Hotels love mandatory resort fees. The obvious reason is that resort fees are a way to pad rates on each and every room, even if a traveler does nothing more than sleep in a bed at night. And since resort fees don’t show up in initial rate searches, resort fees also make a room look less expensive than it is. It is a form of false advertising.
About Janice Hough
It’s not just “little people.” United Airlines devalues Global Services
In return for their spending, Global Services members get concierge-like treatment, with special phone numbers and airport assistance, along with the highest priority for upgrades. Knowledgeable travelers, and travel agents, also have known that when an upgrade is waitlisted, and there are still any premium seats left on the plane, a phone call 24 hours in advance will get that upgrade confirmed. Earlier this week, however, a United agent told me they were just informed this was going to stop. Global Services members still get the highest priority, but United will keep trying to sell those last premium seats until the last minute.
Early check-in tips for hotels
One of the biggest challenges for travel agents and travelers with hotels is the early check-in requests. Sometimes early check-in is just a convenience thing, or a traveler’s desire to drop off their bags at a hotel before heading out for the day. In other cases, particularly after a red-eye flight, early check-in can feel pretty crucial, especially when all you want to do is nap or at least lie-down.
So, how much do cruise lines make by double-selling cabins?
Travel agents get offers from cruise lines relatively frequently for clients, usually for unsold cabins that the line is trying to fill with some extra revenue. (In some cases, a cruise line will even give a complimentary upgrade, but that’s increasingly rare as their yield management improves. Along with their increasing ability to upsell the better cabins.) In the case of resaie of cabins that customers cannot use, should there be some compensation?
Human hotel booking helps in the Web age
Human hotel booking can be important, especially in special circumstances These days it’s hard to keep track of all the online booking sites for various […]
Has social media created passenger monsters?
Might entitled passenger monsters be creating problems on flights? These days we almost can’t go a week without seeing some sort of horror story about […]
Extra time before a cruise is the best insurance
Travel insurance can be a life-saver, or at least a trip-saver. But, extra time before a cruise is the best insurance. But beyond insurance, travelers can also help themselves by not cutting things too close for arrival before a cruise or a tour departs.
When it’s time to stop reading online reviews
It doesn’t matter what travel product is reviewed. Iif you’re reading this I challenge you to look up your favorite place on TripAdvisor. I guarantee someone will have been unhappy there. And yes, many people take a few bad reviews with a grain of salt. But it’s easy to get fixated on the negatives. And in some cases, for example, about a particular cabin type on a ship. There may not be that many specific reviews, so one unhappy person can skew the overall feeling.
Marriott-Starwood merger — the first big anti-consumer cancellation policies?
Marriott’s new cancellation policies will mean consumers will have to be more aware of changes. Marriott touts their buying Starwood Hotels and Resorts as a […]
5 forbidden words when using a travel agent
Any traveler who uses a travel agent, especially the first time they use a travel agent, should read on. Leaving these 5 forbidden words out of the requests to any travel agent will save both traveler and agent a lot of time.
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