Resolutions?

Posted on 7 January, 2014 by Spacejunkie2

Sure, you’re going to lose a few pounds, join a book group, spend a little more time on the treadmill and a little less time online and maybe even clean out that old file cabinet, but these are boring resolutions.

The best resolutions are the ones we make for other people. In that spirit, we’d like to hear the fates make promises that:

• The Department of Transportation will drop its proposal to regulate agents and require them to disclose their commission and override arrangements.

• Nobody will make phone calls in flight, even if it’s permitted.

• The Statue of Liberty, up to and including the crown, will stay open, forever.

• Ryanair’s Michael O’Leary doesn’t say anything at all, all year.

• No hotel company will introduce or acquire more than six new brands this year.

• Somebody will invent a way to incorporate a lie detector into computer keyboards and touchscreens so we can start to believe those user reviews.

• Somebody will figure out what to do with the S.S. United States.

• Namibia will figure out a way to save its endangered rhino population without the revenue it gains from issuing rhino hunting permits.

• North Korea opens its borders, declares itself a democracy, holds free elections and welcomes tourists.

• Southwest completes its integration with AirTran before AirTran’s employees all reach retirement age.

• ASTA has a convention and just calls it “The ASTA Convention.”

• The Visa Waiver Program spreads to the Known Universe.

• The pope takes a vacation and packs light; both become fads.

• The average age of retail travel agents, and their clients, drops to 35.

• The airlines wake up and realize that most adults are not 5-foot-2 and 120 pounds and start adjusting their seat pitch accordingly.

• The terms “sequester,” “mixed use,” “accretive” and “remediate” mysteriously leave the language.

• All members of Congress take a cruise and then shut up about the cruise industry.

• WiFi becomes free, everywhere.

• The U.S. and Cuba decide to hug and make up.

• Defying the antitrust laws, cruise line CEOs agree to eliminate noncommisionable fees, and the Justice Department’s antitrust division looks the other way.

• IATA rewrites its NDC resolution so that everybody understands it — and then everybody likes it.

• The federal government will ease its restrictions on meetings so that government employees can have professional encounters in conference centers and hotels rather than school cafeterias.

• Travelers demand travel insurance without being reminded.

• Some genius invents a solar cell that can power a cruise ship.

• Britain will restructure its exorbitant Air Passenger Duty and bring it in line with the departure taxes of other civilized countries.

• Journalists and bloggers won’t put “travel agents” on their top 10 list of “dead-end careers” or “jobs that will soon be extinct.”

• The Sharing Economy produces world peace.

Which? poll reveals best and worst of airlines

Posted on 16 December, 2013 by Spacejunkie2

By Phil Davies Which? poll reveals best and worst of airlines

Thomas Cook Airlines has landed second-bottom in an annual poll of members of consumer watchdog Which?

British Airways sister carrier Iberia hit the bottom of the table in the survey of 12,000 Which? members’ flying experiences with a 28% customer score, 9% lower than Thomas Cook Airlines.

Ryanair (32%) fared little better, gaining just a one star rating for luggage allowances, boarding process, legroom and the quality of food and drink.

However, the airline has since announced changes including a move to allocated seating and a reduction in baggage fees from January.

Guernsey-based minnow Aurigny Air Services (87%) topped of the short-haul table achieving four stars for elements like boarding process, legroom and punctuality.

Swiss International Air Lines (82%), Norwegian (79%) and Turkish Airlines (75%) completed the top four.

Air New Zealand and Singapore Airlines came joint first (87%) for their long-haul flights with both airlines gaining five stars for in-flight entertainment, food and drink, flight punctuality and value for money.

Which? executive director Richard Lloyd, said: “Our survey reveals the massive variation in the standard of airlines. Once you’ve chosen your destination, it pays to pick the airline that will get you there without any dramas.”

Responding to the survey, Christoph Debus, chief executive of Thomas Cook Airlines UK, said: “The Which? Airline Satisfaction Survey results are in stark contrast to the high levels of satisfaction our customers tell us about.

“From our own survey – which takes the views of over 900 times more of our customers than the Which? report – we have customer satisfaction scores of 87% rating their flight as either excellent or good for their holiday this summer.

“This is set to increase as we improve our fleet further – we’ve very recently taken delivery of the first of many brand new Airbus A321 and a new A330, which are already taking short and long haul customers on holiday, By 2016, we will have replaced 50 per cent of our UK fleet and for the rest the cabins will be completely renewed.

“It’s impossible to see how this survey offers consumers a like-for-like comparison when Which? is comparing airlines with completely different product offerings that appeal to completely different customers – including, for our package holiday customers, where the priority is getting them to their holiday on time.”

Tui Travel to push for widening of package law scope

Posted on 2 August, 2013 by Spacejunkie2

Tui Travel to push for widening of package law scope

By Ian Taylor

Tui Travel will lobby in Europe to have the proposed Package Travel Directive tightened and airline sales of holidays redefined as ‘customised packages’ rather than ‘assisted travel arrangements’.

If successful, Tui’s proposals would extend the liabilities of a package organiser to airlines such as easyJet and Ryanair.

Mike Bowers, Tui Travel UK’s general counsel, said: “We will say click-through sales are competing with our core offering and with dynamic packages, so should be treated as full packages.”

He said: “The EC is seeking, as far as it can, to capture all true holiday arrangements in an expanded definition of a package and has made a pretty good fist of it.

“The directive has been drafted with the intention of bringing in airline click-throughs, which fall within the definition of assisted travel arrangements where there is a transfer of booking data, but not personal data.

“We would like to see the same conditions apply to anything a customer thinks of as a holiday.”

Bowers added: “Anyone who cares about regulatory fairness, and fairness for the customer, should welcome the directive. It’s not perfect, but the European Commission has done a pretty decent job.”

He said: “Holidays need to be protected. You frequently have an intermediary who is not the end supplier, a service provided overseas and holidays purchased in advance.

“The market has changed since the 1990s, but for the customer these considerations are still relevant.”