Beat the No-Vacation Nation Blues: See the World in a Weekend

According to a recent survey by Skift.com, a whopping 42% of Americans did not take any vacation days in 2014. Skift is a major travel intelligence and marketing company that provides news, information, data and services to all sectors of the travel industry. While there’s certainly a margin of error involved in such surveys, it’s […]



from Frugal Travel Guy http://www.frugaltravelguy.com/2015/01/beat-the-no-vacation-nation-blues-see-the-world-in-a-weekend.html

Flight 8501 Preliminary Crash Report Will Not Be Made Public

The report will only be made available to "countries that are involved," according to a senior Indonesian official.



from Travel Feedly http://www.ibtimes.com/airasia-flight-8501-preliminary-crash-report-countries-are-involved-wont-be-made-1789538

Startup pitch: SmarterParis drags the guidebook into the mobile era

Many travelers don’t like carrying paper guidebooks with them on vacations. For one thing, they can be heavy in a bag after ...



from Tnooz http://www.tnooz.com/article/startup-pitch-smarterparis-tries-drag-travel-guide-mobile-era/#utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=startup-pitch-smarterparis-tries-drag-travel-guide-mobile-era

The Summer Palace, late in the day

Drought in California I keep hearing about how bad the drought in California — is it as bad as people say? I saw these amazing pictures, taken three years apart. Daily Photo – The Summer Palace, late in the day Even though I've been to Beijing many times now, I'm often confused as the relative […]



from Stuck in Customs http://www.stuckincustoms.com/2015/01/21/the-summer-palace-late-in-the-day/

Looks like those gas station fees were a little scammy, after all

from Elliott http://elliott.org/is-this-a-scam/looks-like-gas-station-fees-little-scammy/

U.S. Outpost in Cuba to Step Out of the Shadows

A building in Havana that has long been a center of intrigue and was once the American Embassy will again serve its diplomatic purpose amid the new détente with Cuba.

















from NYT > Travel http://rss.nytimes.com/c/34625/f/642561/s/4288f9a7/sc/10/l/0L0Snytimes0N0C20A150C0A10C210Cworld0Camericas0Cus0Eoutpost0Ein0Ecuba0Eto0Estep0Eout0Eof0Ethe0Eshadows0Bhtml0Dpartner0Frss0Gemc0Frss/story01.htm

Build a Sales Machine That Works While You Sleep — Free Training with Ramit Sethi

Link: Free Training from Ramit Starting a business can seem overwhelming. With so much terrible advice on the internet, there are thousands of hopeful online entrepreneurs that waste years spinning their wheels wondering “When is the money going to come?” They tend to try random, unconnected tactics without a clear strategy: Get on Facebook and…



from The Art of Non-Conformity http://chrisguillebeau.com/build-a-sales-machine-ramit-sethi/

Last Chance: Book Hyatt Stays Before Hotel Category Changes

In December Hyatt Gold Passport announced some hotel award category adjustments, which kick in for bookings made as of January 22, 2015.

Through this change Hyatt isn't actually changing their award chart, but rather is just changing which hotels belong in which category.

This change is arguably a net positive. We're seeing a total of 70 Hyatt properties changing categories — 22 hotels are moving up a category, while 48 hotels are moving down a category. So more than two times as many properties are going down in price than going up in price.

The post Last Chance: Book Hyatt Stays Before Hotel Category Changes appeared first on One Mile at a Time.

from One Mile at a Time http://onemileatatime.boardingarea.com/2015/01/20/last-chance-book-hyatt-stays-hotel-category-changes/

Fuel Surcharges Lose Credibility With Low Fuel Prices, Invite Government Intervention

Airlines like fuel surcharges because: Changing the fuel surcharge in a market can raise or lower every ticket price in that market, no need to re-file every single fare. They allow an airline to raise price even with many fixed-fare agreements. And, of course, because they can be charged to frequent flyers trying to redeem […]

The post Fuel Surcharges Lose Credibility With Low Fuel Prices, Invite Government Intervention appeared first on View from the Wing.

from View from the Wing http://viewfromthewing.boardingarea.com/2015/01/20/fuel-surcharges-lose-credibility-low-fuel-prices-invite-government-intervention/

Business Briefing: A Quarterly Loss for Delta, but Still Better Than Expected

Delta reported a $712 million loss after taking $1.4 billion in special charges, mostly hedging losses.

















from NYT > Travel http://rss.nytimes.com/c/34625/f/642561/s/4287efed/sc/24/l/0L0Snytimes0N0C20A150C0A10C210Cbusiness0Ca0Equarterly0Eloss0Efor0Edelta0Ebut0Estill0Ebetter0Ethan0Eexpected0Bhtml0Dpartner0Frss0Gemc0Frss/story01.htm

“Because of Traveling, We Know Ourselves”: On the Road with Jim and Rhonda Delemeter

This is a traveler case study. (Read others or nominate yourself. Jim and Rhonda, long-term travelers, aren’t afraid to “jump into the void.” Here’s their story. Tell us about yourselves. What inspired you to leave home and travel? Back in 2007 we sold our house and backpacked around the world for 14 months, which made…



from The Art of Non-Conformity http://chrisguillebeau.com/on-the-road-with-jim-and-rhonda-delemeter/

Netflix, Hulu and Pandora Could Be Coming to Your Hotel Room

If you are not satisfied with the in-room entertainment options currently offered by your favorite hotel brand, new options could be available soon. According to the San Diego Source, Marriott is letting guests in eight of their hotels access Netflix, Hulu and Pandora through their televisions, in “an effort to construct a new in-room entertainment […]



from Frugal Travel Guy http://www.frugaltravelguy.com/2015/01/netflix-hulu-and-pandora-could-be-coming-to-your-hotel-room.html

When Will Chase Points Transfers to Korean Return?

Korean Air has been one of my favorite uses of Chase points. First class awards have been so darned easy to get. There are real sweet spots in their Skyteam award chart They offer cheap awards to Hawaii Although they are of course very Korean and their processes for redeeming awards are unique. Korean went […]

The post When Will Chase Points Transfers to Korean Return? appeared first on View from the Wing.

from View from the Wing http://viewfromthewing.boardingarea.com/2015/01/20/will-chase-points-transfers-korean-return/

Winning and Losing at Best Rate Guarantees

The vast majority of hotel companies and online travel agencies offer best rate guarantees (BRG). The exact terms for each of these BRG may vary somewhat, but bottom line, if you find a lower rate for the same room type on the same dates and under the same conditions, hotel companies and online travel agencies […]



from Frugal Travel Guy http://www.frugaltravelguy.com/2015/01/winning-and-losing-at-best-rate-guarantees.html

Review: Qantas First Class Lounge Sydney SYD

People rave about the Qantas First Lounge Sydney, so I was excited to check it out. I've always considered the Air France First Class Lounge Paris, Emirates First Class Lounge Dubai, Lufthansa First Class Terminal in Frankfurt, and Thai Airways First Class Lounge & Spa in Bangkok to be the world's best, so I was curious to see how Qantas' flagship lounge compared.

We arrived at Sydney Airport at around noon for our 3PM departure to Los Angeles.

Once inside the terminal we tried to find the first class check-in counter, which we eventually discovered was actually partitioned off from the rest of the terminal.

For what it's worth, oneworld Emerald members can also use the facility.

The post Review: Qantas First Class Lounge Sydney SYD appeared first on One Mile at a Time.

from One Mile at a Time http://onemileatatime.boardingarea.com/2015/01/20/review-qantas-first-class-lounge-sydney-syd/