World Travel
Industry Update
February 2,
2010
Featured
Articles This Issue
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Travel News |
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1. |
Getting
Ready for the 2010 Vancouver Olympic Games |
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2. |
Airport
Security Plan Calls for 500 Body Scanners in 2011 |
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Domestic Travel
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3. |
United
Airlines Adds Flexibility to Frequent-Flyer Program |
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4. |
Faulty Gas
Pedals Force Car Rental Companies to Pull Toyotas |
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International Travel
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5. |
British
Airways Complimentary Companion Ticket Offer – Now Extended |
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6. |
Lufthansa
Summer Business Class Special |
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7. |
United
Kingdom Adds Body Scanners |
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8. |
Japan Opens
Routes to Tokyo Airport for U.S. Carriers |
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9. |
Qantas to
Dump Most First-Class Seats |
Travel News
1. Getting Ready for the 2010 Vancouver Olympic
Games
The 2010 Olympic Winter Games will take place in
Vancouver and Whistler, British Columbia, Canada,
February 12-28, 2010. The event is projected to
bring an estimated 225,000 people to the area.
Parking will be extremely limited in downtown
Vancouver and Whistler and the Sea to Sky Highway
will be closed to regular northbound traffic north
of Squamish daily during the Olympics. Anyone
traveling to the area should use public
transportation. There will be additional trains and
buses running during peak travel hours. Security
has been increased at all Canadian airports and this
will affect air passengers. Airspace restrictions
will be in place over a 30 mile radius of Vancouver
International Airport and the Whistler Athletes
Village January 28 – March 24. All aircraft and
passengers flying in the area must go through
security screening. Temporary screening facilities
will be set up at nearly 20 additional airports in
British Columbia to ensure enforcement of these
restrictions. Officials will deploy additional
customs officers and staff at the Douglas, Pacific
Highway, Huntingdon and Aldergrove crossings into
British Columbia. Anyone traveling to the British
Columbia region should allow additional travel time
and be aware of the additional security measures in
the region.
2.
Airport Security Plan Calls for 950 Body Scanners by
year end 2011
Currently there are only 40 body scanners in a total
of 19 airports in the United States. With the 450
to be bought this year and the $215 million proposal
to acquire 500 for next year, there will be a total
of 990 at US Airports. The push for more scanners
was accelerated after the failed Christmas Day
attempt to bomb an airliner. Privacy advocate Marc
Rotenberg calls the scanners “a deeply invasive
intrusion” that will inconvenience millions of
innocent travelers by taking longer than metal
detectors. Senior House Appropriations Committee
member Rep. Nita Lowey welcomes the plan for
additional scanners and said, “The American people
understand that this threat is real, and if we can
provide equipment that will make their flights safer
and prevent another attack, they will be
supportive.”
Domestic Travel
3. United Airlines Adds Flexibility to
Frequent-Flyer Program
United Mileage Plus frequent flyers now can book
one-way flight awards or use a combination of miles
and money for a round-trip flight, hotel stay or car
rental. With Mileage Plus’ new one-way awards and
miles & money awards, members have more ways to use
miles and greater flexibility than ever before. If
a member only needs a one-way ticket, mileage plus’
one-way awards are available for half the miles of a
roundtrip award (starting at 12,500 miles for a
domestic saver award) on United or United
Express-operated flights. For members who are low
on miles or just looking for more ways to use the
miles they have, miles & money awards let them book
a round-trip flight, hotel stay or car rental for
fewer miles and make up the difference in cash. For
example, members can fly round-trip for 10,000 miles
plus $100. For more information
click here.
4.
Faulty Gas Pedals Force Car Rental Companies to Pull
Toyotas
Avis Budget Group, Enterprise Holdings and Hertz
have pulled thousands of Toyotas as well as the
Pontiac Vibe from their fleets after a recall over
faulty gas pedals. The Pontiac Vibe is affected by
the recall because it was a joint venture product
with Toyota, with the same engineering, products and
manufacturing as Toyota vehicles. Avis said that it
is immediately removing about 20,000 Toyotas from
its rental fleets in the U.S., Canada and Puerto
Rico. Enterprise, which is privately held, said the
affected vehicles represent about 4% of its fleet
but it is acting out of “an abundance of caution.”
International
Travel
5. British Airways Complimentary Companion Ticket
Offer – Now Extended
There’s still time for you to take advantage of this
very special offer. If you book by February 26 and
travel by March 31, 2010 you can receive a
complimentary companion ticket which can be used in
conjunction with your next purchased ticket. By
registering for the promotion and flying in any
cabin on a qualifying full fare ticket you will
receive a complimentary companion ticket with your
next purchased ticket. The companion ticket is
valid to any of the more than 300 worldwide
destinations that British Airways flies, for travel
through December 31, 2010. For additional
information, rules and restrictions and to register
click here.
6.
Lufthansa Summer Business Class Special
Let Lufthansa’s great Business Class fares sweeten
your next summer trip to Europe. Sample one-way
fares Atlanta-Berlin $1109*; Boston-Manchester
$959*; Houston-London $961*; New York-Brussels
$859*. Purchase by March 1, 2010 and depart between
June 29 and September 5, 2010. Terms and
Conditions: Saturday night stay is required and
maximum stay is 1 month. Tickets must be purchased
no later then March 1, 2010 and reservation is
required at least 60 days prior to departure. Fares
are subject to change without notice and are based
on the most direct routing to each destination. *
Fares shown are one-way based on mid-week travel and
round-trip purchase, weekend surcharges apply.
Fares do not include applicable fees, taxes and
airport charges up to $245.00, including the
September 11th security fee of a maximum
of $10 per round-trip. Tickets are non-refundable
and other restrictions may apply.
7.
United Kingdom Adds Body Scanners
London’s Heathrow Airport will have full-body scanners installed
next week. Ministers in the U.K. say that airline
passengers will not have the option of getting a
full-body pat-down search rather than going through
a full-body search scanner when the devices are
introduced. The machines’ introduction will be
followed later this year by extra “trace” scanners,
which can detect liquid explosives.
8.
Japan Opens Routes to Tokyo Airport for U.S.
Carriers
U.S. carriers face a deadline of February 10, 2010 to file
route applications for Tokyo’s Haneda Airport.
Under a new agreement with Japan, U.S. carriers can
schedule a total of up to four daily round trips
once a new runway opens in October. The routes to
the Haneda Airport will also be open to carriers
that currently do not serve Japan. The Japanese
government stipulated that all departures and
arrivals must be scheduled for the hours between 10
pm and 7 am, local time, and that departures to the
48 contiguous states must be after midnight.
9.
Qantas to Dump Most First-Class Seats
The Australian Financial Review, quoting a leaked
reconfiguration plan, recently stated Qantas is
planning to dump two-thirds of its first-class
airline seats as part of a radical $400 million
overhaul of its long-haul fleet. Qantas confirmed
it was in talks with suppliers and manufacturers
about implementing changes to its fleet, but
declined to offer further details or to confirm the
story. The changes, which could increase economy
seating areas on planes by up to 20 percent, would
retain first-class seats only on its London and Los
Angeles flights, slashing the number of its
first-class planes to 12 from 30.
Please Note:
Articles in the content of this Corporate Travel and
Supplier news release may not apply to your
company’s travel policies. This publication is
general information intended for all World Travel
clientele.