• What's elliott?
• About elliott
• Contact us

t o p i c s

• Business
• Commentary
• Destinations
• Help
• Leisure
• Technology
• Vault

Copyright Elliott Publishing. All rights reserved. For more information, call (305) 453-4781 or send e-mail to us.

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

March 15, 2004

Say Good-Bye to Cheap Online Rooms
The golden age of finding cheap Internet rates for well-known hotels may be over. Where online travel agencies like Expedia and Hotels.com from the InterActive Corporation once snapped up available rooms from a broad range of hoteliers - often selling those rooms for rates lower than the hotels' own Web sites - brands like Marriott, Starwood and Hilton are pushing back. E-travel agents are still selling those brands, but at the same prices available everywhere else, and often without loyalty program benefits that accrue to customers of the hotels' own sites. The New York Times | Posted 6 a.m.
-- AP: Big hotel chains want more of the action

• The hotels have never been happy with the rates dot-com agencies paid for their rooms. But now that the economy is bouncing back, they're finally able to do something about it. Send us your comments.

Europe Travel Predicted to Suffer
While last week's bombing in Madrid pointed out weaknesses in the security on Europe's rail systems, it also showed that the tourism industry remains vulnerable as it recovers from a three-year slump. "We had already thought travel to Europe would be a little soft because of the weakness of the U.S. dollar. What happened in Spain pointed out the vulnerability," said Jack Kyser, chief economist at the Los Angeles Economic Development Corp. "Definitely there will be people reassessing travel plans." Some travel agents say they expect to book fewer trips to Europe this summer as a direct result of the bombing, especially given that the dollar is so weak compared with most European currencies. The Orange County Register | Posted 6:20 a.m.
-- UPI: Spain may take hit after train bombing

Want an Upgrade? Take a Number
With demand rising and supplies shrinking, getting an upgrade to first class is getting harder. Travelers redeemed about 16.2 million frequent-flier awards for ticketed travel in 2003, a level up about 5 percent from a year earlier, according to frequent-flier expert Randy Petersen, who is based in Colorado Springs, Colo. Requests for first-class upgrades are also booming. ''It creates more demand for those first-class seats,'' says Tim Winship, a frequent-flier expert in Los Angeles. So airlines are juggling upgrade requirements to try to preserve first-class seats for the big spenders and most-frequent fliers. Northwest Airlines and Alaska Airlines both bumped up requirements for domestic upgrades by 5,000 miles on Jan. 1 (to 15,000 total on Northwest and 10,000 total on Alaska). Wall Street Journal | Posted 6:30 a.m.
-- RMN: Now everyone's got a first-class cabin

-----------------------------------

• And finally ... should airlines stop serving alcohol in-flight? Always an engaging topic, but since the carriers would never consider it (even when alcohol-induced air rage becomes a real problem) it's a pointless exercise. The bulletin-board debaters are wasting their virtual breath. Posted 6:40 a.m. | Send us your comments.

>> Yesterday's Notes | Tomorrow's Notes <<

E-mail Elliott | Other bloggers | About this blog

Latest Travel Notes | Complete Archives