Mishaps Of the Seas...

No, not a new ship's name, but it seems appropriate given the sudden spike of problems facing big box ships that cater to the masses.

It was inevitable that the intense competition among the cruise lines would lead to these incidents.  Cruise lines asking for bigger ships built with elaborate amenities, electronics, facilities and capacity all while squeezing costs and pushing the envelop on safety.  These behemoths roaming the seas may continue to experience episodes such as the one that afflicted Carnival Cruise Lines and the "Grandeur of the Seas" over this past weekend. 

While airlines and manfacturers face very rigorous design safety standards, cruise lines and their builders really don't. www.premieretravel.com

TSA Pre Printed on Boarding Passes Goes International

TSA Pre✓™ Expands Expedited Screening Benefits for International Travel

 

WASHINGTON – The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) announced today that beginning May 7, 2013, in addition to domestic travel, TSA Pre✓™ participants will be eligible for expedited screening on select international travel itineraries. Eligible passengers traveling on Alaska Airlines, American Airlines, Delta Air Lines, United Airlines and US Airways will be allowed to leave on their shoes, light outerwear and belt, keep their laptop in its case, and their 3-1-1 compliant liquids/gels bag in a carry-on.

Passengers flying internationally from the 40 participating TSA Pre✓™ airports may be eligible to receive expedited screening. In addition, passengers with connecting domestic flights who arrive in the United States on an international flight may use the TSA Pre✓™ lanes when going through the screening process at participating airports after being cleared by U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP).

“By expanding TSA Pre✓™ beyond domestic air travel, we are further demonstrating our commitment to identifying innovative ways to securely move travelers more quickly through our airports,” said TSA Administrator John S. Pistole. “Through TSA Pre✓™, TSA can quickly process passengers who we know more about. This allows us to focus more of our time on those passengers about whom we know less.”
www.premieretravel.com

Limited-Time United Business Class Discounts

 

At these prices, BusinessFirst isn’t just for business anymore                 Get special low fares to Europe in United BusinessFirst This summer, we're lowering fares on our premium-cabin service to United destinations in Europe from the U.S. Take advantage of this limited-time fare sale and experience the extra space, comfort and personalized service of United BusinessFirst® at significant savings. Choose from London, Paris, Rome, Dublin, Geneva or anywhere we fly in Europe.         Hurry – book your roundtrip ticket by 11:59 p.m. (CT) on July 2, 2013, and travel between June 28 and September 5, 2013. www.premieretravel.com     Book now

United "Adjusts" Change and Cancelation Fee Policy

It has been almost 3 weeks since United silently increased the Change and Cancelation fee which was eventually matched by all the legacy carriers.  Travel management companies and travelers have never been notified of this critical change until today.  So finally, the announcement:

May 15, 2013   United Adjusts Change and Cancelation Fee Policy   United has increased the change and cancelation fees for most non-refundable tickets issued on or after May 15, 2013 for the markets indicated below.    Markets       From To New* Previous Caribbean / Central America / Mexico U.S. / Canada 200 150 South America U.S. / Canada 300 250 U.S. / Canada / Caribbean / Latin / U.S. Virgin Islands Pacific 300 250 U.S. Atlantic 300 250 Caribbean / Central America / Mexico / U.S. Virgin Islands Atlantic 250 - 300 175 - 250 South America Atlantic 300 175 - 250   *The examples above are for most economy class bookings and some fee exceptions may apply. For complete information and additional detail on premium cabins, please see the fare rules of the ticket. Tickets issued prior to May 15, 2013 will follow the fare rules that applied at the time of ticket purchase.   United offers a range of fare types, including select booking classes that allow for changes at no additional charge. MileagePlus Premier® Gold, Premier Platinum and Premier 1K® members may request fee-waived same-day flight changes.       united.com   United Air Lines, Inc. | 233 S. Wacker Drive | Chicago, IL 60606   You are receiving this email because you selected to be notified with news from United Air Lines, Inc. or have an existing business relationship with United. If you wish to no longer receive updates of this kind, please unsubscribe using the link below. The mailbox from which this email is sent is not monitored.

Southwest Airlines Becoming a Legacy Carrier

For the longest time, Southwest Airlines operated an airline like none of the legacy carriers.  The plan was simple: provide good efficient point-to-point service at a discount with a smile and the rest is one of the biggest success stories in sound airline management and model of profitability.  Copycats tried and failed to emulate the Southwest model.  While the method seemed simple, having a savvy team and the execution is not.

Lately however, Southwest kept the smile in their service but happily followed the legacy carriers in drastically increasing fares across the board and upped their hostility towards travel agents.  Agencies get penalized to the tune of $150 per booking if they fail to ticket a reservation.  Even legacy carriers are not that harsh.  It is getting hard to find meaningful savings when fares are compared to legacy carriers especially when you have to trek to distant airports.

Southwest is a great carrier, but they are deviating from their success recipe that they have doggedly followed for over 40 years and allowing new upstarts to finally copy their original recipe.  Just like we did not care too much for the "New Coke" back in the 80's, Southwest is quietly remaking itself with the bungled Coke strategy.
The No change/no baggage fees is being tested as their new subsidiary Air Tran maintained these fees.  Southwest wants to be all things to all travelers, and in the process, they may lose their identity.
www.premieretravel.com


 

United and USAirways Hoping Delta and American Match Increased Change Fees

United Airlines quietly has increased change fees on domestic and international travel from $150/$250 to $200/$300.  United has yet to inform their "travel partners", the travel agency community of this significantly important change.  In doing so quietly, United may be positioning itself to backtrack in case Delta and American don't go along.

So far, only US Airways matched United, and now both carriers await moves by Delta and American.
It is likely that this increase will be rolled back if these competitors don't match.  Southwest Airlines does not charge change fees and has no plans to initiate a change fee structure.

Updated May 1: Wish granted! Delta and American obliged and matched exactly United's initiative.

Sequestration Delays Exposes a Bloated and Outdated FAA

While the FAA administrator Michael Huerta sports a cheshire grin saying there is nothing that can be done about the burgeoning flight delays that is threatening the industry and causing millions in daily losses for airlines and travelers, one thing becomes clear: playing nasty politics with the traveling public and congress could backfire badly.  The truth is that the FAA is an antiquated relic with practices that are highly inefficient and processes that are in bad need of updating.  This is a perfect example of bloated government agency that is rife with cronyism. 

From Wikipedia: The FAA has been cited as an example of regulatory capture, "in which the airline industry openly dictates to its regulators its governing rules, arranging for not only beneficial regulation but placing key people to head these regulators."^[

The FAA has requested and received annual budget increases, while the number of flights in the U.S. has actually decreased over the past few years. Their discretionary travel expenditures, runaway hiring of countless consultants goes without being checked.  The FAA has chosen to play with fire by furloughing essential personnel that are deemed too important to flight safety and are negligently contributing to obstruction of interstate commerce while causing financial and economic harm to the airline industry and the traveling public. 

It is time for congress to put the FAA under scrutiny, to demand efficiency and better practices in serving the taxpayers and the travelers.
www.premieretravel.com