09-30-2011

Events We're Watching

Qantas and Customs Strikes in Australia This Week With More to Come

Around 3000 Customs staff struck on Tuesday at Adelaide, Brisbane, Cairns, Melbourne, Perth and Sydney airports, with delays reported of up to two hours for arriving international flights. 50 Qantas Transport Workers Union (TWU) delegates will strike on Thursday, while 3,800 TWU members will stage a wider one-hour strike on Friday. Further strikes are also planned by Qantas unions in October. Read more

US Embassy Warns of Possible Abduction Plot in Saudi Arabia

The U.S. Embassy in Saudi Arabia said Wednesday it had received information that a terrorist group may be planning to abduct Westerners in the capital, Riyadh, and urged U.S. citizens to exercise caution. Read more

Hurricane Ophelia

After falling apart on Sunday afternoon, Ophelia came back to life northeast of the Leeward Islands on Tuesday. The system gradually gained strength and became the fourth hurricane of the Atlantic season on Thursday. Read more

Traveling Internationally? STEP

We urge our travelers who are US Citizens traveling to a foreign country to enroll in The Smart Traveler Enrollment Program (STEP). It’s free! Enter information about your upcoming trip abroad so that the Department of State can better assist you in an emergency. Read more

How long is the credit for a cancelled non-refundable ticket good for?

Since 2002 the airlines have permitted unused non-refundable tickets to be applied to the purchase of a new ticket subject to certain limitations.

The original reservation must have been cancelled prior to departure time.
The entire original ticket must be unused.
The new ticket must be for the same traveler, on the same airline, but can apply to any routing..
On most airlines the value must be exchanged for a new ticket within 1 year from the date the original ticket was issued.
Most airlines apply a penalty that ranges from $150 domestically to several hundred dollars internationally.

Partially-used tickets are governed by different rules that vary a little more. In many cases though, partially-used tickets have value only on the same route within a period of 30 days. Please check with your agent for the specifics that apply to your ticket.

When you travel to the U.S. from an international destination, you are reunited with your checked bags prior to going through customs.

When you travel from the U.S. to Europe, Asia and other international destinations, you are not reunited with your checked bags when changing planes and going through customs.

This is important to know when buying and transporting duty-free liquid or gel items, such as liquor and perfume. Find out more information about when to buy duty-free items.

OTHER NEWS

United Offers Mileage Bonus Between the US and London

Earn up to 150,000 miles for round-trips between the U.S. and London Heathrow (LHR) in United First, United Business or Continental BusinessFirst between now and December 31, 2011. The more you fly, the more you earn per round-trip. Read more.

The Future of Consumer Loyalty in Travel is Social Media

Bold statement, of course. But with a string of datapoints to demonstrate, it is no wonder travel brands are urged to think of social media as more than a one-way marketing channel. Read more

4 Reasons I'm Done Booking Flights Online

The Internet is indispensable for everything from shopping to keeping up with the news. But when it comes to booking flights, there's a better way. Read more

Most Travel Managers Are Missing Out On The Biggest Shift in Travel Technology in Years

Travel managers are missing the biggest shift in travel technology to hit the industry in years –the mobile platform.... “You need to address mobile very quickly, because travelers are already taking advantage of it.” Read more

Business Fliers Start to Return to Premium Classes

The number of North American companies that allow premium-class air travel rose 5 percentage points to 56% in 2011 from a year ago, according to the Global Business Travel Association. Read more

Proposed Airline Tax Bump Has Tempers Soaring

President Obama is asking passengers to pay a few dollars more in taxes for an airline ticket — which already is about 20% taxes and fees. And the travel industry is in an uproar about it. Read more

Corporate Travel Policies in Europe Are Revealed and Examined in A New Study

Based on best practices and insights from 330 European travel buyers, the study takes a comprehensive look at policy mandates versus guidelines, consolidation, booking procedures, class of service, advance purchases, pre-trip approval, groups/meetings and emergencies, and ancillary fees among other issues – all of which comprise variables that make travel difficult to standardise. Read more

Padded Flight Times a Reasonable Buffer

Most of the time, it's done because it actually takes longer to fly the route thanks to weather, air traffic control delays and airport congestion. If that's the case, why did you arrive so early on your last flight? It's because there is a ton of variability. Read more

Watch Out for Flight Changes, Tight Connections

Airlines change schedules as time goes by, and that can mean that you end up with something different than what you wanted when you bought your ticket. Read more

Cramped in Coach, or the Science of Sleep

The ultimate solution for semi-hopeless cases like me may be one suggested by Dr. Dinges: to schedule flights acknowledging full well that you won’t be able to sleep. And if that’s impossible, head to charm school and learn how to persuade strangers to let you fall asleep on their shoulder. Read more

8 Foreign Fast-Food Chains Worth a Taste

When we think of fast food in the U.S., we imagine mega-chains with thousands of restaurants around the world -- too many, in fact, for the brands to have much quality control. But in some countries, such as Brazil and India, the concept is just catching on, and the quality of the food you'll find passing as "fast" is all the better for it. Read more

Business Travel: Boeing's 787 Aims to Raise Bar in Comfort

Marketed as a panacea to passenger discomfort, the Dreamliner's inauguration is, after three years of delivery delays, being closely monitored by the travel industry. Comfort and cost are concerns of the business traveler and the 787 will deliver extreme advancements in fuel efficiency and many traveler features that will improve the journey. Read more

The Sleaze of Fees Overseas

Over the last few years, banks have dramatically increased the fees they charge for overseas transactions involving credit and debit cards. But by traveling smart and doing a little research up front, you can cut back on these extra expenses. Read more

App Helps Travelers Speak in Foreign Languages

Communicating with local people in a foreign country can pose difficulties, whether it is asking for direction or making a special request at a restaurant. But Vocre, a new iPhone app released by translation company myLanguage, aims to ease those problems by enabling users to translate their spoken voice into foreign languages. Read more

4 Best Travel Chargers to Throw in Your Bag

Leave dead batteries (and tangled cords) behind with these streamlined, portable power sources. Read more

Business Travel Doesn’t Have to Be Stressful

Getting swept up in the idea of a few days in an exotic location can make it easy to overlook the toll that travel can take on your body, and by extension, your work performance. Thankfully, a little forethought is all that's required to streamline the process of getting from A to B, and ensure you reach your destination ready to do business. Read more

Hotel Rates, in Some Cities, Seem Fully Recovered

In Manhattan in the second quarter, for example, the average daily rate for rooms increased 9.2 percent, PricewaterhouseCoopers, the research firm, found. The upscale hotel segment, by the way, had the biggest increase in revenue per room, up 9.1 percent. Read more

Sleep in a Box Makes Dreams a Reality

With the arrival of the Sleepbox -- a portable sleep pod that allows you and your gadgets to be recharged at a rate of about $10 per hour - catching some serious winks while traveling is now a possibility. Read more

Social Media Ambush: When Hotel Guests Go On the Attack

Out of the explosive popularity of social networking a challenging new breed of customer has reared its head. Intoxicated by their social media clout, bristling with indignation and entitlement, and all too aware of how far some businesses will go to avoid negative commentary, they hint at, request or outright demand concessions and special treatment. And if they don’t get it, the underlying threat, whether real or imagined, is they’ll lash out via social networks. Read more

How Far Should Hotels Go to Please/Appease Guests?

or hotels social networks have performed disappointingly as a booking channel, but for hotel guests they’re proving to be a popular and efficient customer service channel. Is social media becoming a problem for hotels? Read more

Starwood Joins the MasterCard Worldwide Enhanced Folio Data Program

Starwood will add nine new hotel brands and more than 1,000 properties worldwide to the program, expanding the number of business traveler-preferred hotel choices available from which corporate travel departments can receive line item expense data from employee corporate payment card purchases. Read more

9 Tips for Meeting Exhibitors, Attendees, Presenters, and Planners

We learned that conference planners and panelists should make use of social tools to improve attendees' experiences. Presenters can share their Twitter handles with the audience and actively solicit Twitter comments, while planners can monitor social buzz to get updates on which panels are full and which may be facing logistical or technological problems. Read more


09-30-2011 Events We're Watching Qantas and Customs Strikes in Australia This Week With More to Come Around 3000 Customs staff struck on Tuesday at Adelaide, Brisbane, Cairns, Melbourne, Perth and Sydney airports, with delays reported of up to two hours for arriving international flights. 50 Qantas Transport Workers Union (TWU) delegates will strike on Thursday, while 3,800 TWU members will stage a wider one-hour strike on Friday. Further strikes are also planned by Qantas unions in October. Read more US Embassy Warns of Possible Abduction Plot in Saudi Arabia The U.S. Embassy in Saudi Arabia said Wednesday it had received information that a terrorist group may be planning to abduct Westerners in the capital, Riyadh, and urged U.S. citizens to exercise caution. Read more Hurricane Ophelia After falling apart on Sunday afternoon, Ophelia came back to life northeast of the Leeward Islands on Tuesday. The system gradually gained strength and became the fourth hurricane of the Atlantic season on Thursday. Read more Traveling Internationally? STEP We urge our travelers who are US Citizens traveling to a foreign country to enroll in The Smart Traveler Enrollment Program (STEP). It’s free! Enter information about your upcoming trip abroad so that the Department of State can better assist you in an emergency. Read more How long is the credit for a cancelled non-refundable ticket good for? Since 2002 the airlines have permitted unused non-refundable tickets to be applied to the purchase of a new ticket subject to certain limitations. The original reservation must have been cancelled prior to departure time. The entire original ticket must be unused. The new ticket must be for the same traveler, on the same airline, but can apply to any routing.. On most airlines the value must be exchanged for a new ticket within 1 year from the date the original ticket was issued. Most airlines apply a penalty that ranges from $150 domestically to several hundred dollars internationally. Partially-used tickets are governed by different rules that vary a little more. In many cases though, partially-used tickets have value only on the same route within a period of 30 days. Please check with your agent for the specifics that apply to your ticket. When you travel to the U.S. from an international destination, you are reunited with your checked bags prior to going through customs. When you travel from the U.S. to Europe, Asia and other international destinations, you are not reunited with your checked bags when changing planes and going through customs. This is important to know when buying and transporting duty-free liquid or gel items, such as liquor and perfume. Find out more information about when to buy duty-free items. OTHER NEWS United Offers Mileage Bonus Between the US and London Earn up to 150,000 miles for round-trips between the U.S. and London Heathrow (LHR) in United First, United Business or Continental BusinessFirst between now and December 31, 2011. The more you fly, the more you earn per round-trip. Read more. The Future of Consumer Loyalty in Travel is Social Media Bold statement, of course. But with a string of datapoints to demonstrate, it is no wonder travel brands are urged to think of social media as more than a one-way marketing channel. Read more 4 Reasons I'm Done Booking Flights Online The Internet is indispensable for everything from shopping to keeping up with the news. But when it comes to booking flights, there's a better way. Read more Most Travel Managers Are Missing Out On The Biggest Shift in Travel Technology in Years Travel managers are missing the biggest shift in travel technology to hit the industry in years –the mobile platform.... “You need to address mobile very quickly, because travelers are already taking advantage of it.” Read more Business Fliers Start to Return to Premium Classes The number of North American companies that allow premium-class air travel rose 5 percentage points to 56% in 2011 from a year ago, according to the Global Business Travel Association. Read more Proposed Airline Tax Bump Has Tempers Soaring President Obama is asking passengers to pay a few dollars more in taxes for an airline ticket — which already is about 20% taxes and fees. And the travel industry is in an uproar about it. Read more Corporate Travel Policies in Europe Are Revealed and Examined in A New Study Based on best practices and insights from 330 European travel buyers, the study takes a comprehensive look at policy mandates versus guidelines, consolidation, booking procedures, class of service, advance purchases, pre-trip approval, groups/meetings and emergencies, and ancillary fees among other issues – all of which comprise variables that make travel difficult to standardise. Read more Padded Flight Times a Reasonable Buffer Most of the time, it's done because it actually takes longer to fly the route thanks to weather, air traffic control delays and airport congestion. If that's the case, why did you arrive so early on your last flight? It's because there is a ton of variability. Read more Watch Out for Flight Changes, Tight Connections Airlines change schedules as time goes by, and that can mean that you end up with something different than what you wanted when you bought your ticket. Read more Cramped in Coach, or the Science of Sleep The ultimate solution for semi-hopeless cases like me may be one suggested by Dr. Dinges: to schedule flights acknowledging full well that you won’t be able to sleep. And if that’s impossible, head to charm school and learn how to persuade strangers to let you fall asleep on their shoulder. Read more 8 Foreign Fast-Food Chains Worth a Taste When we think of fast food in the U.S., we imagine mega-chains with thousands of restaurants around the world -- too many, in fact, for the brands to have much quality control. But in some countries, such as Brazil and India, the concept is just catching on, and the quality of the food you'll find passing as "fast" is all the better for it. Read more Business Travel: Boeing's 787 Aims to Raise Bar in Comfort Marketed as a panacea to passenger discomfort, the Dreamliner's inauguration is, after three years of delivery delays, being closely monitored by the travel industry. Comfort and cost are concerns of the business traveler and the 787 will deliver extreme advancements in fuel efficiency and many traveler features that will improve the journey. Read more The Sleaze of Fees Overseas Over the last few years, banks have dramatically increased the fees they charge for overseas transactions involving credit and debit cards. But by traveling smart and doing a little research up front, you can cut back on these extra expenses. Read more App Helps Travelers Speak in Foreign Languages Communicating with local people in a foreign country can pose difficulties, whether it is asking for direction or making a special request at a restaurant. But Vocre, a new iPhone app released by translation company myLanguage, aims to ease those problems by enabling users to translate their spoken voice into foreign languages. Read more 4 Best Travel Chargers to Throw in Your Bag Leave dead batteries (and tangled cords) behind with these streamlined, portable power sources. Read more Business Travel Doesn’t Have to Be Stressful Getting swept up in the idea of a few days in an exotic location can make it easy to overlook the toll that travel can take on your body, and by extension, your work performance. Thankfully, a little forethought is all that's required to streamline the process of getting from A to B, and ensure you reach your destination ready to do business. Read more Hotel Rates, in Some Cities, Seem Fully Recovered In Manhattan in the second quarter, for example, the average daily rate for rooms increased 9.2 percent, PricewaterhouseCoopers, the research firm, found. The upscale hotel segment, by the way, had the biggest increase in revenue per room, up 9.1 percent. Read more Sleep in a Box Makes Dreams a Reality With the arrival of the Sleepbox -- a portable sleep pod that allows you and your gadgets to be recharged at a rate of about $10 per hour - catching some serious winks while traveling is now a possibility. Read more Social Media Ambush: When Hotel Guests Go On the Attack Out of the explosive popularity of social networking a challenging new breed of customer has reared its head. Intoxicated by their social media clout, bristling with indignation and entitlement, and all too aware of how far some businesses will go to avoid negative commentary, they hint at, request or outright demand concessions and special treatment. And if they don’t get it, the underlying threat, whether real or imagined, is they’ll lash out via social networks. Read more How Far Should Hotels Go to Please/Appease Guests? or hotels social networks have performed disappointingly as a booking channel, but for hotel guests they’re proving to be a popular and efficient customer service channel. Is social media becoming a problem for hotels? Read more Starwood Joins the MasterCard Worldwide Enhanced Folio Data Program Starwood will add nine new hotel brands and more than 1,000 properties worldwide to the program, expanding the number of business traveler-preferred hotel choices available from which corporate travel departments can receive line item expense data from employee corporate payment card purchases. Read more 9 Tips for Meeting Exhibitors, Attendees, Presenters, and Planners We learned that conference planners and panelists should make use of social tools to improve attendees' experiences. Presenters can share their Twitter handles with the audience and actively solicit Twitter comments, while planners can monitor social buzz to get updates on which panels are full and which may be facing logistical or technological problems. Read more	Throughout Travel-On, our employees are M.A.D ( Making A Difference) to our clients. Many of you have noticed and have told us just how M.A.D they are. Recently, Sarah Shaffer from Travel-On Corporate Travel Team received this note from a client. "Sarah, I appreciate the follow up and detailed response, especially at the time you sent the email. Your support does not go unnoticed by me or my management, Thanks. " Submit your feedback BUSINESS TRAVEL Pack it: 11 Versatile Travel Essentials Traveling with Food Allergies 8 Must-Have Free Travel Apps RECOMMENDATIONS FOR INTERNATIONAL TRAVELERS Smart Traveler Enrollment Program (STEP) US DOS Travel Warnings TRAVEL WARNINGS / ALERTS Libya 09/22/2011 Algeria 09/19/2011 Syria 09/15/201 LEISURE TRAVEL VIEW FEATURED SPECIALS CALL TRAVEL PLACE NOW FOR YOUR HOLIDAY TRAVEL PLANS! Bethesda: 301-656-4060 Potomac: 240-387-4160 Beltsville: 240-387-4633 Manassas: 703-368-8757 (Travel Place is the leisure travel division of Travel-On.) VIDEO OF THE WEEK TSA Child Screening Policy Change SUBSCRIBE TO OUR NEWS BUSINESS TRAVEL LEISURE TRAVEL
Please tell us what you would like to see in our newsletter. Your feedback and comments are always welcome. ABOUT TRAVEL-ON: Travel-On is a full-service travel management company combining the latest travel technology with highly skilled, professionals to provide organizations and their travelers a broad scope of fully integrated, end-to-end travel management solutions customized to maximize savings and value to you and your travelers. Whether you seek a best-in-class online booking tool; high-touch personalized service for your travelers; mobile apps that integrate your travelers with your travel program; travel program development and management services; up-to-the minute travel data, or expense management solutions, Travel-On has a solution that will fit your organization and meet your travelers' needs. For additional information about any of our services, please contact Dave Cahan at dcahan@tvlon.com. News Archives \| Subscribe to our industry news