0 annual fee for the first year, $65 each year thereafter.
• Earn up to 5 Starpoints per dollar spent at participating SPG hotels and resorts and 1 Starpoint everywhere else.
• Receive credit for 5 nights and 2 stays annually towards SPG elite status (or 10 nights and 4 stays if you get both the personal and business card.)
• Stay 4 nights and get the 5^th night free through December 25, 2012, plus up to $100 of resort credit at participating Hawaii and French Polynesia resorts.
• Redeem Starpoints at more than 1,000 hotels and resorts and for flight on more than 350 airlines through SPG Flights, all with no blackout dates.
• For the business card: Save 3% to 10% on business expenses from FedEx, Hertz, OfficeMax, and more with American Express OPEN Savings.

The full text and specifics of the offer, as well as card terms and conditions, can be found here for the Personal AMEX or here for the Business AMEX.

I’m sticking with Hilton and Radisson (Club Carlson) at the moment for my programs of choice, so I’m not personally taking advantage of this offer. I hear, however, that many find the Starwood Preferred Guest program, and this card, particularly rewarding. Starwood properties include:

• Sheraton
• Four Points by Sheraton
• Westin
• W Hotels
• Element Hotels
• St. Regis
• The Luxury Collection
• Aloft
• Le Meridien

I receive a referral credit if you use the links on this page and successfully apply for a card. I remain grateful to any who use my links as blogging is my full-time job. The decision to apply for credit is yours and includes the responsibility to read and understand all terms and conditions.

I just love this. The University Plaza Hotel in Springfield, Missouri offers up the most unique in-room amenity yet. And you don’t have to be an elite member to get it.

According to this article (Hat tip: @danisinthenews on Twitter), guests can check out a goldfish to keep them company in their rooms. Apparently each fish comes with a back story and biography written on the back of the fishbowl. One such fish, named Chip, is from Chicago and loves the White Sox.

I’m surprised some trendy and chic hotels elsewhere aren’t doing this. It might also be something very zen for Starwood’s Element Hotels to pick up on.

Anyway, it brightened my day… hope it does yours, too.

In other airline, hotel and travel industry news last week…

• Reservations and gate agents at United Airlines voted to remain unionized last week, marking a big win for the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAM). A total of 16,720 people voted – 8,305 in favor of representation, 5,865 against – and they represent United’s second largest workgroup behind the carrier’s 21,400 flight attendants. Continental Airlines agents were previously un-unionized. Separately, United reported a 3.4 percent increase in traffic for the month of February compared to last year and a 1.5 to 2.5 percent increase in PRASM, a smaller increase than the previous few months.
• American Airlines posted positive February operational results enjoying a 6 percent increase in traffic from the previous year, its largest increase in many years. Wholly owned affiliate American Eagle Airlines saw an 18.9 percent increase in traffic. A company spokesperson cited improving U.S. and Japanese economies and the inauguration of new service between LAX and Shanghai as contributing factors for the growth.
• Delta Air Lines passengers have been given free access to Amazon.com while flying on the carrier’s Wi-Fi enabled aircraft, in addition to the existing free access to Delta.com and news content from The Wall Street Journal and People magazine.
• Southwest Airlines will be moving its San Antonio customer service center to a former Kmart store location this year and add 322 new jobs in an agreement with the city. The carrier will receive up to $581,649 in incentives during the next 10 years so long as the new center employs a minimum of 800 workers.
• Virgin Atlantic opened their new Clubhouse at New York’s Kennedy Airport last week and Richard Branson was on-site for the opening party that hosted travel agents, journalists and other invited guests. The new location is airside past security and will allow Upper Class passengers to change into their “sleep suits” prior to heading to the gate, if so inclined.
• Lufthansa unveiled its new lie-flat Business Class seats that will be initially seen flying on the carrier’s Boeing 747-8 aircraft and eventually rolled out fleet-wide. The new seats are angled towards each other in a V-configuration and all face the direction of travel. An eight-week trial was conducted on the FRA-JFK-FRA route where 1,349 passengers and a test crew evaluated prototypes of the seat.
• The relationship between online travel agency Orbitz Worldwide and Hilton Hotels & Resorts took a turn for the worse as the hotel chain decided not to renew its long-term agreement with the agency. As a result, the OTA reduced the prominence of Hilton properties on its website and in some cases, outright removed them from search results. According to Hilton, the move was made “in the best interests of our guests and our more than 3,800 hotels around the world.”
• Starwood Hotels & Resorts plans to open 80 new hotels this year as well as 25 new properties in Europe over the next four years. The company already opened a new W Hotel in Paris and a Le Meridien hotel in Instanbul, Turkey this year and looks to focus on other fast-growing markets, including Russia, the Ukraine and additional sites in Turkey.
• Hyatt Hotels Corporation will open new properties in Zurich and Moscow, two of the most expensive cities worldwide for hotel rates. The Hyatt Regency Moscow is planned to open in 2015 and will feature 297 rooms and 56 luxury apartments. In Zurich, Hyatt has plans for both a Hyatt Regency and Hyatt Place near the airport to open in 2017, each with more than 250 rooms.

In other hotel and travel industry news last week…

• Hilton Hotels & Resorts completed renovations of the former International JFK Airport Hotel and officially opened its doors last week as the Hilton New York JFK Airport. This marks the chain’s sixth property in the New York metro area (excluding New Jersey). The JFK hotel features a total of 356 rooms, which includes 64 Executive Level rooms and 11 suites. Separately, Hilton will reportedly open 500 new restaurants at its properties during the next three years. Included among the options being considered is Ruth’s Chris Steak House at hotels where it would make sense based on guest demographics. Yes, please!
• Still more than two years from opening, Hyatt Hotels & Resorts released a rendering of their planned Park Hyatt property in Bangkok. Shaped like a coil, it will mark the chain’s third property in Thailand and feature 222 rooms with a top-floor restaurant and lounge, along with more than 15,000 square feet of meeting and convention space.
• Starwood Hotels & Resorts plans to open 20 new properties this year through a combination of conversions and new construction. Twelve of the new hotels will be located in China, all of the Sheraton brand. According to Starwood’s President of Global Development, Simon Turner, “Sheraton’s impressive global pipeline is being fueled by phenomenal demand in China and India as well as by a surge in high-quality conversions in developed markets.” Eight new Sheraton Resorts will also open this year.
• On the car rental front, both Hertz and Dollar-Thrifty reported impressive fourth quarter results for 2011. Hertz enjoyed a $52.1 million net income for the period versus a $23.6 million net loss the year prior, and Dollar-Thrifty reported a $33.9 million net profit for the period this year. Dollar’s CEO, Scott Thompson, feels optimistic about the first quarter in 2012 mentioning he expects the “rental rate environment to improve in the first quarter of 2012 versus the fourth quarter of 2011.”
• As widely reported and blogged, United’s switch to the Shares GDS is right around the corner and it was reported last week that the conversion will temporarily deactivate the ability to book United’s Economy Plus seats for users of Sabre and Travelport. This is actually a pretty big deal given the volume of corporate agencies that subscribe to the impacted GDSs. There is no ETA for when this critical ancillary and loyalty mechanism will be restored.
• It was reported another ’30 Rock’ star had an issue while flying American Airlines a week ago. Katrina Bowden tweeted on February 21, “Flight attendant on American just refused to give me more water because ‘I had enough already’ what the what?! These people are the worst!” While I’ve never been refused water, I have in the past noticed a bit of attitude when asking for more. This is total speculation, but I think many FAs like to bring “extra” full bottles of water with them from the galleys on their layovers and tend to horde them near the end of longer flights. This might have been what happened to Katrina.
• And finally, the airline-traveling idiot of the week goes to a Saudi teenager who refused to turn off his e-cigarette when a flight attendant advised him to do so. The Continental Airlines flight from Portland to Houston turned around and the man was arrested upon landing in Portland. The disruptive passenger also allegedly took a swing at one of the attendants and “sang of bin Laden.” Eek!

There are oodles of BoardingArea and other bloggers giving away hotel points and other great travel items, and I uncovered another Starwood Preferred Guest 50% off rack rate certificate I’d like a lucky reader to have.

As you probably know, rack rates are definitely more expensive than the cheapest best available room rates, but the use of this certificate on suites can really save money, especially in Europe. The cert is valid for one to five consecutive night stays at participating Starwood hotels or resorts worldwide, subject to availability.

As far as I know, the only way to book a stay using these is by calling SPG reservations, but I have read that people successfully used the online chat feature to check rack rates as they aren’t typically published online.

There are terms and conditions, of course, but most are what you’d expect:

• Certificate expires December 31, 2013
• Maximum of five consecutive nights
• Certs may not be applied toward service charges, room tax, food & beverage, parking, gratuities, gift shop purchases or other incidentals and taxes
• Cert must be presented at check-in
• Member will receive Starpoints for paid portion of stay only
• Not combinable with other room rate discounts or specials
• Good for only one room during the stay
• Not valid in Hawaii, French Polynesia or at the Sheraton Bahrain Hotel

Leave a comment if you’re interested and on Friday, February 24, 2012 at 12:00pm PST, I’ll use random.org to select the lucky recipient. The only “rule” is that you can only leave one comment on this post per person/email. Oh, and not to worry if your comment gets held “in moderation.” I’ll be sure to get it approved ASAP.

Good luck!

[Edited 2/24/12 at 12:00pm PST: Comments are now closed.]

In other hotel and travel industry news last week…

• In an attempt to steer traffic away from Online Travel Agencies like Expedia and Priceline – and the commissions paid to OTAs – several major hotel chains beta-launched Room Key. The brands include Best Western, Hilton, Hyatt, InterContinental, Marriott and Wyndham, and Room Key acts as a portal to a hotel company’s website where the booking actually takes place. It’s a pretty slick site, but I found it a bit slow in uploading choices when entering a city or zip code. They’re hoping to capture more chains and will fully launch this March.
• Club Carlson (Radisson, Country Inn & Suites, et al) has a pretty incredible promotion offering triple points for stays now through March 16, 2012. Registration is required and new this year (in the U.S., anyway), points are accrued for food and beverage purchases at the properties in addition to the room rate. Loyalty Traveler has an excellent breakdown of the promotion and its inherent value.
• A woman is suing the Starwood Hotels & Resorts chain claiming a man who received her room key at a property in Finland just by saying he was her husband sexually assaulted her. If true, it’s absolutely horrific. Her lawyer is Gloria Allred and whenever she enters the picture, I just never know what to think. She helped push Herman Cain out of the GOP running, but some of her other cases just seem peculiar to me. I don’t know why, but I’m always skeptical with her cases. Again, if true, by all means Starwood needs to face justice.
• The popular and well-known Hilton Hawaiian Village in Waikiki completed its $45 million renovation of the Rainbow Tower. All 800 rooms were renovated and received new bathrooms, fixtures, furnishings and carpet. The top floor sports two suites – Duke Kahanamoku and Niumalu – both of which saw $1 million in upgrades. Pretty stunning. After the Outrigger Waikiki and Outrigger Reef on the Beach, the Hilton Hawaiian Village is my next favorite moderate hotel in Waikiki. Nothing beats the Halekulani, though.
• The former Carlton Hotel in midtown Manhattan, as a Preferred Hotel property, became a Marriott Autograph Collection hotel last week. The Autograph Collection was launched by Marriott in 2010 and features luxury and historic hotels around the world, including The Cosmopolitan in Las Vegas and The Algonquin in Times Square. The Vice President of the Group mentioned additional properties would be coming online this year in the U.S. in New Orleans and South Beach.
• Four Seasons recently made an $18 million investment in their website and online presence. The company refuses to break down the details, but one article quotes it likely includes “the big, bright photography seen online, new booking process, mobile optimization, social media integration and personal profile technology.” One day I yearn to holiday at one of their properties, but it remains out of reach for the time being. The article also quoted something I found revealing – 32% of Four Seasons guests cite the ability to check-in without speaking to someone as valuable versus the 78% of airline passengers who claim the same importance. I guess it’s sort of apples to oranges here, though. A Four Seasons front desk “agent” (they probably have much better titles) is a much higher caliber position I’d have to guess.
• Finally, business travel growth shows signs of slowing (except on the luxury end), but at least it’s still growing. One leisure analyst thinks it could be a marker of overall trends in both business and leisure travel, but another report reveals that travel agency air sales increased 6.1% in 2011. Total transactions were down 2.1%, but things still sound pretty optimistic. After all, the major airlines launched a fare increase this week that appears to have stuck.

Congrats to commenter numbers 45 and 148… I’ll be sending you an email shortly. Thanks everyone for your interest in this giveaway… I plan to do more in 2012. Happy New Year!