Orbitz has the Intercontinental Tokyo Bay for 374 JPY per night (~ US$3.19) and other hotels have glitches as well, e.g. Crowne Plaza Shanghai for 123.16 Chinese Yuan (US$15.24) pre-paid. Apparently conversion issues are affecting the Intercontinental Coex Seoul as well, with rates from 187 Won instead of the usual 187,000 Won. There’s plenty of availability. When you pull up the hotel, you’ll see “From $XXXX” and that will show the correct rate. Choose the hotel anyway and you’re given a list of rates including the mistake rate. In the case of the Seoul property you’ll have to choose to display more rates than then all rates in order to get Won pricing rather than US dollar pricing. This was posted on Flyertalk a bit after 10pm last night but wasn’t sent out on fare…
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Furlough Notices Have Been Received at Independence Air
Final disposition is pending the outcome of the auction next week of course, but it sure looks like they’re going to sell just a few pieces of the airline and shut down. A thread at ACA-LOUNGE.COM, a bulletin board for the airline’s employees (and a place rife with rumors), indicates that pretty much everyone has gotten their furlough notices: Dear Flight Attendant ######: As you know, FLYi, Inc, the holding company for Independence Air, has been actively engaged in securing inverstors in, or purchasers of, the Company as it attempts to reorganize under Chapter 11 of the United States Bankrupcy Code. The Company expects that is it is unable to secure significant external investment or a sale of all or substantially all of its operations before January 7, 2006, it will permanently cease all operations…
Funniest and Most Off-Base Comment About a Hotel
What a great line, but how much further from the truth could this be? At TripAdvisor, one reviewer of the Ritz-Carlton Battery Park describes the place as “a reminder of war-torn Beirut.” The complaints are that the hotel is downtown (duh — it’s perfect for business in the financial district, but not where tourists choose to stay) and that breakfast was expesive (double duh, it’s breakfast at a hotel, a Ritz no less, and in Manhattan to boot). Still, it’s a great line, and one I’ll have to remember. I can think of a few Radisson properties where it might apply…
Airtran Joins American Express Membership Rewards
American Express Membership Rewards has added Airtran as a points transfer partner. This new partnership makes sense as Airtran already has a meaningful partnership with American Express, offering bonus frequent flyer credits for tickets purchased using an American Express card. It’s interesting in another way, though. Juniper Bank issues the Airtran Visa. Juniper’s partnership with USAirways is forcing the USAirways Dividend Miles program out of American Express Membership Rewards and Diners Club Club Rewards. But I guess their contract with Airtran isn’t so restrictive! The transfer ratio is 1500 American Express points to 1 Airtran credit, which means that 24,000 Membership Rewards points buys a capacity controlled domestic reward ticket. Sounds about right. But the best use of these points isn’t going to be transferring that many for a free ticket. The way to use…
Washington, DC Restaurant Week
DC Restaurant Week returns January 9 – 15. As expected, the deal is a 3-course fixed price lunch for $20.06 and a 3-course fixed price dinner for $30.06. Restaurant week means busy restaurants. Very busy. Service suffers, and the goal at each place is to turn your table as quickly as possible. At all but the most expensive restaurants $30.06 per person exclusive of drinks isn’t as amazing a deal as you might think. At most mid-price places it represents perhaps a free dessert. And the most expensive restaurants are the ones most likely to limit your menu choices to their less expensive dishes or control portions. Another reason for limited choices on the menu is to limit the time it takes to prepare food, or allow the kitchen to pre-prepare as much food as…
45 Hour Delay!
The Los Angeles Times reports on a 45 hour delay of an Air India flight where the passengers revolted and just got off the plane: Finally, Wenz, the professor, said he just walked through a door that attendants had opened. He climbed down the stairs and off the plane to wait on the tarmac. Other passengers, he said, followed. Far worse than just losing some bags!
Why People Don’t Complain About U.S. Discount Airlines
In his latest column, Joel Widzer excuses complaints about major airline carriers as caused by unfair expectations When flying a network airline, travelers have grander expectations than they do when they fly a budget carrier. When flying Southwest or JetBlue, people adjust their attitudes to lower expectations. Psychologists call this the expectancy value. Excuse me? People expect more from Delta than JetBlue? Customer satisfaction surveys of JetBlue are high because JetBlue offers a better coach product than the major carriers. Seats behind row 9 offer extra legroom, matched only by United’s Economy Plus (which can’t be reserved by everyone) and American’s dwindling More Room Throughout Coach. Anyone can reserve these better seats on JetBlue, and the JetBlue website even recommends these seats. Continental, Delta, Northwest, and USAirways don’t offer any coach seats with legroom to…
Starwood’s annual hotel award category shift
Starwood’s 2006 hotel category changes for award redemption are up at Flyertalk. 133 hotels are going up in category (which means it will take more points to redeem at them) and 29 hotels are going down in category (so fewer points required). Starwood categorizes in groupings numbered one to six based on the average room rates that a hotel achieves during the prior year. While there are occasional changes during the year, these lists are mostly stable throughout the year with major changes loaded each late December or early January. It’s important to remember that these categorizations are based on room rate and not a reflection of a hotel’s quality. There are some real gems in Category 1 and 2, and some really awful Category 4 hotels. This past year Princes de Galles in Paris…
Mini bar at Café Atlantico
The description from Tyler Cowen’s Washington, DC dining guide remains correct — mini bar “takes many chances and doesn’t always hit.” But it doesn’t need to when they’re serving you 35 different things over the course of a couple hours. The “caviar” made of peas is fascinating, an amazing creation, the texture is just right — but tastes like, well, peas. The Friday night before last when I ate there was the most fun I’ve had at a meal, purely over the food, in a long time. It’s my second favorite meal of the past twelve months behind Tetsuya in Sydney — which puts it ahead — in terms of sheer enjoyment — of the Inn at Little Washington, CityZen, Citronelle, 2941, Indebleu, etc. Minibar is a restaurant within a restaurant. It’s just six stools…
Weird Hotel Innovation
Hotels are great for romantic getaways. Apparently, though, this isn’t true just for people. HotelChatter points to this MSNBC story from August on a Sao Paulo motel which caters to love-seeking dogs. The air-conditioned pet love motel room, with a paw print decorative motif, has a special control panel to dim the lights, turn on romantic music or play films. “The owner has to know what kind of DVD will excite his or her dog,” Marinho said with a chuckle. The dog motel, which opened this month, costs $41 for two hours, making it more expensive than the least luxurious rooms at the Opium, which cost $45 for four hours. “We also have a wedding agency that matches up dogs and if the female dog doesn’t get pregnant, we offer artificial insemination services,” said Marinho
