Is now the time to get the new Uber Visa card?

December 14, 2017

When I flew into LAX, I was picked me up in this specially wrapped Suburban (Photo: Chris McGinnis)

Uber, Visa and Barclays recently hosted an event in Los Angeles designed to promote the rich benefits of a new credit card. I accepted an invitation to fly in, dine with execs, spend the night at the SLS hotel and learn more about it. This occurred before Uber’s recent data breach was revealed, so I held off on publishing this post until the storm began to clear.

Uber’s is only the latest of many data breaches affecting frequent travelers in recent years. While the company says that the data hack only exposed user names, email addresses and phone numbers, it is still disconcerting.

So is your credit card application information safe with Uber? Well, after poking around a bit I found out that Uber does not actually store any credit card numbers or application information at all— it’s all handled by banks and payment processors according to a spokesperson.

So why in the world is a ride-share company getting into the credit card biz? Well, of course Uber wants to offer a practical and valuable product to its customers. But on its road to profitability, a key reason is money.

Despite some recent, well-publicized bumps, Uber has broad brand recognition and a loyal, lucrative and spendy customer base. Banks are eager to tap into that crowd, and are willing to pay Uber handsomely for access to them.

And how do they get to them? By wrapping up a lot of valuable benefits into a no-fee credit card that has pricked up the ears of frequent travelers from coast to coast.

With the new Uber Visa Card issued by Barclays, the ride-sharing company has jumped into the co-branded credit card space just like big travel brands like Delta or Marriott, which have earned millions (if not billions) of dollars with their co-branded cards. It’s a win-win-win situation: Banks get access to big spending frequent travelers, travel brands and processors (like Visa) earn money on each transaction, and travelers get a card with a rich roster of benefits.

The Uber Visa card earns points you can use for rides or cash back (Photo: Uber)

This new card is worth considering if you:

Don’t like paying annual fees for credit cards
Eat at restaurants or have food delivered often
Travel frequently
Use Uber
Watch Netflix, listen to Spotify or shop on Amazon Prime
Carry an expensive mobile phone
Use a credit card overseas
Don’t have time for tedious credit card applications

Sound like you? It sure sounds like me.

The new card has a $0 annual fee. That’s surprising considering its benefits. Use it to dine out and you get 4 percent back. Put your airline and hotel (or Airbnb) charges on the card and you get 3 percent back. Online shopping and Uber rides earn 2 percent cash back (a bit of a surprise to me… I would think they’d earn 4 percent since this is the Uber card).

In addition to what you get back, bennies include a $50 credit you can apply to your annual Netflix, Spotify or Amazon Prime (among other) subscriptions. Pay your phone bill with the card and you get $600 in insurance in case of loss or theft. For globetrotters, there are no irritating foreign transaction fees– very rare for a no-fee card. To get these add-ons, you must spend at least $5,000 per year on the card. As an incentive to sign up, if you spend $500 in the first 90 days and you get $100 (10,000 points) in credits.

But perhaps what is most interesting about this card is how you sign up for it. You can do it the old way of course. But get this: you can sign up for it within the Uber app, which pre-populates your application with pertinent info, leaving only a few key blanks for you to fill in. Uber suggests you sign up for the card during your next Uber ride, and says it’s likely you’ll be approved for it by the time you get out of the car. Try that and let us know if it worked!

Have you or would you get the Uber Visa card? Please leave your comments below.

Disclosure: The Uber Visa Card paid for my flight and one night hotel stay in Los Angeles.

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A Lyft bump and Uber slump – especially in San Francisco

November 6, 2017

Uber recently altered its app to allow tipping. (Image: Uber)

Has ride-sharing giant Uber jumped the shark?

If there’s one thing Uber has monopolized in the past few years, it’s negative publicity – everything from driver problems to management turnover to sexual harassment, not to mention vitriolic opposition from licensed taxi drivers and city officials in many places.

Still, Uber has surged ahead in market share everywhere it went, blowing taxi companies out of the water and facing little significant competition in its app-based business model except for Lyft – and Lyft has been running a distant second.

But that could be changing. Certify, which provides business travel expense management software for companies, has started to see some weakness for Uber’s business.

Share of business travelers’ ground transport spending, Q3 vs Q2. (Image: Certify)

In a report on business travel spending patterns for the third quarter of 2017, Certify said that in some major U.S. metropolitan areas, it discovered a shift in ground transportation spending market shares, “with Uber losing between 1 percent and 8 percent, and corresponding gains for Lyft.”

In San Francisco, where both companies are based, Certify tracked the biggest third-quarter decline in Uber’s local market share – down 8 percent – and the biggest gain for Lyft, up 9 percent. “The number two ride-hailing provider (i.e. Lyft) also improved in user review rankings, reaching 4.76 stars to Uber’s 4.1 and taxis’ 3.59,” Certify said.

Overall, Uber’s share of ground transportation spending in the third quarter dropped one point from the previous quarter, to 54 percent – its first drop ever – while Lyft’s share rose 3 points to 11 percent. Car rental companies’ share dropped a point to 28 percent, and taxis fell from 8 to 7 percent.

Uber vs. Lyft share gains/losses in specific markets. (Image: Certify)

But in spite of “overall trends indicating a slight downturn for Uber,” Certify said, it remains “the number one vendor in business travel ground transportation and the most expensed brand of any category in the Certify system for the third quarter of 2017 — more than double second place Starbucks as a share of transactions.”

Another interesting Uber factoid emerged from the Certify study. The new Uber feature that allows customers to tip their drivers through the app is “off to a slow start,” Certify said: Only 3 percent of Uber riders used the tipping feature, giving drivers an average tip of $3.10.

If you click on the link to the report in the previous paragraph, you can scroll down to see business travelers’ third quarter spending percentages on specific brands of restaurants, airlines, hotels, and rental car companies, and the average spend per transaction for each one.

Readers: Have your ride-hailing preferences changed between Uber and Lyft? If so, why? Which one is your favorite?

Disclosure: Lyft has sponsored the TravelSkills blog within the last year but did not sponsor this post.

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No more Starwood points for Uber rides + New Uber credit card

October 27, 2017

Taking Uber from Manhattan to Newark Airport (Photo: Chris McGinnis)

Members of the Starwood Preferred Guest (SPG) program who have been topping off their accounts with points earned from Uber rides will have to find an alternative. Meanwhile, Uber has a new credit card – but that won’t earn points or miles either.

SPG just told members that its partnership with the ride-sharing giant will end effective December 17, so no more Starpoints will be earned as of that date. SPG’s partnership with Uber started more than two years ago.

Since Marriott acquired Starwood, it has continued to maintain three separate loyalty programs – SPG, Marriott Rewards and Ritz-Carlton Rewards – although accounts can be linked, giving members of one the opportunity for point transfers and status matches in the others.

TravelSkills reader RC tipped us off to the change this week and offered his assessment: “This does not bode well IMO for Starwood’s future in Marriott, as it is a unique Starwood program that Marriott is ending.”

Road warriors who still want to reap a return on their rides should note that Lyft has a partnership with Delta that pays one SkyMile per dollar spent on Lyft rides to persons who link their Lyft and Delta accounts. And Uber devotees who have an eligible American Express card can get two Membership Rewards points per dollar spent on Uber rides. Plus Amex Platinum card members get $15 monthly Uber credits.

The new Uber Visa card from Barclays Bank. (Image: Uber)

Meanwhile, the ridesharing giant this week announced its own branded credit card. Customers can apply for the new no-fee Uber-Visa Card – issued by Barclaycard – starting November 2.

But cardholders won’t earn airline or hotel points or miles; instead, they’ll get money back on their purchases – 4 percent for restaurant and bar bills, 3 percent for hotel and air fare charges, 2 percent for online purchases (including Uber rides) and 1 percent for everything else. Cash-back credits can be deposited in the user’s account or redeemed for rides.

The new card is similar to a new credit card that United Airlines recently introduced. The United TravelBank Card from Chase, which also carries no annual fee, gives users 2 percent cash back for United purchases and 1.5 percent on other purchases. The returns go into a United TravelBank account where they can be applied to United flights.

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Popular: Big fare sale + Delta devaluation? + TWA hotel + Final 747 flights + Uber at airport

October 1, 2017

Roundtrip fares between Norcal & Socal plummeted to just $57 this week- did you get one? (Photo: Chris McGinnis)

TravelSkills’ 10 most popular posts over the last week (descending order):

1 Deal expired but more to come: Deal Alert: California Corridor goes dirt cheap

2 Two sides to this issue- see comments: Delta Diamond status just got a lot harder to earn

3 So that’s why! Airport Lyft & Uber pickups get faster. Why?

4 Routes: More Hong Kong from SFO, Delta to London, Virgin 747 flights, Lufthansa + more

5 Airport updates: O’Hare, LAX, Pittsburgh, Minneapolis, Boston

Do you follow Chris on Instagram? Come on and jump onboard here

Daytrip SFO-LAX in 6 hours #travel #california #sf #la #embraer @americanair #avgeek
A post shared by Chris McGinnis (@chrisjmcginnis) on Sep 27, 2017 at 9:19pm PDT

6 This is so remote: New: Take a bus to your plane at SFO

7 Anyone old enough to remember? See comments! TWA Hotel takes shape at JFK & in Manhattan (slideshow)

8 Bye bye big bird: United’s final 747 flight sells out in hours

9 Ugh! American Airlines eyes new perks – and packs in more seats

10 Nice: Delta debuts free in-flight text messaging

This is a lot of fun if you have 15 minutes to watch: In Worth It: Lifestyle, a spin off of BuzzFeed’s hit series Worth It, host Steven Lim and his buddies embark on a new adventure, setting out to try different experiences at three different price points: affordable, middle tier, and luxury–from airplane seats to cars to videos games. (JetBlue, Singapore Airlines, SurfAir) At the end of the episode, the gang decides which experience is the most “worth it” at its given price.

Links to stories from other sources that we thought you’d like to read:

Amex Platinum adds access to Lufthansa lounge at Munich Airport

More congestion coming to ATL curbside due to canopy construction

In July at SFO: 300,000 car service rides vs 100,000 taxi rides

Uber out of Montreal from Oct 14

Not much swoon for Air France’s new airline, Joon

Don’t forget: You can earn Delta SkyMiles for your Lyft rides

Lyft is a Delta’s SkyMiles partner- did you know? (Image: Delta/Lyft)

American Airlines CEO: “We’ll never lose money again.”

Elon Musk’s New Vision: Anywhere on Earth in Under One Hour

United exec discusses better sleep, social media at APEX conference

Hotels take in record amounts of revenue from guest fees

American introduces new sleep products for long-haul, transcon customers

Study: Airline revenues from Wi-Fi could grow from $1 billion to $30 billion

Canada’s Westjet will launch Calgary-based low-cost carrier

Netflix will help airlines improve their in-flight streaming technology

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Airport Lyft & Uber pickups get faster. Why?

September 28, 2017

Airport rides getting faster. Have you noticed? (Photo: Lyft)

When I got off the plane late last night at SFO and called up Lyft for a ride home I was surprised when the app told me that the driver was only one minute away. I was still deep in the terminal and had to hustle to get to the curbside to keep him from waiting.

When calling up Lyft or Uber at the airport, have you noticed that your car shows up a lot faster these days? Well, there’s a good reason for that.

Starting last month both Lyft and Uber rolled out something called “Rematch” at four California airports: San Francisco International, Oakland International, Mineta San Jose International and Los Angeles International. This new functionality allows drivers to drop off AND pick up passengers simultaneously at the airport.

In the past drivers could enter airport grounds to pick up OR drop off passengers, but they could not do both. That meant passengers had to wait 5-8 minutes for the driver to get to the airport from a remote lot.

Uber and Lyft pick-ups at LAX changing (Image: Thomas Hawk/Flickr)

Officials at LAX said that they allow the practice to further reduce traffic in the central terminal area. In a press release, they said:

“Rematch works by increasing the number of persons who can be picked up during a single TNC [ridesharing] driver’s trip into LAX. Under regular TNC operating policies, TNC vehicles can enter the airport only to pick-up or drop-off passengers, but not both. For TNC companies authorized to use Rematch technology, following a drop-off trip, drivers may see a Rematch notification informing them of a passenger pick-up before exiting. If there is no Rematch notification, then the driver will exit the terminal area following his/her drop-off. Rematch requests will only be issued within the airport, and only to vehicles with confirmed drop-offs.”

Sounds like a good plan to me. Now if they can only do something about all the crowding at the designated pick up areas at LAX and SFO. It’s getting crazy congested curbside at peak hours. Have you noticed? Please leave your comments below.

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London tells Uber: Get out!

September 23, 2017

London regulators don’t want Uber to operate in the city any more. (Image: Jim Glab)

Uber’s aggressive expansion and some questionable elements of its corporate culture have come back to bite it in the U.K., where London’s transport agency told the company today it will not renew its operating license – which expires September 30.

However, Uber’s app-based car hire service can continue to operate in the British capital during the appeals process, which the company said it will vigorously pursue. That process could take weeks or months. So you can still get your Uber over there for the time being. But maybe not for long. BBC reports that Uber has 21 days to appeal against the agency’s decision. Some 3.5 million passengers and 40,000 drivers use the Uber app in London.

Transport for London, which regulates car hire and taxi services in the city, said that Uber London “is not fit” to hold an operating license. It said Uber’s “approach and conduct demonstrate a lack of corporate responsibility in relation to a number of issues which have potential public safety and security implications.”

In a memo to employees obtained by AP, Uber’s new CEO said the decision was based on past behavior, “The truth is that there is a high cost to a bad reputation…It really matters what people think of us, especially in a global business like ours.”

Uber employs tens of thousands of drivers in London. (Photo: Chris McGinnis)

The agency cited Uber’s alleged failure to report crimes committed by its drivers, and questioned the adequacy of its driver background checks. The agency also cited Uber’s use of “software that could be used to block regulatory bodies from gaining full access to the app and prevent officials from undertaking regulatory or law enforcement duties.”

I’m a big user of Uber and Lyft, but when in London, I tend to use cabs more often than in other cities, mostly because of their ease and ubiquity, so this won’t affect my travel habits much. I’m also a fan of the local Addison Lee app-based car service, beloved my many locals.

However, for many Uber devotees, this could be a big hit.

The company denied all of Transport for London’s allegations, claiming that it uses the same background check standards as the city’s traditional black cab operators and that it has always reported serious incidents involving its drivers. Uber also says hat its technology enhances passenger safety by tracking and recording every trip, and that it has never used the software cited by the agency.

Uber has a history of winning in cases like this… what do you think will happen? Please leave your comments below.

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How to tip on Uber or Lyft

July 8, 2017

Taking Uber from Manhattan to Newark Airport (Photo: Chris McGinnis)

With the rapid rollout of a tipping option on Uber’s app this month making it quick and easy to offer a gratuity, riders will now have to decide if they will use it – and if so, how much will they tip?

Uber introduced the long-awaited (by drivers, anyway) tipping option on its app in three cities last month, and as of this week, it’s available in a total of 100 urban areas in the U.S. and Canada. (Chris used it for the first time today in San Francisco.) Uber has pledged that app-based tipping will be available for all its U.S. drivers by the end of July. (Competitor Lyft has had app-based tipping for quite some time.)

Something else is changing at Uber this month as well – instead of giving the passenger five minutes to show for a pick-up, that window is being cut to two minutes – after which a fee will apply.

The thing is, many Uber riders may have adopted the mindset that Uber rides are tipless. It was only last year that Uber decided that tipping would be allowed, but it was not added to the app back then, so drivers had the awkward option of soliciting tips with a sign in the car or by telling riders they could offer a gratuity.

So now that riders can tip the driver quickly and easily with a tap, they have to decide first if they will indeed do so, and then how much to tip.

Image: Uber

Once you rate your Uber driver, the updated Uber app gives you pre-set tipping options of $1, @2 or $5; or you can tap “Enter Custom Amount” and put in a different number.

So how do you decide on an amount? Consider some of the same things you would when rating the driver – condition of the car, personal courtesy, professionalism, and so on. As Chris advises in this story on AFAR.com:

So, for regular rides operating at standard rates, a tip of 10 to 20 percent is probably equitable. Some riders might want to reduce that percentage if the the service is running on surge pricing, since drivers make more on those rides.

But essentially, tipping an Uber or Lyft driver is just like any other tipping situation – it’s a reward for good service. Right? Are you more inclined to tip your driver now that it’s easier? Please leave your comments below.

This article in The Verge lists all the cities where Uber’s app tipping is now available.

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Uber app adds a tipping option

June 20, 2017

Image: Uber

Faced with growing pressure from its drivers and from some regulators to add a tipping function to its app, Uber this week caved in and said it will.

A year ago, Uber agreed to let its drivers solicit cash tips from riders. More recently, regulators ranging from the New York City Taxi and Limousine Commission to the California legislature started to take steps that could make a tipping app mandatory.

Image: Uber

Uber said this week that it just updated its app for riders in Seattle, Minneapolis and Houston so they can add a tip to their fare. “We’ll be adding more cities over the next few weeks and making tips available to all U.S. drivers and delivery partners by the end of July 2017,” the company said on its website.

When the customer’s ride is finished, he will see the usual option to rate the trip/driver, and a new prompt to click through to add a tip. The app will suggest preset tips of $1, $2 or $5, or will allow the user to enter a specific tip amount of his preference.

And there’s no rush – Uber will give riders up to 30 days after a trip to add a tip.

In April, we reported on the growing pressures on Uber to add a tip function to its app. We also polled our readers on whether they would be inclined to tip their Uber driver if they had an option to do so on the app. Readers were evenly divided, with half saying they would and half saying they wouldn’t.

Drivers with whom I’ve discussed Uber’s resistance to allowing tipping frequently pointed to CEO Travis Kalanick for the hard line against it. With Kalanick on indefinite leave, it now sounds like cooler, fairer heads are making decisions.

How do you feel about tipping your ride-sharing drivers? Please leave your comments below.

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United’s NYC taxi tip: Newark is quicker

June 20, 2017

United ads compare travel time to Newark vs. JFK. (Image: United)

United Airlines has kicked off a clever advertising campaign to convince NYC travelers they should fly out of its Newark hub instead of JFK Airport.

The airline has put digital displays on the roofs of 125 New York City taxis showing the estimated travel times to both JFK and Newark – and Newark comes out the winner.

The clever part is that these aren’t average travel times – they’re estimates based on the taxi’s location at the time you see it (the cabs are equipped with GPS software), and real-time traffic conditions in the New York area.

Of course, travel time is one thing and cost is another. The New York City Taxi and Limousine Commission has established a $52 flat fee for trips from Manhattan to JFK (plus tolls and tip). There’s no flat fee to Newark; the meter fare is around $48 from Midtown – but there’s also a $17.50 surcharge for EWR trips that doesn’t apply to JFK.

And then there is the Uber/Lyft option.

The route from Manhattan to EWR. (Image: RideGuru)

We looked up the cost of rides from Times Square to both airports on RideGuru. It put the cost of a taxi ride to EWR at $68, vs. $73 on Lyft and $77 on UberX (with no surge pricing premium). A taxi to JFK came to $54, vs. $45 on UberX and Lyft.

But our favorite way for getting to Newark has to be the New Jersey Transit train service from Penn Station. A ride on the frequent service from Penn Station in Manhattan to EWR takes less than half an hour and costs just $13.

Readers: Which New York airport do you generally fly out of, and how do you get there?

H/T Stuck at the Airport

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Lyft goes black in bid for business travelers

May 25, 2017

A new upscale black car service in several cities. (Image: Lyft)

In its latest step to capture a bigger share of the business and luxury travel market, ride-sharing company Lyft said it is rolling out a black car service in major cities.

The new service, called Lyft Lux and Lyft Lux SUV, starts this week in San Francisco, San Jose, Los Angeles, Chicago and New York City. It should be available in 20 cities by this summer. (It showed up on the app this morning…)

The company is telling prospective drivers that to qualify for the new categories, they must have specific models of vehicles from any of 21 approved brands, from Acuras to Buicks to Linciolns to Rolls-Royces. The cars must be black, no older than a 2011 model, and have leather or leather-like seats. To qualify as a Lux SUV vehicle, it must seat at least six persons. Pricing for Lux is roughly 3x regular prices.

Drivers for the new service must have maintained a rating of 4.7 stars or higher.

Customers can request a black car through the app.

Although it started out as a simple ride-sharing service for the casual or leisure passenger, it has been moving to attract more business travelers. Last year, it introduced a new option called Lyft Premier that features higher-end luxury cars (Lexus ES, Cadillac Escalade, Audi A6 and BMW 5 Series – not necessarily black). Pricing for Premier is roughly 2x regular pricing.

And earlier this month, Lyft formed a partnership with Delta SkyMiles so that members can earn miles for each ride when they link their accounts (including triple miles for airport rides through August 31).

Lyft competitor Uber actually started out as a all-black-car service when it launched in San Francisco in 2011. A year later, it introduced its mass-market UberX service– more or less copying Lyft’s less expensive option.

Which ride-sharing app do you use most? Have you tried Lyft? What did you think? Please leave your comments below.

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Uber could make tipping easier – but would you? POLL

April 18, 2017

Uber may have to alter its app to allow tipping. (Image: Uber)

Even though its competitor Lyft has always allowed customers to tip drivers through its app, ride-sharing giant Uber has firmly resisted that option – although it might soon be forced to change its policy.

New York City’s Taxi and Limousine Commission this week said it will take up a proposal that would require car services that rely on app-based credit card transactions to include a way for customers to tip drivers through the app. If the commission ultimately decides to adopt the rule, a process that could take several months, other cities might follow suit.

>>SEE POLL BELOW!>>

The New York proposal is backed by a petition effort signed by thousands of drivers. Two months ago, a bill was introduced in the California legislature that would impose a similar requirement on Uber.

A year ago, as part of a settlement with drivers in California and Massachusetts, the company agreed that it’s OK for drivers to solicit cash tips by posting signs in their cars, or simply by asking customers.

Uber drivers want an easier way to collect gratuities. (Image: Uber)

On its website, Uber informs customers who look for guidance that its app does not include a tip in the trip fare. “In most cities, Uber is a cashless experience,” the website says. “Tipping is voluntary. As a rider, you are not obligated to offer your driver a gratuity in cash. If you decide you would like to tip your driver is welcome to accept.” That verbiage was recently changed from the previous version: “You don’t need cash when you ride with Uber. Once you arrive at your destination, your fare is automatically charged to your credit card on file — there’s no need to tip.”

After the company changed its policy on tipping last year, an article in the Harvard Business Review was highly critical of the company’s decision not to allow gratuities to be paid through its app, instead requiring a separate transaction between passenger and driver.

“While this tipping procedure sounds harmless, it puts Uber at a significant competitive disadvantage,” the article said. “In addition to the inconvenience of the extra step, which will require business travelers to collect multiple receipts for expense account reimbursements, many riders will feel pressured to be overly generous in the amount they tip.” It noted that customers might also feel pressure to cough up a bigger tip if they want a good rating from the driver. “Customers never enjoy being strong-armed over a gratuity,” the article said.

When we polled our readers in February 2016, we found that by a two-to-one margin, they do not regularly tip Uber (or Lyft) drivers. Would that change if you could tip through the Uber app?

POLL:

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Please click the clear-looking or “vote” button

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Uber faces shut-down in 2 European countries

April 12, 2017

Don’t look for an Uber ride in Copenhagen starting next week. (Image: Jim Glab)

New regulatory and legal developments in Denmark and Italy are posing fresh challenges for ride-sharing giant Uber across the Atlantic even as it waits for a potentially game-changing decision from the European Court of Justice.

In Denmark, Uber is expected to halt operations on April 18 due to the imposition of new taxi rules that require vehicles for hire to be equipped with devices like fare meters and seat-occupancy sensors. Most Danish taxis already have the required equipment, but Uber vehicles – which are private cars owned by their drivers – do not.

Thus, Uber officials said they had no choice but to shut down in Denmark, where the company says some 300,000 people have downloaded its app, and where it claims 2,000 drivers in its operation.

In Italy, a court in Rome last week gave Uber 10 days to stop operating in the country (until April 17), threatening it with fines of more than $10,000 a day if it does not. Uber is expected to file an appeal.

The ruling came in a case filed by drivers at traditional taxi unions, who charged that Uber’s activities constituted unfair competition under Italian law. The court said Uber must stop use of its smartphone apps and discontinue all promotion and advertising.

Uber is facing shut-downs in Denmark and Italy. (Image: Uber)

Meanwhile, the European Court of Justice is expected to rule any time now on what kinds of laws and regulations apply to Uber across the E.U.’s member countries. That decision is expected in a case filed in 2015 by the taxi drivers’ association of Barcelona. (Uber is not available in Barcelona, but it is in Madrid. You won’t find Uber in Frankfurt, either)

The issue facing the court is whether Uber is a transportation service, as the taxi drivers contend, which means the company would have to meet existing labor and safety regulations across the continent; or whether it is, as Uber contends, an “information society service,” which would allow it to operate and expand in Europe following its current business model.

Uber’s competitor Lyft does not yet have its own operations overseas, although it has been working to forge partnerships with some existing app-based ride services in specific markets.

There are some alternatives for travelers. A German-based company called Blacklane (www.blacklane.com) is one. “Travelers schedule rides one hour to months in advance. All drivers speak English and have commercial licenses and insurance. Rates are all-inclusive and guaranteed when you book,” a spokesman tells TravelSkills. “For airport pickups, drivers wait up to an hour for free. We are in five Italian cities (Florence, Milan, Naples, Rome and Venice) plus Copenhagen and 250 other cities worldwide.”

There are also taxi apps like Taxi.eu in Denmark and myTaxi in Italy.

TIP: If you are headed to Europe this summer and plan to use Uber there, be sure to check here before you go.

Readers: In which cities do you miss having Uber or Lyft the most? Please leave the cities below.

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5 key reasons to try new Lyft Premier

March 9, 2017

A new upscale option from Lyft (Photo: Lyft)

In less than a decade, the introduction of ride-sharing services has changed the way we travel for business more than just about anything else. Starting this week those rides get more luxurious as Lyft’s new Premier option expands.

Gone are the days of tense calls with terse dispatchers and uncertain waits for taxis to take us to the airport or to our meetings. Also gone: Overpriced limo rides to or from the airport.

Now we just push a button on our smartphones and watch our ride come to us on a map. We know how much the ride will cost before we even get in the car. When the ride is over, we thank the driver and step out of the car instead of waiting around for a receipt or worrying about leaving the right tip. While the wow factor of that has worn off on many frequent travelers, it still feels like magic to me!

To grab more of the lucrative corporate travel market, Lyft is now bringing even more magic to our airport or cross-town rides with the introduction of Lyft Premier – a new luxury ride service that will pick you up in high-end sedan or SUV like a BMW 5 Series, Audi A6, Lexus LS, or Cadillac Escalade in minutes.

You’ll now see the new Premier option pop up on the Lyft app in 19 cities (Image: Lyft)

Last year Lyft introduced the new Premier option in a handful of major cities, and has been steadily expanding it across the US. Just this week it introduced Premier in eight more cities for a total of 19.

Ready for a little luxury in your next ride? Here are five key reasons to give Lyft Premier a try:

1> New cities: This week, Premier arrives in Baltimore, Boston, Denver, New Jersey, Orange County, Philadelphia, San Diego, and Seattle. It’s also available in Atlanta, Chicago, Dallas, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Miami, New York City, Phoenix, San Francisco, Silicon Valley, and Washington, D.C.

2> Tipping: As always (and thankfully!) you can tip your driver via the Lyft app. Once your ride is over, you’ll get a prompt on your phone to rate the driver and leave a tip if you’d like. No awkward moments when you don’t have cash, or the driver does not have change. For this reason alone, many frequent travelers use Lyft as their primary ride-share service. What about you?

Don’t miss: Should I tip my driver? Poll shows that 35 percent of TravelSkills readers do!

Lyft Premier will pick you up in a BMW, Audi, Lexus, or Cadillac in minutes. (Image: Lyft)

3> Prices: Back in the day, I would pay about $50 or $60 for an uncomfortable taxicab ride between my house in San Francisco and SFO Airport. When I was lucky enough to have a client willing to pay for a cushy car service, that fare would rise to around $100. These days I pay about $30 for a regular Lyft ride to the airport– and when I want a little luxury, I’ll ping a Lyft Premier for about $60. Generally, Premier fares run about twice as much as regular Lyft fares. In New York, a Premier ride from Manhattan to JFK runs $101-$121, while a regular Lyft costs $52-$65.

4> Nicer cars: Premier offers users style, consistency and comfort, and Premier vehicles likely resemble the luxury car in your garage or driveway. To qualify as a Lyft Premier vehicle, it must be a top-tier luxury make/model and it can’t be older than a 2008 model. It must have leather seats and comfortably accommodate at least three passengers.

5> Higher-rated drivers: Premier drivers maintain stellar ratings. Since Premier rates are higher, drivers make more money on higher fares (plus Lyft reports that Premier rides earn 50% higher tips on average) and are more likely to offer those little extras such as phone chargers, mints and water.

Ride-sharing among frequent travelers has become ubiquitous– as a matter of fact, they are now more frequently expensed than taxis and rental cars combined.

In addition to Lyft Premier, you’ll find Lyft, Lyft Line (shared rides) and Lyft Plus (6+ passenger vehicles) on the app. Since its founding in June 2012, Lyft has expanded to more than 200 cities in the U.S.

Do you or have you used Lyft? Why or why not? Please leave your comments below.

Disclosure: Thank you for reading TravelSkills! We will periodically create posts or send out messages like this one from commercial partners about topics relevant to frequent travel. Our sponsors’ support, and yours, help us keep TravelSkills a free publication.

Best & worst airport-to-city trains

February 7, 2017

An outstanding, clean, easy and cheap train to the plane in Hong Kong (Photo: Chris McGinnis)

Over the last year alone, I’ve taken the train to or from the plane in Hong Kong, Atlanta, Sydney, New York, San Francisco and Washington DC. I really wanna give the new airport train in Denver a go. Ever since United moved its NYC flights to Newark, I’ve been a regular on the trains that connect EWR to Penn Station in Manhattan. Even though I love my Lyft rides, I’m kind of an airport train freak.

A new study examines the speed and efficiency of airport public transit systems worldwide, and finds that – to no one’s surprise – most of the best are in Asia.

The world’s best public transit option is the Tokyo Monorail from Tokyo Haneda to downtown. Rounding out the top five are Delhi’s Airport Express Line in India; the Shanghai Maglev train to Shanghai Pudong; the Shanghai Metro Line 2 to Shanghai Hongquiao; and the Sprinter/Intercity line to Amsterdam Schiphol.

The study by Milecards.com looked at four factors: time saved vs. driving; passenger fares; frequency of departures; and convenience (e.g., availability of luggage storage on trains, etc.).

Source: Milecards.com

Looking only at U.S. airports, Milecards.com judged Atlanta’s MARTA to be the best, followed in order by Chicago’s CTA Orange Line to Chicago Midway; Chicago’s CTA Blue Line to Chicago O’Hare; Denver’s new University of Colorado A Line to Denver International; and New York City’s Long Island Railroad/JFK AirTrain connection to Kennedy Airport.

Seeing Atlanta rated as number one in the U.S. made me wish they had included service reliability as a factor in this ranking. I’ve had such bad results in ATL recently that I’ve almost stopped using it. Newark’s NJ Transit/Amtrak connection to Manhattan is not beautiful, but it’s very reliable, at least in my experience. What about you? Please leave your comments below.

Don’t miss! Get $200 for booking a trip on new Upside site! Seriously!

Source: Milecards.com

U.S. airport public transit has “plenty of room for improvement,” Milecards.com said. “Only six of the public-transport options are generally faster than driving.

Looking only at public transit travel times vs. taxi/Uber/driving times in the U.S., “Just six of the 50 busiest airports are served by transit options that can save time on a typical weekday afternoon, and that’s usually because they bypass a lot of congestion, rather than because they’re fast express lines,” Milecards.com said. “On a good, congestion free day you’d be hard pressed to find an airport transit line in the U.S. that rivals drive times.”

That’s probably why the SFO’s BART train ranked as one of the LEAST time saving airport transit lines in America– the report shows car/taxi rides take 21 minutes between airport and downtown, while BART takes 29 minutes.

Source: Milecards.com

The “least time-saving airport transit lines” in the U.S. are led by San Jose, the study found, where taking the VTA Route 10/Light Rail is 216 percent slower than driving (30 minutes vs. 10 minutes). Public transit travel time beats driving at New York JFK, Atlanta, Chicago Midway, Los Angeles (LAX FlyAway) and Oakland (BART), the study said.

By contrast, the overseas airport with the most time-efficient public transit is Shanghai Pudong, where a ride to city center on the 14-year-old Maglev train takes just eight minutes, vs. 50 minutes for driving. (Why? Because that magnetic levitation train can hit top speeds of 267 mph.)

Ranking second and third were London’s Heathrow Express trains, which takes 15 minutes vs. 45 minutes on the road; and London’s Gatwick Express (30 minutes vs. an 80-minute drive time). Anyone who travels to London frequently knows that roadway traffic can be horrendous…especially in the central city, so the cab ride from the Heathrow Express station at Paddington frequently takes longer than the train ride from the airport.

Click here to see the full study results and charts for worldwide and U.S. public transit options.

Ride-hailing apps like Lyft are surging in their share of business travel spending. (Image: Lyft)

Ride-hailing apps like Lyft are making some airport rail connections obsolete. (Image: Lyft)

Besides being generally slow, U.S. airports’ public transit options are facing a growing threat from ride-sharing services like Uber and Lyft, which provide door-to-door airport trips that eliminate the schlep to a transit station. In recent months, Bay Area airports including Oakland and San Francisco International have been seeing declines in public transit ridership even as passenger traffic at the airports increased. That loss in market share was generally seen to be going to the ride-sharing companies.

Which train to the plane is your favorite? Least favorite? Please leave your comments below.

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Airport Update: Dallas/Ft. Worth, Boston, Chicago Midway, Houston, Long Beach

February 1, 2017

Dallas/Ft. Worth’s renovated Terminal A. (Image: DFW Airport)

In airports news, Boston Logan finally gets Lyft and UberX; Dallas/Ft. Worth finishes a big overhaul of Terminal A; Chicago Midway will revamp passenger concessions and security; new retail and dining options come to United’s Houston Bush Intercontinental hub; and Long Beach blocks international flights. And in case you missed our big update on the goings on at Los Angeles LAX, see this.

Dallas/Ft. Worth Airport said work is now finished on its renovation of DFW’s 26-gate Terminal A. The work involved expansion of three security checkpoints, the addition of more kiosks for passenger self-check-in, and the addition of 50 percent more space for passenger concessions, “located largely near checkpoints and Skylink stations,” the airport said. New restaurants include Salt Lick Barbecue, the Dallas Cowboys Club, Lorena Garcia Tapas y Cocina and Ling & Louie’s Asian Fusion. New retail stores include Brookstone, Tumi, an iStore and Teavana. A new Terminal A parking garage features an electronic parking guidance system: “Overhead LED beacons spotlight open parking spaces and the system alerts customers to available parking on other levels of the upgraded facility,” the airport said.

Get $20 off your first LYFT ride! Click here!

Finally! Starting today (Feb 1) UberX and Lyft have been given the all clear to pick up and drop off passengers at Boston Logan Airport. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve descended into a crowded mess at BOS ground transportation with a bunch of travelers staring into their phones saying, “wait, you mean I can’t get my Uber or Lyft at Boston Airport? This is crazy!” Logan was one of the last large airports in the country that didn’t allow the ride sharing services.

Big changes are in the works for Chicago’s Midway Airport, according to the Chicago Sun-Times. The newspaper said the planned $248 million project will increase the number of security checkpoint lanes from 17 to 27, and will widen the pedestrian bridge over Cicero Avenue from 60 feet to 300 feet, creating a new security hall with 20,000 square feet of new concession space. Total concession space at MDW will grow from the current 26,000 square feet to almost 70,000, with many outlets focused on offering “Taste of Chicago” cuisine. The project would also give the airport 1,400 new premium parking spaces.

So far 1,300 readers have taken the TravelSkills trivia quiz. Have you? COME ON! It’s fun!

Rendering of new Tanglewood Grille at Houston Bush Intercontinental, with lots of iPads. (Image: OTG)

Plenty of new dining options are coming to the United hub at Houston Bush Intercontinental, where the airline is teaming up with concessions specialist OTG (the same firm United used to overhaul Terminal C at Newark) to develop new restaurants in Terminals C-South and E, in addition to five new eateries opening early this year in C-North that were previously announced. C-South and E will get eight new restaurants, “all inspired by local Houston chefs and flavors,” OTG said. And matching the concession overhaul at United’s Newark hub, the Houston project also involves the installation of 8,000 iPads “seamlessly integrated into the customer experience” at restaurants and gate lounges in all three terminals, the company noted. Terminal C-South will get a restaurant specializing in meatballs; a taqueria; and a ranch-to-table burger spot. Terminal E is adding a southern barbeque outlet; an Italian restaurant; a sushi and ramen bar; a steaks-burgers-and-seafood eatery; and a craft brewery with bar food.

The Long Beach, California City Council has rejected an application from JetBlue Airways to build a modest-sized (15,000 square feet) Customs and Border Protection facility at the city’s airport. The decision effectively kills JetBlue’s plans to add international flights from Long Beach, its west coast focus city. JetBlue had anticipated operating six to eight international flights a day; the city has set a ceiling of 50 flights a day at the airport, limited to operations between 7 a.m. and 10 p.m.

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Uber, Lyft crushing taxis, rental cars for business travel

January 27, 2017

Taking Uber from Manhattan to Newark Airport (Photo: Chris McGinnis)

A new report on business travel expenses says Uber rides now account for more than half of all ground transportation spending, citing this as an example of a “transformational change” taking place among road warriors.

Certify, a leading provider of travel and entertainment expense management and reporting, has issued its annual report for business travel spending trends in 2016, and it found that a new company has vaulted into the top spot as the “most expensed vendor”—not an airline or a hotel chain, but ride-sharing giant Uber.

The company said the “exploding popularity” of Uber among business travelers enabled the ride-sharing network to capture 6 percent of all receipts and expenses tracked by Certify last year.

According to Certify, the Uber juggernaut among business travelers was “the biggest story of 2016.” It said that among various ground transportation alternatives – taxis, rental cars, Uber and Lyft – Uber accounted for 52 percent of all expensed spending in the fourth quarter of last year, while Lyft grabbed 4 percent.

Image: Certify

Comparing the fourth quarter of 2016 with the same period a year earlier, Certify said Uber’s share of the ground transportation segment jumped from 40 percent to 52 percent and Lyft’s from 2 percent to 4 percent, while the share for taxis plunged from 20 percent to 11 percent, and the share for rental cars dropped from 38 percent to 33 percent.

Looking to the lodging segment, Certify saw a similar but smaller trend for Airbnb, which it describes as an “alternative hotelier.” While Airbnb hasn’t yet broken into the top 15 most-expensed lodging brands, it is moving up fast, doubling its share of business traveler transactions each year since 2014.

“Assuming a similar or slightly improved growth rate, Certify expects Airbnb could approach the top 15 most expensed hotels sometime late next year,” the company said. “Looking at average room nights, business travelers also stayed longer with Airbnb compared to traditional hotels; 4.51 to 2.58 nights, respectively.”

Image: Certify

Certify CEO Robert Neveu said business travelers’ increasing preference for “sharing economy” providers like Uber and Airbnb “underscores the trend toward consumerization of traditional corporate travel. Advances in personal technologies and travel-based smartphone apps have made it easier for business travelers to choose the experiences and vendors they prefer. And the companies they work for are following suit with expanded travel policy guidelines to accommodate new services and payment methods. More than a footnote in history, it’s the kind of transformational change that will continue to shape the industry for years to come.”

Chart: Certify

The company’s analysis of spending covers more than 10 million receipts and expenses logged per quarter by travelers at Certify’s client companies, including business meals, air fare, hotels, gas, ground transportation and several other categories.

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How to spot your Uber ride at night

December 24, 2016

Uber riders can select a color to look for in the new Uber Beacon. (Image: Uber)

A new feature from Uber will soon make it easy for riders to find the right vehicle in the dark at busy pickup locations.

The company calls the new feature Uber Beacon. It’s a battery-powered, lighted Uber logo that the driver puts in his windshield. There are no wires and it uses a Bluetooth connection to the Uber app.

And it changes colors.

“With this technology, riders can personalize their pickup by selecting from an endless number of colors for the Beacon to glow on their driver’s vehicle,” the company said. “And it’s instantly recognizable with the same design as the rider app icon.”

Uber tested it in Seattle some months ago and found it reduced cancellation rates “in historically tricky pickup locations.” The company just rolled out the device to drivers in Miami, Denver and Nashville, and will broaden distribution to more locations in the New Year.

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Uber’s driverless car test in San Francisco hits a snag

December 15, 2016

A driverless UberX Volvo near San Francisco’s ferry terminal. (Image: Uber)

Uber’s driverless car test in San Francisco is getting off to a shaky start.

No sooner had Uber started testing the use of driverless cars in San Francisco this week than the state stepped in to block it – and an incriminating video didn’t help Uber’s case.

The ride-sharing giant, which started using driverless vehicles in Pittsburgh in September, expanded the service to the streets of San Francisco this week with some UberX automated Volvo XC90s. The company said customers could request a self-driving car for their local rides based on availability.

But California’s Department of Motor Vehicles quickly intervened by telling Uber it needs a permit to use the driverless technology – something that 20 other companies already have, the DMV noted.

Uber is challenging the DMV’s warning, however. “We understand that there is a debate over whether or not we need a testing permit to launch self-driving Ubers in San Francisco,” the company said. “We have looked at this issue carefully and we don’t believe we do…First, we are not planning to operate any differently than in Pittsburgh, where our pilot has been running successfully for several months. Second, the rules apply to cars that can drive without someone controlling or monitoring them. For us, it’s still early days and our cars are not yet ready to drive without a person monitoring them.”

As soon as the UberX Volvos hit the street, they started having problems, according to local media, with the cars running red lights on at least two occasions. Uber called it “human error,” blaming the problems on the engineers who were in the driver’s seat of the driverless cars, supposedly ready to handle any emergency or sticky situation. It said both employees had been suspended while it investigates.

One of those incidents was caught on video from the dash cam of a local taxi:

Readers: Would you ride in a driverless car as long as there was an Uber engineer keeping an eye on things? What if there wasn’t? Post comments below.

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Is BART’s Oakland Airport rail service in trouble?

November 29, 2016

The BART link to Oakland Airport is losing money and riders. (Photo: BART)

It was just two years ago that the Bay Area Rapid Transit system launched service on its Airport Connector line from Coliseum Station to Oakland Airport. But now the line is having money problems in the face of competition from ride-sharing companies.

According to the East Bay Times, figures from BART indicate that the Oakland Connector line is losing money and seeing its ridership decline – even though the airport’s passenger numbers are rising. Specifically, instead of meeting BART’s initial expectation of a $2 million profit on the Airport Connector during its first two years, the line has lost $860,000. And during the third quarter of this year, rider numbers fell 4.5 percent from the same period a year earlier.

At the same time, the report noted, business on ride-sharing services like Uber, Lyft and Wingz has tripled. The fact that airport passenger numbers grew by 6 percent while BART’s Airport Connector ridership has dropped indicates to airport officials that the ride-sharing companies are benefiting at the expense of the mass transit line.

Also, Oakland Airport makes driving to the airport more attractive by offering a variety of on-airport parking discounts and freebies based on your airline or destination. More on those here.

The AirBART station is located at the front door of Oakland International

There has been some speculation that BART’s $6 fare for a ride to OAK might be too expensive compared with the convenience of door-to-door ridesharing service. BART officials defend the service, noting that the airport line coves 96 percent of its operating costs with passenger fares, vs. 76 percent for the BART system overall. Still, they say BART will take a comprehensive look at its fare structure in 2017, not just for the Oakland Airport Connector but for the whole system.

New airline service is boosting OAK’s passenger numbers. Southwest Airlines has been building up more domestic routes out of Oakland Airport, and transatlantic travelers are seeing new low-cost options from Norwegian Air Shuttle, which keeps adding European routes at OAK. Norwegian’s inauguration of Oakland-London Gatwick flights earlier this year has drawn a competitive response from British Airways, which will fly the same route starting in March 2017.

Have you used the BART connector or flown to or from Oakland lately? How does it compare to other Bay Area airports? Please leave your comments below.

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Popular: Surfing + Free Vegas + New United fare + Lie-flat to Hawaii + Become a travel writer

November 20, 2016

First winter storms slow air travel as the holiday season commences (Image: Pixabay)

TravelSkills’ 10 most popular posts over the last week (descending order):

1 Dude! How to go surfing in California & Iceland in one day

2 5 fabulously free things to do in Las Vegas

3 New York City to Honolulu in lie-flat comfort

4 United adds ultra-cheap Basic Economy fares

5 Fare sale to Asia from Cathay Pacific, Singapore Air

A United 747-400- enjoy it while you can. (Image: United)

6 Countdown is on for United’s final Boeing 747 flights

7 Deep Dive: United Polaris business class (Part 1 of 3)

Music and dancing are ubiquitous on this island of 11 million- that’s me arriving in Cuba in May (Chris McGinnis)

8 How I quit my job to become a travel writer and see the world

9 Another small-plane alternative for California: Blackbird

10 Routes: Delta, United, Alaska, Southwest, Spirit

Don’t miss: Why holiday travel is going to be different this year

Lyft is dumping the pink moustache for a new look, and its pick-ups will soon be color-coded. The new dash-mounted Lyft Amp will glow orange, pink, purple, silver, teal or yellow which will help riders more easily spot their ride. See the video for how it will work:

Links to stories from other sources that we thought you’d like to read:

Delta raises the price of Sky Club membership to $495

Clever, cuddly holiday travel video from Heathrow Airport

Japan’s ANA new “Experience” campaign makes splash in US

British Airways to use newly acquired Aer Lingus in battle with low fare competitors?

Air Lingus will begin A330 service from Miami next year. (Photo: Aer Lingus)

Aer Lingus said to becoming part of Oneworld soon- (Photo: Aer Lingus)

Sneak peek of new Oakland pay-per-day business class lounge

Way cool: Samsung’s long-rumored FOLDABLE smartphone

AMEX: Airfares will continue to get cheaper in 2017

Washington Post: Trump International suddenly the hottest hotel in town

Gridlock: Secret Service wants to shut down 5th Ave in NYC when Trump is in town as prez

Delta is passing along some profits to employees (Photo: Delta / Flickr)

Bigger smiles: Delta to give employees 6% raises next year

Uber offering free rides to/from 11 airports for AMEX cardholders

Lufthansa develops a ‘chatbot’ to help customers find the lowest fares

Artificial intelligence powers a new personal travel assistant app

Qantas will soon begin tests of high-speed in-flight Wi-Fi

Omni sets winter sale for 60 U.S. properties; November 29 booking deadline

United might have some problems sharing a brand name with a all terrain vehicle. Click on video below to see how that is already happening.

Which polaris you talkin’ about?

This just happened on @espn. Hilarious brand overlap. pic.twitter.com/dPgDmTBMRj
— Casey Norton (@CaseyNorton72) November 18, 2016

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Airport news: Inside newest Delta SkyClub + Phoenix, Seattle, Boston, LAX

September 21, 2016

An exclusive preview party for Delta’s newest, and second largest SkyClub (Photo: Delta / Flickr)

In airport news this week, Delta opens its newest SkyClub, ride-hailing service passenger pick-ups will soon be legal at Atlanta Hartsfield Jackson; Phoenix travelers should be prepared for flight delays in October; more gates will be added at Seattle-Tacoma; American will consolidate its gates at Boston Logan; and Alaska Airlines tests a new baggage procedure at Los Angeles International.

Delta hosted a special preview this week of its newest SkyClub located in a dedicated space on the top of Concourse B at Atlanta Hartsfield-Jackson. Delta is calling the new SkyClub its “flagship” lounge, which is the second largest in its system behind the one at New York-JFK. The carrier says that the new $24 million, 25,000-square-foot, 500-seat space follows the airline’s strategy of “giving each new club a sense of place.” It features locally sourced fare, craft beer from Georgia breweries, artwork from seven Atlanta galleries and other local artists. Its modern design features “tiered ceilings bracketed by massive windows to let in the Southern sun and afford views of downtown,” but alas no outdoor space like you get out at the Concourse F (Int’l) club. It is located at the center of the concourse, adjacent to Gate B18 and opens to the public on Sept 23. Delta’s two other SkyClubs on the concourse will close. Next up for Delta SkyClubs is a new opening in Seattle expected in late October or November. See this video from the ATL preview party. More details from the Delta News Hub here.

Also at ATL… Some UberX and Lyft drivers have been picking up passengers for months at Atlanta Hartsfield-Jackson, but they have to try to avoid enforcement officers, since what they are doing is technically illegal. But that will soon change: The Atlanta City Council this week approved a measure that will make passenger pick-ups at ATL legal beginning January 1. The measure will add a $3.85 fee to the passenger’s fare for airport pick-ups. ATL is the largest airport in the nation that doesn’t yet allow legal ride-hailing service.

Travelers at Phoenix Sky Harbor International are being advised to expect delays during the coming month due to runway improvement projects. Officials said the airport’s north runway – one of three at the facility – will be closed from Thursday, October 6 through Sunday, November 6. “Arrival and departure delays of up to 30 minutes are possible during peak travel times: 7:30 a.m.-10 a.m. and 5 p.m.-8 p.m.,” the airport said. It advised passengers to check flight status before coming to the airport.

Sea-Tac’s North Satellite will get eight more gates. (Image: Port of Seattle)

The Port of Seattle’s governing body has approved final plans for an expansion of Seattle-Tacoma International’s North Satellite terminal, which is used by Alaska Airlines. The project will add eight gates to the terminal, with construction starting early in 2017 and completion expected in 2019. According to the Seattle Times, the project will also expand Alaska Airlines’ lounge on the terminal’s upper floor to 14,485 square feet, and will bring 3,000 square feet of retail and food and beverage concessions to the space. Alaska will continue to use concourses C and D as well. SEA is also building a new international arrivals terminal due to debut in 2019. Passenger numbers at SEA this year are running 10 percent ahead of last year, and 2015 passenger numbers posted 13 percent growth over 2014.

Big changes are coming to Boston Logan’s Terminal B. The Massachusetts Port Authority said an improvement project will consolidate all American Airlines gates from two different locations in Terminal B to 18 contiguous gates on the side of the terminal formerly occupied by US Airways. Also, the three existing security checkpoints on that side of Terminal B will be consolidated into one checkpoint. The project will also bring expanded ticketing/kiosk areas, improvements to the baggage handling space, and reconfigured concessions. Overall, the effort will add 75,000 square feet of passenger space, Massport said, adding that once the project is finished, Southwest Airlines will move from Terminal A into the former American Airlines gates in Terminal B.

Alaska Airlines is testing self-service bag drops at LAX. (Image: Alaska Airlines)

At Los Angeles International, Alaska Airlines has started testing self-service baggage drops for passengers. Customers participating in the test – which runs through November 10 — will check in online, by mobile app or at an airport kiosk; they can print a bag tag at home or at an airport kiosk. Then they’ll show an ID to a customer service agent and use one of the six new bag-drop lanes to deposit their luggage. Touch screens will walk customers through the process. “This technology will allow customer service agents to interact more with customers one-on-one in the lobby while having the machines complete the technical work of dropping the bags,” an Alaska official said.

Don’t miss out on these popular TravelSkills posts! Shocked passenger refuses to pay $3 for water | More Delta SkyMiles for Asian trips | Tips from a Hawaiian Vacation | JetBlue-Delta slugfest means lower fares | Test your planespotting skills! )

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Popular: On vacation + New routes + Planespotting + Asia deals + Best Western

July 31, 2016

Have a nice August! We're on vacation! (Photo: Chris McGinnis)

Have a nice August! We’re on vacation ’til September! (Photo: Chris McGinnis)

Dear Readers: The TravelSkills blog will be on vacation until September. We hope you have a nice summer!

TravelSkills’ 10 most popular posts during the week of July 24 (descending order):

1 Routes: United (Shanghai, Saigon), Singapore (to UK), Delta (Caribbean), American, more

2 LAX-Paris for $446 + Atlanta, San Francisco, Dallas, New York

3 Test your planespotting skills with our new quiz! (over 2,000 have tried. Avg score is 76%)

4 Routes: United (Tampa, Miami), Virgin America (Newark), Spirit, Frontier

5 Airports update: Denver’s problem, More CLEAR, O’Hare expands, JetBlue innovates + more

6 Inside look at Virgin Australia’s refurbed B777 (Photos, 3D Streetview)

7 JetBlue lie-flat seats coming to an airport near you?

8 DEAL! $540 to Hong Kong from U.S. East/West coast, roundtrip (Now one stop) SFO-Beijing nonstop now $546

9 Surprisingly few Americans use Uber, Lyft

10 The Best Western surprise

Don’t miss your chance to get $150 in gift cards for trying the new Upside app! Here’s how

Cool view of the other Australian carrier while at the Virgin Australia event at LAX (Photo: Chris McGinnis)

Links to stories from other sources that we thought you’d like to read:

Etihad opens a new premium lounge in LAX’s Bradley Terminal

Are these the world’s most high-tech hotels?

Business traveler spending on taxis drops 51 percent in two years

Starwood Preferred Guest partners with Wi-Fi hotspot provider

French carrier La Compagnie offers unlimited transatlantic travel for $35,000

Another Delta hub gets CLEAR lanes: Detroit

Too bad: Fewer widebody aircraft on order

Allegiant adds new nonstops from Oakland to Las Vegas. But would you? (Image: Jim Glab)

Allegiant adds Oakland-Las Vegas nonstops for just $58 roundtrip, but…

Clever: Lufthansa sells seats on Airbnb

Actor Michael Caine changes his name for faster airport security

Chase 5/24 rule means your credit card application could be dead on arrival

Are you signed up for PreCheck but never seem to get it? TSA wants to hear from you:

Are you a #TSAprecheck member & don’t see it on your boarding pass? Contact us: @AskTSA and https://t.co/FqdjhTOGP8. pic.twitter.com/RMsf4Ub09x
— TSA (@TSA) July 27, 2016

Dear Readers: The TravelSkills blog will be on vacation until September. We hope you have a nice summer!

NOTE: Be sure to click here to see all recent TravelSkills posts about: How to get the BEST summer fare deals | One airline fee fading fast | Trip Report: Aer Lingus Economy Class | 5 top jobs for frequent travelers | First class phase out coming soon

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Surprisingly few Americans use Uber, Lyft

July 29, 2016

Ride-hailing apps like Lyft are popular with a surprising small sliver of Americans (Image: Lyft)

As ride-hailing apps continue to grow in importance an option for business travelers, it seems they still have a way to go among the public at large. A recent Pew Research Center survey found that only 15 percent of U.S. adults have ever used a ride-hailing app – and fully one-third of adults have never heard of them! (That’s definitely not the case among TravelSkills readers!)

Of those who do use the apps, only 17 percent said they do so daily or weekly, while 26 percent use them at least once a month and 56 percent do so less frequently than that. Why? Pew says “With some exceptions, they are largely only available in and around urban areas.” It notes, not surprisingly, that Uber or Lyft are most popular among young adults, urbanites and college grads.

Check out the Pew Survey here for some more enlightening numbers about the use of ride hailing services.

In related news this week Uber rolled out a new app for business customers – and it’s not for smartphones.

Instead, it’s for tablet computers. It’s called UberCENTRAL, and companies can use it to order rides for their customers, clients and guests. The app can handle multiple ride requests simultaneously, and provides for payment by the company and centralized billing and reporting from different locations.

When a company orders a ride for a customer, that person will receive a text message informing them of the trip and driver, along with a link to a live map to facilitate pick-ups.

Uber’s new tablet app lets companies order rides for customers. (Image: Uber)

The company said UberCENTRAL works on any tablet and with any browser, and it is now available for use in the U.S. and Canada.

In other ground transportation news, JetBlue said this week that its new Silicon Valley-based venture capital subsidiary, JetBlue Technology Ventures, is putting money into a four-year-old tech star-up called Mozio. JetBlue said the San Francisco-based company’s mission “is to build the ultimate urban mobility app,” one that allows consumers to book shuttles, taxis, limos, express trains, buses and public transit from one interface.

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How much for new Lyft Premier ride to airport?

July 8, 2016

Lyft’s new Premium service includes cars like the BMW 5 Series. (Image: BMW USA)

Uber has long offered an upscale ride option called Uber Black, and now its smaller competitor Lyft has unveiled a similar luxury service.

It’s called Lyft Premier, and it’s being offered in response to what the company said were many customer requests for “a more stylish arrival for business trips and special nights out.”

Pricing for Lyft Premier

Lyft Premier is initially available in the Bay Area, Los Angeles and New York City. Those who summon a Premier ride with their Lyft app will be transported in a BMW 5 Series, Audi A6, Lexus ES or Cadillac Escalade, the company said. “Premier will be arriving in more cities soon,” Lyft said.

How much more will you pay for that ride? We checked and found Lyft Premier rates between downtown San Francisco and SFO at $55-$67 compared to regular Lyft rates which run $26-$34. In New York, a Premier ride from Manhattan to JFK runs $101-$121, while a regular Lyft costs $52-$65.

In addition to the new Premier rides, Lyft’s service options include Line (shared ride for no more than two passengers), regular Lyft (car with four seats), and Lyft Plus (six seats).

Have you tried Lyft yet? It’s become our go-to ride-sharing service because they make it so easy to tip drivers. Give ’em a go from our referral link and you’ll get $20 off your first ride!

Related: Should I tip my Uber driver?

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Most popular: SFO in 3D + Delta discounts CLEAR + Washing planes + Uber prices

July 3, 2016

Happy Fourth from Lake Burton, GA! (Photo: Chris McGinnis)

TravelSkills’ 10 most popular posts over the last week (descending order):

1 San Francisco’s new airport terminal (See interactive 360 degree view below)

2 Delta’s deep discounts for CLEAR membership

3 Worst airports for customs/immigration lines

4 How often do planes get washed?

5 Routes: San Francisco, LAX, Houston, San Jose, New York, Washington, Chicago

6 A chat with Qantas CEO re LAX, SFO, 787, lounges

7 Stunning changes at iconic NYC hotel

8 Airport news: Houston, Chicago, San Jose, Orange County

9 Uber scraps surge pricing – not!

10 6 highly annoying habits of infrequent fliers

Don’t miss! New Hotels in Honolulu, Washington DC, Atlanta, Boston, Cleveland

Click to see a cool 360 degree view of new SFO Interim Terminal B

Brexit won’t affect British Airways operations much

Delta plans special summer events at its Atlanta, JFK Sky Clubs

Interactive 360 degree view of SFO Interim Terminal B

Five years after merger, United flight attendant groups might finally get a single contract

EU gives antitrust clearance to merger of Starwood and Marriott

Airlines consider virtual reality headsets to replace traditional in-flight entertainment

Boeing said to consider a supersized 777 model to compete with the Airbus A380

Starwood plans to open a Four Points by Sheraton in Havana this month

Southwest’s new platform will enable easier booking

Starwood expands keyless entry guest room technology

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Uber scraps surge pricing – not!

June 27, 2016

Uber will start to build surge pricing into its up-front fare quotes. (Image: Uber app)

Apparently Uber has determined that plenty of potential customers won’t follow through and summon a ride when their app indicates that surge pricing is in effect in their area. So the ride-sharing giant is changing the way it displays fares.

The company is calling them “upfront fares,” which basically means that any surge multiplier will be factored into the estimated fare that the app displays.

Uber said it started testing this approach a couple of months ago with its UberX service in select cities, and now more will be on the way.

“Upfront fares are calculated using the expected time and distance of the trip and local traffic, as well as how many riders and nearby drivers are using Uber at that moment,” the company said. “And when fares go up due to increased demand, instead of surge lightning bolts and pop-up screens, riders are given the actual fare before they request their ride.”

Taking Uber from Manhattan to Newark Airport (Photo: Chris McGinnis)

This pricing model has been in use with the firm’s uberPOOL service when it launched two years ago. “Knowing how much a ride will cost in advance is clearly something riders appreciate,” Uber said. ”Today, uberPOOL accounts for over 20 percent of all rides globally.”

Uber’s surge pricing has been controversial from the start. A federal court is currently considering a lawsuit that challenges the model as illegal price-fixing. And researchers at Northeastern University who conducted a study of Uber’s proprietary surge pricing algorithm last year suggested ways to beat the higher fares.

And then there’s the whole issue around whether or not (or how) to tip your Uber (or Lyft) driver, an issue that has resulted in some of TravelSkills’ most well-read posts over the last few months.

Thoughts please!

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Airport news: SFO, Denver, Washington, Hartford, Uber/Lyft

June 23, 2016

San Francisco will break ground next week on a big Terminal 1 overhaul. (Image: San Francisco International Airport)

In airport news this week, San Francisco next week will break ground on a massive overhaul of Terminal 1; Denver International gets its first Delta Sky Club; Washington Reagan National will get a new concourse as a part of a massive renovation; a new passenger lounge comes to Hartford Bradley; and a leading newspaper offers a recap of Uber/Lyft status at major U.S. airports.

On June 29, officials at San Francisco International will hold a groundbreaking ceremony for a $2.4 billion, multi-year project to renovate and upgrade the airport’s Terminal 1, which dates back to the early 1960s. The overhaul will cover the terminal’s north, south and central areas, and will give T1 a new Boarding Area B (primarily Southwest, Frontier) with new boarding bridges and concessions, a revamped Boarding Area C (Delta), a new central area with a consolidated security checkpoint, new baggage system and claims area, and new mezzanine with links to the AirTrain and central parking garage. TravelSkills will be there for the groundbreaking, and next week we’ll show you what all the changes will look like.

Delta’s new Sky Club at Denver International. (Image: Delta)

Delta Air Lines has cut the ribbon on its first Sky Club at Denver International Airport. The 4,600 square foot lounge, which can seat 90, is on Concourse A, and it opened just after Delta inaugurated service between Denver and Los Angeles International, with five Delta Connection/SkyWest flights a day. That gives the airline a total of 40 weekday departures at DEN. The facility is decorated with works from local art galleries, and it offers free beer (New Belgium Ranger) from a Colorado craft brewery along with other amenities. Later in 2016, Delta expects to open additional new Sky Clubs at Atlanta (Concourse B) and Seattle (between Concourses A and B).

Washington Reagan National this fall will break ground on its ”biggest building project in nearly two decades,” according to the Washington Post – a $1 billion effort that will improve life for passengers on regional flights by replacing Terminal C’s Gate 35X, where travelers now board shuttle buses to their aircraft, with a new commuter concourse. Renovations also include National Hall, the glass-enclosed walkway on Terminal B and C’s concourse level, where security screening will be moved up to the arrivals level. The changes are expected to relieve congestion at space-constrained DCA, which has been setting new passenger records annually for the past six years, and now handles more travelers than the much larger Dulles International.

Rendering of the Escape Lounge coming to Bradley International. (Image: MAG USA)

Northern Connecticut’s Bradley International Airport, which serves Hartford, Conn, and Springfield, Mass., will be getting a new passenger lounge this fall, developed by MAG USA, which has been creating pay-per-use Escape Lounges at various U.S. airports. (It has one at Minneapolis-St. Paul, and will open another at Oakland International this summer.) The 2,000-square foot lounge will be in Bradley’s East Concourse, and will offer free hot and cold food and drinks, restrooms, free high-speed Wi-Fi, flight information screens, and newspapers and magazines.

Airports where Uber is available | Airports where Lyft is available

What’s the status of Uber/Lyft ride-hailing app services at your favorite airport? USA Today has compiled a roundup of Uber/Lyft services at a number of major U.S. airports, indicating when they started operating, what kind of airport surcharge applies to rides, and approximate fares to and from downtown. It notes that the services are still absent from the nation’s busiest airport, Atlanta Hartsfield-Jackson, where “rules were expected to be in place by July 1, but talks have been delayed over discussions on driver background checks.” Unfortunately the lists are not exhaustive and don’t cover some major airports like Newark, Miami, Boston, Minneapolis-St. Paul and Seattle, but it’s a start!

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Airport ride news: Phoenix, Dallas, Houston, Austin & New York

May 20, 2016

Ride-sharing pick-ups at the Phoenix airport should begin this summer. (Image: Phoenix Sky Harbor International)

Ride-sharing pick-ups at the Phoenix airport are set to begin June 18. (Image: Phoenix Sky Harbor International)

Travelers to Phoenix Sky Harbor will be able to summon Uber and Lyft rides starting next month; an Uber/Lyft competitor expands to five Texas airports; and specialty rental firm Silvercar adds an east coast airport location.

The Phoenix city council has voted in favor of a proposal to let Uber, Lyft and other app-based ride-hailing companies start picking up passengers at Sky Harbor International Airport effective June 18. Uber and Lyft have been negotiating with city officials for almost a year before the approval finally came through. The city initially demanded that drivers undergo a fingerprint check, but that requirement was not included in the final agreement. The agreement imposes a special fee for airport pick-ups of $3.25 for vehicles that carry up to eight passengers.

Another app-based ride-hailing service, Wingz, has expanded into the Texas market, adding new service at Dallas/Ft. Worth, Dallas Love Field, Houston Intercontinental, Houston Hobby and Austin. The difference between Wingz and its two larger competitors is that Wingz does not use surge pricing, so that its rates might be higher than Uber and Lyft’s base rates, but lower than their prices during periods of peak demand. A Wingz executive told the Dallas Business Journal that a three-passenger ride from DFW to downtown Dallas would cost about $42. Wiingz also allows repeat customers to request a specific driver if they want to. Wingz also operates at five Los Angeles-area airports and three in the Bay Area, as well as San Diego, Seattle, Sacramento, Phoenix and Denver.

Note: In Austin, Uber & Lyft have left the house

(Photo: Silvercar)

Silvercar, a boutique car rental firm that has a fleet of nothing but fully-loaded silver Audi A4s, has opened a location serving Newark Liberty International Airport. Silvercar uses a mobile app for reservations and rental transactions. At EWR, the company is basing its cars at the WallyPark location. It has also opened a rental outlet in Brooklyn, at the McCarren Hotel & Pool in the Williamsburg district. Silvercar already has a Manhattan outlet, as well as airport locations in Austin, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Dallas. Denver, Miami, Phoenix, Ft. Lauderdale and Chicago.

Have you used Silvercar? What did you think?

NOTE: Be sure to click here to see all recent TravelSkills posts about: United’s newest, longest flight + Tipping Uber drivers + Qantas 747 Trip Report + Confusion over PreCheck policies + No-fee earlier flights

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Popular: Biz class sale + Delta Shuttle + TSA mess + New routes + Award travel sale

May 15, 2016

Graceful lineup of Delta tails at ATL (Photo: Chris McGinnis)

After a week in Cuba and another week in Atlanta, I’m glad to be back in San Francisco! With all the hoo-hah over security lines at ATL, I was sure to arrive two hours early on Saturday at around 9 a.m. Much to my surprise, the PreCheck line had a ZERO-minute wait. Seriously, I was the only person in line and sped right through.

Chicken salad, melon & prosciutto for lunch on American Airlines in first class, ATL-PHX (Photo: Chris McGinnis)

I flew American Airlines on this trip (using AAdvantage award), and was surprised that my flight to SFO via PHX did not depart from ATL’s T-gates. Instead, I had to trundle out to the old US Airways gates on D. Arriving in SFO, same thing happened: I was expecting a nice walk through American’s T2, but instead, we arrived at the old US Airways’ gate in Delta’s T1C boarding area. One thing I did notice in PHX is that American is making rapid progress on painting all its jets in AA livery– I only saw one US Airways jet, which of course was the A320 I flew from PHX to SFO. –Chris

TravelSkills’ 10 most popular posts over the last week (descending order):

1 Act fast! British Airways business class sale (expired, but we’ll keep an eye out for more)

2 Delta expands West Coast Shuttle

3 New solutions emerge for TSA airport security mess

4 Routes: San Francisco, Oakland, San Jose, LAX, Salt Lake City, Denver + more…

5 Briefs: Alaska/JAL, AA biz seats, BA Wi-Fi, Lufthansa in Silicon Valley

6 Are passengers really happy with air travel?

7 Uber’s getting headaches from Harvard Business School

Getting a shave from a new Cuban friend in Cienfuegos (Photo: Mia Taylor)

8 Curious about Cuba? Don’t miss this [PHOTOS]

9 Hyperloop approaching faster than expected

10 Should I tip my Uber or Lyft driver? [Poll]

In case you missed Saturday’s post: Award seats: More on Delta; fewer on United

Chris goofing around with The Points Guy founder Brian Kelly in SF to give away a million JetBlue miles in a promo with Barclaycard (Photo: Chris McGinnis)

Links to stories from other sources that we thought you’d like to read:

Delta Award Travel Sale for fall trips

How to tip hotel front desk clerk. But would you?

JetBlue’s new status match program

ATL security still a mess. Check wait times here.

Don’t forget to register for Starwood’s new Triple Up summer promotion

Rolls Royce introduces new luggage line. But the pricetag? Whoa!

Royal Caribbean’s newest ship is longer than the Eiffel Tower is tall (Image: Royal Caribbean)

World’s newest, largest cruise ship: 6,000+ passengers, 2,000+ crew. Whew!

Public smoking banned in world’s largest tobacco market

British Airways mystery: How did this flight land with a square tire?

Kayak founder’s new app is a kind of virtual travel agent

Wyndham Rewards program adds new member levels

Hotel owners’ lawsuit seeks to block Marriott-Starwood merger

Are driverless shuttles coming to airports?

My most popular Instagram post this week. CLICK to learn more about this cake- and to follow Chris 🙂

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Popular: Cuba + More 787s + Delta upgrades + TSA mess + Uber headache

May 8, 2016

Hanging out with the locals on a hot day in Havana (Chris McGinnis)

If you’ve been reading TravelSkills this week, or following me on social media, you know that I’ve been on the first ship allowed to cruise to Cuba from the US in nearly 60 years. TravelSkills staff Jim and Kim have done an excellent job churning out the content and tips while I’ve been down here making history- many thanks to them!

I have not smoked a cigar since the night I graduated from the University of Colorado– I smoked one that made me sick, and the aversion has lasted a lifetime. But I know that there are plenty of readers out there who may treasure a fine smoke from Cuba. Want one? Then read my post Cruising into Cuba: It’s complicated and leave a comment. He or she who leaves the cleverest or most meaningful comment (as judged by me) will win this, a Montecristo Petit Tubo cigar, freshly imported, legally, from Cuba. –Chris

Want one?

TravelSkills’ 10 most popular posts over the last week (descending order):

1 Cruising into Cuba: It’s complicated

2 Routes: Virgin America, JetBlue, Delta, Surf Air, Sun Country

3 More transatlantic 787s for the Bay Area

4 Delta changes upgrade priorities

5 International premium economy cabins coming to Delta

6 TSA scrambles to fix long wait times as summer approaches

7 Secrets of air rage revealed!

8 Should I tip my Uber or Lyft driver? [Poll]

9 Airport briefs: Atlanta, Salt Lake City, Boston, Vancouver, Dubai

10 Uber’s getting headaches from Harvard Business School

United's ex-CEO Jeff Smisek appeared at SFO's new Terminal 3 in 2014 (Photo: Chris McGinnis)

United’s ex-CEO Jeff Smisek is back in the news… see below (Photo: Chris McGinnis)

Links to stories from other sources that we thought you’d like to read:

InterContinental is the latest hotel group to unveil exclusive discounts for loyalty members

How do you move a 747 across the street? Very slowly. See video.

Atlanta Hartsfield-Jackson has a new app for passengers

Delta in-flight entertainment gets a new user interface

United starts selling gourmet popcorn in-flight

Hollywood Airport? (Image: Wikimedia Commons)

Burbank’s airport will drop the Bob Hope name

Here’s what goes on inside your body when you fly

Starwood SPG members split on hopes for program’s future under Marriott

Disgraced former United CEO gets $37 million compensation package

Our Fathom ship Adonia entering the harbor at Santiago de Cuba (Photo: Fathom)

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Uber’s getting headaches from Harvard Business School

May 7, 2016

Should Uber add a tipping option to its app? (Image: Uber)

Ride-hailing giant Uber is no stranger to controversy (just ask any licensed taxi driver) but now it is enduring a couple of new headaches courtesy of Harvard Business School – one in the form of an article blasting its new tipping confusion, and another in the form of a pricing comparison app created by students there.

As we reported a couple of weeks ago, in its recent settlement of a class action lawsuit filed by its drivers, Uber agreed to let riders know that tips are not included in the fare, and to let drivers solicit tips by putting up a sign in their car or just by asking for them. Uber maintains that this has always been its policy, and said it still will not include a tipping feature in its app.

But Uber is taking fire for that stance from an article in the latest issue of the Harvard Business Review, which carried the headline “Uber’s new tipping policy is a mistake.”

Author Rafi Mohammed, described as a pricing strategy consultant, said that Uber’s decision not to add a tipping feature to its app — instead requiring customers to use cash or a separate credit card transaction if they want to tip a driver – “puts Uber at a significant competitive disadvantage. In addition to the inconvenience of the extra step, which will require business travelers to collect multiple receipts for expense account reimbursements, many riders will feel pressured to be overly generous in the amount they tip.”

That pressure is created by Uber’s driver and passenger rating systems, because drivers will know before they rate a passenger whether and how much that person tipped them, Mohammed notes, adding: “Customers never enjoy being strong-armed over a gratuity.”

He said the “easiest remedy” is for Uber to follow Lyft’s example and allow tipping through its app. “However, if Uber is intent on maintaining its no-tipping policy, it should find another method to reward highly rated drivers,” he added.

Meanwhile, Uber is fighting to block a group of Harvard Business School students from displaying its prices in a new app they created. The app, called Urbanhail, lets users see and compare the price of a trip on different ride-sharing services and taxis before they request a ride. It’s currently available only for Boston, and the group is offering free downloads through the end of May.

Reporting on the spat, The Boston Globe noted that Uber’s terms of use bar app developers from displaying its rates alongside those of competitors, but the students said that their professors encouraged them to move ahead with their plan anyway – just as Uber has often started operating in cities that haven’t authorized it to do so.

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Uber/Lyft news: Newark, Twin Cities, Miami, Denver

May 5, 2016

Uber and Lyft rides will soon be legal in Miami — including its airport. (Image: Marc Averette/Wikimedia Commons)

Ride-hailing is caught in a tangle of competing regulators at Newark Airport; airport pick-ups start at Minneapolis-St. Paul International; ride-sharing wins a big vote in Miami; and an Uber car races the new train to Denver International.

Ride-hailing firms have been going through tough negotiations with Newark’s city council to win the right to pick up passengers at Newark Liberty International Airport – at one point the city threatened to have police tow the cars of their drivers at EWR — and now a new agreement has been reached between Uber and the city. It would require Uber to pay Newark $3 million up front for airport access, plus $10 million over 10 years. Drivers would get a separate staging area at EWR but could not wait at the terminals. But there are two problems. First, the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey claims it has control of who can operate at the airport, not the city, and said it might try to block the deal. And second, Newark’s Terminal A is actually inside the border of the city of Elizabeth, N.J., and the city council there is considering an ordinance that would ban ride-sharing firms from picking up passengers at that terminal.

Despite heavy opposition from local taxi companies, Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport has started allowing UberX drivers to pick up passengers at the airport. The deal imposes a $6 pick-up fee on drivers. Passengers who summon an UberX car can meet up with it at a designated area in the airport’s Ground Transportation Center. The higher-priced Uber Black cars had already been operating at MSP.

In Florida, Miami Dade County Commissioners have passed an ordinance that will allow Uber and Lyft to operate legally in the county – including Miami International Airport – starting in 10 days. In fact, ride-hailing cars have been operating there for many months without official approval, with drivers sometimes asking riders to sit in the front seat to avoid suspicion. But in the process, they racked up some $4 million in fines, with enforcement especially tough at the airport. Uber and Lyft drivers can only be at the airport if they are summoned by a rider; they can’t hang out there waiting for a fare. The new rules also allow licensed taxis to charge less than their posted rates in order to compete.

In Denver, a new airport train started operating last month between Union Station downtown and Denver International Airport. So a local TV station decided to run a test comparing an Uber ride to DEN with a trip on the new A Line train. Results: The train, which makes six intermediate stops between downtown and the airport, took 37 minutes – about what its schedule calls for. An Uber driver made the trip from Union Station in 26 minutes. So Uber won on travel time by 11 minutes. But the cost? A ticket on the train goes for $9; the Uber ride was just under $44.

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Uber testing ‘late fees’ for passengers

April 30, 2016

Uber is testing late fees and shorter cancellation times. (Image: Uber)

When you use the Uber app to order a ride, who gets to the meeting spot first – you, or the driver? If it’s always the driver, you might want to start being more prompt, or it could cost you.

Uber is running some pilot tests of new fees that would kick in if their drivers have to wait at curbside an unreasonable amount of time before the passenger shows up – although “unreasonable” has a specific definition.

According to Uber’s website, drivers in the test markets – Dallas. New York, New Jersey and Phoenix – will be able to collect a new fee from passengers who make them wait more than two minutes. The company didn’t say how much the fee would be.

“While we encourage riders to only request a ride when they’re ready, we understand that sometimes they are running a little behind. In these cases, drivers will be compensated for the extra minutes they need,” Uber said.

The tests also shorten the acceptable times for canceling a ride the passenger has already ordered. The old grace period for canceling was five minutes, but in the test markets it’s being cut to two minutes, after which the cancelling passenger “may incur a small fee,” Uber said.

If the pilot tests “improve the experience for riders and drivers, we’ll look at rolling them out more broadly,” Uber said.

Usually, when I’m late to the car, I’ll be sure and give the driver a tip– that’s a lot easier on Lyft because the service includes a tipping option in the app while Uber forces those who’d like to tip to use cash. That’s is why I’ve become a recent devotee of the pink moustache. And you? Please leave your comments below.

Get $50 in ride credits from Lyft when you use our referral link!

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Popular: Uber tipping + New lie-flat seat + China contest + Delta spat + Denver train

April 24, 2016

Tipping Uber drivers likely to become more common (Photo: Chris McGinnis)

News broke Friday regarding the controversial issue of whether or not to tip Uber drivers— something TravelSkills covered in a post and poll last month. From Bloomberg: “…Uber has agreed to notify customers more clearly that tips are not included in fares and give tacit approval for optional gratuity. Drivers can now solicit cash tips by asking passengers or posting signs in their vehicles…riders should start seeing gratuities as a major part of an Uber driver’s income. In other words, more like a cabbie….With this information, many riders will begin tipping their drivers, which will increase drivers’ pay substantially.” Check out the full story here…and see where TravelSkills was cited!

TravelSkills’ 10 most popular posts over the last week (descending order):

1 Who knew this would be such a hit? A new lie-flat seat on busy California corridor

2 Venomous Delta-Qatar Airways spat gets uglier

3 Entered yet? Tick-tock! Contest: 2 free United BusinessFirst tickets to China 西安

4 Routes: AA, Alaska, United, Delta, Frontier, OneJet, JetSmarter

5 A great thing! Denver International Airport rail line opens

6 Date set for new United Club LAX: United progress + Delta move + Southwest + American

7 The little plane New California corridor small-jet service: $109 each way

8 Lyft surges. Taxis drop. And we love Delta, National and Hampton Inn

9 Timely Should I tip my Uber or Lyft driver? [Poll] (Check out the contro comments!)

10 Airports: Delta Sky Club re-do, Hotel at MSP, United Club CLE, JFK nap pods

In case you missed it: The Barclay is back in NYC plus other shiny new hotels!

XIAN CONTEST! Thanks to all the eager TravelSkills readers who have submitted entries to our contest for two free United BusinessFirst tickets to Xian, China! We are busy reading thru hundreds of clever entries and look forward to announcing the lucky winner this week! Very exciting! Here’s your last chance to enter.

Links to stories from other sources that we thought you’d like to read:

The new Hyatt House in Seattle sits in the shadow of the Sapce Needle. (Image: Hyatt)

The new Hyatt House in Seattle sits in the shadow of the Space Needle. (Image: Hyatt)

Hyatt joins other chains offering members-only discounts

Taxi trips in LA down 30% since arrival of Uber, Lyft

Airlines in court over recent multi-city fare shenanigans

Getting out of the dreaded middle seat

Hey Virgin America fans: JetBlue is after you

Time to give Lyft a try? (Use our link and get $50 in free ride credit!)

Kuwait to require DNA testing of all visitors

Delta is most reliable airline, but least economical

The console provides plenty of storage space both above and below- enough space for laptop and contents of pack or case (Chris McGinnis)

Aer Lingus’ new business class seat on an A330 (Chris McGinnis)

The fine art of deciding which passengers to kick off a flight

Survey finds road warriors are generally happy with business travel

Twenty-one kinds of bad behavior at the airport

The U.S. is no longer the world’s biggest market for business travel

New Istanbul airport is expected to be the world’s largest

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Lyft surges. Taxis drop. And we love Delta, National and Hampton Inn

April 22, 2016

Lyft, surging 44%, is giving Uber a run for its money (Image: Lyft)

The latest quarterly report on business travelers’ spending habits from expense tracking giant Certify came with a separate supplement that spells out the boom in business for ride-sharing apps at the expense of traditional ground transportation services.

While Uber continues to dominate the new ride-sharing business, the report sees Lyft moving into a stronger second place in the months ahead.

Certify said its Q1 2016 numbers on business traveler spending show that “use of ride-hailing services among business travelers is at an all-time high and shows no signs of slowing.”

In just two years, Certify said, the new ride-sharing segment’s portion of business travelers’ ground transportation spending has soared from just 8 percent in Q1 of 2014 to 46 percent in the most recent quarter. Over the same two-year period, the share for traditional taxis has fallen from 37 to 14 percent, while rental cars’ share declined from 55 to 40 percent.

In the first quarter of this year, Certify said, Uber captured 43 percent of all ground service rides, but it noted that Lyft is showing signs of a surge. From Q4 of 2015 to Q1 of this year, Certify said, Lyft showed a 44 percent jump in business travel transactions.

Ready to give Lyft a try? Use this link to get $50 in free ride credit!

“We anticipate Lyft will become a bigger player in the business travel market in 2016,” Certify said, citing its recent closing of $1 billion in new investment capital, which included $500 million from General Motors.

Eliminating the spending numbers for rental cars and looking only at taxis and ride-hailing, Certify said, Uber commanded a 69 percent share of all transactions in Q1 2016, making it “the dominant provider for business travelers in every U.S. city.”

Check out how much more Delta earns per traveler compared to other carriers (Image: Certify)

Other data from the report, which looked at more than 9 million business travel receipts in the first quarter, found that the three most-expensed restaurants were – in order – Starbucks, McDonald’s and Panera Bread; the most-expensed airlines were Delta, American and Southwest; most-expensed hotel brands were Hampton Inn, Marriott and Homewood Suites; and most-expensed car rental companies were National, Enterprise and Hertz. See the charts below:

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Uber-Lyft updates for Newark, Boston, Seattle, New Orleans, Los Angeles

April 16, 2016

Uber at the airport in Newark still a question mark (Photo: Chris McGinnis)

In the latest news about Uber, Lyft and other ride sharing operators, the ongoing controversy about passenger pick-ups at Newark Airport is apparently not close to resolution; an entrepreneur in Boston plans to launch a whole new kind of ride-sharing for skittish customers; passenger pick-ups officially begin at two major airports; and L.A. taxi drivers are feeling the pain.

All eyes of ride-sharing drivers in northern New Jersey will be on the Newark City Council next week as it plans to vote on new fees for those operators – and the proposed fees have caused some outrage. The city’s plan is to assess a $500 annual fee on drivers to operate in Newark, plus an additional $1,000 fee for the right to pick up passengers at Newark Liberty International Airport and at Newark Penn Station. An Uber executive told NJ.com that if the fee ordinance is approved, Uber will simply stop operating in Newark. Earlier, Newark officials had threatened to tow the cars of ride-sharing drivers if they caught them at Newark Airport.

A former Uber driver in Boston, taking note of occasional news reports about crime and violence committed by or upon the service’s vehicle operators, plans to start a new ride-sharing service specifically for customers who might feel vulnerable or threatened. The new operation, called Chariot for Women, will use only female drivers and will restrict its customer base to women and children under 13. The only thing that might stand in its way, according to the Washington Post, is the question of whether it is legal to restrict service by age and/or gender.

Ride-sharing apps continue to make inroads at airports — with some exceptions. (Image: Uber)

It’s official: UberX and Lyft have started picking up passengers at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport under a one-year pilot program approved by the Port of Seattle. UberPool, Uber’s car-pooling service, has also started operating at Sea-Tac. A writer for GeekWire tried out the new option, and found only one problem: Difficulty locating the passenger pick-up area on the third floor of the parking garage. “I knew the pick-up area was staged on the third floor of the parking garage. But for anyone else arriving at the airport trying to find their Uber or Lyft driver, this is difficult to locate because there are no signs pointing people to the pickup area until you exit the terminal and enter the third floor of the parking garage,” the writer noted.

UberX last week started picking up arriving passengers at New Orleans’ Louis Armstrong International Airport, and Mayor Mitch Landrieu said in a Tweet that “more ride-sharing companies will follow.” Uber said the minimum cost of a ride between the airport and downtown is $33, subject to surge pricing increases, according to the New Orleans Times-Picayune. Drivers will wait for their customers in a designated app-based ride services area on the upper level of the airport’s Ground Transportation Center.

Taxi drivers have long complained that ride-sharing apps are costing them business, and a report in the Los Angeles Times suggests they are right. It cites statistics from the city’s Department of Transportation showing that in 2012 – just before Uber and Lyft started operating in the city – taxis operated a total of 8.4 million trips. In 2015, that number dropped to 6 million. The story cited a cab company manager who said taxi drivers take-home pay has dropped from $800 per week a few years ago to $400-$500 now. And the number of licensed taxi drivers in the city has declined by 586 over the past three years, with some of them defecting to ride-sharing services.

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Rental car rates are down. But why? [POLL]

April 11, 2016

The new car rental center at San Diego's airport opens January 20. (Image: San Diego International Airport)

The new car rental center at San Diego’s airport might not be as busy as expected (Image: San Diego International Airport)

Apparently, it’s not just cabbies getting clobbered by ride-sharing companies like Uber and Lyft. Today Hertz warned that weak demand for rental cars will cut its revenues for the first quarter by about 3 percent.

While that’s bad news for Hertz and other car rental companies, it’s good news for those of us who frequently rent cars. Why? Because when there are too many rental cars chasing too few travelers, prices decline.

While Hertz did not mention in its warning that ride-sharing alternatives such as Uber or Lyft are having an impact, the New York chattering classes did.

“I think this is a challenged group, all of which are dealing with Uber,” said CNBC’s vociferous Jim Cramer, adding “Their failure to acknowledge Uber shows their head is in the sand.”

“If by ‘excess capacity’ he means ‘Uber’ then, yes, we are in agreement.” – Jason Clampet, Skift

In recent years, the rental car industry has consolidated into just three primary giants (Hertz, Enterprise & Avis)– which you think would lead to higher prices, but that’s not happening. You’d also think that it would lead to higher stock prices, but Hertz’s price is down 55 percent over the last year. And it’s likely due to competition from the likes of Uber and Lyft. Or is it?

Question for TravelSkills readers: Is the availability of ride-sharing options like Uber/Lyft reducing your reliance on rental cars? Please take our poll:

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Is Uber’s surge pricing legal? Court will decide

April 5, 2016

Surge pricing benefits drivers and Uber but what about you? (Photo: Chris McGinnis)

Uber has revolutionized ground transportation costs with its “surge pricing,” which requires passengers to pay more during periods of heavy demand. But a federal judge in New York has opened up the possibility that surge pricing might be a violation of antitrust law.

U.S. District Judge Jed Rakoff refused to throw out an antitrust suit against Uber CEO Travis Kalanick that was filed by disgruntled passengers. In his ruling, Rakoff suggested that Uber’s use of Kalanick’s surge pricing algorithm to set fares for all drivers in a given area could be viewed as a price-fixing conspiracy, especially since Uber considers its drivers to be independent operators rather than employees.

If the Uber drivers really were independent, the court reasoned, they would be competing against each other on price instead of all raising their prices in lockstep when Uber’s algorithm told them to do so.

Uber itself was not named as a defendant. The plaintiffs are seeking class action status for the suit on behalf of Uber users nationwide, but the court has not yet ruled on that application.

“Today’s decision confirms that apps are not exempt from the antitrust laws,” a lawyer for the plaintiffs told Reuters.

Don’t expect surge pricing to disappear any time soon. This, like most of the many lawsuits filed against Uber, will likely fade away over time.

Don’t like surge pricing? Here are some ways to get around it: 5 ways to avoid surge pricing from Uber & Lyft

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Uber/Lyft at airports: Seattle, San Diego, Milwaukee, New Orleans

March 24, 2016

Uber and Lyft pick-ups at Seattle-Tacoma cold start in a few days. (Image: Port of Seattle)

Uber and Lyft pick-ups at Seattle-Tacoma could start in a few days. (Image: Port of Seattle)

Ridesharing has changed the business trip more than just about anything else in recent memory (except maybe PreCheck!). Luckily, the phenomenon is now pervasive in most cities around the world. But, when it comes to highly regulated airports, it’s still hit or miss. You never really know if you can or can’t legally use your app when you step off the plane.

So we try to keep TravelSkills readers up to date on that front…

In airport ride-sharing developments, passenger pick-ups could start next week at Seattle-Tacoma, a new competitor starts up at San Diego, UberX and Lyft lift off at Milwaukee, and approval moves ahead for New Orleans.

March 31 is the launch date for ride-sharing services to begin passenger pick-ups at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport, assuming that operators like Lyft and Uber can sign agreements with the Port of Seattle by then. The port authority has authorized the use of ride-sharing firms, which it calls Transportation Network Companies (TNCs), for a one-year test period. The airport designated an area on the third floor of its parking garage for arriving passengers to meet drivers, and it will assess a fee of $5 per pick-up. One innovative requirement set by the port authority is a “green standard” for ride-sharing services. That standard “establishes a threshold for emissions based on fleet weighted average MPG, deadheading, and pooling or ridesharing for unrelated passengers,” the airport said. “If TNC’s do not meet the environmental performance standards after six-month and nine-month periods, an additional $5 per trip fee will be incurred until standards are reached.”

Inside San Diego’s snappy new Terminal 2 West (Chris McGinnis)

After running a limited pilot program for a few months, ride-sharing service Wingz has officially started operations at San Diego’s Lindbergh Field, taking on Uber and Lyft with a slightly different concept. Like those two operators, Wingz uses app-based bookings via iPhone or Android, and its drivers use their own vehicles, but it quotes a flat price. The rate may be slightly higher than the lowest rates of Uber or Lyft, but it will not change based on levels of demand. A Wingz ride from Lindbergh Field to downtown San Diego is estimated to cost around $25. With San Diego, it now operates at 16 airports, mostly in California.

Passenger pick-ups by UberX and Lyft started last week at Milwaukee’s Mitchell International Airport, according to the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel. Before that, only Uber Black and Uber SUV pick-ups were permitted. The approval of UberX and Lyft is for a 90-day pilot period, the newspaper said, and the airport will collect a $3 fee per passenger for pick-ups. The airport has designated a pick-up area between baggage carousels 1 and 2, through doors marked “Exit to Ticketing.”

Approval for ride-sharing services to pick up passengers at New Orleans’ Louis Armstrong International Airport moved ahead last week, but no start-up date has been set. Last week, the Aviation Board that oversees the airport approved a resolution to authorize ride-sharing pick-ups and to develop a new fee structure that will cover Uber and Lyft passenger pick-ups, but the actual fee levels still have to be determined. According to the website nola.com, the airport’s general counsel said that the ride-sharing companies have “an unequivocal constitutional right” to pick up passengers, but the city’s taxi drivers are challenging that notion: They have filed a lawsuit to block UberX and Lyft, and a court hearing is slated for April 1.

NOTE: Be sure to click here to see all recent TravelSkills posts about: Should I tip my Uber driver? + Boeing 747 nearing its end? + Bargain hunters travel guide for 2016 + World’s best airline lounge? + Fares to Europe tumble

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Airport ride-sharing advances for Phoenix, Charlotte – but not Boston

March 5, 2016

Ride-sharing pick-ups at the Phoenix airport should begin this summer. (Image: Phoenix Sky Harbor International)

Uber and Lyft continue to make progress in their ongoing battle to secure airport passenger pick-up rights, most recently in Phoenix and in Charlotte. But Boston is proving a tough nut to crack.

The Phoenix City Council this week passed a proposal that will allow ride-sharing companies to make passenger pick-ups at Sky Harbor International Airport. The council has to vote formally once again after a two-month waiting period, but the measure is expected to pass, so that passenger services at PHX can begin sometime this summer. Phoenix will use a special tag or GPS-based system to track vehicle movements at the airport, imposing a fee of $2.75 per ride starting in 2017. Ride-sharing companies have been lobbying the council for many months to win approval, but they got a big boost when Arizona Governor Doug Ducey came out in favor of their effort.

Ride-sharing also formally started this week at North Carolina’s Charlotte-Douglas International Airport, an American Airlines hub. UberX and Lyft now have designated passenger pick-up and drop-off spots at the airport, and rides will incur an extra $1 fee.

But Uber and Lyft were not so fortunate in Massachusetts. There, the state legislature’s Financial Services Committee just approved a bill to regulate ride-sharing companies. The proposal would subject drivers to background checks by both their companies and the state, and would impose insurance requirements on the firms. But according to the Associated Press, the bill would also ban passenger pick-ups at Boston’s Logan Airport at least until 2021. The AP said the latter provision was “a concession to the taxi industry.”

NOTE: Be sure to click here to see all recent TravelSkills posts about: Should I tip my Uber driver? + Boeing 747 nearing its end? + Bargain hunters travel guide for 2016 + World’s best airline lounge? + Fares to Europe tumble

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Uber introduces automated business expense reporting

March 3, 2016

Uber riders can now file business expense claims automatically. (Image: Uber)

A few months ago, ride-sharing giant Uber introduced a new feature to its app called Business Profiles, which allowed customers to keep their personal rides separate from their business rides by designating them as one or the other. And now the company is taking that one step further by integrating its app with four leading providers of travel and expense reporting systems for companies.

The four providers are Concur, Certify, Expensify and Chrome River. Uber said that its new partnerships with those four firms “cover the vast majority of the managed expense market, so that business riders have the ability to simplify expensing with just one tap.”

With Uber’s new Auto-Expense feature, a customer who uses one of those four firms for expense reporting simply indicates within the Uber Business Profile that a ride is for business, and it will be automatically filed with the expensing firm designated by the user.

“With nearly one million people activating business profiles, business travel has become one of Uber’s fastest-growing segments. Providing the ability for our riders to automatically submit their receipts for expense reimbursement is a logistical step forward in making trips more seamless,” said Max Crowley, the head of of Uber for Business.

“We saw business travelers using Uber grow by 220 percent from 2014 to 2015,” said Barry Padgett, Concur’s chief product officer. “That’s a lot of receipts.”

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Uber, Lyft progress at Newark, Atlanta, Phoenix airports

February 23, 2016

The Maynard H. Jackson Jr. Terminal at Atlanta Hartsfield-Jackson. (Image: Atlanta Airport)

Although they often meet with stiff resistance from local officials and taxi drivers, ride-sharing services Uber and Lyft continue to make slow but certain progress in their fight for the right to pick up passengers at major airports. Three of the latest battlegrounds are Newark, Atlanta and Phoenix.

We reported recently that Newark’s city prosecutor had threatened to have police start towing the vehicles of Uber and Lyft drivers this week if they were caught waiting for passengers at Newark Liberty International Airport. But now there’s apparently been a change of heart. According to local media, Newark public safety officials have now promised that the city will not start towing cars at the airport, and said they would meet with the city prosecutor and his staff in a bid to work things out. The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey also said it would not act against the ride-sharing drivers. UPDATE: It seems the City of Newark has flip-flopped on this and the ban is back on according to NY Post (We will monitor status)

Airport officials at Atlanta Hartsfield-Jackson are said to be getting close to announcing a plan that would allow ride-sharing services to make passenger pick-ups legally at the nation’s busiest airport. Some drivers have reportedly been operating on the sly at ATL, taking the risk of getting a ticket, but a firm plan to legitimize ride-sharing pick-ups has been long overdue. According to Atlanta’s WSB-TV, airport officials are expected to “soon go public” with an approval plan. Noting that such a plan is half a year behind schedule due to rabid opposition from taxi drivers, the station quoted an airport spokesperson as saying that there is clear customer demand for ride-sharing, and that the airport is “fine-tuning” legislation to legalize pick-ups at ATL. The station said the airport is expected to designate pick-up spots for Uber and Lyft drivers, and noted that police have routinely been patrolling the cell phone waiting area, telling ride-share drivers to move out.

The Phoenix Aviation Advisory Board has passed a new policy for ground transportation at Phoenix Sky Harbor Airport that would clear the way for UberX and Lyft to pick up arriving passengers. The measure still requires approval by the City Council, where it faces opposition from taxi services and other ground transportation providers (although it has public support from Arizona Governor Doug Ducey). The proposal would require drivers to pay a fee for each pick-up, but would ease up on some of the security requirements that officials had been demanding, like a fingerprint background check for drivers. According to the Arizona Republic, the ride-sharing services could start picking up arrivals at PHX by this summer.

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Airports: Uber at Newark, O’Hare gates, Atlanta pods, Miami app

February 13, 2016

Might consider the AirTran instead of Uber at Newark (Photo: Chris McGinnis)

In airport news, Uber drivers at Newark get an official warning; Chicago O’Hare will finally start to see new aircraft gates being built; and Miami International releases an updated smartphone app that uses geo-location to assist passengers.

With all of United’s transcontinental p.s. flights from the West Coast now flying into Newark instead of New York JFK, arriving passengers might just instinctively tap their Uber app for an airport pickup upon landing. But that could be a problem in a couple of weeks. According to local media in New Jersey, the chief prosecutor for the city of Newark has sent a letter to Uber headquarters setting a February 22 deadline for Uber’s drivers to stop picking up passengers at Newark Airport. If they don’t, they could have their vehicles towed by police and face “civil and criminal penalties,” the letter said. The same warning applied to Uber drivers working at Newark’s Penn Station. (Although Newark, LaGuardia and JFK airports are all operated by the New York/New Jersey Port Authority, the rules governing ground transportation are set separately by Newark for Newark Airport and New York City for LaGuardia and JFK. The two New York airports do permit Uber pickups if the driver is licensed by the city.) Last month, Newark’s licensed taxi drivers staged a big anti-Uber protest at the airport.

Earlier this month, Chicago city officials announced plans for a huge infrastructure project at O’Hare Airport, including construction of a sixth runway, and some critics reiterated the complaints they made after the fifth runway was completed – namely, that building more runways to increase capacity isn’t going to do much good unless there are more places to park airplanes. But now the city is moving to start fixing the gate shortage, announcing a deal with American Airlines that will allow the carrier to build five new gates at O’Hare’s Terminal 3. The new gates, due to be finished by 2018, will be added to T3’s Concourse L. That will increase the total gate count for American at O’Hare’s Terminal 3 from 66 to 71. According to the Chicago Sun-Times, they represent the first significant construction of new gates at the airport since 1993.

It’s a new thing at Atlanta’s airport. Can you guess what it’s for? (Image: Mamava)

Nursing mothers never have it easy when they travel, but Atlanta Hartsfield-Jackson Airport is trying to give them a break. The airport has set up four “lactation pods” that mothers can use for nursing or breast milk pumping in privacy. The stations are located past the security checkpoints near Gates T-7, B-5, D-34 and F-5, and another one will soon be added pre-security in the airport’s Domestic Terminal. The pods, designed by a company called Mamava, can be locked form the inside and provide seating, a changing table, and an electrical outlet for pumps.

Miami International Airport is going super high-tech with an upgraded version of its smartphone app, called MIA Airport Official 2.0. The airport has installed more than 500 Bluetooth data beacons so that app users can simply scan their boarding pass to get turn- by-turn directions to their departure gate or other locations, estimated walking times, real-time flight updates and shopping/dining suggestions, based on their personal profile. Users can also get weather information for anywhere in the world, and can use a “near me” feature that identifies the closest dining and shopping outlets. “Future enhancements will include notifications for special offers from the user’s preferred shops and restaurants at MIA, the ability to reserve parking, and estimated security checkpoint wait times,” a spokesman said. The app is available at the Google Play and Apple App stores. MIA has put up a Youtube video explaining the new app.

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American unveils Uber partnership

February 12, 2016

American Airlines is creating new Uber promotions and tie-ins. (Image: Uber)

American Airlines said this week it is teaming up with ride-sharing giant Uber to provide new services, discounts and promotions to its passengers.

The airline said it is updating its mobile app to offer new functionality that ties in with Uber rides. When a customer books a flight on aa.com, the e-ticket confirmation that comes back to them via e-mail will include a “Remind me to Uber” icon. If the passenger clicks on it, he or she will be sent a reminder to book a ride.

The airline’s app also now has a new airport navigation feature that will guide users to the nearest Uber pick-up location at 11 major U.S. airports, including Charlotte, Chicago O’Hare, Dallas/Ft. Worth, Los Angeles, New York LaGuardia, New York JFK, Philadelphia, Phoenix, San Francisco, San Jose and Washington Reagan National.

AA customers who aren’t already signed up with Uber can get a $20 discount on the car service when they register an account and use promo code RIDEAA. In March, AA Executive Platinums will be given a unique code for a discount of up to $25 off an Uber ride whether or not they are currently Uber users. And from now through July 31, AA customers who use an AAdvantage Aviator MasterCard to pay for Uber rides will get two bonus miles for every dollar spent.

United was the first carrier to partner with Uber for a presence on its app.

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Should I tip my Uber or Lyft driver? [Poll]

February 9, 2016

Is your inclination to tip drivers changing? (Photo: Uber)

Last week I received an earful of anger from an UberX driver about how recent discounting by the ridesharing app is translating to less money for its drivers.

He complained about how expensive it is to operate a car in San Francisco and that his costs are going up at a time when his revenues are going down. He said he thought that Uber “wants all its drivers to end up homeless” or “put Lyft out of business” and that he supported the various driver protests taking place in San Francisco during Super Bowl week.

Since I had accepted his ride at 1.6x surge I asked, “Well it seems I’m paying Uber surge pricing a lot more these days, don’t you guys make more when a surge is in effect? And aren’t you paying less for gas these days?”

He said something like, “Yes, we make more during surge, but it’s not enough to counteract the losses during non-surge, which is most of the time.” He did not respond to my question about lower gas prices.

His diatribe went on for nearly the length of my 20-minute ride across town. When I got out of the car, I thought to myself, “Jeez this guy needs to find another job.”

I also wondered if perhaps he was gunning for a tip.

I did not tip him, but it made me wonder… should I be tipping my Uber drivers these days?

When Uber first cranked up five years ago, one of the hallmarks of the new service was that it was cashless… there’s nothing to do at the end of the ride except to say “thanks” and “goodbye.” It was my understanding that the tip was built into the rate and that the the tip would be taken care of by Uber.

What about you? Please take our TravelSkills poll at the bottom of this post!

But that understanding and ease is starting to erode. I’ve asked around have found that, at least anecdotally, a lot of folks are now tipping their Uber drivers with cash. I get emails from Uber drivers asking me to encourage users to start tipping more. As a matter of fact, I did a quick Twitter poll this week and found that about 30% of my followers regularly tip Uber or Lyft drivers. And with UberX saving me so much on rides these days, I wouldn’t mind tossing in a tip from time to time.

But should I?

Add a tip after riding Image: Lyft

Uber’s FAQs clearly discourage tipping, stating, “You don’t need cash when you ride with Uber. Once you arrive at your destination, your fare is automatically charged to your credit card on file — there’s no need to tip.” So if you do want to tip your driver, you have to do it with cash– which can be unwieldy and time consuming and awkward if you don’t have the right change. (Update: UberTAXI does allow users to leave tips)

On the other hand, Lyft, which I have started to use a lot more frequently, encourages tipping, but only after the ride. When you get your receipt, it asks if you’d like to tip your driver. It even offers a “how to tip your driver” page on its website. Nonetheless, when I ask my friends if they tip on Lyft…or ask my Lyft drivers how often they get tips, it sounds somewhat rare.

On FlyWheel, the taxi industry’s new mobile platform, “You can adjust the tip amount (percentage) at any point during your ride or up to 5 minutes after. The tip is automatically applied and charged to your card along with the metered fare and $1 service fee. On average, most passengers leave a 20% tip so that’s where we set the default amount.”

So, in the end, even though that Uber driver irritated me with his complaining, he made me re-assess my tipping practices when it comes to ride-sharing. So starting now, if I have a few extra bills or a $5, I’ll offer it to a good Uber driver. And I will regularly say “yes” when Lyft asks me for a tip. And as always, I’ll tip my taxi driver with cash, or via FlyWheel.

What about you? Please take our TravelSkills poll or leave your comments below.

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Update: Check out this online forum of Uber drivers under the headline “Gratuity”

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8 mistakes to avoid in San Francisco

February 2, 2016

Now that’s an unusual approach to SFO, right? (Photo: Chris McGinnis)

As the fall convention season opens, I thought now would be a good time for a reprise of one of our most popular posts about the mistakes many travelers make when visiting the Bay Area.

Nearly every frequent traveler visits San Francisco at least one time each year. And it’s most likely that visit will take place between September and December, the city’s peak convention season.

That’s especially true if you are in the tech or related fields. For example, San Francisco-based cloud computing giant Salesforce.com puts on its annual Dreamforce conference in the fall at the city’s sprawling Moscone Convention Center, attracting 60,000+ people. Oracle’s OpenWorld conference is usually just before or just after Dreamforce.

When a big “citywide” like that comes to town, nearly every hotel in the Bay Area is sold out, or its rates are hyper-inflated. During these peak weeks, you’ll pay a minimum of about $500 for an decent room and feel lucky that you even found one. When citywides come into town, Airbnb hosts lick their chops and fluff their pillows. Restaurant reservations become scant. And Uber drivers kiss their families goodbye and work double shifts for several days in a row.

So now’s probably a great time to offer some advice to the arriving throngs—and this advice is good whether you are coming San Francisco next week or next year. (If you are in SF, please forward this to your future guests!)

1>Don’t schedule business meetings on Friday afternoons after 2 p.m. On Fridays, when New York closes for the weekend at 5 pm eastern, so does much of San Francisco (at 2 pm Pacific) especially when it’s warm and sunny outside. Cocktail and beer carts start making the rounds in offices at about 3 p.m. While there are exceptions to this rule, your Bay Area colleagues are likely to groan if you send out a calendar invite for a 4 p.m. meeting on Friday. Make it at 11 a.m. instead.

SF is hot these days- in more ways than one (Photo: Chris McGinnis)

You are most likely to find sunny weather in San Francisco in the spring and fall (Photo: Chris McGinnis)

2>Don’t be surprised about an early start. In a similar vein, know that the workday starts relatively early here, so an 8:30 a.m. meeting is not considered out of order. If that feels too early for you, just bring along some caffeine from Blue Bottle, Ritual or Philz and you’ll be fine. Lunch hour begins promptly at noon, but you find that locals may ask you to show up at 11:45 a.m. “to beat the crowds.” Expect the same early schedule for dinner meetings, which can and do start as early at 6 p.m. Most restaurants are empty by 9:30 on weekdays and by 10:30 p.m. on weekends.

3>Hailing cabs is so 1999. Use an app instead. This is the hometown of both Uber and Lyft, so download the apps and use them if you haven’t already done so. You can enjoy nearly all the different “flavors” of Uber available in the Bay Area, which include the standard town car UberBLACK, private car “citizen driver” UberX (cheaper than taxis), UberSUV, UberXL, and UberPOOL of LyftLine where you share a ride with someone else headed in the same direction. Cabs are fine when available, but the industry has been decimated by the likes of Uber and Lyft– for example, Yellow Cab Coop of San Francisco recently declared bankruptcy (but is still operating). One way to get around irritating “surge pricing” from car sharing companies is to use new taxi hailing apps such as Flywheel. Also, don’t rent a car at the airport unless it’s absolutely essential. SFO rental rates are notoriously high, the car rental center at is distant and unloved, and downtown hotel parking rates are in the $60 per night range.

4>Don’t put off making dinner reservations. This town is HOT and wealthy right now, full of cool kids and visitors with sophisticated palates who love to dine out. If you are here to try the city’s best restaurants, make reservations at least two or three weeks in advance…or more for top spots like Boulevard, Frances, State Bird Provisions, Gary Danko, and others. One common mistake among visitors is thinking that the city’s best Chinese food is in Chinatown. Not necessarily. Grab an Uber or jump on Muni and head out to the western neighborhoods like the Sunset or Inner Richmond which stake claim to the real thing.

San Franciscans use both Muni streetcars pictured here as well as BART (Photo: SFMTA)

5>Don’t confuse subways. You should know that San Francisco has TWO main subway systems—BART is the rapid rail regional system with several stations along Market Street connecting out to the suburbs and airport. MUNI is the slower central city subway & streetcar system used frequently (and frequently derided) by inner city residents. Of course, there are San Francisco’s fabled cable cars, but those are mostly a tourist attraction and rarely a primary means of transport for locals.

6>Don’t think BART to airport is going to save much time. BART is a great option for those who travel light, but you should know that it can take more than 30 minutes to get to the Embarcadero from SFO (for $8.65 each way). Plus, you’ll have to walk to your hotel from the nearest BART station (see below). If there’s no traffic, a taxi or Uber can get you between the airport and city in about 20 minutes. UberBLACK rates are around $68. UberX and Lyft can be about half that. And cabs run about $50 including tip.

7>Consider hills when walking. First timers with hotels on Nob Hill may look at a map and think, “Oh, I’ll just walk to my hotel from Market Street. It’s close.” Well, yes, it’s close as the bird flies, but try lugging your rollaboard up the side of the hill to the Ritz-Carlton, Fairmont, Scarlet Huntington or Mark Hopkins and you’ll learn quickly that this may not be the smartest option. Especially if you are wearing heels!

8>Don’t forget your layers. Winter is cool and wet, but never freezing. Spring and fall are typically the sunniest, driest months. Summer days can be gorgeous and bright, but the fog rolls in and cools everything off by about 4 pm on most days, so don’t venture out in evenings without a sweater. (By the way, wear black here. It always works.)

Finally, never call San Francisco “Frisco” or “San Fran.” Laid back locals won’t say anything, but inside, you can bet they are groaning. To be safe, just call it “The City” or San Francisco.

Last year CNN dropped by for some advice about traveling to the Bay Area– see this video to find out what I had to say.

I’m sure our many Bay Area readers can add to this list, so please fire away in the comments section below and help your fellow frequent traveler headed west!

–Chris McGinnis

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Uber, Lyft, Airbnb bookings surge

January 23, 2016

Business travelers' spending on Lyft rides jumped 714 percent last year. (Image: Lyft)

Business travelers’ spending on Lyft rides jumped 712 percent last year. (Image: Lyft)

The latest analysis of business travelers’ expense reports from Certify, a leading T&E software provider, shows “sharing economy” services like Uber, Lyft and Airbnb are continuing to hammer away at the traditional taxi, rental car and lodging businesses.

In fact, Certify found that business travelers’ spending on Uber rides in the U.S. during the fourth quarter of 2015 surpassed car rental spending for the first time in the ground transportation category.

“Prior to the fourth quarter, only San Francisco and Boston reported Uber as having a greater percent of rides than car rental,” Certify noted, referring to Uber’s growth as “astronomical.” Ride-sharing app competitor Lyft, although much smaller, is surging as well: Certify said spending on Lyft rides in 2015 was up more than 700 percent year-over-year.

On the lodging side, Certify found that business traveler spending on Airbnb bookings jumped 261 percent in 2015 for U.S. accommodations and 249 percent for international locations. The top U.S. cities for business travelers using Airbnb instead of hotels were San Francisco, Chicago, Seattle, Oakland and New York.

Certify CEO Robert Neveu said that as recently as 2013, the expense-tracking company “couldn’t have anticipated…the phenomenal growth of Uber and the impact it and other sharing economy services would have on corporate travel today. It’s a story that will continue to unfold for years to come.”

In the fourth quarter of 2015, the report shows, the most-expenses restaurant company for road warriors was Starbucks; rating as the most-expensed in other categories were Delta among airlines, Marriott for hotels and National for car rentals.

Below are some infographics summarizing Certify’s findings (note: In the second chart, ride-sharing services are categorized under ‘miscellaneous’):

Among Uber, Lyft or Airbnb, which do you use the most? Why? Please leave your comments below.

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Finally! UberX joins Lyft legally at LAX

January 21, 2016

UberX started pick-ups at LAX. (Image: Uber)

A few weeks ago, ride-sharing service Lyft started to pick up passengers at Los Angeles International Airport, and now UberX is dong the same.

Uber said on its website that effective today (January 21), its UberX drivers can start to pick up passengers at LAX terminals (Note: the new approval for UberX does not yet include UberPool).

In August, the Los Angeles City Council approved a plan to give ride-sharing app services the right to pick up passengers at the airport, but it took months of haggling between regulators and the ride-sharing companies to agree on licensing and permit requirements.

Lyft came to terms with the city first, and now Uber has followed suit for its UberX drivers. While a regular taxi ride from LAX to downtown costs about $50 -plus tip, the fare is estimated at $30 on UberX or Lyft, although it would be higher in times of peak demand.

Uber said arriving LAX passengers using its app should select a vehicle type, terminal and airline to request a ride. Pick-ups could be on the lower or upper levels of the terminal; the driver will call to confirm the location.

Rides on UberX and Lyft incur a $4 surcharge for both pick-ups and drop-offs under terms worked out with airport authorities.

Get up to $50 off your first Lyft ride with our link!

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5 travel deals: Hawaii + Ski hotels + Airline lounges + Uber + more

January 19, 2016

Hawaiian Airlines new Airbus A330s are its long haul workhorses (Photo: Chris McGinnis)

Hawaiian Airlines new Airbus A330 at HNL (Photo: Chris McGinnis)

HAWAII: Whenever you see a roundtrip fare from the west coast to Hawaii for less than $400, it’s time to book! Right now Hawaiian Air has roundtrips from west coast cities to Hawaii for $400 or less– that’s a great deal. $728 roundtrip from New York. From Book by January 21 for trips in April or May. Hawaiian sale details. United also has some good deals to Hawaii for winter trips, but none for less than $400.

Need info: Chris is headed to Kauai next month (for the first time) and needs tips/advice on what to see. Email him

SKI: Best Western is offering some excellent last minute deals (around $100 per night or less) at hotels near ski resorts in the US and Canada. This is a flash sale and deals disappear at midnight January 20. Details. TIP: If you are not into NFL football, hit the slopes instead! Superbowl Sunday (Feb 7) is usually one of the BEST Sundays of the year due to lack of crowds.

LOUNGES: The helpful LoungeBuddy app has teamed up with TripIt. TripIt Pro members get a one-time $25 credit to use on a lounge pass, as part of the TripIt Pro VIP Benefits program. Just book your lounge pass through LoungeBuddy and then forward the reservation, just like any other travel plan, to plans@tripit.com. Then, when you arrive at the airport, pull up your lounge pass information right from the TripIt app. More details here.

(Image: Uber)

UBER DISCOUNTS: To bump up demand during slow winter months, Uber says it has discounted fares in 80 U.S. cities. Bloomberg reports that Uber will cut prices in Los Angeles and San Francisco by 10 percent, Houston by 20 percent, and Richmond, Virginia, by 15 percent. Prices in some cities, including New York and Chicago, will remain unchanged– but if you fly to/from Newark Airport, you are in luck. Uber says that is has cut fares from EWR to midtown Manhattan by 50% to around $45 each way! Haven’t tried Uber yet? Use this link and get $15 off your first ride!

Curious about Lyft? Give it a try and get up to $50 off your first ride!

SEE DOUBLE: Both Virgin America and JetBlue are unleashing a powerful tool to help boost winter bookings. Both are offering double points promotions. You must register for both: Virgin double & JetBlue double

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‘Uber of the Skies’ shot down by regulators, court

December 28, 2015

An Uber-type flight-sharing service for private pilots has been grounded. (Image: Jim Glab)

There are hundreds of thousands of licensed private pilots in the U.S., so why not enlist them to create an on-call air travel ride-sharing service just like Uber does with cars?

Sounds like a great idea, and a Boston company called Flytenow decided to try it. And now it’s going out of business. The concept was blocked by the Federal Aviation Administration earlier this year, and that decision has now been upheld by a federal appeals court, effectively putting an end to the experiment.

The problem? The FAA said that because it solicits passengers from the public, such a company would be a common carrier, meaning that participating aviators would have to hold a commercial pilot’s license, just like airline pilots do.

Flytenow had argued that the individuals looking to book flights were “aviation enthusiasts,” and any transaction between them and the pilots would simply be a sharing of expenses, which is allowed for private pilots.

But the FAA and the court didn’t agree. “In the Opinion of the Court, Judge Pillard held that pilots sharing expenses on Flytenow were engaged in common carriage, making them the only common carriers (i.e., commercial airliners) in history to not seek a profit,” Flytenow said on a blog. The company’s website has been taken down.

The company said its lawyers are looking into possible avenues of appeal, but for now “we are left with no choice but to shut down Flytenow.”

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Atlanta’s passenger record + fixing Uber surge pricing + NYC Marriotts on sale + more

December 27, 2015

Here are some newsy nuggets from other sources that we missed on TravelSkills this week:

Atlanta airport's Maynard H. Jackson International Terminal (Image: Atlanta Hartsfield-Jackson Airport)

Atlanta airport’s Maynard H. Jackson Jr. International Terminal (Image: Atlanta Hartsfield-Jackson Airport)

Atlanta Hartsfield-Jackson will break a huge passenger record today.

Harvard Business Review suggests ways to fix Uber’s surge pricing model.

This week only: Book Marriott’s NYC hotels for up to 20 percent off.

Hyatt notifies customers of computer security breach.

TSA may require scans instead of pat-downs for some travelers.

United’s new ‘Big Metal Bird’ Youtube videos explain how the airline biz works.

Study says DOT’s three-hour tarmac rule led to more flight cancellations.

Fiji Airways will begin twice-weekly seasonal service to San Francisco in June.

New Malaysian domestic airline operates according to Islamic law.

The new frontier for top chefs: airport restaurants.

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Lyft starts LAX passenger pick-ups; Uber coming soon

December 24, 2015

Lyft has started passenger pick-ups at LAX. (Image: Los Angeles International Airport)

It’s been four months since the Los Angeles City Council approved ride-sharing app services like Lyft and UberX to pick up customers at Los Angeles International Airport, but this week — after long negotiations between those companies and regulators over licensing and permit requirements — Lyft finally started to handle arriving passengers at LAX.

UberX, which got a later start in the process, still isn’t authorized for airport pickups, although it is expected to begin soon.

Lyft agreed to pay the airport a fee of $4 for each passenger pick-up and drop-off at LAX. Those fees will be passed along to passengers. The airport designated a special parking area for Lyft drivers to use while they are waiting for a ride request. The pick-ups will be on LAX’s upper departures level.

As in other cities, the airport pick-ups in Los Angeles were bitterly opposed by taxi drivers. But city officials considered the ride-sharing services an important step forward. “As we continue rebuilding nearly every terminal at the airport, and work to bring rail to LAX, our passengers deserve access to all available options to ensure they have an excellent experience,” said L.A. Mayor Eric Garcetti.

A ride from the airport to downtown L.A. on Lyft or Uber is expected to cost about $30 during non-peak periods, compared with $50 in a taxi.

Through January 1, Lyft is offering customers $5 off two rides to or from LAX when they enter code FLY2015 in the payment section of the app.

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Scheduled flights to Cuba + Uber at San Jose + New Year’s Eve in NYC + HHonors double points

December 20, 2015

Here are some newsy nuggets from other sources that we missed on TravelSkills this week:

Scheduled airline service to Havana could start in 2016. (Image: y.becart/Flickr)

New pact means scheduled air service to Cuba likely to start in 2016.

Uber can now pick up passengers at Mineta San Jose Airport

New York City hotel rates go through the roof for New Year’s Eve.

Hilton HHonors offers double points/miles for stays from January through April.

Facebook Messenger can now be used to sign up for Uber, request rides.

New aviation agreement with Mexico will open more routes.

Design approved for reconstruction of San Diego Airport’s Terminal 1.

Flip through these photos to see how glamorous air travel was 50 years ago.

New app will create a market for passengers to swap seat assignments.

Wild bubble-top design would let passengers get a rooftop view during flights.

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Uber gets OK to pick up at Las Vegas McCarran

December 9, 2015

Uber pick-ups are now legal at Las Vegas McCarran. (Image: Jim Glab)

After several weeks of back-and-forth with the Clark County Commission, which oversees Nevada’s Las Vegas McCarran Airport, UberX drivers this week finally got clearance to begin passenger pick-ups at the airport effective immediately.

Competitor Lyft had reached agreement with regulators earlier, and began to serve the airport last month.

Some Uber drivers apparently took matters into their own hands before the agreement was reached, according to the Las Vegas Sun; the newspaper said that by December 1, airport authorities had issued some 1,600 tickets to Uber drivers for unauthorized rides at McCarran.

It’s another big win in airport access for the ride-sharing apps, which are steadily adding more legal authority to pick up arriving passengers. Last month, they started pick-ups at Chicago’s busy O’Hare and Midway airports.

At Raleigh-Durham International Airport, officials are expected to formally approve an agreement next week that will permit ride-sharing pick-ups, although according to the Triangle Business Journal, those drivers have already started making pick-ups there, using special zones dedicated to their services.

In Atlanta, an Uber official told local station WABE that the company has started car-pool pickups at Hartsfield-Jackson International — a service it calls uberPOOL — even though the airport still does not allow any Uber pick-ups there. Uber will also offer the uberPOOL service in downtown Atlanta, Midtown, and Buckhead.

Uber is testing a light bar that makes its cars easy to find. (Image: Uber)

In other news, the Washington Post reports that Uber has started testing a new feature in the Seattle market: a colored light in the windshield that will help passengers find the Uber car that has come to pick them up. An enhanced app lets the passenger select a color while he’s waiting for pick-up and the approaching driver activates the light in the windshield to glow in that same color, making it easy to spot in areas with lots of traffic.

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Paying more pays off during holiday peak

November 23, 2015

Busiest holiday travel season since 2007 coming soon! (Chris McGinnis)

Busiest holiday travel season since 2007 is here! Are you ready? (Chris McGinnis)

During the peak holiday travel season, everyone’s looking for a deal or a steal. But the truth of the matter is that bargains are nearly impossible to find during the busy Thanksgiving and Christmas season.

And if you snag what you think is a great deal, you might end up “getting what you pay for.”

As a matter of fact, paying a little more at this time of year usually translates into more peace of mind, more quality time with friends or family, and the increased likelihood of a low-hassle trip home for the holidays…. which is what we all want.

Here are six examples to illustrate what I mean:

1> Take a nonstop flight. While you might be tempted by the price of a one-stop flight, by choosing one, you are increasing your chances of a delay or cancellation by 100%! Why take that chance, especially if you are headed home for just a few days, and a delayed or canceled flight could spoil the entire trip?

Cost: $50 to $200 depending on flight length

Example: Flying during peak Christmas week between San Francisco and Atlanta, you’ll currently pay $781 roundtrip for a six-hour one-stop journey on American connecting in Dallas or Chicago. On the other hand, fly four hours nonstop on Delta or United and the fare is $820- just $39 more. Worth it to fly nonstop? I think so. (Fares checked Nov 23 for flights departing Dec 23, returning Dec 27 and are subject to change.)

2>Book roomier airline seats. While you can always pay a lot more to sit in first class, you can now pay a little bit more, and get a more comfortable coach seat. During the busy, crowded holidays, that’s money well spent. While getting a few extra inches of room always helps, the real benefit of paying for a better economy seat is that you usually get to board early—with elite level flyers—which means you get first dibs on scarce overhead bin space.

Cost: Varies based on carrier and flight duration– $10-$100 per segment

Example: I frequently take advantage of last minute upgrades to Virgin America’s Main Cabin Select seats, which offer a few extra inches of legroom at exit rows and bulkheads, free in-flight food and booze, dedicated bin space and early boarding privileges. While reserving a Main Cabin Select seat in advance can be expensive, cheaper last-minute upgrades (24 hours prior to flight) can make a good flight a great one. While your elite status can help land free upgrade, it’s not always a sure thing, so consider buying them ahead of time at this time of year– see American’s Main Cabin Extra, Delta’s Comfort+, United’s Economy Plus.

3> Stay at a hotel. Why burden the in-laws with the stress of houseguests during the already stressful holidays? Instead of bunking on that lumpy sofa bed or stuffy guest room, book a nearby hotel. Tip: Due to lack of demand from business travelers, most hotels are dirt-cheap during the holidays, especially those located in suburban office parks. Plus, hotel chains use their loyalty programs to keep heads in beds during these slower periods. For example, Best Western is offering 10% off its lowest rates plus 500 bonus Rewards points for stays now through Feb 7. Hilton is now offering 2,500 HHonors points for stays during December.

Cost: $50 to $100 per night, depending on location.

Example: A nice, newish Hilton Garden Inn in the northern Atlanta suburbs (Perimeter Mall) costs only $66 per night during Christmas week—but book it two months later in March when business travelers are back on the road and you’ll pay nearly three times that much– $180.

4> Review your charge card benefits & consider a new card. Most banks have added a slew of new benefits to charge cards in recent years to woo free-spending, credit-worthy frequent travelers, so you might be packing more power in your pocket than you know. While annual fees are higher for such cards, many now offer benefits that come in handy for holiday travel such as waived baggage fees, access to airport lounges, better insurance, early boarding privileges, early check in/late check out or upgrades at hotels, concierge services and more. And with sign up bonuses, your holiday spending could translate into big savings on next year’s trips.

Cost: varies, but $89 to $450 per year

Examples: While the American Express Platinum card sounds expensive at $450/year, the benefits can pay off big time. For example, the card gets you out of the airport holiday mayhem and into 600 airport lounges (gratis) around the world, covers up to $200 airline fees from checked bags to in-flight food or cocktails. For a $95 fee, the United MileagePlus Explorer card offers early boarding, one free checked bag, and two United Club passes. Many high-end cards also offer concierge services that can help get you out of travel jams—worth a call if you get stuck!

Don’t ask friends or family to pick you up at the airport (Photo: Uber)

5> Use Uber/Lyft to/from the airport or consider public transportation. There are lots of reasons why you should use a car service for a ride to or from the airport during the holidays. First, don’t burden friends or family with the chore of driving to the airport during rush hour traffic to pick you up or drop you off. Second, when arriving, you walk straight to your waiting car instead of waiting in those long, cold taxi queues at airports that form during peak holiday season. Flying into an airport that has rapid rail connections in house? Jump on the train and meet your family at a station instead of at the crowded airport.

Cost: UberX and Lyft offer fares that meet or beat cabs, but beware of surge pricing at peak times. Here’s some advice on beating surge pricing.

Deal: Get $20 off your first Uber or Lyft rides

6> Book holiday trips via a real, live travel agents. Most budget-conscious travelers shy away from travel agents who charge fees. But as the American Society of Travel Agents (ASTA) likes to say, “Without a travel agent, you’re on your own.” Most travel agents can use their experience, connections and clout to help get you out of sticky situations, plus most of them have knowledge and experience to offer you the best alternatives when or if you get stuck. This is especially true if you have complex itineraries or are traveling with a large family or group.

Cost: $20-$50 or negotiable

Example: ASTA’s motto surely rang true recently when winter storm Cato blew up the East Coast on Thanksgiving last year. Most of those who booked trips via travel agents were able to get through to them by phone and adjust travel plans faster than those who only had airline 800-numbers. (Note: Be sure the travel agent you choose has an after hours emergency number.) Another tip: Be sure to download your airline’s app to your smartphone, most can now help with rebooking and avoid standing in a long airport line lines during delay or cancellation situations.

Chris doled out some holiday travel tips to Fox Business News this week- watch this video

Where are YOU headed for the holidays? Please leave your comments below.

NOTE: Be sure to click here to see all recent TravelSkills posts about: 5 ways to save using Uber/Lyft + New overseas plan from Verizon + Trans-Pac fare war?

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5 ways to avoid surge pricing from Uber & Lyft

November 9, 2015

Researchers suggest ways to avoid Uber’s surge pricing. (Image: Uber app)

As a business person you believe in the laws of supply and demand, right? But you might find them a little hard to swallow when they work against you — like when you hail an Uber ride from a location with high demand and limited drivers available. Because that’s when Uber’s irritating surge pricing kicks in.

Now a new study from Northeastern University suggests that savvy customers might be able to outsmart surge pricing and save themselves quite a bit on the fare.

Uber says surge pricing is determined by a proprietary algorithm that the company created; the theory is that jacking up the price in a designated area will attract more drivers there to fill the higher-than-usual demand.

But the study by researchers at Northeastern’s College of Computer and Information Science suggests that there a couple of easy ways to avoid surge pricing.

One is to wait five minutes or so; another is to walk a few blocks in an effort to put yourself into a different Uber “surge area.”

These conclusions are based on research for locations in Manhattan and San Francisco. “For example, 20 percent of the time in Times Square, customers can save 50 percent or more by being in an adjacent surge area,” they wrote. They also found that Uber’s surge pricing algorithm re-evaluates fares every five minutes, so a surge surcharge could quickly disappear.

Downloaded the Lyft app yet? Here’s how to get $20 off your first Lyft ride!

One difficulty: Uber doesn’t publicly divulge the boundaries of its surge areas, so a customer trying to outflank surge pricing can’t be sure how far or in which direction to walk in order to get into an adjacent area. The researchers noted that Manhattan has 16 surge areas and Boston has nine; they said they are working on a project to define where the surge areas are, and they plan to put that online.

Top tips for avoiding the surge?

1- Wait if you can. That’s because surges can be short-lived.

2- Move. Try moving your location pin around to see if you can find a nearby area outside the surge zone. Or walk across the street or to the next block.

3- Try SurgeProtector, a free app, helps find locations near you with lower or no surge pricing.

4- Share. You can also consider using UberPOOL or Lyft Line that offer flat rates, but you might have to share the seat with another rider.

5- Grab a cab. Or use a taxi app like FlyWheel for a taxicab.

How do YOU get around surge pricing? Please leave your tips below.

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Uber/Lyft: Airport pick-ups start in Chicago; new airport fee in D.C.

November 7, 2015

Ride-sharing airport pick-ups in Chicago will be allowed starting later this month. (Image: Jim Glab)

Ride-sharing operators like Uber and Lyft will soon be able to pick up passengers at Chicago’s two airports, but they’re facing a new fee for Washington D.C. airport rides.

In Chicago, the city’s Department of Aviation has released new rules for ride-sharing app pickups at O’Hare and Midway airports and at the McCormick Place convention center. Passenger pick-ups at those places will be allowed starting November 18.

At both airports, passengers who summon an Uber or Lyft driver will have to meet them on the upper level roadway — not the lower level where taxis and other transportation services can be found. The drivers can’t get out of their cars to look for their customers, but they will be allowed to have signs identifying themselves.

Pick-ups are allowed only in designated areas — at O’Hare’s domestic terminals, on the upper level between Terminals 1 and 2 and between Terminals 2 and 3; and at the international terminal (Terminal 5), at the west end of the lower level. Pick-ups at Midway will be adjacent to Door 1 on the upper level.

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In Washington D.C., meanwhile, a new $4 fee has been imposed on Uber and Lyft rides to and from Reagan National and Dulles airports. An Uber official told The Washingtonian that the company’s drivers will pass the fee along to customers.

The fee brings the companies into compliance with airport rules and Virginia law, and it means ride-sharing drivers will be able to wait in staging areas at the airports instead of off-site. Uber complained that the fee for taxi pick-ups at the airports is only $3, and said the new Washington surcharge is among the highest in the country for its drivers.

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Roundup: This week’s offers and promotions

November 4, 2015

Frontier is offering double miles through December. (Image: Jim Glab)

Several companies have come out with some new enticing promotions for travelers. Here’s a brief recap of this week’s specials.

Members of InterContinental Hotels Group’s IHG Rewards Club who register online can take part in the company’s new Priceless Surprises promotion (www.ihg.com/surprises). If they use a MasterCard to book and check into any IHG property worldwide from November 15 to February 15, they’ll get 1,000 bonus program points for their first stay. For the second and each subsequent stay, they’ll get a “Priceless Surprise.” These can range from a prepaid gift card to a free night to free trips to a million IHG Rewards Club points.

Frontier Airlines is trying to incentivize passengers during November and December by offering them double frequent flyer miles on all new bookings made for travel completed by December 31. The offer can help EarlyReturns program members top off their accounts and maybe get to elite status (20,000 miles or 25 segments) before the year runs out.

Through the end of December, American Express is seeking to lure Platinum and Centurion cardmembers to its New York LaGuardia Centurion Lounge with an offer of free Uber rides. Cardmembers who show their credentials at the lounge will get a promotion code good for two rides via Uber cars from LaGuardia to any location in New York’s five boroughs — including taxes, tolls, fees and surge pricing. Not flying to LGA? Get $20 off your first Uber ride here

It’s a good time to book a Hawaii trip now that Virgin America has entered the market from San Francisco. Not only has Virgin’s expansion kicked off a fare war that is bringing incredible bargains to the mainland-Hawaii market, but Virgin and United have both trimmed the mileage cost of reward travel to the islands by 20 percent.

Meanwhile, Virgin America also has a new tie-in with Airbnb. Members of the airline’s Elevate program can earn 1,500 points for their first stay at an Airbnb property, and one point per dollar for subsequent stays.

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Can tech rescue taxis from ride-sharing?

November 2, 2015

New apps will help taxi drivers compete against ride-sharing. (Image: Jim Glab)

As ride-sharing companies like Uber and Lyft continue their relentless growth and gain access to passenger pick-ups at more airports, some new technologies are in the works that could help licensed taxis compete more effectively.

Flywheel, which provides an app that consumers can use to request taxi pick-ups in six western cities, is starting to test a new smartphone-based taxi meter that will let taxi drivers consolidate much of the equipment and systems they now use.

The GPS-based TaxiOS for Android phones will replace dispatch systems, navigation, payment systems and meters in a single app. Customers would be able to make cashless payments and track their rides with the app, just as they do with Uber and Lyft. It will also work with telephone dispatch systems, and passengers could still raise their hand to hail a cab in the street.

TaxiOS is being tested in some taxis in San Francisco and will be expanded after regulatory clearance.

Meanwhile, a 2016 launch in New York, London and Singapore is planned for the new Karhoo app, which has raised $250 million thus far in venture capital funding. New York-based Karhoo will work with existing taxi and black car fleets, letting the customer see and compare his ride options at a glance, and summon a nearby driver for a pickup.

Company officials say that when Karhoo launches in New York City, it will be working with fleets that include 28,000 yellow cabs and black cars currently operating there, thus avoiding the kinds of regulatory hoops that Uber and Lyft are having to jump through to enter a market.

And there’s Arro, an app available for Android and Apple phones that’s currently in use in New York and coming soon to Boston, Chicago, Washington D.C. and San Francisco.

Like Flywheel, Arro can be used to hail licensed taxis and to pay for the ride — even if the customer didn’t use the app to request the vehicle. It also promises regular taxi fares with no Uber-like surge pricing.

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Taxi meter accuracy questioned

October 28, 2015

Investigators found taxi meters inaccurate 47% of the time (Image: Jim Glab)

An investigation by Good Morning America found that taxi meters in New Jersey are inaccurate 47% of the time.

In a segment that aired this week, GMA followed New Jersey Division of Consumer Affairs employees who do spot checks on taxis in the Newark area. Cabs are inspected by police and then required to drive on a track that is measured exactly one mile.

When GMA was taping, one cab checked out just fine. But the two that followed were overcharging passengers– one overbilled by about $3 for a ten-mile ride. Another overbilled by almost $9 for a ten-mile ride. Drivers told GMA that they had not tampered with the meters, but would have them fixed immediately.

Regulators said that cabs with inaccurate meters are slapped with red stickers, and the cab is taken out of service.

GMA reports that during the a full week of testing New Jersey regulators uncovered a failure rate of 47%.

When GMA contacted the New Jersey Cab Association, they downplayed the failure rate by saying that most cabs operate from the airport where flat rates are in effect.

“That little box next to the driver is supposed to be an impartial arbiter of time, distance and cost — making sure that neither you nor the driver gets ripped off.” How Stuff Works

The report ended with the reporter stating that new technology would likely soon replace the old meters. GMA also recommended that cab riders always ask the driver for an estimation of the fare, get a receipt and if you think you’ve been hosed, to call the local regulator.

Although not mentioned in the GMA report, it’s likely that “new technology” in cabs will be in the form of what we see in ride sharing apps like Uber and Lyft that use GPS tracking to determine exact fares.

Here’s how to get $20 off you first Uber ride!

Here’s the Good Morning America segment:

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Uber, Lyft advance in Chicago, Las Vegas, Arizona

October 27, 2015

Flights to Las Vegas frequently get lucky numbers (Photo: Chris McGinnis)

Ride-sharing pick-ups are now legal at Las Vegas McCarran Airport. (Image: Jim Glab)

A compromise plan worked out in Chicago’s city council appears to have removed a major stumbling block for UberX and Lyft pick-ups at the city’s airports, and ride-sharing pick-ups have started at Las Vegas McCarran.

It was only last month that Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel switched from being an opponent to an advocate of ride-sharing pick-ups at the city’s airports, and now a compromise worked out in the city council should mean Uber and Lyft could start collecting passengers at O’Hare and Midway soon.

At issue was the amount of regulation that ride-sharing rivers should have to face. Chicago aldermen who were allies of the city’s taxi industry wanted to require Uber and Lyft drivers to obtain chauffeur’s licenses, just as cabbies do. But that demand was dropped in exchange for increasing the per-ride fee from 50 to 52 cents, in part so the city could reduce the cost of chauffeur’s licenses and background checks for taxi drivers.

To advance its cause, Uber even produced an online video ad campaign, uploading a YouTube video that features interviews with travelers waiting in long taxi lines at O’Hare.

In the next step, the city’s Aviation Commissioner will have to issue rules about required signage for ride-sharing vehicles to display. The expansion of ride-sharing authority will also apply to passenger pick-ups at McCormick Place and Navy Pier, which are currently restricted to licensed taxis.

In Nevada, meanwhile, Lyft said it has become the first ride-sharing company to start picking up passengers at Las Vegas McCarran Airport, although Uber is expected to join the fray soon.

Last month, Nevada started to allow ride-sharing services to operate in the state, but there was some uncertainty as to whether or not Clark County — home of Las Vegas — had the authority to impose additional requirements on the operators, and the start of ride-sharing in Las Vegas did not initially include pick-ups at the city’s airport.

But last week, Clark County allowed Uber, Lyft and other services to apply for licenses that would let them serve all of the city, including the airport — and Lyft was first out of the gate.

And in Arizona, Uber has recorded more than 20,000 signatures on a new online petition that calls on Phoenix city and airport officials to allow UberX pick-ups at Sky Harbor Airport. Again, the issue is the amount of regulation that drivers should be subject to. Uber sent a link to its petition to Arizona residents who have downloaded its app.

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In-flight entertainment war heats up

October 20, 2015

Songs from Spotify are joining Virgin America’s in-flight entertainment options. (Image: Virgin America)

Remember when flying used to be boring — when your diversions were limited to the in-flight magazine, the SkyMall catalogue, and a third-rate movie on a tiny ceiling screen several rows ahead of you?

Nowadays, thanks to the proliferation of personal electronic devices, new storage technology, Wi-Fi, and streaming video, passengers are enjoying a bewildering array of content choices for keeping themselves entertained from gate to gate. And the number of choices just keeps growing.

This week, Virgin America fired the latest salvo, announcing new in-flight content partnerships with the Spotify online music service and with The New York Times. On Virgin aircraft equipped with the new ViaSat Wi-Fi, Spotify users will have free streaming access to the service’s entire catalogue of more than 30 million songs. (Virgin and Spotify even pulled together dozens of playlists themed to various destination cities; you can see them at www.virginamerica.com/spotify) .

At the same time, The New York Times partnership will provide passengers with a selection of articles including breaking news, business news, travel, technology, and a list of “most viewed” stories, available for reading through any Wi-Fi linked device on ViaSat-equipped flights. The new content partnerships come on the heels of Virgin America’s recent announcement that flyers on those ViaSat aircraft will also be able to stream shows from the Netflix programming roster at no cost through March 2.

(Currently, there are only two Virgin planes outfitted with ViaSat, but it should have 10 by next summer.)

Content options continue to proliferate at other airlines as well. For instance:

JetBlue, which just finished installing high-speed “Fly-Fi” Wi-Fi service on its A320/321 fleet, has a new partnership with Amazon that will let Amazon Prime members stream movies and TV shows in-flight — as well as audio from a million songs in the Amazon Prime Music service. JetBlue also recently inked a contract with Major League Baseball that lets passengers stream live, real time game broadcasts from all 30 teams at their seats.

United recently announced expanded content from HBO for in-flight streaming to personal electronic devices (PEDs), with full seasons of top-rated shows like Entourage, Game of Thrones and True Detective. The carrier also said it has teamed up with Vevo to give passengers free access to hundreds of music videos and concert performances. And it has started deploying PED streaming entertainment on its fleet of 120 Wi-Fi equipped regional jets (E170s, E175s and CRJ700s). (Me, Earl and the Dying Girl had seatmate and I all weepy last night on a United ATL-SFO transcon)

Rather read than watch or listen? Global Eagle Entertainment, a packager of in-flight content for dozens of airline customers (like Southwest), recently announced it is teaming up with Zinio to make 3,000 magazine titles in 50 languages available to flyers, either by streaming or through seatback systems. The company has also joined with the folks at Lonely Planet to bring 30 of the publisher’s packet travel guides to its in-flight entertainment platform.

And today we’ve learned that Uber plans to offer seat back entertainment, too! Under a new partnership, ten Chevrolet Tahoe cars with AT&T wireless connectivity will do the rounds on four Saturdays in Detroit, Nashville, Houston and Atlanta in October and November. The vehicles will have four tablets in the back of headrests, wireless headsets and phone chargers. Riders can watch a livestream of football games through AT&T’s U-verse TV app on tablets connected to its 4G LTE network. Details here.

Which airline has the best inflight entertainment? Why do you think so? Please leave your comments below!

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Uber gaining fast on taxis

October 17, 2015

In Manhattan, taxis are losing millions of rides to Uber. (Image: Jim Glab)

Are licensed taxi drivers justified in their fears that ride-sharing apps like Uber are going to take away a significant portion of their business? In New York City — the nation’s largest market for hired rides — the answer appears to be yes.

The statistical website Fivethirtyeight.com got data from the New York City Taxi and Limousine Commission for the second quarter of 2015 and compared it with numbers from the same quarter a year earlier to see how the market was changing.

It found that in the borough of Manhattan’s “core” area — i.e., the southern half of the island, where the vast bulk of the business is — the number of passengers picked up by Uber drivers during the quarter increased by 3.82 million year-over-year. And the number of taxi pick-ups? It declined by almost the same amount — 3.83 million.

“Throughout Manhattan, riders have shifted from taxis to Ubers millions of times, perhaps attracted to features Uber promotes as advantages: newer cars, no need to hail, driver ratings and no tipping,” Fivethirtyeight.com said.

Taxis are still carrying more than four times as many riders as Uber drivers in New York City overall, but the trend lines are clearly going up for Uber and down for taxis.

Meanwhile, although business is good for Uber, some of its drivers are less than thrilled with the current business model. An Uber drivers’ group called Uber Freedom has called for a three-day strike in major U.S. cities over this weekend, urging drivers to shut down their apps and stay off the job.

The group wants Uber to add a tipping option to the app, to increase rates for UberX rides by 60 percent, and increase the minimum fare and the cancellation fee to $7.

Get $20 off your first Uber ride!

NOTE: Be sure to click here to see all recent TravelSkills posts about: New Two brand new United Clubs + Jennifer Aniston needs a shower + Best Megahub? + Big Hilton/SkyMiles bonus

Uber outrage in Chicago

September 24, 2015

Chicago could soon allow ride-sharing pick-ups at airports. (Image: Jim Glab)

Just a few months ago, Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel was adamant about not allowing ride-sharing apps using “citizen drivers” like UberX and Lyft to be used for passenger pick-ups at O’Hare and Midway airports as well as the city’s huge McCormick Place convention center. (UberBLACK pickups/drops are currently allowed at Chicago airports.) But now he has changed his mind.

The new 2016 budget proposal issued by Emanuel this week would reverse the city’s existing policy, allowing ride-sharing pick-ups at those restricted venues. What changed his mind? Chicago is facing a budget gap of hundreds of millions of dollars, and this is one way to erase some of the red ink.

The plan still must be approved by the Chicago City Council, so there is no immediate estimate of when the newly proposed policy might take effect.

But the news did elicit outrage from the city’s licensed cab drivers, who staged massive protests by refusing to pick up waiting passengers at the O’Hare and Midway airport terminals for a period of two hours on Wednesday.

The cabbies’ outrage was not soothed by the fact that the budget plan would allow for a 15 percent increase in taxi fares. Drivers said that wouldn’t be enough to make up for the business they would lose to the unlicensed Uber and Lyft drivers.

According to the new budget proposal, ride-sharing drivers would have to pay the city a fee of $5 each time they pick up or drop off a passenger at the airports or the convention center — more than double the fee charged to taxi drivers. In addition, there would also be a new 50 cent surcharge on all taxi and ride-sharing trips.

NOTE: Be sure to click here to see all recent TravelSkills posts about: TSA PreCheck: No more free rides + Plight of the tall traveler + Photos: New United first class seat + Save money on calls from other countries + 6 secrets for snagging low fares

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Uber, Lyft in Vegas, D.C.: It’s complicated!

September 15, 2015

Uber says its drivers are now cruising The Strip in Las Vegas. (Image: Jim Glab)

After being blocked from Nevada operations last fall by a court injunction, Uber said in an email blast this week that it has finally started picking up UberX riders in Nevada following state approval. An Uber spokesperson told TravelSkills that Uber airport pickups are currently not allowed at McCarran or Reno-Tahoe airports, but airport drop offs are.

Meanwhile, a decision on ride-sharing operations in the nation’s capital is expected this week as well.

According to the Las Vegas Sun, the Nevada Transportation Authority on Monday approved ride-sharing in the state by both Uber and Lyft, and Uber said the following day that it had started operations in Las Vegas. That announcement came on the same day that the Clark County Board of Commissioners introduced a new ordinance to impose a special business license requirement on ride-sharing operators; the commissioners scheduled an October 20 hearing on the proposal.

So is Uber operating legally? According to lawyers for the state, Nevada law bars local and county governments from imposing special license requirements on ride-sharing firms — an opinion Clark County clearly disagrees with. In any case, Uber apparently isn’t waiting for further bureaucratic clarification and its drivers hit The Strip today.

Meanwhile, a vote is expected Wednesday at the Metropolitan Washington (D.C.) Airports Authority on a proposal to allow ride-sharing operators to legally access Reagan National and Dulles airports. The companies would pay a one-time fee of $5,000 to access the airports, and drivers would be assessed $4 for each passenger pick-up and drop-off.

In other developments, Uber has added an enhancement to its Uber for Business platform — which companies use to track and pay for employees’ rides — by making it possible for users to switch seamlessly on the app from their business profile to their personal profile without having to log off and log back in again.

NOTE: Be sure to click here to see all recent TravelSkills posts about: Surviving San Francisco + Photos: New United first class seat + Save money on calls from other countries + 6 secrets for snagging low fares

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Airport updates: LAX + Dallas + Minneapolis + Houston

September 11, 2015

Minneapolis-St. Paul’s new Escape Lounge will be open to all passengers who pay a fee. (Image: Metropolitan Airports Commission)

Travelers departing Los Angeles International could see passenger drop-off delays due to new construction; members of Virgin Atlantic’s Elevate program are offered free UIber rides at Dallas Love Field; a new passenger lounge will soon come to Minneapolis-St. Paul; and the first portion of Southwest’s new terminal at Houston Hobby opens.

Officials at Los Angeles International are warning travelers to expect nighttime traffic delays for passenger drop-offs along the departures level roadway of the LAX Central Terminal Area. A construction project to overhaul those roads, including the laying of new concrete, will begin Monday night, September 14, and continue until sometime before Thanksgiving. Monday through Thursdays, the work will begin at 11 p.m. and should finish up by 5 a.m. (but you never know)., and Friday and Saturday nights it will start at 11 p.m. and continue to 1 p.m. the next day. The roadway will always offer access to the terminal, but lane closures should be expected, LAX officials said.

Members of Virgin America’s Elevate loyalty program who buy a Virgin flight originating at Dallas Love Field are being offered free Uber rides (up to $20) for a trip to or from that airport. It’s good for flight bookings made through October 12 “while supplies last,” Virgin said. If the customer is a first-time Uber rider, he’ll get an additional discount of up to $20.

Minneapolis-St. Paul International is expected to cut the ribbon on a new passenger lounge sometime in the next few months. The new Escape Lounge will be open to all travelers for an as-yet-undetermined fee, although it is expected to be around $30. Located on the mezzanine level of Terminal 1, the 5,000-square-foot Escape Lounge will offer free Wi-Fi, free food and beverages, and reading materials.

The white portion of the terminal represents Southwest’s new international facility at Houston Hobby. (Image: Hobby Airport)

At Houston Hobby, the first phase of the new Southwest Airlines international terminal and concourse has opened, and the entire facility should be operating by October 15 — the same day that Southwest starts flying from HOU to Cancun, Puerto Vallarta, Los Cabos and Mexico City, Mexico; Belize City, Belize; and San Jose, Costa Rica. Elements of the first stage are a new Southwest ticketing area and self-service kiosks; and Southwest check-in counters. The whole complex, known as the West Concourse, will also include a new federal inspection station and gate area. The first phase of a new West Concourse parking garage is expected to open in November.

NOTE: Be sure to click here to see all recent TravelSkills posts about: Delta’s new Sky Club at San Francisco International + LAX will allow Uber, Lyft pick-ups + British Airways coming to San Jose + Airbnb draws corporate customers

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Easiest ways to save on calls from other countries

September 9, 2015

My mom & dad during their recent trip to San Francisco (Photo: Chris McGinnis)

Me and my parents on their recent jaunt to San Francisco (Photo: Chris McGinnis)

At the tender young age of 84, my dad is still going strong, frequently hitting the skies to burn off the Delta SkyMiles he’s earned over a lifetime of frequent travel.

This week he and my mom are off to Canada, and they turned to me with a question I get on a regular basis from readers who don’t want to get “ripped off” by phone companies overcharging for voice and data when overseas. Those overcharges are painful anywhere, but especially irritating when traveling in Canada– and less than 100 miles from the U.S. border.

Dad has an iPhone 5 and uses AT&T as his provider. He’ll use the phone to stay in touch with his family in the U.S. and to make or receive occasional voice calls for his consulting work.

Since this is a quick five-day trip, I know my dad would not want to go to the trouble of swapping out a SIM card for his iPhone. Or switching to T-Mobile which recently made calling from Canada and Mexico a lot cheaper. He also won’t use the phone enough to opt for one of AT&T’s international calling packages (starting at $30).

So here’s the advice I gave him.

When you get to Canada, turn off your data roaming (settings>cellular>roaming>turn off data roaming) and leave voice roaming on. Be sure that all the apps running in the background on your phone are turned off (remember how I showed you to do that? Double click the round button and swipe away all programs to turn them off). That way you can make and receive calls and texts but you won’t overpay for data, which is where AT&T will get you.

Cellular voice calls on your iPhone will likely cost about $1 per minute (rip off) so try and restrict your calls to times that you have an internet connection. Use your iphone Facetime app to make video or audio calls– since those are FREE, which I know you like 🙂

However, remember that those Facetime calls are limited to only your contacts who use iPhones or iPads– and when you have access to wi-fi. (All your kids have iPhones)

Text costs can vary from 50 cents to $1.50 each… AT&T charges vary. (Be careful about sending texts including large photos!)

If you want to make regular calls to non-iPhone users, (for example, work related stuff) you should download at app called Viber. (Go to the app store on your phone and search for Viber.) You sign up and provide your credit card, but calls are only a few cents a minute (vs the $1 or so you’ll pay AT&T), so prepay $10 which should provide you with plenty of prepaid minutes.

Viber’s easy to use dialer looks & works like cell phone (Image: Viber)

With Viber, you make calls just like you would from your phone (an easy to understand app) but remember that it ONLY works when you are connected to Wi-fi. Luckily, finding free, fast wi-fi is increasingly easy in Canada.

So, to sum it up: turn off data roaming, use your phone for cellular calls and texts only in urgent situations, and try to use Facetime and/or Viber when you are in a wi-fi hotspot.

I sent that advice off to Dad, who is also an avid fan of Uber and Lyft, which he plans to use to get around Montreal and Ottawa with my mom. He asked, “What about using Uber… do I need data for that?”

My answer: Yes, you will need to use data for Uber when you are not in a wi-fi hot spot, but it won’t break the bank. So, when summoning Uber from a restaurant, be sure that all other apps are off, then turn on data roaming and launch Uber, request your pick up, and leave it on until your car arrives, then turn data roaming off. NOTE: Be SURE to turn data roaming off when you are finished!

How do you save money on calls in other countries? Provide your tips or advice and I’ll be sure my dad sees them!

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Uber update: Hilton app, Vegas, LAX, Sacramento, NYC, London

September 1, 2015

UberX drivers can now pick up passengers at Oakland Airport (above) and Sacramento Airport. (Image: Oakland International Airport)

The Uber ride-finding juggernaut just keeps rolling along. In the latest developments, Uber is becoming a part of Hilton Hotels’ app, and a pair of California airports now allow ride-sharing passenger pick-ups (with Las Vegas not far behind). But licensed cabbies in New York and London are getting some apps of their own to compete against Uber and Lyft.

Hilton said it is upgrading its HHonors mobile app with a new Uber partnership. The new “Uber Ride Reminder” feature will summon a car for a trip to or from the hotel when the user is ready. “The ‘Ride Reminder’ will send a push notification or text, and the hotel’s address is automatically set in the Uber app, so guests can simply be on their way,” Hilton said. Another new app feature called “Local Scene,” available for 20 major U.S. cities, will give users a list of the most-visited venues requested by Uber riders.

Want to get $20 off your first Uber ride? Here’s how!

Meanwhile, Uber is adding more airports in the western U.S. In California, Oakland International Airport now allows UberX drivers to pick up and drop off passengers as part of a new pilot program. And Sacramento International Airport signed an agreement that took effect this week allowing Uber drivers to pick up passengers there; it is in the process of negotiating a similar pact with Lyft. The Los Angeles City Council recently approved a plan to allow UberX and Lyft pick-ups at Los Angeles International, but there’s no firm start date yet– but we are monitoring this…

In Nevada, the ride-sharing companies are now expected to start operating at Las Vegas McCarran International Airport in late October. The Nevada Transportation Authority is likely to approve new rules for the companies next week, according to the Las Vegas Review Journal, and an ordinance allowing the service is expected to be voted on by the Clark County Commission on October 20.

Don’t miss out on this: How to get a free trip to Hawaii on Virgin America

Traditional licensed taxi drivers in major cities have been the most vocal opponents of expanded operating rights for the ride-sharing companies, and now they could benefit from new technology that will put them on more even competitive footing.

In New York City, a public roll-out is expected in a couple of weeks for a new smartphone app called Arro. It will work through the existing payment systems and video screens in most of the city’s 13,000 yellow cabs, allowing them to accept pick-up requests placed by consumers who have the app on their phones. Like the Uber and Lyft apps, Arro will use the customer’s credit card info to pay the fare plus tip.

FlyWheel, a similar app for getting cab rides and tracking arrivals via GPS (and does NOT impose irritating surge pricing), is already operating in these west coast cities: San Francisco, Seattle, Los Angeles, Sacramento and San Diego.

And in London, drivers of the city’s traditional black cabs are counting on an app called Gett to help them ward off the Uber competition. The app will not only allow users to hail a licensed taxi, but will also offer them fare discounts of up to 30 percent for longer journeys during off-peak hours.

Want to get $20 off your first Uber ride? Here’s how!

UberX, Lyft at LAX finally gets green light

August 27, 2015

Uber and Lyft will soon start picking up passengers at Los Angeles International. (Image: NTSB)

Los Angeles International Airport will become the largest in the country to allow passenger pick-ups by ride-sharing services like Uber and Lyft following a final vote of approval this week by the Los Angeles City Council. Uber still has to apply for a permit under new rules and while no firm start date has been set, service could commence “in coming weeks.”

Earlier, the ride-sharing services were expected to start full operation at LAX in August, but that was pushed back after the city council got involved.

SNEAK PEEK! New Delta Sky Club at SFO (PHOTOS)

Once LAX officials finalize operating contracts with the companies, the pick-ups could begin within a matter of weeks. A ride from LAX to downtown that costs $50 in a licensed taxi is expected to run about $30 in an UberX or Lyft car — or more in periods of peak demand, according to the Los Angeles Times.

There was some uneasiness among city council members about the qualifications — or lack of qualifications — required of ride-share drivers, so the council will ask the state’s Public Utilities Commission to demand fingerprinting and background checks of all for-hire drivers.

Uber and Lyft would be also required to pay the airport a $4 fee for each pick-up and drop-off at LAX; drivers will have to do both on the airport’s upper departure level, and will have to wait in a specified holding area until they are summoned by a customer.

NOTE: Be sure to click here to see all recent TravelSkills posts about: Upgraded Hilton HHonors app + New perks for Starwood/AmEx cardholders + Alaska/AA airport lounge benefits + New international routes

10 most popular: Trip Report + La Guardia + $25 off + Delta upgrade + TravelSkills Vacation

August 2, 2015

TravelSkills will be in vacation mode during August (Photo: Chris McGinnis)

The boys of summer at Ocean Beach in San Francisco (Photo: Chris McGinnis)

Quick note: TravelSkills will be in vacation mode during August, with only periodic posts. We’ll be back at full steam in September so stay tuned! And enjoy your summer. –Chris

TravelSkills’ 10 most popular posts over the last week (descending order)… plus a few newsy nuggets we missed.

1. Flying cozy: Trip Report: Air Canada B767 lie-flat business class

2. Coming soon: First look at the new $4 billion LaGuardia (photos)

3. What a deal! How to get $25 off your next car rental

4. There’s a difference: Direct or nonstop flight? You tell me!

5. New routes for American, Alaska, JetBlue, Frontier

6. Don’t be afraid to ask: How to avoid worn out hotel rooms

7. Are you up for it? Delta’s ultimate upgrade: private jets

8. Employers take the heat: Binge drinking, sleeping around on business trips

9. A plane makeover: Delta unveils revamped Airbus

10. Big surprise: Is Kimpton abandoning San Francisco?

(Photo: Jason Tester Guerilla / Flickr)

Guess what? No UberX or Lyft at LAX in August after all. Grrr.

A few newsy nuggets from other sources that we missed on TravelSkills this week:

>At LaGuardia: Nice new terminal, but same old delays

>Uber is OK at Oakland International!

>Plan emerges for Uber/Lyft at ATL, but it’s going to be a while

>IHG eyeing Fairmont after Starwood rumors die

>Delta and China Eastern hook up, Delta gets Shanghai

>Atlanta on-airport hotel to break ground in early 2016

>British Airways adopts smaller bag size that other airlines dismissed

>Toronto gets underwater tunnel to airport

The most mis-understood word in travel is… http://t.co/e547oAkmSU
— Chris McGinnis (@cjmcginnis) July 31, 2015

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UberX & Lyft at LAX this month? Not so fast

August 1, 2015

(Photo: Jason Tester Guerilla / Flickr)

Late Friday TravelSkills learned that UberX and Lyft will not be allowed to pick up passengers at Los Angeles International Airport in August.

Previous reports stated that the airport commission (with vocal support of LA Mayor Garcetti) would allow pick ups starting this month. (Currently, only UberBLACK is allowed to pick up passengers at LAX terminals.)

But now the Los Angeles City Council has become involved, is threatening a veto, and the whole thing has been pushed back.

Insiders tell TravelSkills that Lyft and UberX pick ups will not start at LAX in August– the start date is now likely sometime in September at the earliest.

Here’s what the LA Times is reporting:

So stay tuned…

In related news, Uber and Lyft have reached an agreement to pick up at at Oakland International starting “soon.” And this week both companies are now allowed to operate at Dallas Ft Worth Airport.

Currently, Uber and Lyft are not operating at Las Vegas McCarran. While there is progress, local media report that airport rides are still months away. In Mexico City, violent Paris-style protests against Uber by taxi drivers took place this week.

Do you follow TravelSkills on Twitter? It’s a great way to keep up with the latest news!

Surprisingly, Uber, Lyft still forbidden

July 28, 2015

Companies are still unsure about the safety aspects of ride-sharing service. (Image: Uber)

Many companies are still unsure about the safety aspects of ride-sharing services. (Image: Uber)

Although a recent analysis of business travelers’ expense reports showed that ride-sharing services — especially Uber — had overtaken taxis (but not rental cars) as the ground transportation option of choice, new research from the Global Business Travel Association comes to a different conclusion.

Rather than polling business travelers, the GBTA study surveyed corporate travel managers, and it found that rental cars are the preferred choice for traveling employees’ ground transport, cited by 36 percent, followed by taxis (24 percent), chauffeur-driven cars (13 percent) and then ride-sharing services (11 percent).

According to the survey, 24 percent of the travel managers said their companies do not allow employees to use ride-sharing services at all — “by far the highest percentage for any form of ground transportation,” said Michael McCormick, GBTA’s executive director. “In addition, a large number of companies still have not adopted policies around ride-sharing companies, revealing a need for education about the benefits and the risks.”

The risks of ride-sharing are what really concern companies, since “duty of care” is so important to them. That’s the legal principle that says companies can be held liable for things that happen to their employees while they’re traveling for the company.

Get $20 off your first Uber ride!

The survey also asked travel managers what was most important to them and their travelers in selecting a method of transportation. “Topping the list was traveler and vehicle safety, availability for a timely pick-up, and convenience of payments methods, with three-quarters of business travelers and eight in ten travel buyers calling these factors highly important,” GBTA said.

The travel managers said that about two-thirds of their travelers are not familiar with the safety-related aspects of ride-sharing services, like driver certification and training, and local regulations affecting the app-based companies.

“Travel buyers (i.e., company travel managers) are more familiar with most of the duty of care aspects than business travelers, but less than a quarter are very familiar with all of them, showing education is necessary to inform them of the differences between ground transportation methods,” GBTA said.

NOTE: Be sure to click here to see all recent TravelSkills posts about: Avoiding long customs & immigration lines + Fingerprint as boarding pass? + Hotel rate shocker + More!

UberX, Lyft cleared for pick-ups at LAX

July 18, 2015

Uber and Lyft pick-ups at LAX could start soon. (Image: Thomas Hawk/Flickr)

Ride-sharing services won a big victory this week when Los Angeles officials agreed to let the UberX and Lyft pick up passengers at Los Angeles International, the largest airport yet to grant such rights. (Until now, only pricey UberBLACK cars were allowed to pick up at LAX.)

But that victory came just a day after a potentially big legal setback for Uber that could see its operating rights suspended in California.

LAX airport commissioners gave a go-ahead to the ride-sharing apps in spite of the usual solid opposition from local taxi, shuttle and limo operators. According to the Los Angeles Times, an UberX ride from LAX to downtown would cost about $30 during times of low demand — although that could rise due to Uber’s dynamic pricing model — vs. about $50 for a traditional taxi.

Before the pickups can start in August, the ride-sharing companies have to connect their apps to a digital service that alerts the airport to Uber and Lyft vehicle arrivals at the airport, because the agreement requires them to pay a $4 fee for each pick-up and drop-off.

A day before the airport’s approval was announced, a judge at California’s Public Utilities Commission recommended that Uber should pay a $7.3 million fine and have its operations suspended in the state.

The commission’s administrative law judge said Uber is in violation of a 2013 law that authorized the ride-sharing companies because it has not submitted data required by the state. The rules require ride-sharing companies to provide lots of information about its business, including zip codes where riders were picked up, fares paid, dates and times of rides and so on.

Uber is expected to appeal the ruling, a process that could take months to sort out. So you’ll still be able to get your ride on… at least for now.

LAX is the third in a string of recent ridesharing victories in California where UberX and Lyft are now able to pick up and drop off at SFO, San Diego as well as LAX.

UPDATE: Sounds like LA officials might be getting cold feet about all this. So be sure to check with your rideshare before you arrive at LAX.

NOTE: Be sure to click here to see all recent TravelSkills posts about: This guy got 1 million United miles + More changes to Delta SkyMiles+Airline fees: No end in sight + ATMs are out + More!

Surprising findings in your expense reports (Infographic)

July 16, 2015

Business travelers spent more on Uber and AirBnB in San Francisco than in any other city. (Image: Jim Glab)

Spending in the so-called “sharing economy” is showing big gains among business travelers, who are increasingly turning to ride-sharing apps like Uber and Lyft as well as the accommodations-sharing service AirBnB.

That’s according to the latest analysis of business traveler expense reports compiled by the travel and expense management company Certify, covering the second quarter of 2015.

Among its key findings: Business travelers are now spending more on Uber rides than on traditional taxicabs; and spending on accommodations booked through AirBnB, while still relatively small compared to traditional hotels, posted a growth rate of 143 percent just from the first quarter to the second quarter. Uber now accounts for 55 percent of ground transportation spending compared with 43 percent for taxis, the report said, noting that the market share of both taxis and rental cars have declined as ride-sharing services grow.

In sorting data by destination, Certify determined that sharing services are most popular among business travelers to the epicenter of the sharing economy, San Francisco, where Uber accounted for 79 percent of spending on local rides, and spending on AirBnB was highest in the country at an average of $558 per stay. (Story continues below graphic.)

“It’s clear that the sharing economy is here to stay for business people,” said Certify CEO Robert Neveu. “We believe this market shift is based on both convenience and price, since these newer services are typically more cost-effective compared with traditional vendors. Established travel providers will need to adapt quickly or face further market share erosion to the sharing economy.”

Although Uber dominates in ground transportation, the report noted that competitor Lyft is actually cheaper, with an average expensed cost of $22.51 per ride vs. $30.03 for Uber and $34.48 for taxis. Just over a year ago, Uber claimed just 22% of local ground transport– now it’s vaulted to 55%.

Meanwhile, business travelers continue to favor Starbucks and fast food over other types of food and beverage outlets when they’re on the road. Below are some statistics from the Q2 Certify spending report.

Most-Expensed Restaurants: Caffeine, burgers and doughnuts are our fuel, right?
Starbucks: 4.67% of expenses, averaging $10.77 per receipt
McDonald’s: 2.73%, averaging $7.75
Subway: 1.65%, averaging $16.69
Panera Bread: 1.62%, averaging $37.9
Dunkin’ Donuts: 1.32%, averaging $11.57

Most Expensed Airlines: Delta is killing it with business travelers
Delta: 20.07%, averaging $410.64
United: 13.46%, averaging $413.19
American: 11.7%, averaging $364.14
Southwest: 11.15%, averaging $304.84
US Airways: 07.58%, averaging $302.46

Most-Expensed Hotels: Marriott & Hilton brands rule
Marriott: 8.76% of expenses, averaging $243.07
Hampton Inn: 8.15%, averaging $228.52
Courtyard by Marriott: 6.52%, averaging $173.48
Hilton Garden Inn: 4.10%, averaging $190.13
Holiday Inn Express: 4.04%, averaging $239.08

Most Expensed Car-Rental Services: We are loving our Emerald Aisle, right?
National: 23.82%, averaging $180.52
Enterprise: 16.27%, averaging $181.78
Hertz: 14.49%, averaging $215.85
Avis: 13.79%, averaging $179.85
Budget: 03.96%, averaging $196.16

NOTE: Be sure to click here to see all recent TravelSkills posts about: This guy got 1 million United miles + More changes to Delta SkyMiles+Airline fees: No end in sight + ATMs are out + More!

London’s Uber vs black cab battle enlists celebs

July 15, 2015

Comedian Russel Brand takes on Uber is a recent video tirade (Image: YouTube)

In London, taxi drivers are not rioting and burning Uber cars like we’ve recently seen in Paris.

Instead, they are enlisting the likes comedian Russell Brand who sides with London’s black cabs in an 8-minute video that’s making the rounds in social media this week. If you are time pressed, the tirade begins in the video above at about 1:50.

So far, a shorter (2 min) video has clocked over 1.5 million views on Brand’s Facebook page.

In the video, Brand says thing like: “Uber is a multi-billion dollar corporation, part-owned by Goldman Sachs, part-owned by Google, that skims off all its profit and puts it into foreign bank accounts.”

He also claims that using Uber means that, “more money is being siphoned out of our country. If you get a black cab that money stays in our country, stays in our economy. That’s one clear advantage.”

Brand is riding on a wave of discontent with Uber since its surge pricing model tripled fares last week during London’s tube strike.

Deal: Get $20 off your first Uber ride

Nonetheless, Uber continues to make big gains in the UK– here’s a list of fares between Heathrow and London:

Uber’s flat rates between Heathrow and London

London black cab rates run higher- here’s what the Transport for London page says:

I most often use the fast and easy Heathrow Express between London and Heathrow (about $33 each way), but end up having to jump in a cab and suffer through London traffic on the way to my hotel or appointment.

What about you? Have you or would you use Uber in London?

NOTE: Be sure to click here to see all recent TravelSkills posts about: This guy got 1 million United miles + More changes to Delta SkyMiles+Airline fees: No end in sight + ATMs are out + More!

Taxi drivers burn Uber cars in France (VIDEO)

June 25, 2015

Taxi drivers enraged at Uber (Photo: Carine06 / Flickr)

Whenever it tries to start service in a new market, Uber faces lots of opposition — sometimes from local politicians, but usually from local taxi drivers who don’t want the unlicensed freelancers cutting in on their business. But in France this week, that opposition took an ugly turn.

According to press reports, the new UberPOP operation in France was faced with violent opposition (click link for photos) from hundreds of taxi drivers, who smashed and burned Uber cars.

Taxi drivers were said to be blocking the main roads to Paris’ two airports, and other anti-Uber protests were reported in Nice, Marseilles, Toulouse, Bordeaux, Lyon and Lille.

UberPOP is the basic-level Uber service in France, which permits almost anyone to join up, get the app and carry passengers. Officials called out police riot squads to quell the angry demonstrations.

they’ve ambushed our car and are holding our driver hostage. they’re beating the cars with metal bats. this is France?? I’m safer in Baghdad
— Courtney Love Cobain (@Courtney) June 25, 2015

Adding to the kerfuffle is Courtney Love Cobain, who appeared to have been caught up in the violence as she rode in a taxi from the airport, and has been tweeting to her 2 million followers about her experience.

France’s interior minister is demanding that UberPOP must be closed, saying, “The government will never accept the law of the jungle.”

Taxi drivers in France protested against Uber, shutting down roads and burning tires. #ParisUberStrike https://t.co/kXhZ3qjm6z
— AJ+ (@ajplus) June 25, 2015

NOTE: Be sure to click here to see all recent TravelSkills posts about: Trip Report: SWISS Roche Coach + San Francisco mistakes + CLEAR goes cardless + Cool gasoline price heat map + More!

What’s next for Uber & Lyft?

June 13, 2015

Officials in Pittsburgh are the latest to approve ride-share pick-ups at the city’s airport. (Image: Rudy Guy/Flickr)

Ride-sharing apps like Uber and Lyft continue to make advances in gaining access to the lucrative airport passenger pick-up market, winning new approval to operate at Pittsburgh International, and getting close to a deal with Washington D.C. officials; meanwhile, Uber announced a big expansion in Denver, where airport pick-ups were approved late last year.

Officials of Pennsylvania’s Allegheny County this month adopted a policy that gives ride-sharing firms authority to pick up passengers at Pittsburgh’s airport for the next three years. Uber immediately jumped into the market, obtaining the first certificate. Lyft is expected to follow suit. To gain a certificate, Uber agreed to pay the airport a fee of $2.90 per trip — slightly more than the $2 that regular taxi companies pay.

Recent: A new twist on Uber & Lyft

Meanwhile, the Metropolitan Washington (D.C.) Airports Authority this week started holding hearings on a proposal to allow drivers for Uber, Lyft and other operators to operate at both Reagan National and Dulles International airports. That plan calls for the ride-sharing vehicles to pay a $5 access fee for each pick-up and drop-off, and envisions the creation of designated waiting areas for ride-share drivers at the airports. As in other cities, this plan is vigorously opposed by traditional taxi companies.

And in Colorado, Uber said it wants to hire another 1,000 drivers this summer, mainly in the Denver, Boulder and Fort Collins markets. The firm said it is especially eager to take on more military veterans and women as drivers. Uber also wants new drivers to work full-time to accommodate “extraordinary demand” in the region, the Denver Post reported; most drivers now work part-time. Denver International Airport late last year approved a plan that allows ride-share companies to pick up passengers there.

And here’s an interesting nugget: Did you know that most of Uber’s rides are no longer in the US? China, where passengers are taking more than one million rides per day (!), is a bigger market.

Click here to learn more about these bonuses!

NOTE: Be sure to click here to see all recent TravelSkills posts about: Gogo prices rise 50 percent + Virgin America adds seatback Pac-Man + Big Delta aircraft purchase

Chicago: No UberX or Lyft pick-ups at O’Hare

June 6, 2015

Chicago continues to block Uber airport pick-ups. (Image: Jim Glab)

Despite a new online petition drive aimed at changing the city’s tune toward ride-hailing apps, Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel has once again refused to allow UberX to make passenger pick-ups at O’Hare and Midway airports.

This is in spite of Uber’s willingness for its UberX drivers to pay $4 per pickup in airport fees. It’s the second time in a little over a year that the mayor has closed the door on airport rideshare pick-ups.

According to the Chicago Sun-Times, a spokesman for the city said Emanuel is “not planning to revisit” the existing rules, “especially while the city continues to receive and investigate complaints about ride-share vehicles attempting to game the system.”

Existing rules bar Uber, Lyft and other such firms from picking up passengers not only at the airports but also at McCormick Place.

Current options for getting to and from Ohare (Image: CTA)

As in many other cities, Chicago’s taxi drivers are vigorously opposed to any expansion of service by ride-hailing apps, especially to the airports.

Should ride-sharing companies like UberX and Lyft be allowed to pick up passengers at airports? Please leave your comments below.

NOTE: Be sure to click here to see all recent TravelSkills posts about: Bumped out of first class by air marshall? + Newest Centurion Lounge + My favorite travel pants

Uber progresses, one airport at a time

May 26, 2015

Airports are Uber’s final frontier for passenger pick-ups. (Image: Uber)

How do Uber drivers pick up their passengers at Atlanta Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport? Very carefully, as the old gag says.

That’s because it is still illegal for them to take on customers at Atlanta’s airport — and many other U.S. airports — and they risk getting a ticket if they are too open about it. But the drivers and their passengers have developed ways of getting around the ride-sharing police at ATL and other airports, according to a report in the New York Times.

Although many major airports have the same ride-sharing restriction as Atlanta, the article notes, Uber and other ride-sharing services are gradually making deals with airport authorities to gain access to their lucrative passenger markets.

In some cases that means rules and ordinances must be revised or rewritten, but more and more airports are “aware that the tidal wave of acceptance of the ride-hailing phenomenon will not recede,” the article says, so they’re willing to accommodate the new services.

Among the issues to be worked out is how airports can collect user fees from ride-sharing vehicles just as they do from licensed taxis, and where exactly the drivers from Uber and its rivals should park their cars while they wait for ride requests from incoming flyers.

NOTE: Be sure to click here to see all recent TravelSkills posts about: Largest hotel you’ll likely never visit + Delta accused + Starwood Hotels’ new tech touches + Southwest adds Oakland-Atlanta service

Voluptuous tower + Delta experiment + World’s largest hotel + United’s most popular plane?

May 24, 2015

Gazing up at SFO’s new control tower is vertigo-inducing! (Photo: Chris McGinnis)

TravelSkills’ 12 most popular posts over the last week… plus a few newsy nuggets we missed.

1. A TravelSkills exclusive and oh, what a view! First look: Inside SFO’s brand new control tower (photos)

2. Have you smelled it? Delta experiments with boarding & aromatherapy

3. Unless you are Muslim: The largest hotel you’ll likely never stay in

4. Special tags for right-size bags: Another carry-on crackdown coming?

5. Bay to ATL Southwest adds Oakland-Atlanta, other nonstops

6. Holdover from last week: Ugly Chinese worse than ugly Americans?

7. Bad news after huge build up at ATL, elsewhere: Frontier’s CEO dismissed as complaints soar

8. The dancing baby is back! Selected highlights of Delta’s clever new safety video

9. Get group discounts without being part of the group: Trip Report: A new kind of travel package

10. Airlines keep adding new flights: New routes: JetBlue + United + Delta + SAS + Air Canada + Southwest

11. Will all these new flights lead to lower fares? Don’t hold your breath Airfare war in the wings?

12. More evidence that there’s no single site that’s best for airfare shopping: Delta accused of blocking key data

Update: Delta Sky Club at SFO + Miami Centurion lounge opens in June

Singapore Airlines premium economy coming…but not for a while (Chris McGinnis)

Juicy nuggets of news from other sources that we missed on TravelSkills this week:

Singapore Airlines’ new premium economy seat- Coming Dec 15 at JFK. LAX & SFO in 2016

First new flights for Eastern Airlines from Miami to…

Except for Dreamliners, United’s remodeled 767s are its most popular widebody.

Roundup of Uber acceptance at airports

Nice gig if you’re a “people person”

Which airlines fare worst in on Twitter?

Supersonic business jet goes on sale. Cost? $120 million.

Oakland Airport offers free parking for travelers flying on new routes.

Best view of the week: Big bright and beautiful Barcelona El Prat airport. Wow!

Barcelona El Prat (Chris McGinnis).

UberX okay in LA by summer?

May 5, 2015

NOTE: Be sure to click here to see all recent TravelSkills posts about: Star Wars invade DEN + United’s new 50,000 mile bonus + Secret stash of hidden hotel deals + Big new carrier for ATL+ Roomier widebodies on domestic flights!

(Photo: Jason Tester Guerilla / Flickr)

Most Uber- or Lyft- loving frequent travelers know the silly drill when arriving at LAX: You get off the plane hoping to summon an UberX or Lyft ride, and you get a message stating “no cars available.”

At that point, you sigh and decide to pay the premium for UberBlack or SUV. Or pay a taxi $50 for a ride into town vs UberX or Lyft fares of about $30.

Or, like others, you jump on a hotel, rental car or parking lot shuttle, take a ride off airport grounds, and have your UberX pick you up there for your ride into town.

Deal: Get $20 off your first Uber ride!

The practice has become so common that companies providing shuttle services are now asking for proof that you have a reservation and are not freeloading.

All that may be coming to an end soon, though. Thankfully. Here’s what the LA Times is reporting today:

Screen Shot 2015-05-05 at 8.15.17 AM

Luckily in San Francisco, Portland and many other cities, airport officials have worked out a deal allowing UberX and Lyft to pick up passengers at at the airport. The deals require drivers to pay the airport a fee of around $4 for each pick up.

The hope is that LA can reproduce that- and soon. Let’s hope so!

Deal: Get $20 off your first Uber ride!

–Chris McGinnis

Uber’s back in Portland

April 26, 2015

Portland gets Uber back (Image: Uber) CLICK to get $20 off your first ride

Portland OKs Uber — for now. The Portland, Oregon City Council has agreed to let Uber and Lyft operate in the city for the next four months, subject to certain conditions.

Currently, UberX is the only option in town and airport to city runs cost $30-$40 each way.

Get $20 off your first Uber ride! Click here.

Opposition from the city had caused Uber to stop operating there shortly after it started in December.

The council said drivers for ride-sharing services must have liability insurance, get background checks, obtain business licenses and have their cars inspected.

At the same time, the council voted to deregulate the city’s traditional taxi industry, removing restrictions on hiring and fares. The council will review the situation after the four-month test period.

Unfortunately, Uber’s still having a tough time cracking back into Nevada— it’s especially painful not to have Uber in Las Vegas. Hey, did you check out our post on the latest, greatest, hottest hits in Vegas, baby? Here it is.

>>Take a peek at what you may have missed on TravelSkills.com this week! <<

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6 hottest spots in Vegas this year

April 14, 2015

What’s hot in Vegas? Maybe these guys know (Photo: Moyan Brenn / Flickr)

Headed to Las Vegas and trying to make the most of a quick trip? Like most business travelers, you have little time to waste on old, tired offerings, right? The last time I was there my meetings ran over, and I had little time to get out and see what was new before I had to race back to the airport. (Plus, Uber was not available, and its availability in Nevada is still moving slowly through political muck.)

To make up for that, and to get a full report on a few of the latest, greatest, things in town I turned to TravelSkills reader and Las Vegas insider Frank Corto for a quick rundown on what’s new, hot and happening.

Here’s what he’s got for us:

A room at the new Cromwell Las Vegas (Photo: Caesars)

Newest boutique hotel. Even if you’re in Las Vegas for business, you can enjoy a one-of-a-kind hotel. A recent addition, The Cromwell, offers a truly unique experience: it is the strip’s first boutique hotel. Parisian-inspired and intimate, The Cromwell stands out for its smallness in a land of hotel behemoths: just 188 plush rooms that offer each guest a sophisticated mix of modern and vintage influences.

The quiet outdoor terrace at Omnia. Inside, DJs create a louder scene (Photo: Omnia)

The quiet outdoor terrace at Omnia. Inside, DJs create a louder EDM scene(Photo: Omnia)

Biggest hit on the party scene. Las Vegas isn’t wanting for nightlife, but Hakkasan Group’s new club Omnia might be the most impressive offering of 2015. A strong contender joining the already imposing match of EDM venues, Omnia is snagging some of the world’s most sought-after DJs by outspending the competition. Between the opulent, multi-sensory experience and the premiere talents, partiers everywhere are winning big—just make sure you don’t go the night before your big meeting.

(If in case you don’t know know what EDM is, it’s short for Electronic Dance Music, and one of the hottest things in Vegas these days.–Chris)

New Alibi cocktail lounge in Las Vegas (Image: Alibi)

Best new cocktail lounge. If you’re looking for an opulent, imaginative hideaway in which to sip some incredible cocktails after—or even during—a meeting, head to the Alibi Cocktail Lounge at the Aria Resort and Casino. Outfitted with plush seating, imported granite, and brass accents, this warmly low-lit lounge feels like a contemporary speakeasy for a modern-day Jay Gatsby. Don’t get too distracted by the setting to enjoy the Alibi’s best feature, though: the cocktail list includes modern riffs on classics as well as decadent creations all their own.

Opening night at the SLS Las Vegas (Photo: SLS)

Another hot hotel newcomer. If the vintage Parisian vibe of The Cromwell isn’t your thing, a stay at sexier SLS Las Vegas may be just what you need. Though there is some shared French influence, this sleek, stylish, and impeccably modern hotel caters to a very different sensibility. Recently opened at the former site of the Sahara hotel, SLS features four nightclubs and a casino, as well as a VIP entrance for guests. If you come to Vegas for business, but plan to tack on a couple extra days to enjoy with a loved one then SLS might just hit the spot: a peek-a-boo shower and a mountain lodge-inspired buffet add some playful twists to a romantic getaway.

An unpretentious pub. Though Vegas is a hub of luxury and opulence, after a long day of work you may just want to wind down in an easy going environment. A great place to enjoy a humble pint and pub fare is the Tilted Kilt at the Linq. The chain started in Vegas before relocating to Arizona and spawning franchises, so its return is a full circle journey. A lively environment (servers sport mini-kilts) and nightly specials make this fun bar a great place to escape when you need to have a low-key evening in Las Vegas.

Main stage at the new Rock in Rio venue in Vegas should be rockin by this summer (Image: Facebook)

Funnest festival. All summer long, Las Vegas will play host to the famous Rock in Rio festival. With acts spanning from pop to world music to EDM, the festival will host some of the world’s most sought-after musicians. The venue, which will host over fifteen concerts per day, also features the likes of a zip line, multiple bars, and a Ferris wheel: essentially, the festival is the grown-up amusement park of your dreams. So even if you’re not in Las Vegas for a vacation, do yourself a favor and schedule a day at the end of your trip to enjoy all Rock in Rio has to offer.

Even if your next trip to Las Vegas is booked to the brim with business, remember that this unique city can offer some one-of-a-kind recreation. Whether you need to wind down after a long day, or want to take advantage of the nightlife, you won’t be wanting for something new and incredibly fun to do.

–Frank Corto

Frank Corto is the founder of Sin City VIP, the inside source for everything Las Vegas, including hotel deals, nightclubs, pool parties and VIP packages for the hottest clubs and biggest special events. As a premium VIP Services provider, Sin City VIP offers Las Vegas VIP packages that include the absolute best that Las Vegas has to offer, with the high level of personal customer service for which Las Vegas is known.

Did you miss our Weekend Editions? No worries! Here ya go:

NYC airport squeeze + Uber taking over + New Turkish livery + Top hotel programs + New Marriott in Venice

Delta hub in China? + Lufthansa lie-flat + AA points promo + Delta mileage sale + SAS new biz class

>>Take a peek at what you may have missed on TravelSkills.com this week! <<

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NYC airport squeeze + Uber taking over + New Turkish livery + Top hotel programs + New Marriott in Venice

April 12, 2015

Summer storms could trip up travelers at JFK (Photo: Caren Mack Photography)

Squeeze on NYC airspace? Runway repair work at New York JFK starting this spring and lasting through summer could mean flight delays not just at JFK but at all of the region’s airports, since their airspaces tend to overlap. The Associated Press reports that JFK will shut down its main arrivals runway at the end of April for almost five months for resurfacing and repairs, making it longer and wider and giving it a new lighting system. The availability of three remaining runways at JFK should preclude any flight operations problems during good weather, AP said, “but during inclement weather, the loss of that runway could cause a ripple effect of delays at all three of the major airports in the crowded skies above New York.” TIP: At JFK and other airports, try to fly as early in the day as possible during summer to avoid the season’s airport-snarling afternoon thunderstorms.

Uber overtaking taxis for biz travel. Certify, a major provider of business travel expense reporting software, said its analysis of first quarter spending data shows that Uber is quickly making massive inroads into ground transportation. In this year’s first quarter, the firm said, Uber transactions by business travelers accounted for 46 percent of all paid car rides, up from 15 percent a year ago, while the proportion of taxi/limo/shuttle rides dropped from 85 percent to 53 percent. The average Uber ride cost $31.24, vs. a typical taxi fare of $35.40, Certify said. In San Francisco and Dallas, Uber rides now dominate over traditional taxi service for business travelers. If you haven’t joined the crowd and tried Uber yet, do so from this link and you’ll get $20 off your first Uber ride!

Turkish Airlines getting a special San Francisco-themed livery (Photo: Turkish Airlines)

A Turkish Airlines B777 getting a special San Francisco-themed livery (Photo: Turkish Airlines)

Turkish Airlines arrives. On Monday, Turkish Airlines inaugural Istanbul-San Francisco flight arrives painted in a specially themed livery. Turkish provided a sneak peak of the 777 getting all dolled up for the flight. We’ll have full coverage of the arrival here on TravelSkills and on our social media channels.

Loose change adds up for TSA. You know how you throw all your metal stuff into a bin when you go through the TSA security checkpoint, and if you’re in a big hurry to make your flight you might accidentally leave a few coins behind? Ever wonder what happens to that change? It goes into the TSA’s financial coffers and helps fund its operations. And just how much are we talking about? In 2014, travelers left behind pocket change totaling $674, 841. That’s a $37,000 increase from the previous year. New York JFK had the biggest spare change bonanza for TSA, at $42,550, followed by Los Angeles International at $41,506.

Recent: 6 tricky tipping dilemmas that trip up travelers

HOTELS

Best Western Rewards points can be redeemed at 4,000 hotels worldwide, like this one near the Opera in Paris. (Chris McGinnis)

Hotel Loyalty satisfaction poll. The newly released 2015 Hotel Loyalty/Rewards Program Satisfaction Report from J.D. Power and Associates ranks Hilton’s HHonors in the number one spot, tied with the Delta Privilege program at Canada’s Delta Hotels, a chain that was recently purchased by Marriott. Roaring into third place is Best Western’s Rewards program which has emerged as one of the powerhouses among hotel loyalty programs in recent years. In fourth place is the IHG Rewards Club at and in fifth, Marriott Rewards. The poll found that program members who can earn points for making product or service purchases at hotels showed much higher satisfaction scores than those who can’t; ditto for earning points at restaurants. The survey questioned 2,900 loyalty program members. What’s your favorite hotel program? Why?

Los Angeles restaurant recos: TravelSkills editor Chris McGinnis just took a four-day business trip to Los Angeles and highly recommends two restaurants: One is perfect for a power lunch. The other is the newest hottest place to see and be seen. Check it our on our Facebook page, and be sure to LIKE it!

Have you checked out Personal Capital yet? A powerful new tool from the former CEO of PayPay and Intuit (Quicken) to help busy people manage finances– some say it’s a better tool for wealth management than Mint.com. If you, like many business travelers, have a tough time keeping up with your investments, you should check it out today and help support TravelSkills!

Chic new JW Marriott Venice (Marriott)

Openings: Istanbul, Rio, Venice. In New York City, the former Mondrian Soho hotel on Crosby Street in Manhattan has been sold to new owners who have rebranded it as the NOMO SOHO (NOstalgic + MOdern) and brought it into the Preferred Hotels collection …Starwood Hotels has cut the ribbon on its first St. Regis property in Turkey. Located in an upscale shopping area in the city’s Nisantasi neighborhood, the new 118-room St. Regis Istanbul has floor-to-ceiling views of the Bosporus and a Spago restaurant from celebrity chef Wolfgang Puck … With the Summer Olympics coming to Rio de Janeiro next year, Hilton Worldwide has opened the 298-room Hilton Barra Hotel in the Brazilian city’s Barra da Tijuca neighborhood, five minutes from the Olympic Park … Forty acres of gardens and landscaping surround the newly opened JW Marriott Resort & Spa in Venice, Italy, located on a private island; most of the 191 rooms have glass walls and private balconies … The new 391-room Sortis Hotel, Spa & Casino in Panama City, Panama, has become a member of Marriott’s Autograph Collection.

Did you miss yesterday’s issue of our Weekend Edition? No worries! Here ya go:

Delta hub in China? + Lufthansa lie-flat + AA points promo + Delta mileage sale + SAS new biz class

In Case You Missed It…

Plan ahead to avoid troubles with tipping on your trips

Heading to Europe? Here’s how the strong dollar is cutting trip costs

Some European carriers are rolling out summer sales on business class.

Virgin America will soon start flying to Hawaii from San Francisco.

>>Take a peek at what you may have missed on TravelSkills.com this week! <<

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Uber NYC + Feds watching you + New LAX lounge + Best airport + Airport parking

March 21, 2015

(Photo: Jason Tester Guerilla / Flickr)

NYC taxis losing the Uber battle. The New York Post reports that ride-finding service Uber has reached a critical milestone in New York City, no doubt the biggest market in the nation for hired cars: There are now more Uber vehicles than licensed taxicabs in the Big Apple. The paper said that Uber now has 14,088 “black and luxury cars” available for hire in New York, vs. 13,587 medallion taxis — although total trips by taxi still vastly outnumber Uber rides. Uber drivers reportedly like the more flexible hours and the higher earnings compared with traditional yellow cabs. Meanwhile, Uber continues to face plenty of legal troubles around the world, most recently in France, Germany and South Korea — including a new ban of its lower-priced car service in Germany. Weekend Edition Have your Uber habits shifted over the course of the last six months? Please leave your comments below. And if you can’t comment because you’ve yet to give Uber a try, sign up here and get $20 off your first ride.

Feds eye facial recognition. U.S. Customs and Border Protection has quietly started testing new facial recognition technology on U.S. citizens re-entering the country at Washington’s Dulles International Airport. According to the tech news website Motherboard, the program is intended to help Customs officers catch individuals who may be using a passport that isn’t their own — although some observers question what CBP plans to do with the passenger photos it accumulates. Meanwhile, the American Civil Liberties Union last week sued the Transportation Security Administration, demanding to see documents related to its “Screening Passengers by Observation” (SPOT) project. That’s the program that trains TSA officers to watch for passengers exhibiting suspicious behaviors or appearing stressed or frightened, and subjecting them to extra inspections. The ACLU alleged that separate studies have found there is no evidence that the program works at all; an ACLU attorney said the program “wastes taxpayer money, leads to racial profiling, and should be scrapped.”

FAA: Keep out of the seat back pocket

Our famous photo of the updated men’s room with a view at Singapore Changi Airport (Photo: Chris McGinnis)

Changi tops airport list — again. For the third year in a row, Singapore’s Changi Airport has ranked as the world’s best in the annual passenger survey conducted by Skytrax. And once again, no U.S. airports managed to make it into the Top 10 Best list. London-based Skytrax is unique in its survey sample size: It claims more than 13 million travelers from 112 countries voted in its annual online poll, which covered 550 airports worldwide. Rounding out the Top 10 after Changi are, in order: Korea’s Incheon, Munich, Hong Kong, Tokyo Haneda, Zurich, Central Japan, London Heathrow, Amsterdam Schiphol and Beijing Capital International. Rated the best North American airport for the fifth consecutive year was Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky. Readers, do you agree? In your experience, what is the world’s best airport?

Looking over the duty-free area at LAX from the terrace of the new Emirates lounge (Photo: Emirates)

Emirates lounge at LAX. Emirates officials have cut the ribbon on a new $6.2 million Emirates Lounge at Los Angeles International Airport. Located in the Tom Bradley International Terminal, it’s open to first and business class passengers as well as Platinum and Gold members of the airline’s Skywards loyalty program. Seating 157, it offers a buffet food service, business center, free Wi-Fi, shower facilities, TV and reading areas and a prayer room.

Parking at Atlanta. Atlanta-area travelers worried about finding a parking space at the busy Hartsfield-Jackson Airport have a new option: online parking reservations. The airport said that for a $5 booking fee, customers can now reserve a space in the domestic Park Ride Reserve lot, which costs $12 a day; or in the international hourly parking deck for $16-$24 a day (the fee varies based on demand; the online rate is a significant discount from the regular $32 a day). Reservations must be made at least 24 hours n advance. The airport’s new parking reservations page is here.

Why you should change the credit cards you carry

In Case You Missed It…

Planning a summer Europe trip? Better book now.

Turkish Airlines comes to San Francisco next month

Chris experiences St. Patrick’s Day in Dublin.

Seven tips for sticking to your Caveman or gluten-free diet while traveling.

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>>Take a peek at what you may have missed on TravelSkills.com this week! <<

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United schedule changes + Easy 1,000 HHonors points + Virgin 2-4-1 + New United gates + Lyft beats Uber

March 14, 2015

Say Aloha to Hawaiian’s new slimline seats. (Photo: Hawaiian)

Hawaiian adds seats. Hawaiian Airlines is increasing the capacity of its inter-island 717s from 115 to 120 passengers with the installation of new “slimline” seats. While some travelers have found the extra-slender seats to be less comfortable than the traditional kind, Hawaiian figures its passengers shouldn’t mind since all of its inter-island flights are under 60 minutes. Have you had the opportunity to go slimline yet? What did you think?

Schedule change in Chicago. If you fly through Chicago a lot, be on the lookout for plenty of schedule changes as United “rebanks” its flights this month. Air Transport World reports that United’s re-banking allows it to shorten connection times and improve directional flows at hubs, especially those that rely on East-West traffic flows. United successfully rebanked at its Houston and Denver hubs last year. ATW reports that United expects departures at O’Hare to fall 8% in some periods while aircraft size will increase 10 percent, allowing it to increase revenue and maximize use of valuable slots

New promo from Virgin. Virgin America is offering two-for-one fare discounts on its Dallas love Field routes to Elevate members when they provide the email addresses of three friends who might want to join that frequent flyer program. And the friends will get discounts of up to 20 percent. Virgin is also matching any competitor’s fare out of DAL through April 30. For details, go to www.weinventedhigherexpectations.com.

Why you should change the credit cards you carry

Rendering of the new SunTrust Park coming in 2017

Delta goes to bat for Braves. When the Atlanta Braves move into their new stadium — SunTrust Park — for the 2017 season, marketing partner Delta will be there too. The expanded partnership between Delta and the ball club calls for the opening of an 18,000-square-foot Delta SKY360 Club on the lower level of the new ballpark, accessible from the premium seating areas. The club will offer dining, a pair of 20-foot video screens, and a 30-foot bar. The new park is located on the northern edge of the city in Cobb County near Cumberland Mall and the Galleria.

1,000 Easy HHonors points. This just in from Hilton… remember the glitch that stymied a promotion for 1,000 easy HHonor, points? Well, it’s back. HHonors members will need to update their passwords by April 1. As of that date, members will be required to create a new password upon login; Hilton will no longer accept PINs. “Since we know this can be a hassle for members, and to encourage adoption of this new login procedure, Hilton is offering an incentive of 1,000 Hilton HHonors Bonus Points if members update their passwords by March 25, 2015,” the company said. Just log in to your Hilton HHonors account, then go to “personal information” to change your password. More info

Travel apps for Apple Watch. Why should you have to haul out that clunky smartphone every time you want to check in for something? The Apple Watch, unveiled last week, has already started to attract new apps from a variety of travel companies. The initial list includes American Airlines (check in with your watch), Starwood Hotels (open your room door with your watch), TripAdvisor, OpenTable, Expedia and Citymapper. Meanwhile, Marriott announced that instead of providing a credit card at check-in, its guests can soon use Apple Pay, simply by bringing their iPhone 6 or Apple Watch close to a contactless reader at the front desk. The service will be gradually deployed starting this summer at brands including Ritz-Carlton, Marriott, Edition and Renaissance.

Passport app expands. A new app called Mobile Passport, introduced last summer for U.S. travelers re-entering the country at Atlanta Hartsfield Jackson Airport, is now available for Miami arrivals as well. Users simply input their profiles and answer Customs and Border Protection questions on the app (vs on the old paper forms), then proceed to the Mobile Passport Control express lane, skipping the longer lines. It’s available in the App Store and at Google Play. (We still prefer Global Entry, where you enter via a kiosk instead of a human, but this is pretty good– free, too.)

United tests new gates. Want to see what United Airlines’ next generation of boarding gates might look like? Check out Gates B-4, B-8 and B-10 in United’s Terminal 1 at Chicago O’Hare. That’s where the carrier is testing a new gate-area design that features things like mood lighting, new seating layouts, standing work stations and “boarding poles” (a la Southwest) for more orderly boarding.

Why you should change the credit cards you carry

Image: Lyft

Lyft in, Uber out at Austin. How can a ride-sharing service win approval to operate at an airport in competition with traditional taxi services? By giving the airport a piece of the action. With the popular SXSW festival starting up in Austin last week, Lyft won approval to transport passengers at Austin-Bergstrom Airport by agreeing to give the facility 10 percent of its profits. Uber failed to come to terms with the airport, so its drivers have been threatened with citations if they try to operate there. Meanwhile, San Francisco International Airport said last week it has developed a new system for tracking “app-based forms of ground transportation.” SFO officials said the technology — which it will license to other airports — collects data to be used “for fee calculation, roadway planning and facility improvement efforts.”

In Case You Missed It…

Do you know your rights when you get stopped by the cops?

Would you ever buy an airport condo? Atlanta might offer them.

Here’s what you should know about Spring Break and its travel impact.

Delta SkyMiles cuts some award travel costs.
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>>Take a peek at what you may have missed on TravelSkills.com this week! <<
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How Uber/SPG picked me up

February 26, 2015

It was a full-on brand assault on Wednesday morning. Here are special branded floormats in the Uber that picked me up (Photo: Chris McGinnis)

By now you’ve likely heard that Uber and the Starwood Preferred Guest program have partnered to offer SPG points for Uber rides.

Here’s the core message:

But what I found interesting was the big effort around getting word out about the program. Here’s how I saw it:

On Monday morning, I received an email from SPG offering me a chauffeured ride to work on Wednesday. To get the ride, I had to fill out a quick online survey that asked about what I like to eat for breakfast, what I normally do on a Friday night, and of course my address and SPG number.

I was not exactly sure what this was all about, but it sounded like an unusual and fun way to learn about a new SPG promo. And since I know that many of my readers are big Starwood users, how could I resist?

The only problem is that I work from my house, so I did not really need a ride to work. So I contacted the person who sent the invite and they agreed to just take me for a ride around my neighborhood.

I asked if they could take me up to Twin Peaks overlooking San Francisco (about 10 mins from my house), and they agreed that would be fine. I thought that would be a nice way to start my day given the glorious clear, cool and sunny winter mornings we’ve had here on the Left Coast lately while the east coast shivers.

West Coast – New York LaGuardia flights on horizon?

My driver David welcomes me to his car and offers a spiel (Photo: Chris McGinnis)

Anyway, at 8:15 on Wednesday, a big shiny black Uber SUV with a Sheraton sticker on the door pulls up to my house and the driver texts that he’s waiting for me.

I go jump in the car and from a script the driver welcomes me and tells me that Uber and SPG are teaming up to offer SPG members points for their Uber rides. He hands me a insulated cup of Starbucks coffee and a box containing a breakfast sandwich. There are placards on the seatbacks and even special branded floor mats announcing the new partnership.

Then he hands me an iPad and asks me to watch an SPG produced video announcing the changes. (Talk about a brand assault!)

Watching an iPad video about the promo (Photo: Chris McGinnis)

But first, I have to inspect the tray sitting next to me, which included two Riedel wine glasses (In the survey, I said I like to drink wine on Fridays), and a pass for a free glass of wine at the Sheraton Fisherman’s Wharf. There’s also a single can of Starbucks Espresso.

Then I watch the video and peer out at morning breaking over San Francisco as we head up the hill to Twin Peaks.

My driver David told me that about 10 other drivers were doing similar runs for other writers, bloggers and media types in the Bay Area. The same thing was happening in New York City. But they were all getting rides to boring old office buildings. I was getting a ride to this!

Soaking up the fiendishly fabulous weather at Twin Peaks while the east coast shivers (Photo Chris McGinnis)

Soaking up the fiendishly fabulous weather on Wednesday at Twin Peaks while the east coast shivers (Photo Chris McGinnis)

Once we got to the top of the hill, I finished my coffee and breakfast sandwich, then scurried out to take in the incredibly gorgeous view and thank my luck stars that I’m in California and not back east.

Then we jumped back in the SUV and chatted our way back to my home office.

That was fun! And good way to let me and my readers know about an innovative new product.

I had a great time chatting away with my Uber driver, David (Photo: Chris McGinnis)

I had a great time chatting away with my Uber driver, David, posing here in front of Sutro Tower (Photo: Chris McGinnis)

I walked in and told my partner about the program new program, which I knew he’d love because he’s a big time user of both Uber and Starwood (Platinum).

His main question:

“I already get Amex Membership Rewards points when booking Uber because my accounts are linked. If I link account with SPG, too, will I now earn both MR points and SPG points when I use Uber, or will I have to choose one or the other? Can I double-dip?”

He was pleased with the answer we got from a Starwood spokesperson: “The SPG partnership is independent of the AMEX partnership and people who have registered for both the Amex-Uber promotion and the SPG-Uber partnership will receive both bonus currencies.”

Guess what? You can get a ride like this, too… I’ll let SPG explain:

To kickoff the partnership, Uber and Starwood are teaming up to surprise and delight SPG members and Uber riders with an “SPG #SuiteRide” in five cities around the world. This Saturday, February 28 Uber riders who link their Starwood and Uber accounts can select the “SPG” vehicle option within the Uber app for a door-to-door branded hotel experience on wheels and 15,000 Starpoints – good for a free night at category 1-5 Starwood hotel. These one-of-a-kind, limited SPG Ubers will hit the road in the following cities around the world: Dubai, London, Mexico City, New York, and San Francisco from 2 pm – 7 pm local time.

Just in case you’ve not signed up for Uber yet, do so via this referral link and you’ll get $20 off your first ride! (Sign up here)

–Chris McGinnis

Big storm + Unusual 747 + NYC Helicopters, rail link + Marriott Megabonus + Choose car from plane

January 25, 2015

Rendering of the modified 747 that will buzz Burning Man this August (Courtesy Lance Powell)

Rendering of the repurposed 747 that will buzz Burning Man this August (Courtesy Lance Powell)

Developing: A potentially crippling winter storm is bearing down on the Northeast and airlines are starting to announce waivers.”We are facing most likely one of the largest snowstorms in the history of this city,” says NYC mayor Bill DiBlasio. By Sunday evening, airlines had pre-emptively canceled over 800 flights. The key thing to remember in these stormy cancellation situations is that you are entitled to a FULL REFUND if the airline cancels your flight and you decide it’s not worth taking the trip at all. Here’s what Delta’s waiver for Monday-Tuesday (Jan 26-27) states.

Unusual 747. In an interesting adaptive re-use of a scrapped 747, a group called The Big Imagination Foundation is working on bringing part of a fuselage to the giant Burning Man festival in the Nevada desert this summer. (See rendering above, and read what SFist has learned about it. ) I’m probably to old for Burning Man, but seeing this sure makes me want to go. Have you been?

CONSOLIDATION

Aer Lingus + British Airways. British newspapers are reporting that British Airways parent IAG’s sweetened offer for Irish carrier Aer Lingus will be accepted and an announcement could come early this week. The Guardian reports: “Aer Lingus is the fourth busiest operator at London’s Heathrow behind British Airways, Lufthansa and Virgin Atlantic – with its expanding transatlantic routes a particular attraction to IAG. The Irish airline is well known to IAG boss Willie Walsh, who was chief executive of Aer Lingus between 2001 and 2005 before taking the helm at British Airways.”

Expedia buys Travelocity. Giant online travel agency Expedia, which has been providing services to erstwhile competitor Travelocity for the past couple of years, has now purchased that site from Sabre, the global distribution system, for $280 million. For years, Orbitz, Expedia, Travelocity and Priceline have dominated the web-based travel agency game. Could this be a sign of more consolidation to come in an increasingly crowded field of old and new competitors? Readers who have followed my career may recall that I was once a spokesperson and travel trends expert for Expedia. During that time, I would never have dreamed that our arch competitor would end up swallowed up by Expedia. Times sure change! Related: Mergers that make sense

This TravelSkills post 7 last-minute fare deals worth a look! went viral last week, resulting in nearly 500 new readers signing up for our daily or weekly emails! Welcome to TravelSkills, folks! We hope you enjoy the ride! –Chris

AIRPORTS

(Photo: Gotham Air)

New heli service in NYC. Gotham Air is joining the crowdsourced travel app game in New York City, allowing users to book helicopter flights to Newark or JFK airports. Its partner is Helicopter Flight Services, which does the actual flying from three Manhattan heliports. You can book your own departure time, and “as soon as four seats have been sold, the flight is confirmed. You are never on the hook for anything more than the price of your seat,” the company said. Scheduled flights will begin this spring, and the app should be available at the iTunes store early in February. First time users pay $99 to JFK or EWR; after the first ride, a one way fare is $199 – $219 dependent on departure time. Would you or your company spring for that?

Here’s a before and after look at Oakland Terminal 2’s security checkpoint. (Photo: Security Point Media)

Branded airport security. Oakland International is the US airport to get wrapped in SpringHill Suites branding. Terminal Two, home of Southwest Airlines at OAK, offers “a new, relaxing atmosphere before and after the checkpoint with modern furniture, wall art, calming lighting, soothing music, custom video content and displays showing current queue wait times. A post-screening recompose area outfitted with comfortable, soft seating welcomes travelers to gather their belongings in a more relaxed setting.” What do you think about big brands stepping up to improve the airport experience as a means to expose travelers to their brands? Please leave your comments below.

Rail link for LaGuardia? New York Governor Andrew Cuomo said last week that plans are in the works to build something New York-area travelers have wanted for decades: a rail link to LaGuardia Airport. The plan calls for a dedicated rail link from the airport to the existing Willets Point station a mile and a half away, next to Citi Field (home of the New York Mets). There, travelers could transfer to the Long Island Railroad or to the Number 7 subway line into Manhattan. Don’t hold your breath, though: The $450 million project won’t be finished until 2020.

What are the two best all-around credit cards? Both currently offer 40,000 mile sign up bonuses!

HOTELS

Marriott renews MegaBonus. It’s time for the latest version of Marriott’s popular MegaBonus promotion. Marriott Rewards members who register online by March 25 can earn 2,500 points for every paid stay at the company’s 15 brands from February 1 through April 30, up to a maximum of 25,000 points.

The Westin Market Street has a new name. (Photo: AAA)

New name for Westin SF. Last Thursday night, guests went to bed at the Westin San Francisco and woke up at the Park Central hotel. The 36 story hotel at the corner of Third Street and Market Street (frequently confused with the Westin St Francis on Union Square) was previously the Argent Hotel and before that, the ANA. Hotel staff told TravelSkills that for the time being, the hotel is still a “Starwood affiliated” hotel, so you can still earn Starwood points for stays. But the hotel’s new owners could change that in coming months. In perennially packed San Francisco, a hotel does not have to do much to attract business travelers, but we found a few new deals (like 15% off) on its website.

CARS

National’s new Virtual Aisle. National Car Rental’s Emerald Club members who book a mid-sized car can bypass the counter and pick any vehicle in the rental lot’s Emerald Aisle at major airports. But we’ve been doing that for years. Here’s what’s new: Now National’s mobile app has a new “Virtual Aisle” feature fulfilling the same function for airports where National doesn’t have a dedicated Emerald Aisle. So as soon as you land, you use the app to pre-select a car from real-time inventory at 19 airport locations, including Tulsa, Richmond, Omaha, Knoxville, Norfolk, Albany, Buffalo, Rochester, Little Rock, Oklahoma City, Huntsville, Greensboro, Long Beach, Honolulu, Tucson, Reno, Baton Rouge, Phoenix (Mesa Gateway) and Savannah.

Look for this instead of the big furry stache (Photo: Lyft)

Lyft lifts the big ‘stache. What was ride-sharing service Lyft thinking when it decided to put a giant furry pink moustache on the front of all its cars? Apparently the powers that be at Lyft have come to their senses– sort of. They’ve decided to remove the Big Pink Fuzz, and instead will give their drivers a little banana-sized pink moustache that sits on the dashboard and glows softly at night. The move is part of a brand re-design brought on in part by Lyft’s new creative director Jesse McMillin, snatched from Virgin America last year. Read our 2011 profile of the very interesting and talented Jesse McMillin here.

At TravelSkills, we are big Uber fans, not only because of their generous $20 off your first ride referral program, but because the service has probably made the most consequential change in our travel habits than just about anything in recent years. But Uber’s reputation has taken a hit lately, so we’re wondering how many readers have considered or used similar services like Lyft, Sidecar, or even gone back to taxis with apps like FlyWheel. Please leave your comments below.

Did you see Saturday’s TravelSkills Weekend Edition?

Best photo + United meals + Bid for Virgin upgrades + Delta downgrade + New Asian nonstop for SJC

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>>Take a peek at what you may have missed on TravelSkills.com this week! <<

What are the two best all-around credit cards? Both currently offer 40,000 mile sign up bonuses!

Like what you just read? Then say so! Scroll back up to the top and LIKE the post on Facebook, post it on Linked In and/or tweet it!

Would you rather get TravelSkills Weekly instead of Daily? No probs! click here to sign up for TravelSkills Weekly.

iPhones on United + Delta backtrack + Holiday first class sale + Uber issues + New hotel for NYC

December 14, 2014

United’s going big with the new iPhone 6 Plus. (Photo: United)

AIRLINES

UA flight attendants get iPhones. Passenger purchases on United flights will soon be processed through an iPhone 6 Plus. The airline said it plans to give the big new iPhones to 23,000 flight attendants in the second quarter of 2015, and they’ll be able to handle most in-flight retail transactions. In the months to come, “United plans to develop a number of customer-focused tools for the device,” a spokesman said.

AmEx-Delta: No point transfer cap after all. American Express and Delta said they have agreed to “a multi-year extension” of their 18-year-old co-branded credit card partnership. And as part of that deal, the companies announced that they have backed off an earlier plan to cap American Express Rewards point transfers into SkyMiles at 250,000 a year. Also, “Platinum Card members from American Express and Delta Reserve Card members can continue to enjoy access to the Delta Sky Club,” the companies said. It was only a couple of months ago that the limit on point transfers, which was supposed to take effect January 1, was announced — and neither AmEx nor Delta offered any hints as to why it is now being dropped. Readers — care to speculate on the reason? Was this a big deal for you or not?

First class holiday sale from Virgin. Act fast (booking deadline is midnight Sunday, December 14) and use promo code MERRY50 and you can save 50 percent off Virgin America’s first class and Main Cabin Select fares for travel December 19-January 2.

Why not let holiday spending help you snag big credit card mileage bonuses? Check out our recommendations here and get your 40,000 miles!

Here’s a rendering of American’s new look at the airport

AA promises big customer improvements. American Airlines marked the one-year anniversary of its merger with US Airways last week by announcing it will spend $2 billion on passenger-oriented improvements in the months ahead. Besides fleet renewal — some 112 new aircraft will be delivered next year, AA said — improvements will bring new seats (including lie-flat, direct aisle access first and business class seats “on nearly every American Airlines widebody jet”); power ports in every row on narrow-bodies and at every seat on newly delivered 777-300ERs and 787s (AA’s first Dreamliner is due in the next few months); new Bose headsets in premium cabins of international and transcon flights; and Wi-Fi on international routes. Airport facilities and Admirals Clubs will also get an overhaul. Another part of the plan: American will install Gogo in-flight Wi-Fi over the next year on 250 of its two-class regional jets. Which passenger enhancement would you most like to see on American? Post comments below.

Cleveland Shuffle: Flights cut, added. United’s big drawdown of service at Cleveland Hopkins isn’t finished yet. The carrier’s latest cutbacks will include the end of Cleveland-Dallas/Ft. Worth service on March 5, followed by termination of flights to Ft. Myers, Ft. Lauderdale and Tampa on April 7. Meanwhile, JetBlue said it will add Cleveland as the 88th destination on its route map starting April 30, when it launches two flights a day to Boston. And low-cost Frontier Airlines plans to pull its service from Cleveland to LaGuardia, Washington Dulles and Chicago O’Hare in the weeks ahead.

International routes: China Southern, Delta, EVA. December 16 is the launch date for China Southern’s new service from San Francisco to Guangzhou, operating via a stop in Wuhan three times a week with a 787 … Delta kicks off new daily service December 20 between its Salt Lake City hub and Mexico City … Taiwan’s EVA Airways plans to begin new service between Taipei and Houston Bush Intercontinental in June 2015, flying three times a week with a 777-300ER.

Lufthansa’s new course. What’s going on at Lufthansa? Pilots have staged disruptive walkouts in recent weeks as the airline moves forward with a plan to compete against low-cost carriers by expanding its budget Eurowings subsidiary on both short and long-haul routes while still maintaining a full-service operation at the parent airline. Lufthansa chief Carsten Spohr explained the strategy in a New York Times interview last week. Have your plans been disrupted by LH pilot strikes? How did you handle it?

Recent: Better hotel deals on these 5 hotel-only sites?

AIRPORTS

Delta coddles arrivals at Heathrow. Delta premium passengers flying into London Heathrow can now take advantage of a new arrivals lounge the carrier has opened in Terminal 3. Available at no charge to BusinessElite passengers as well as SkyMiles Diamonds and Platinums, the facility has 11 private showers, clothes pressing and shoeshine services, breakfast service, Wi-Fi and a business center. It’s open from 6 a.m. until 2 p.m. daily.

CARS

Uber’s legal ups and downs. It’s a real roller-coaster ride for the lawyers at ride-sharing app Uber these days. On the upside, Uber (and competitor Lyft) just won approval from the Dallas City Council to operate legally in that city effective April 30. On the downside, district attorneys in San Francisco and Los Angeles last week filed suit against Uber alleging violations of various consumer protection statutes (although both cities recently settled a similar case against Lyft). But that’s not Uber’s only difficulty: Web site The Daily Beast last week published a summary of the legal problems facing the company in a number of venues. And then there’s this: Who’s Driving You?

Have you entered the contest to win a $200 Amex gift card plus one year of National Executive status? All you have to do is offer one great travel tip!

HOTELS

A big new Virgin hotel for NYC…but why not SF? (Photo: Virgin Hotels)

Virgin America adds sister hotel firm to Elevate. The newest participant in Virgin America’s Elevate loyalty program is its new sister company Virgin Hotels. Its first property is due to open in Chicago in mid-January; Elevate members will get 1,000 points per stay (doubled from January 15-March 31), and Gold members will receive free breakfasts and room upgrades. A Nashville property is expected to open in 2016, followed by a New York City hotel in 2017. The developer of the Manhattan property, at Broadway and 29th Street, last week revealed some details about the 38-story, 475-room hotel, including a rooftop bar, outdoor pool and spa. (We wish they’d build a new one in in San Francisco!)

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TravelSkills hops a special United flight to the North Pole (sort of).

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>>Take a peek at what you may have missed on TravelSkills.com this week! <<

What are the two best all-around credit cards? Both currently offer 40,000 mile sign up bonuses!

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Virgin food award + Delta beer + New flights to Europe + 3 Miami hotels + First A350

December 7, 2014

Virgin America soba noodles serving (Photo: Virgin America)

AIRLINES

Virgin takes top honors in food study. Charles Platkin, a nutritionist also known as the Diet Detective, has come out with his annual ratings of airline food in terms of its nutritional quality, and Virgin America has captured the top spot. “It’s great that Virgin America also provides ALL nutritional information, NOT just calories, and it’s on their website, too. Virgin America also has on-demand eating – you simply select the food you want, when you want it right at your seat,” he wrote. Platkin rated Delta’s in-flight food as most improved this year, thanks to a new partnership with healthy food company Luvo. Do you care about the nutritional value of in-flight food? What’s the best meal you’ve had this year? Please leave your comments below.

Delta broadens beer selections. The craze for regional craft beers is getting a boost from Delta, which said it is introducing seven varieties to the beverage carts on a number of its most popular business travel routes. The providers of the new brews range from New York’s Brooklyn Brewery to San Diego’s Ballast Point Brewing.

Qatar Airways A350 (Photo: Qatar Airways)

Qatar debuts world’s newest airliner. Qatar Airways, the global launch customer for the new Airbus A350 XWB, said it will take delivery of the first aircraft on December 13, and plans to put it into commercial service between Doha and Frankfurt in January. Qatar, a member of the Oneworld global alliance, has expressed its confidence in the new Airbus model by ordering 80 of them. The A350 is a wide-body, mid-sized aircraft designed as Airbus’ answer to Boeing’s 787 Dreamliner, to be used on medium to long-haul international routes. Like the Boeing plane, the A350 relies on composite materials and aluminum alloys to reduce its weight and increase fuel efficiency. The XWB stands for extra-wide body — its cabin is a few inches wider than the 787’s. TravelSkills got an advance look at the A350 a few months ago; here’s our report.

Oneworld expands benefits. Frequent flyers who have achieved Sapphire status in the Oneworld alliance (American, British Airways, et al.) are getting an additional baggage benefit. In economy class on member airlines using a weight-based system, they’ll get an extra 15 kg. over the usual economy class allowance; and on those using a piece system, they’ll get a second checked bag (when the allowance is one) of up to 23 kg. Allowances were also increased for first and business class customers. In addition, Sapphire and Emerald-level elites will get priority baggage delivery.

International routes: Etihad, United, Lufthansa, Azul. Etihad Airways last week kicked off new non-stop service between Abu Dhabi and Dallas/Ft. Worth, using a three-class 777-200LR; its initial three flights a week will increase to daily next April … United on Sunday (December 7) begins daily non-stops between Houston Bush Intercontinental and Santiago, Chile, with a 767-300 … Lufthansa last week resumed seasonal Miami-Munich service five times a week, with a three-class A330-300 … Brazilian carrier Azul — run by JetBlue founder David Neeleman — has started its first service to the U.S. with a daily Ft. Lauderdale-Sao Paulo flight; it will add Orlando-Sao Paulo on December 15.

Delta sets seasonal Europe service. Delta last week unveiled plans for its 2015 seasonal transatlantic schedule additions. March 29 is the launch date for New York JFK-Nice service, using a 767-400 and operating five times a week, increasing to daily on May 2. Also on May 2, Delta will kick off daily JFK-Shannon, Ireland non-stops with a 757-200. On June 2, the airline will begin daily JFK-Prague non-stops, using a 767-300, and daily Atlanta-Barcelona service with an A330-300.

What are the two best all-around credit cards? Both currently offer 40,000 mile sign up bonuses!

TravelSkills editor Chris McGinnis is in Washington DC this week– flew nonstop SFO-Washington National on Virgin America

AIRPORTS

Clear Card in Vegas. CLEAR, the provider of biometric identity-based expedited access to airport security lanes, has finally added Las Vegas McCarran as its 10th location. The $179-a-year service is already available at SFO, SJC, DFW, DEN, IAH, HOU, SAT, MCO and HPN. Miami International MIA is next on the list for Clear although there is no firm start date. Do you use Clear? Is is still worth $179 per year? Leave comments below.

Washington D.C.’s airports dilemma. The nation’s capital has expected Dulles International Airport to handle the region’s long-term traffic growth, but a report by the Washington Post notes that growth at IAD has stalled as more passengers and airlines are flocking to close-in Reagan National Airport. Part of the blame goes to Congress, which has opened up DCA to more long-haul flights, but part of it is due to Dulles’ remote location.

CARS

Uber, Lyft OKd in Denver. Ride-sharing services Lyft and Uber have both won approval from Denver International Airport officials to pick up and drop off passengers at the passenger terminals. Have you used Uber or Lyft for airport transportation? How would you describe the difference between the two?

HOTELS

Miami Beach Edition Room (Photo: Marriott)

South Florida gets three new properties. The newest product of Marriott’s partnership with hotelier Ian Schrager has opened its doors — the Miami Beach EDITION. The 298-room EDITION — a remaking of the old Seville Hotel at 2901 Collins Avenue — was designed as an “urban resort” to appeal to business travelers who want to work and play in Miami Beach … Down the road at 4041 Collins Avenue, Thompson Hotels has cut the ribbon on the 380-room Thompson Miami Beach in an historic Art Deco building; it has 47,000 square feet of meeting space and a gourmet restaurant called Seagrape from local celebrity chef Michelle Bernstein … And in Palm Beach, Kimpton Hotels has added a new oceanfront property, taking over the former Omphoy Ocean Resort and rebranding it last week as the Tideline Ocean Resort & Spa after making a number of enhancements.

JW Marriott Houston Downtown room (Photo: Marriott)

Openings: Houston, Brussels, Johannesburg. The century-old Samuel F. Carter building at 806 Main Street in downtown Houston has been remade into the newly opened, 328-room JW Marriott Houston Downtown. Each room has a 55-inch TV, Nespresso machine, touch-screen room controls, and an iPad for ordering hotel services … A landmark building in the heart of Brussels, close to the Grand Place and the Square Brussels Meeting Center, has been transformed into the new Hilton Brussels Grand Place, with 123 rooms and suites … The renowned Westcliff Hotel in Johannesburg, South Africa, has undergone an 18-month, $56 million renovation and reopened as The Four Seasons Hotel-The Westcliff Johannesburg. All 117 rooms were renovated, and the hotel has new contemporary restaurants, lounges and a spa …In Australia, luxury operator Langham Hotels has finished a $25 million renovation of The Langham Sydney (formerly the Observatory Hotel).

In Case You Missed It…

Emirates deploys more super-jumbos on U.S. routes.

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Japan Airlines rolls out posh Sky Suite 777 service.

>>Take a peek at what you may have missed on TravelSkills.com this week! <<

What are the two best all-around credit cards? Both currently offer 40,000 mile sign up bonuses!

Like what you just read? Then say so! Scroll back up to the top and LIKE the post on Facebook, post it on Linked In and/or tweet it!

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Uber out in Vegas + United changes routes + Delta in Philly + Virgin’s next moves? + New India visa

November 30, 2014

Alaska Airlines is sticking to a miles-based program unlike most other carriers (Photo: Jim Glab)

AIRLINES

Alaska boosts mileage bonuses. Alaska Airlines has an early Christmas present for its Mileage Plan members: bigger earning bonuses for certain fare classes and for MVP Gold 75K elites starting January 1. The bonus for first class fares jumps from 50 to 75 percent, and for refundable coach (Y) fares from 25 to 50 percent. Some nonrefundable fare classes will start offering 50 percent (S class) or 25 percent (M and B) bonuses. And MVP Gold 75K elites will see their bonus rise from 100 to 125 percent. An Alaska official said airlines that have moved to revenue-based loyalty programs “have the potential of diluting the rewards earned for the average passenger,” and said Alaska will stick with a generous mileage-based plan. (Take that, Delta!)

United draws heat for Sacramento suspension. United Airlines will suspend its non-stop service between Sacramento and Washington Dulles for the winter season (January 6-April 6), drawing criticism from local politicians and members of Congress, who will have to make the trip via a connection during that period. United said the suspension is due to weak seasonal demand. California has 53 members of the house of representatives and two senators.

JetBlue debuts free Wi-Fi content. JetBlue last week went live with its new “Fly-Fi Hub,” a collection of free content that passengers can view on their personal devices aboard aircraft equipped with JetBlue’s Fly-Fi service. Content available both online and off-line includes Fox TV shows; e-book excerpts from 20 HarperCollins best-sellers; National Geographic programs; and educational videos including courses from Wharton Business School. Users also will have the option to buy Time Inc. magazines. Coming early next year is PBS programming for kids, as well as full access to the Wall Street Journal.

Virgin America routes as of November 2014 (Source: Virgin America)

Virgin America: Ready for takeoff? With its initial public offering successfully completed, its balance sheet in the black and fuel prices remaining low, Virgin America appears to be poised for a new period of growth and expansion, according to a newly released analysis by the CAPA Centre for Aviation. With new funds and 10 new aircraft joining its fleet in the next two years, it is expected to achieve capacity growth of 10-15 percent in 2015, and to focus on attracting an increasing number of higher-yielding business travelers. There’s room to grow, since Virgin only serves 15 of the top 50 U.S. markets, the report notes. Where would you like to see Virgin America fly next? On our wish list: Atlanta, New Orleans, Phoenix. What about you? Please leave your comments below.

Route news: United, Alaska, Delta. United plans to add a pair of new seasonal routes to Europe on June 4 and double its service on another: Daily Newark-Venice service operates through September 23 with a 767-400ER; daily Chicago-Dublin service through August 17 with a 757-200; and a second daily Washington Dulles-Paris CDG flight through August 17 with a 757-200 … This week, United adds two Latin American routes: Denver-Panama City starting December 3, and Houston-Santiago December 7 … On July 1, Alaska Airlines will add three routes operated by partner SkyWest’s Embraer 175s: Seattle-Milwaukee, Seattle-Oklahoma City and Portland-St. Louis, each with one daily flight … Delta plans to drop even more routes from Memphis on January 5, including Pittsburgh, New Orleans and Dallas/Ft. Worth; in April, it will end MEM-Washington Reagan National service.

MileagePlus tests new shopping app. United recently revealed plans to let MileagePlus members use miles to pay for meals and drinks via iPads at Newark’s Terminal C once renovations are finished, and now it is expanding its app-based shopping technology. The airline said it has started testing with a select group of members what it calls the MileagePlus X mobile app, which lets members with iOS and Android phones instantly earn up to 24 miles per dollar spent at participating retailers, including Lowe’s, Sears, the Gap and AMC Theaters. “The airline plans to expand MileagePlus X to all members and offer more retailers soon,” a spokesman said. “United is continuing to improve MileagePlus X and plans to launch additional features, including the ability to redeem miles for in-store purchases.”

Philadelphia (Photo: Murray Hedley, Flickr)

AA, Delta battle for PHL-London. When Delta recently began its own non-stop Los Angeles-London Heathrow service, American responded with plans to double its service on the route to two flights a day starting next spring — and now the same thing is happening on the Philadelphia-London Heathrow route. Delta said it will launch daily 757-200 flights between PHL and LHR on April 8 as part of its partnership with Virgin Atlantic. And American said it will add a second daily PHL-LHR flight starting March 29, operated by a US Airways 757-200, with a 9:55 a.m. departure time. That will give the AA-British Airways joint venture four daily PHL-LHR flights.

What are the two best all-around credit cards? Both currently offer 40,000 mile sign up bonuses!

CARS

Uber suspends Nevada service — for now. Ride-sharing app Uber’s presence in one of its newest big markets — Las Vegas — has been suspended after a Nevada judge issued a temporary restraining order against the service. It’s apparently the first time that Uber has failed to overcome the many legal and regulatory challenges to its business model, which generally involve whether or not the firm should have to follow the same rules as taxi operators.

Gas prices plunge. As air fares keep going up, gas prices keep going down. Late last week, the price of a barrel of oil plunged to a low of about $66. If this trend continues, it could lead some business travelers to consider adding more road trips to their schedules in place of shorter flights. Last week, average U.S. gas prices hit $2.82 a gallon, down 47 cents from last year at this time and at their lowest late-November level in five years, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration. Are you planning to drive more now that fuel prices are lower… but airfares are not? Please leave your comments below.

International

Easier entry to India. The notoriously difficult Indian visa application process is now apparently a thing of the past according to Quartz. The Narendra Modi government on Thursday launched a “tourist visa on arrival” scheme for nationals of 43 countries (including the US and Cananda) traveling to India for 30 days or less—and only for “recreation, sightseeing, short duration medical treatment, casual business visit, casual visit to meet friends or relatives.” Applications must now be made online (instead of the previously required visit to a consulate) at least four days prior to arrival and cost $60.

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>>Take a peek at what you may have missed on TravelSkills.com this week! <<

Extra Bonus! Here’s an easy way to top off your Chase Ultimate Rewards balance with 20,000 points!

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United changes rules + Radical plan for NYC airport + Centurion “Studio” + Uber’s friends in DC

November 17, 2014

Somewhere over Greenland up in the bubble on a United B747 (Photo: Chris McGinnis)

AIRLINES.

Did you get the email from United last week? As expected (and as usual) the carrier mimicked Delta’s recent move to increase the amount of dollars members must spend to get (or maintain) Premier status. The 20% bump up applies to qualifying activity in 2015 for status in 2016. The 25K spend threshold on MileagePlus co-branded credit cards for status is not affected by this. Details here. So far, American is still sitting back, watching and remaining vague about any plans it has for the move toward a revenue based program. So what do you think? Last time we wrote about airlines’ new revenue requirements, the general reaction from TravelSkills readers was, “Mmmeh, I’ll easily meet those spending requirements.” And some even lauded Delta and United for weeding out the gamers who don’t pay much but have figured out wily ways to snag awards and upgrades. Please leave your comments below.

AIRPORTS

New Amex Centurion “Studio.” American Express can’t always find a airport space large enough for its super popular Centurion Lounges, like the brand new on in San Francisco. Such is the case in Seattle (SEA), where Amex announced that will open a smaller Centurion Studio instead. Amex says: “The Centurion Studio will be a retreat for Card Members but in a smaller space, featuring some of the amenities Card Members say are most essential: comfortable seating, charging stations, fast and free WiFi, and complimentary healthy snacks and beverages.” Amex told TravelSkills that it will be located “right off the Main terminal towards concourse B, post-security and easily accessible to all terminals.” It will be interesting to see how the smaller studio handles crowds…we’ve heard from several TravelSkills readers already about overcrowded conditions at the SFO lounge and elsewhere….

A grand re-imagining of New York’s LaGuardia Airport- enter on Riker’s Island & take a train to your plane (ReThink NYC)

Visionary plan for LaGuardia. The New York Times reports that one local resident who thinks big has a grand plan for remaking LaGuardia Airport. His concept would move airport access much closer to Manhattan and expand the airport from two runways to four, and have as many as 160 passenger gates. How could this be? The airport would take over nearby Rikers Island — currently home to a big city jail — and put all the passenger gates there, freeing up space at the existing airport for more runways; a transportation terminal at the southern tip of The Bronx would bring in passengers from subways and Amtrak trains; and the whole thing would be linked with underground trains. Talk about outta-the-box thinking!

Big improvements planned at DCA. Airlines at Washington Reagan National have come to terms with the airport authority on a plan to invest $1 billion in facility improvements over the next 10 years. The plan calls for construction of a regional airline concourse linked to the north pier; connecting the three B/C piers inside security by moving TSA checkpoints from level 2 to level 3, making for easier connections between American Airlines flights; adding a new parking garage; and overhauling Terminal A.

Bonus Offers: How about a round trip to Hawaii or Mexico for less than $100 on US Airways? Or enough points for two roundtrips and a big jump on coveted Companion Status on Southwest? More…

CARS

(Photo: Uber)

Uber gaining Capitol friends. A new report finds that ride-sharing service Uber is making big inroads among Congress people and their staffs. Specifically, their use of Uber for local transportation increased from a zero percent market share in the 2010 election campaign to 61 percent this year. “Uber has overtaken taxis in both number of rides and amount spent,” the researchers said.

SFO adds another private ride provider. San Francisco International Airport, which in recent weeks reached agreements allowing UberX, Lyft and Sidecar to operate there, has issued a pilot permit to another operator — Wingz (www.wingz.me). Unlike the others, Wingz specializes only in airport transportation, offering a $35 flat rate to SFO for a private ride with “an awesome trained and background-checked driver.” Service should begin within 30 days.

Note: This is part 2 of our weekly “Catch Up” — have you read Part 1?

Study tracks rental processing time. How effective are car rental firms’ express service programs for business travelers? The latest rental customer satisfaction study from J.D. Power finds that the vehicle pick-up and return process for business renters averages 41.5 minutes (including the shuttle ride) — only about three minutes less than the process takes for leisure renters. Overall customer satisfaction dropped slightly this year after rising steadily since 2009. Enterprise, National and Alamo topped the J.D. Power list this year. Hertz ranked #4.

Extra Bonus! Here’s an easy way to top off your Chase Ultimate Rewards balance with 20,000 points!

HOTELS

Hackers said to steal business travelers’ data at hotels. Internet security giant Kaspersky is warning business travelers about a corporate espionage campaign it calls “Darkhotel” that targets senior executives staying at luxury hotels — especially U.S. executives doing business in the Asia/Pacific region. The hackers “trick the person into downloading and installing a backdoor that pretends to be an update for legitimate software, such as Google Toolbar, Adobe Flash or Windows Messenger,” Kaspersky said, and can then hunt for stored passwords and logins as well as business data. The firm said travelers should be “suspicious” of suggested software updates when they are abroad, and should use a VPN provider. Has this ever happened to you– or anyone you know? Do you take any precautions when using a Wi-Fi connection in your hotel? Please leave your comments below.

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Chris evaluates Korean Air’s San Francisco-Seoul 777 service.
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Note: This is part 2 of our weekly “Catch Up” — have you read Part 1?

New extra bonus offer: Get a whopping 50,000 Rapid Rewards points by signing up for Southwest’s Premier card – that’s enough for TWO free tickets.

>>Take a peek at what you may have missed on TravelSkills.com this week! <<

Like what you just read? Then say so! Scroll back up to the top and LIKE the post on Facebook, post it on Linked In and/or tweet it!

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Delta hubs suffer + Shuttle moves at LGA + Oakland BART connection + Double Hilton points

November 2, 2014

The long awaited BART link to Oakland airport expected to open this month (Photo: BART)

AIRLINES

Demand keeps driving fares upward. When the price of oil goes up, air fares go up. So when oil prices fall as much as they have in recent months, air fares go down, right? Not in a period of strong demand for air travel. Jet fuel prices are down 22 percent this year, but an ongoing series of small increases has kept air fares above 2013 levels. According to the federal Bureau of Transportation Statistics’ latest report (for the second quarter of 2014), the average U.S. air fare rose 2.5 percent year-over-year to $396. Delta is a big beneficiary of the higher fares; Its Cincinnati hub once again had the highest average domestic fare at $523, and its Atlanta hub recorded the biggest average fare increase of any major airport — up 11.3 percent to $435. Have you noticed? Please leave your comments below– what’s the most painfully high fare you’ve paid this year?

Delta Shuttle moves at LGA. A reminder to frequent flyers in the Northeast Corridor: Sunday (November 2) is moving day for Delta’s New York-Boston Shuttle flights at LaGuardia. The hourly LGA-BOS flights will move from LGA’s remote Marine Air Terminal to Delta’s recently-renovated Terminal C. The airline has also switched the flights to two-class 717 aircraft with 12 First Class, 15 Economy Comfort and 83 economy seats. Delta’s Chicago and Washington Reagan National Shuttle flights continue to use LGA’s Marine Air Terminal with Delta Connection/Shuttle America E-175s.

Southwest quickly absorbing last remnants of AirTran. This just in from Southwest: “As of today, all flights previously flown by AirTran between seven international destinations and nine domestic gateway cities are now flown exclusively by Southwest. Additionally, Southwest is proud to announce that we have finalized the integration of Southwest.com and AirTran.com. Effective today, Customers attempting to access AirTran.com will be routed to an informational page on Southwest.com where they can book travel, view integration-related FAQs, and find loyalty program information.”

Air Canada changes loyalty plan. Air Canada is the latest major carrier tighten up the rules of its frequent flyer program. For 2015, the minimum flight requirement to reach Altitude status levels is increasing and the minimum 500-mile earning per flight will end. On March 15, the number of eUpgrade credits to upgrade to business class will rise, but members will also be able to use those credits to upgrade to Premium Economy.

Some say that business class on American's B777-300ER is the best in the US. What do you think? (Photo: American Airlines)

Some say that business class on American’s B777-300ER is the best among US carriers. What do you think? (Photo: American Airlines)

Route news: AA, JetBlue, Alaska. Faced with new competition from Delta between Los Angeles and London Heathrow, American said it will add a second daily non-stop on the route in March, using another of its popular 777-300ERs (giving it a total of four a day in combination with joint venture partner British Airways) … JetBlue keeps growing at Ft. Lauderdale. In its latest expansion last week, it added flights to Cartagena, Jacksonville, Las Vegas and Pittsburgh … On March 5, Alaska Airlines will begin service three times a week between San Diego and Kona on Hawaii’s Big Island.

AIRPORTS

Oakland prepares for BART launch. An extension of Bay Area Rapid Transit rail service to Oakland International Airport is expected to start passenger service sometime this month, and testing of the trains is already under way. The 3.2-mile extension will link Oakland’s Coliseum Station to the airport, and will replace the buses currently used for that purpose, with trains running every four to five minutes. Here’s a video of the pre-launch testing of the new OAK trains. In typical municipal fashion, BART is not willing to offer up a hard date for opening…but says it might be up and running before the holidays. (See photo above.)

DOT probes ‘interference’ in new Georgia airport. The Transportation Department is looking into a complaint that Delta may have interfered in efforts to develop a second Atlanta-area airport. The complaint was filed by county commissioners in Paulding County, who said they want to see commercial low-cost air service at Silver Comet Field, about 40 miles northwest of Atlanta. Atlanta is the only one of the 10 largest U.S. metro areas that doesn’t have a secondary airport. UPDATE: DOT is not investigating Delta per se, according to FORBES.

Customs kiosks come to Denver. Denver International is the latest U.S. airport to install Automated Passport Control (APC) kiosks for U.S. citizens returning from international trips. The 16 new BorderXPress APCs — which passengers can use to provide passport and customs declaration information and to verify identities — are expected to speed up processing, especially during the busy 4-7 p.m. period. The APCs are now in 17 U.S. airports.

POPULAR this week: How often do planes get washed? Surprising answer

TRENDS

Do your eyes glaze over when you hear or read about yet another report, panel discussion or product launch focusing on millennial travelers? This young demographic cohort is getting so much attention that other important segments of the population might be getting overlooked. In this post for the Switchfly blog, Chris examines the full spectrum of US generations and exposes their traits when it comes to travel. First of all, he labels them. (Age ranges are estimations.)

GenZ or iGen (under 15)
Millennial or Gen Y (14-34)
GenX (35-49)
Boomer (50-69)
Silent (70-84)
Greatest (85+)

CARS

Uber wins a legal round in Las Vegas. A Nevada judge last week turned down the state attorney general’s request for a temporary restraining order to block ride-sharing service Uber from launching service in Las Vegas. The operation is being opposed by the Nevada Taxicab Authority and the state transportation authority. It’s just the beginning of the legal battle; a hearing on a requested preliminary injunction is set for November 14. But in the meantime, Uber is operating in Las Vegas. Viva!

HOTELS

The Grand Premier Suite at the new Moskva hotel in Moscow

The Grand Premier Suite at the new Four Seasons Hotel Moscow (Photo: Four Seasons)

Four Seasons debuts in Moscow. The old Hotel Moskva, located close to Red Square on central Moscow’s Manezhnaya Square, was reborn last week as the Four Seasons Hotel Moscow. The historic facade was preserved, but the interior was remade, including the hotel’s 180 rooms and suites. It has a 24-hour business center, a fleet of Wi-Fi-equipped BMWs, and a signature Italian restaurant; a spa will open early next year.

Double points at Hilton. Last week, Hilton unveiled a new promotion for HHonors members who sign up online: They can earn double points from now through January 31, beginning with their second stay.

Have you voted in our hotel wi-fi speed poll yet? Read our post about Marriott’s big move this week… Check out the results below after you vote!

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In Case You Missed It…

Look closely and you’ll see the “space ship” part of this aircraft in the middle– it detaches from the larger aircraft to shoot into space. That’s the part that crashed on Friday. (Photo: Chris McGinnis)

>Our disturbingly up-close-and-personal photos & video of Virgin Galactic’s spaceship that crashed on Friday.

>Marriott is expanding free basic Wi-Fi for Rewards members who book direct.

>American Airlines revealed plans for merging frequent flyer programs with US Airways.

>JetBlue’s new Mint service drives down JFK-SFO premium fares.

>>Take a peek at what you may have missed on TravelSkills.com this week! <<

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Big United-Hertz deal + Uber in Vegas? + Virgin in Atlanta + Biz class sale + Holiday Inn NYC

October 25, 2014

Virgin Atlantic’s brand new Dreamliner touched down at ATL with Richard Branson onboard this week (Photo: Hartsfield-Jackson)

This week! Uber getting scrappy in Las Vegas – A Virgin 787 lands in Atlanta – Big changes for United flyers who rent cars – United & KLM discount holiday business class….

AIRLINES

Virgin Atlantic in Atlanta. Last Thursday Virgin Atlantic loaded up its newest plane, a Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner, with two rock bands and Sir Richard Branson for a promotional trip to Atlanta, touching down at Hartsfield-Jackson on Thursday. Virgin’s new daily nonstop service (using an Airbus A330) cranks up this Sunday. The new Virgin flight replaces Delta on one of the latter’s three daily Atlanta-LHR roundtrips. Simultaneously, Delta is taking over one Virgin Atlantic’s two daily LAX-LHR flights. This is just one of several new flights Virgin has planned for Atlanta– Virgin’s Chris Rossi said that within 6-8 months the airline will launch nonstops to Manchester, England and will add a second daily Atlanta-London nonstop.

United/Hertz ink exclusivity deal. Big changes are in store for United’s MileagePlus members who rent cars. On November 1, the loyalty program kicks off an exclusivity agreement with Hertz Corp. and its three brands (Hertz, Dollar, Thrifty), making them the only ones that earn MileagePlus miles. Members will generally earn more miles for Hertz rentals than before — using a per-rental basis rather than the current per-day basis, on a sliding scale ranging from 500 miles for general members up to 1,250 for top-tier elites. (Dollar and Thrifty earning levels are unchanged.) In January, top-level elites will also be able to sign up free for Hertz’s President’s Circle. A United spokeswoman confirmed to TravelSkills that the deal means members won’t be able to earn miles with other rental companies currently listed as MileagePlus partners — Avis, Alamo, Budget, National and Sixt. Does this mean similar deals might be forthcoming from American and Delta with Avis/Budget and Enterprise/National/Alamo?

KLM’s new lie-flat business class seat– on sale for holiday trips (Photo: KLM)

Watch for holiday biz class sales. If you don’t mind taking business trips around the holidays (or are looking for a cushy ride home or on vacation), you might score some great deals on premium-cabin fares, since business travel normally drops off then. E.g., United is offering discounted BusinessFirst travel to South America in late December, with roundtrip fares like $2,473 from Chicago to Santiago and $2,944 from Houston to Sao Paulo. KLM has business class sale fares to Europe for travel December 15-January 3 including $1,803 roundtrip from New York to Barcelona and $2,651 from Washington to Amsterdam.

New overseas routes begin. It’s a big weekend for new international routes. Delta on Sunday (October 26) launches a daily Los Angeles-London Heathrow non-stop with a 767-300ER. Meanwhile, United is launching a pair of new transpacific routes on the same day, including daily San Francisco-Tokyo Haneda 777 flights (in addition to its SFO-Narita flights), and service six times a week between LAX and Melbourne, using a new 787-9 Dreamliner (that one’s 15 hours 45 minutes westbound, about an hour less eastbound).

European court rules on flight delays. Is an aircraft’s arrival time determined by when its wheels touch down or when the door is opened? It makes a difference in Europe, where consumer regulations assign levels of compensation based on how long a passenger has been delayed — up to $800 on transatlantic flights. According to a firm called Flightright, which tracks these matters, the court has ruled that a flight’s arrival time is determined by when the cabin door is opened — not when it lands.

Codeshare, interline pacts announced. American Airlines on October 26 starts code-sharing with Jetstar Japan, putting the AA designator on domestic flights from Tokyo Narita to Fukuoka, Matsuyama, Osaka (Kansai) and Sapporo. Jetstar’s owners include Oneworld carriers Qantas and Japan Airlines. Meanwhile, Alaska Airlines has inked an interline pact with Florida’s Silver Airways, permitting single ticketing for connecting itineraries. Silver serves multiple destinations in Florida and the Bahamas.

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CARS

Uber now in Vegas, maybe

Uber in Vegas, baby. At long last, Uber is operating in Las Vegas as of this weekend according to its company blog. That’s great news to Uber addicts who could never believe that the ride sharing company did not operate there. The service got off to a rocky start, however, and its future is now uncertain (at least in the short term) since a federal judge blocked Uber from operating in Nevada just four hours after its launch. Despite the block, an Uber spokesperson told TravelSkills that as of Saturday morning (Oct 25) Uber is operating and its cars are on the road. Currently Uber is the only rideshare service with the will and deep pockets to go up against the powerful and well-connected taxicab industry in the state- Lyft, Sidecar and others are not in the market. Stay tuned… In the meantime, an interesting read about why Vegas is ripe for ridesharing from the Cato Institute.

UPDATE 4:30PM Saturday: Uber is still operating in Las Vegas. The court order applies to rides in Carson City only and Uber expects an apology from the Attorney General according to The Las Vegas Review Journal.

SFO comes to terms with UberX, Lyft. San Francisco flyers who worried about using UberX or Lyft for airport rides that were technically illegal can relax. SFO officials said last week they have forged agreements with both ride-finding companies that will allow their drivers to pick up and drop off riders at airport terminals. The announcement comes a week after the airport inked a similar deal with Sidecar. “Both companies are expected to begin operations at the airport within the next 30 days,” a spokesman said. Terms of the agreements were not disclosed, but they could lead to similar deals at other airports where the companies have been at odds with local officials and taxicab operators.

(Disclosure: If you sign up for Uber via our links, you get a free ride, up to $30, and so do we. Thanks for your support!)

The tallest Holiday Inn. Photo by architects GKAPC in NYC

HOTELS

World’s tallest Holiday Inn debuts. A 50-story, 490-room hotel said to be the world’s tallest Holiday Inn was due to open last week in lower Manhattan’s Financial District. Located at the corner of Washington and Rector streets, it has Executive Club Level rooms, many with great city or river views.

Openings in China. Newly opened business hotels in China this month include the Rosewood Beijing, a five-star, 293-room property from Texas-based Rosewood Hotels located in the city’s Chaoyang central business district across from the iconic CCTV Tower; the 386-room Haikou Marriott, in the capital city of southern China’s Hainan Province; and Starwood’s Castle Hotel, a Luxury Collection property in Dalian, in northeast China.

In Case You Missed It…

>Understanding your Tokyo airport options.

>What to expect at American Express’ new SFO Centurion Lounge.

>The Apple iPad Air 2’s SIM card offers carrier flexibility.

>The U.S. is seeing a boom in hotel construction.

>>Take a peek at what you may have missed on TravelSkills.com this week! <<

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Ebola-mania + First class transcon fares soar? + Southwest: we’re sorry + Sidecar worth a look

October 18, 2014

Some good common sense advice about Ebola from the World Health Organization

This is Part 1 of our weekend TravelSkills News Roundup… did you read Part 2?

All ebola, all the time. The relentless saturation news coverage of ebola may not bother veteran road warriors, but it is having an impact on the general public. In a new Reuters-Ipsos survey, almost half of the 1,577 respondents said they plan to avoid international air travel. Meanwhile, Frontier Airlines keeps re-cleaning that plane — now out of service — that an ebola victim flew on a week ago, and tracking down some 800 passengers who were on that flight or subsequent ones on that aircraft. The Centers for Disease Control issued guidelines to airlines about dealing with sick passengers and cleaning planes. And other parties are taking their own steps, from the Air Canada flight attendants who said they will start wearing plastic gloves in-flight to individual travelers who are donning everything from face masks to homemade hazmat suits. This in spite of the fact that experts say catching ebola on an aircraft is extremely unlikely.

ATL-California first class fares to soar? Southwest told TravelSkills that the final two-class AirTran flight departs SFO as a redeye to Atlanta on Nov 1, 2014. After that it’s all Southwest-all-the-time with its one class of service for the four-hour flight. With only United and Delta offering first class seats on the route, you can bet those front-of-the-plane fares are going to swell. We’ll keep an eye on it. Right now, you can buy a first class, round trip seat on AirTran, Delta or on SFO-ATL or LAX-ATL for about $1,000-$1,200 round trip. Let’s see how long that lasts post-AirTran. Peering into January, Delta’s first class fares on ATL-SFO are already at about $1,500.

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A Southwest B737 outfitted in a State of California flag livery. (Photo: Chris McGinnis)

AirTran/Southwest loyalty merger due soon. You don’t hear much about AirTran any more since Southwest has been relentlessly absorbing the routes of its subsidiary into its own system, but a significant date in the merge is coming up soon. On November 2, the two airlines’ frequent flyer programs — Rapid Rewards and A+ Rewards — will be fully combined. Here’s a handy guide to the things members should know about protecting all their program assets. A Southwest spokesperson told TravelSkills that the AirTran brand will be completely gone by December 28th– by that date all operations will be under the Southwest name and not a single AirTran liveried plane will remain in service.

Southwest says ‘We’re sorry.’ In an unusually frank letter to its best customers, Southwest Airlines has admitted it hasn’t been doing so well with on-time performance lately, and pledged to take steps that will improve the situation — from making sure its first flights of the day leave on schedule to lengthening turnaround times. TravelSkills reader DL received the note and sent us this comment via email: Today I got a letter from Southwest’s “Senior Vice President, Customers.” It was a form letter that described Southwest’s recent troubles with on-time performance, which have stung me for much of 2014 and caused me to consider using other airlines when booking important flights. (I would say that half of my Southwest flights in 2014 were delayed by more than 30 minutes, sometimes by as much as 3 hours.) The letter explained that Southwest was spacing out the time between flights to boost its on-time performance. One wonders whether these new airfare deals [posted earlier this week] are designed to lure back customers who had drifted away. Regardless, I still like the airline and fly them a lot.”

Stay tuned…More important airline news coming TOMORROW in our second installment of Catching up on Travel News with TravelSkills!

CARS

The Sidecar app

Ride-finding service wins SFO approval. While larger competitors Uber and Lyft still await an official nod to start operating at San Francisco International Airport, a smaller firm called Sidecar already has one, and will start airport rides within 30 days. Sidecar will pick up and drop off passengers in the departures area, and its drivers will use the cell phone lot to wait for requests. The firm agreed to pay the airport a per-ride fee similar to the ones regular taxis pay. Interesting: Sidecar drivers set their own prices for each ride and will inform you of the total price BEFORE the ride. Currently, Sidecar operates in San Francisco, Los Angeles, Long Beach, San Diego, Seattle, Chicago, Charlotte NC, Boston, and Washington, D.C. Have you used Sidecar? Would you use it if it were cheaper than Uber? Please leave your comments below.

Flightcar in Seattle. Meanwhile, Flightcar (see our recent post: How to park free at the airport) — which lets business travelers rent out their cars to others while they’re away — has started operating at Seattle-Tacoma International; it already does business at SFO, ATL and BOS.

This is Part 1 of our weekend TravelSkills News Roundup… did you read Part 2?

In Case You Missed It…

>The intersection of America’s obsession with food and travel.

>Virgin America’s cutting-edge ad agency issued a mind-dulling six-hour online video about a fictional “BLAH Airlines” to show how boring its competitors are.

>Frequent travelers are getting some new perks and facilities at SFO.

>AT&T has a new plan for international calling.

>See Virgin America’s new facilities at Dallas Love Field.

>>Take a peek at what you may have missed on TravelSkills.com this week! <<

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Taxi usage down 65% + Newark, LAX upgrades + Plush transfers at DEN + TSA wait times decline

September 21, 2014

United's upgraded terminal at Newark could soon look a lot like this one-- which is Delta's a La Guardia. (Photo: OTG)

United’s upgraded terminal at Newark could soon look a lot like this one–> Delta’s Terminals C&D at La Guardia. (Photo: OTG)

Terminal renovations at Newark. United Airlines is teaming up with OTG Management for a $120 million overhaul of Newark Liberty’s Terminal C over the next 18 months. UA’s hub terminal will get 55 new dining venues, and passengers will have free access to thousands of iPads “to track their flight, order from chef-created menus, and purchase travel amenities for delivery directly to their seat in the terminal while browsing the Internet,” United said. (This set up should sound very similar to Delta flyers who use New York La Guardia airport frequently– it’s the exact same concept.)

LAX upgrade. Meanwhile, LAX officials last week marked the groundbreaking for a $508 million makeover of Southwest’s Terminal 1 at that airport. It will get a new 12-lane security checkpoint, automated checked bag system, new and expanded dining and retail concessions; and relocation of the terminal entrances to the west end of the building.

Air France Update: Over the weekend, Air France pilots extended their crippling strike until Sept 26. The French carrier is flying about 40% of its flights.

SF Taxi biz down a whopping 65% (Photo: Athan / Flickr)

Taxi usage in SF down 65%! Ride-finding apps like Uber and Lyft have become so popular in tech-savvy San Francisco (where Uber launched in 2009) that the city’s traditional taxi business is in a downward spiral. A new report presented to city transportation officials said that the number of taxi trips in San Francisco has plummeted by 65 percent over the past 15 months. Have you switch away from cabs in favor of Uber, Lyft or other services in SF or elsewhere? Please leave your comments below. For me, I’m currently stuck in Las Vegas, a surprisingly non-Uber city, and feel lost without it! (Want $30 off your first Uber ride? Click here!)

Mercedes tarmac transfers at DEN. United’s best customers (Global First flyers and Global Services members) now have the opportunity for Mercedes-Benz SUV tarmac transfers to their connecting flights at Denver International. The service is already available at Chicago, Houston, Newark, San Francisco, LA and Dulles. (Something else that should be familiar to Delta’s ultra-elites who get tarmac transfers in Porsches.)

Runway closure at ATL. The northernmost runway at Atlanta Hartsfield-Jackson closed down last week for paving work that will continue through October 15. Four runways remain open, and because September and October are slow traffic months, “the runway closure is not expected to significantly affect flight traffic,” a spokesman said. However, TravelSkills reader RD begs to differ: On Sunday morning he wrote: “Just landed this morning at ATL and this is already creating a mess for arrivals. It added about 10 minutes to our taxi time.”

Inside the first class section of a United E175 (Embraer)

United adds more 76-seat jets. United Airlines is broadening its commitment to the Embraer 175 by ordering another 50 of the two-class, 76-seat aircraft for United Express, to be operated by a subsidiary of Republic Airways Holdings. The carrier is already taking delivery of its first batch of 70 E175s; the next 50 will come online from 2015 through 2017. The aircraft offer first class, Economy Plus and regular economy seats. Next year, United Express will start to remove 31 Q400 turboprops from its fleet. Last week, United Express started deploying the E175 at San Francisco, on the SFO-St Louis route; on October 26, it will put the planes on SFO-Austin, Dallas and Minneapolis flights.

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WestJet, Air Canada add bag fees. Canadian carrier WestJet, which flies to a number of U.S. cities and has code-sharing pacts with Delta and American, is ending its “first checked bag free” policy for passengers who buy its bottom-tier Econo fares. The new $25 fee for the first checked bag is effective for travel starting October 29. The carrier also launched a new WestJet Rewards tier program with three levels — teal, silver and gold — starting October 29; it’s based on spending rather than miles flown. In response, Air Canada — which already has a first-bag fee on transborder flights — said it would impose a similar $25 bag fee starting November 2 on domestic passengers traveling on its economy class Tango fares.

Routes: DL grows in Texas; Frontier comes to ORD. Delta Connection/Compass Airlines will begin four daily LAX-DFW flights on November 3; add a third daily LAX-Austin roundtrip November 2; and start twice-daily LAX-San Antonio flights April 7, 2015 … Frontier Airlines started flying out of Chicago O’Hare last week, with six flights a week to Washington Dulles.

So, what do you think of Spirit Airlines flamboyant new livery? Comments below, please! (Photo: Spirit)

AIRPORTS

TSA: Line times are down. The TSA says it is meeting its goal of getting all travelers through security after a wait of less than 20 minutes. From June through August of this year, the agency said, 99.6 percent of all travelers waited in security lines less than 20 minutes — and 99.98 percent of those in the expedited PreCheck lanes “moved through the checkpoint in less than 10 minutes.” And that’s with a total of 173 million persons screened during those summer months. Do TSA’s numbers about waiting times sound right to you, based on your experience?

SFO encourages networking, brainstorming. The newest public facility at San Francisco International is oddly called “#Converge@flySFO” — an 850-square-foot space in the International Terminal, boarding area G, on Level 3 near Gate G93. Equipped with tables, chairs, power outlets, Wi-Fi and a wall-sized white board with markers, “the space is designed to allow travelers to meet and exchange thoughts on technology, shared economies, and ideas that could make the world a better place,” a spokesman said. Persons who want to use it should post their topic, date and time via social media channels using the hashtag #Converge, and tagging @flySFO so the airport can repost it.

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HOTELS

Marriott wants maids tipped. In thousands of Marriott hotel rooms across the group’s various brands, guests will soon start seeing envelopes encouraging them to tip their maid. Housekeeping workers reportedly receive tips less often than other hotel staff, and the company wants to make sure they’re not forgotten. It suggests $1 to $5 a night, depending on the room rate. We’d love to hear you sound off about hotel tipping and Marriott’s moves. Please leave your comment

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Dear Readers: The TravelSkills blog will be on vacation until September. We hope you have a nice summer!

TravelSkills POLL

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What are the two best all-around credit cards? Both currently offer 40,000 mile sign up bonuses!

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What are the two best all-around credit cards? Both currently offer 40,000 mile sign up bonuses!

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What are the two best all-around credit cards? Both currently offer 40,000 mile sign up bonuses!

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What are the two best all-around credit cards? Both currently offer 40,000 mile sign up bonuses!

>>Take a peek at what you may have missed on TravelSkills.com this week! <<

Extra Bonus! Here’s an easy way to top off your Chase Ultimate Rewards balance with 20,000 points!

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