Gasoline prices are in retreat. Many hotels are offering a free night's stay. And as Memorial Day nears — kicking off the summer travel season — More Americans say they plan to take a vacation this year summer than last, but many of us will stay at our desks.It's not just higher airfares and escalating hotel fees that will cause some Americans to forgo a summer getaway. The nation's nose-to-the-grindstone culture — which only intensified during the Great Recession— has resulted in many Americans leaving vacation days on the table. "Americans are a hard-working lot, and they're ambitious and have a lot of priorities," says Carroll Rheem, senior director of research at PhoCusWright, a travel industry research firm. Its survey of more than 2,000 U.S. ... Continue reading →
The airline is picking up AirTran's flights to Mexico and the Caribbean after buying its rival last year. It's getting a new reservations system to handle overseas bookings and is seeking to build an international terminal at Houston's Hobby Airport, where it says it could ultimately add 25 flights abroad a day.Building an international presence is a significant shift for Southwest, which flew to success by focusing on reliable, low-fare service within the U.S. And it's another sign that the one-time niche carrier is increasingly competing on the same turf as the big network airlines, the so-called legacy carriers, such as United, Delta and American."Flying into more congested markets, now trying to go overseas … it seems like they're becoming a legacy carrier," says Basili ... Continue reading →
Una Noche con Periodistas Join us for our NAHJ Washington, D.C. Chapter fundraiser and live auction. Enjoy a drink and eat a fajita taco with top journalists from the Washington area. Relax and bring a friend to mix and mingle in the home of Ray Suarez, PBS NewsHour Senior Correspondent and NAHJ member. Latin jazz band Club 209 will fill the night with music. Cost: $50, per person, includes one drink ticket. *Reduced Cost: If you cook a side dish, it’s $25, per person, plus a drink ticket. *Must purchase by June 1. To Buy tickets e-mail nahjdc@gmail.com Venga a disfrutar de un trago, comida, música y la compañía de sus compañeros periodistas. Acompáñenos este 9 de junio en la residencia de Ray Suarez, reportero ... Continue reading →
Families with children who aren't flying first or business class now have to board with their ticketed boarding groups.The airline adopted the policy last month "to simplify the boarding process and to reduce the overall number of boarding groups," says United spokesman Charles Hobart.Most airlines, including JetBlue Airways, Virgin America and Delta Air Lines, let families with small children board before most coach passengers."We work to make the travel experience as comfortable and easy as possible for our customers and know that families traveling with small children may have their hands full and need extra time to get settled in on their flights," says JetBlue spokeswoman Allison Steinberg.The move comes as airlines increasingly charge fees for passengers to board early and sit in certain seats. ... Continue reading →
