Archive for the ‘technology’ Category

Seems that the hotel industry is FINALLY hearing what business travelers have been screaming about for the last, oh, five years or so. They are getting around to making free Wi-Fi standard, instead of a pricey add-on, even at full-service brands that seem to be hold outs.

You’ll still get it free and easy at moderate brands like Best Western, Marriott Courtyard, Hampton or Holiday Inn. Mod new brands like Hyatt’s Andaz, InterConti’s Indigo and Starwood’s Aloft or Element offer it free.

But to get it from the posher players, there are hoops: for example, at Fairmont, Omni or Kimpton, you must first sign up for their (free) loyalty programs. Also, some larger companies with buying clout and good travel managers get free Wi-Fi as part of a negotiated rate with the hotel.

WARNING: This seems to be an almost exclusively American phenomenon as hotels, especially in big European capitals, continue their rapacious ways—charging $20-$40 per day for Wi-Fi.

What’s the most you’ve ever paid for Wi-Fi? Where did you pay it? Leave your comments below.

Don’t Forget! BOOK ALL YOUR ONLINE TRAVEL VIA LINKS FROM THE TICKET!

airtran.com | delta.com |  Hotwire

In an interesting move, Marriott has installed hi-def, hi-priced Cisco Telepresence Suites at two hotels in Bethesda, MD and New York City. (Your TICKET editor conducted an interview with a Cisco exec via Telepresence last year, and I must admit, it really did feel like we were in the same room—except for the eye contact, which was a little off-kilter. But still…)

Marriott is not stopping with two hotels. You’ll soon find Telepresence at Grosvenor House (London), a JW Marriott Hotel; JW Marriott Hong Kong; Renaissance Sao Paulo; JW Marriott San Francisco, JW Marriott Marquis Miami; Renaissance Washington, DC; Atlanta Airport Marriott Gateway; and Dallas/Fort Worth Airport Marriott with more to follow.

It’s ironic that a big travel industry player would jump on the virtual meetings bandwagon, but Marriott sees this as a new revenue stream, and we think they are on to something.

It sorta works like this: A small group of U.S. based businesspeople would travel to say, New York, and have a meeting via Telepresence with a group of colleagues in say, Hong Kong. The business people on both ends would save money, time and jetlag by not having to fly overseas. Marriott would still make money by housing execs traveling into New York and Hong Kong in addition to its percentage of the fees charged for usage of the suite. Everybody wins.

More info here.

Don’t Forget! BOOK ALL YOUR ONLINE TRAVEL VIA LINKS FROM THE TICKET!

airtran.com | delta.com |  Hotwire

By now most travelers have heard about Twitter, a social networking tool now used by millions. While you may think that Twitter is only something used by high schoolers staying in touch with each other, you may want to think again.

Journalists and bloggers, especially those who write about travel, have glommed onto the service like crazy to help keep track of the ever-changing travel beat. (You can follow TICKET editor Chris McGinnis here: http://twitter.com/cjmcginnis) See also the “t” icon at the upper right margin of this blog…

Travel companies are experimenting with ways to feed the media with helpful news and info. And they are also experimenting with ways to offer up some good deals to the “twitterati” or regular users of twitter. A recent effort to track and post last minute airfare bargains by airfare search sites fly.com and farecompare.com should appeal to ATL-based bargain hunters.

>From Fly.com (fewer deals posted, but easy to understand and book) http://twitter.com/atlfares

>From FareCompare.com (does a good job monitoring overall prices, but gets a bit too granular for the average bargain hunter) http://twitter.com/flyfromATL

If you are a frequent international traveler and don’t like to wait in line at customs and immigration at ATL or elsewhere, checkout the new Global Entry program from Homeland Security.

It streamlines the process by allowing members to bypass regular passport processing lines. Users will instead enter at a Global Entry Kiosk, insert their passport, provide biometric digital fingerprints, answer a few customs declaration questions, and then present a transaction receipt to a customs officer before leaving the inspection area. Sounds easy enough!

Global Entry kiosks are available for international arrivals at ATL and other major gateway airports in the U.S. There are currently about 27,000 members of Global Entry. Homeland security says that nearly all members get through customs and immigration in five minutes or less. The non-refundable fee to apply is $100. More info here: www.globalentry.gov

Here’s a helpful 1 minute video on how the whole thing works.

Don’t Forget! BOOK ALL YOUR ONLINE TRAVEL VIA LINKS FROM THE TICKET!

airtran.com | delta.com |  Hotwire

Travelers who pay anything for Wi-Fi over the holidays are paying too much…In addition to teaming up with Virgin America to offer free in-flight Wi-Fi, Google will pick up the Wi-Fi tab for travelers logging on at 47 airports across the country now through January 15.

Regrettably, you’ll still have to pay at ATL which is not part of the Google gift. The list of participating airports is a mish-mash of some big majors (Baltimore, Boston, Las Vegas, Pittsburgh, Seattle) and some tiny ones…such as Central Wisconsin, Kalamazoo or Spokane.

We asked our contacts at Google why ATL was not on the list and here’s what they said: “We worked with a variety of providers to make this happen and reached out to all top 50 airports (and the relevant providers) in the U.S. – unfortunately not every airport or provider chose to participate (for a variety of reasons) but we are always open to consider adding other airports or providers should they be interested.”

If you find yourself at one of the 47 airports listed below, just fire up the laptop and select the option for free Wi-Fi. NICE! No credit card or lengthy sign-in process required. This is a good thing because I think the long login process using services like T-Mobile dissuades use more than the nominal fee…just my two cents!

The catch: when you sign on you will be asked if you want to set Google as your home page or try it’s Chrome browser. Also, Google will have access to some aggregate, non-personally identifiable information from each airport.

Delta’s partnering with eBay to provide complimentary Wi-Fi  on all flights equipped with Gogo Inflight Internet during the peak Thanksgiving travel week: Nov. 23-30. You’ll get a special promotion code for the complimentary service onboard. Once you log on, you will be taken to a special eBay shopping page, just in case you’ve still got a looooong list of gifts to buy. Delta now has 262 aircraft equipped with Wi-Fi including all Delta MD-88 and MD-90 aircraft and many 757’s. It will have 300 aircraft with the service by the end of this year.

AIRPORTS GETTING FREE WI-FI FROM GOOGLE:

The optimal price for inflight Wi-Fi seems to be … FREE. At least on Delta, AirTran, American and Virgin America. And at least through the end of this year. But we might start seeing even more freebies…and sponsorships.

Some more news today from Virgin America and Google– especially for those like us who have become addicted to in-flight Wi-Fi and expect it on EVERY flight. Especially those transcons! Although this offer has a time limit, we are thinking that this could be the beginning of a trend….free SPONSORED in-flight Wi-Fi. What do you think of that?

Here’s the announcement from Virgin:

San Francisco – Oct. 19, 2009 – Virgin America, the airline that is reinventing domestic travel, today announced an exclusive partnership with Google to offer free in-flight WiFi to all of its guests during the holidays. The two California-based companies known for innovation, entrepreneurialism and for connecting people in new ways, have again joined forces to give Virgin America fliers the gift of in-flight connection during the holiday travel season. From Nov. 10, 2009-Jan. 15, 2010, guests on all Virgin America flights will be able to check email, gift shop online, stay in touch with family and friends via social media, or just go wherever the web takes them – all for free. In May, Virgin America became the first airline to offer Gogo® Inflight Internet service on every flight. Here’s the whole story: http://www.freeholidaywifi.com

This comes on the heels of an announcement by a company called Row 44, which is working with Southwest Airlines and Alaska Airlines to install a new, free, commercially sponsored in-flight Wi-Fi system that works via satellite, versus the current Gogo systems which use a network of ground based antennae.

Frequent travelers have lovingly embraced the iPhone perhaps more than anyone else in the country. (Ooooh! Ahhhhh! Kewl! Hey, check out this new app! Lemme take your pic!)

But that love is getting put to the test as iPhone users, who pay significantly more for their phones and their service plans than most other cellular users, experience dropped calls and slow data retrieval with no end in sight. (This is especially true in two big destinations for TICKET readers: New York and San Francisco. It’s not as big an issue when you are at home in Atlanta, which has decent coverage, for the most part.)

Paying a premium should mean that you get premium quality in return. But based on anecdotal evidence, and a recent rash of negativity in the blogosphere, it’s clear that many iPhone users have had it.

Interestingly, most of the vitriol is directed at AT&T, and not Apple, the maker of the iPhone. (AT&T holds an exclusive contract as the sole provider of the iPhone…for now.)

For most of the last two years, AT&T has acted in true Ma Bell fashion remaining mostly silent on the issue, or offering up vague statements about billion dollar network upgrades. None of that made folks who have to walk outside their home or office to get a signal feel any better.

But now that the complaining has reached fever pitch, AT&T is launching a social media campaign to fight back.

So, iPhone users, meet “Seth the Blogger Guy” in this AT&T-produced video and let us know what you think. Do you believe what he’s saying? How is your AT&T service in Atlanta or elsewhere? PLEASE leave your comments below!

Don’t Forget! BOOK ALL YOUR ONLINE TRAVEL VIA LINKS FROM THE TICKET!

airtran.com | delta.com |  Hotwire |