Traveling
You know you travel too much when you look forward to the first of the month, for the new airline magazine and on demand movies in hotels.
I am traveling over 200 days a year.
This is a spot to share Travel news, information, tips and stories, that I hope will make your travelsjust a little bit better.
6 Comments»
jonstetson wrote @
TripKick
Ever spent top dollar on a hotel, only to get stuck in a crummy room? TripKick.com, which launched in May 2008, solves this dilemma by telling you which floors are best and which rooms to avoid. When we searched for the Hilton Las Vegas, for example, TripKick told us not only which rooms had the best view, but also which were too close to the elevators and noisy vending machines. Travelers can also add their own room ratings. For now, TripKick covers 250 hotels in 12 U.S. cities — and it’s adding a new city each month. The site borrows its concept from the airline-seat rating service SeatGuru, which has provided clear maps of the interior of commercial planes for years. Both sites improve your odds of having a truly bon voyage.
Sean Taylor wrote @
Great tip. My room at Danny’s Vegas bash was crap. I was a paid guest and had the worst room in place. Will give this a try in Nov.
Sean
jonstetson wrote @
Why Americans Should Never Be Allowed To Travel
I found These great comments on http://strangeplaces.net
The following are actual stories provided by travel agents:
I had someone ask for an aisle seats so that his or her hair wouldn’t get messed up by being near the window.
A client called in inquiring about a package to Hawaii. After going over all the cost info, she asked, “Would it be cheaper to fly to California and then take the train to Hawaii?”
I got a call from a woman who wanted to go to Capetown. I started to explain the length of the flight and the passport information when she interrupted me with “I’m not trying to make you look stupid, but Capetown is in Massachusetts. “Without trying to make her look like the stupid one, I calmly explained, “Capecod is in Massachusetts, Capetown is in Africa.” Her response … click.
A man called, furious about a Florida package we did. I asked what was wrong with the vacation in Orlando. He said he was expecting an ocean-view room. I tried to explain that is not possible, since Orlando is in the middle of the state. He replied, “Don’t lie to me. I looked on the map and Florida is a very thin state.”
I got a call from a man who asked, “Is it possible to see England from Canada?” I said, “No.” He said “But they look so close on the map.”
Another man called and asked if he could rent a car in Dallas. When I pulled up the reservation, I noticed he had a 1-hour lay over in Dallas. When I asked him why he wanted to rent a car, he said, “I heard Dallas was a big airport, and I need a car to drive between the gates to save time.”
A nice lady just called. She needed to know how it was possible that her flight from Detroit left at 8:20am and got into Chicago at 8:33am. I tried to explain that Michigan was an hour ahead of llinois, but she could not understand the concept of time zones. Finally I told her the plane went very fast, and she bought that!
A woman called and asked, “Do airlines put your physical description on your bag so they know who’s luggage belongs to who?” I said, “No, why do you ask?” She replied, “Well, when I checked in with the airline, they put a tag on my luggage that said FAT, and I’m overweight, is there any connection?” After putting her on hold for a minute while I “looked into it” (I was actually laughing) I came back and explained the city code for Fresno is FAT, and that the airline was just putting a destination tag on her luggage.
I just got off the phone with a man who asked, “How do I know which plane to get on?” I asked him what exactly he meant, which he replied, “I was told my flight number is 823, but none of these darn planes have numbers on them.”
A woman called and said, “I need to fly to Pepsi-cola on one of those computer planes.” I asked if she meant to fly to Pensacola on a commuter plane. She said, “Yeah, whatever.”
A businessman called and had a question about the documents he needed in order to fly to China. After a lengthy discussion about passports, I reminded him he needed a visa. “Oh no I don’t, I’ve been to China many times and never had to have one of those.” I double checked and sure enough, his stay required a visa. When I told him this he said, “Look, I’ve been to China four times and every time they have accepted my American Express.”
A woman called to make reservations, “I want to go from Chicago to Hippopotamus, New York” The agent was at a loss for words. Finally, the agent: “Are you sure that’s the name of the town?” “Yes, what flights do you have?” replied the customer. After some searching, the agent came back with, “I’m sorry, ma’am, I’ve looked up every airport code in the country and can’t find a Hippopotamus anywhere.” The customer retorted, “Oh don’t be silly. Everyone knows where it is. Check your map!” The agent scoured a map of the state of New York and finally offered, “You don’t mean Buffalo, do you?” “That’s it! I knew it was a big animal!”
andy LoRusso wrote @
What do you get when you cross a Celebrity Chef with a Master Mentalist? “Food For Thought”
A very full evening of food, song and total entertainment.
The experience that I had doubling up with Jon in a Park City Cabin or should I say, very large estate mountain home recently, was one of food, music and total wonderment as to how Jon does what he does on a full stomach as well as an empty one. Besides a seven course meal that I served with song and stories of Italy with beautiful images of some of the most romantic spots that we love to see, just before dessert and after many glasses of some of the finest wines from the clients cellar collection, we all moved into the main sitting room and with the fireplace a blazing Jon led the group , that consisted of about 5 couples plus our agent and his lady, in what was to be a mind blowing interactive, polar game that had everyone not only in stitches but totally glued to his every word. WOW!
After about 90 minutes or so everyone was ready for my dessert and finishing comments and espresso, to cap off the end of a perfect evening of classic entertainment right in the comfort of their own home.
Yes this is the perfect show to book, a “one two” punch. Contact Jon or Andy to book this act and your clients will be happy you did.
jonstetson wrote @
I hope you’ll join others in spreading the word about US Travel Rally Day on May 12th in cities across
the United States. This will be a major demonstration of the industry’s grassroots strength and will take
place during National Tourism Week. Our success in spreading awareness about the importance of meetings
and events will depend on our ability to demonstrate the impact of meetings and events travel at the local level.
It is time to TAKE ACTION to support this cause. Here’s what you can do:
1. Spread the word – forward this email to your contacts and to your clients.
2. Contact your local CVB for more information – they might want your help or donated services
to make this an even bigger success! A list of current supporters is below. If your city is not listed, and
you believe that your community should be involved, please work with your CVB and other stakeholders
In your community to organize a rally. You can make this happen!
3. Print out Keep America Meeting logos to bring your own signs (available at http://www.keepamericameeting.org
under “downloads” section)
4. Attend your local rally. Bring friends and supporters.
5. TAKE PHOTOS – show us your event and the Keep America Meeting signage!
6. Afterwards, share your experiences and post your photos on our Facebook page
at http://www.facebook.com/pages/Keep-America-Meeting/50701582803?ref=mf
A Rally Day toolkit, and other information about the May 12th US Travel Rally Day, may be found
by clicking here: http://www.tia.org/pressmedia/TWFA/rally_day.html
All questions should be directed to your local CVB. Keep checking the US Travel Rally Day website for
more information. Thanks in advance for spreading the word and making this happen.
At least 20 convention and visitors bureaus have committed to staging local rallies and are now in the
planning stages, including:
• Atlanta Convention & Visitors Bureau
• Atlantic City Convention & Visitors Authority
• Beaumont Convention & Visitors Bureau
• Bucks County Conference & Visitors Bureau, Inc.
• Chicago Convention & Tourism Bureau
• Cincinnati Convention and Visitors Bureau
• Destination Bloomington Minnesota, the Bloomington CVB
• Destination DC – Washington, DC
• Galveston Island Convention & Visitors Bureau
• Greater Boston Convention and Visitors Bureau
• Greater Miami Convention and Visitors Bureau
• Greater Phoenix Convention and Visitors Bureau
• Las Vegas Convention & Visitors Authority
• New Orleans Convention and Visitors Bureau
• Northern Kentucky Convention and Visitors Bureau
• Orlando/Orange County Convention and Visitors Bureau
• Philadelphia Convention & Visitors Bureau
• San Antonio Convention and Visitors Bureau
• Seattle’s Convention and Visitors Bureau
• South Padre Island Convention & Visitors Bureau
• Southwest Washington Convention and Visitors Bureau
• State of Texas, Office of the Governor, Economic Development and Tourism
• Visit Jacksonville
The following information regarding travel just came across my desk;
TRAVEL POLICY CHANGE AFFECTS ALL TRAVELERS
To All Travelers,
Beginning May 1st, the U.S. Transportation Security Administration (TSA) will require you, when making a reservation, to provide your full name EXACTLY as it reads on the government issued I.D. with which you travel, your date of birth and your gender. This information will not be optional. The purpose of collecting these details is to allow TSA to perform terrorist watch list matching that is currently being done by each airline. Failure to provide the required elements could: (1) inhibit your ability to get a boarding pass (2) require you to undergo additional airport security screening (3) result in denied boarding of your flight.
For frequent flyers, there is an important note – if your I.D./profile name does not EXACTLY match the name of your frequent flyer accounts, you will not receive frequent flyer miles and elite status will not be recognized. Please compare your government I.D. name with the name on each of your frequent flyer programs and in cases where they do not match, we highly recommend that you begin the process of changing your frequent flyer name today. The process is not automated in most cases and often requires several attempts before you can successfully do a frequent flyer name change. Information can be found below for making these name changes. Please note that airlines require the frequent flyer to make these changes.
Secure Flight Rules Regarding Name
- Your name must match LETTER FOR LETTER what your government issued I.D. shows. If the name on your I.D. is William Quincy Jones then the name on your ticket cannot read William Q Jones.
- Prefixes such as Ms., Mr., Dr. or Rev. are not allowed under Secure Flight, regardless of what is on your I.D.
- Suffixes such as Jr. and III are not allowed under Secure Flight, regardless of what is on your I.D.
Passport Name vs. Driver’s License Name
In many cases, the name listed on each of these documents differs slightly. Please compare your driver’s license name with your passport name. If the names do not match EXACTLY, you have two choices – either change the name on your driver’s license to match your passport or always carry your passport as your government issued I.D. for both domestic and international travel. Remember you cannot change the name on your passport as it must EXACTLY match your birth certificate.
Profile/Frequent Flyer Name Verification Process
Step One – Decide what government issued photo I.D. you intend to travel with and look at your name on that I.D. Do not do this from memory – you may be surprised.
- Remember your name must EXACTLY match LETTER FOR LETTER – no exceptions
Step Two – Visit A & I Travel’s secure link to provide us your name, DOB and gender information. Please remember to have your I.D. in hand. Updates to your A & I profile will begin April 15th and be finalized by April 30.
Step Three – Compare your chosen I.D. name with the names on each of your frequent flyer accounts to determine which, if any need to be changed (process for name change below)
Step Four – Contact the appropriate airline(s) to begin the name change process, in the event of a name mismatch. Depending on the change, you may be able to send an email, but most airlines require a fax or a letter.
- After you have completed the name change process, it will be necessary for you to follow-up with the airline to make sure the change has taken place. It is not unusual to have to go through this process multiple times.
- It is important that you begin any frequent flyer name changes immediately so they will be completed by April 15th.
- At this time, hotel and car vendors do not have this exact name match requirement.