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E L L I O T T' S TRAVEL NOTES
Travel news, opinion and analysis

June 25, 2004

Booking Hotel Room No Longer Simple
Time was, not long ago in America, that bedding down in a new and strange place took little planning. You'd call a hotel in a big city, ask the room rate, get a simple answer and make a reservation. Or you'd tire on the road, pull up to a motel, drive to the door of your room. Nowadays, you could lose your equilibrium just trying to make reservations. About the hotel: Do you want traditional or boutique? A place with rooms or an all-suite? A deal with or without breakfast? Will you need to exercise in the morning? Smoking or non? And, the unsettling question: Are you paying too much for any or all of this? Seattle Times | Posted 6:30 a.m.
-- ST: More hotels learning to keep kids happy
-- KIRO: How to lower your hotel bill

• When they say occupancy levels are high this summer, they aren't kidding. I tried to find a quiet little place along the West coast of Florida this weekend, and everything appears to be sold out. Almost makes you wish business wasn't so good. Send us your comments.

US Airways Given '50/50' Chance
Two local labor experts give thumbs-up to US Airways' negotiating strategy, but say the airline still faces an uphill fight in getting the company's five unions to approve $800 million in salary and wage concessions. "I think anybody would agree that it's going to be a difficult task, but I wouldn't go so far as to say it can't be done,'' said Bob Prorok, a labor lawyer with the Downtown law firm Reed Smith. Marick Masters, a business professor at the University of Pittsburgh who is writing an academic paper about US Airways' labor relations, said he believes that the unions, in spite of recent protestations, will eventually cooperate -- but that their concessions won't be enough to save the nation's fifth largest airline from extinction. "It's 50-50, at best, that the airline is going to make it,'' said Masters, who believes that US Airways' new business model just won't fly. Tribune-Review | Posted 6:45 a.m.

New Cuba Travel Rules Set To Begin
The U.S. government will give air charter companies and travelers more time to adjust to stringent new rules curtailing visits to Cuba, a top State Department official said on Thursday. Rules implemented on June 16 oblige thousands of Cuban-Americans visiting relatives on the island to return before June 30 or face fines of up to $55,000. After that date, U.S. residents and citizens will be allowed to visit Cuba once every three years instead of annually. "We are in the process of formulating a response that we will make generally known to the travel service providers, the U.S. Interests Section in Havana and to the public that those who are legally in Cuba will be able to make arrangements to come back to the U.S.," said Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Dan Fisk, the top U.S. diplomat for Cuba. Reuters | Posted 7 a.m.

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• And finally ... Joe Brancatelli's latest column is an interesting read. In it, he makes an unusual - but flattering - reference to Tuesday's article by yours truly in The New York Times. (Thanks, Joe.) Hmmm, I wonder if we'll see that particular column being picked up by USAToday.com. Posted 7:10 a.m. | Send us your comments.

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