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Clear as Mud: Business Travel is Totally Cool, Except for When it Isn't

May 16, 2009 at 12:44 PM | 0 Comments

After laying low for a while, the business travel industry is pushing back against critics who claim that first-class seats and lavish retreats aren't appropriate in the current economic environment. Insurance company AIG came under fire last October for sending executives on a week-long retreat at a luxury resort and spa shortly after receiving relief funds, while auto executives were ridiculed for flying their private jets to Washington for the bailout hearings. With so many people in dire economic straits, it seems tacky for companies to flaunt their wealth these days, but is it fair to single out business travel as an unjustifiable expense? Or is it a cost of doing business that helps the economy as well?

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Are You Taking Advantage Of Double Elite Qualifying Miles?

March 23, 2009 at 3:11 PM | 1 Comment

We all know that the economy has taken its toll on both business and leisure travel. No one is more aware of this than the airline industry. Luckily for travelers, the airlines aren’t going to take this lying down, so if you still have some change left in the travel piggy bank—now’s the time to fly.

In attempt to lure more travelers—especially those from the business world—a few airlines have launched a promotion to grant fliers double elite qualifying miles. You’ll get double the qualifying miles towards swanky status, but not double regular miles for your award ticket dreams. That means it will only take you half the time to reach elite status up in the air, where even the worst trip can become a little better. The possibility of free upgrades, free drinks, snazzy priority luggage tags, and maybe even access to one of those cool airport lounges, makes it totally worth it.

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Hyatt Place Warms Our Heart While On Business

March 4, 2009 at 1:46 PM | 2 Comments

When we are away from the Jaunted office, there’s a short list of things we look for in a hotel stay. We want something that’s comfortable, clean, and accessible to whatever we’re in town for. We’ll leave all the fancy pants stuff up to our sister site, Hotel Chatter; they’re way better at that than we are.

On our recent Charlotte Field Trip, we got to try out Hyatt’s new offering—Hyatt Place—and we were really digging it, so much so that we’re willing to trade in our usual love for Courtyard by Marriott and Hilton Garden Inn. From now on, when it comes to a somewhat budget friendly business lodging, we say go Hyatt or go home.

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Dallas-Ft. Worth Airport Knocks Back a Few Too Many

February 20, 2009 at 4:11 PM | 0 Comments

While we have yet to experience a flight drunk on too many airport margaritas, for many it is the only way to get them on the plane. There is a point, however, at which in-flight drunkenness switches from being humorous and forgivable to annoying and dangerous, and it looks like Dallas/Ft. Worth Airport takes the cake in terms of frequency of these incidents.

According to a report on MSNBC, police at DFW made 78 arrests lasts year for public intoxication and in some cases pulled people off of planes for it.

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One Last Chance To Go Platinum

December 29, 2008 at 2:30 PM | 0 Comments

Your office may be empty this week, but at least some of your well-traveled colleagues may not be chilling at home. The end of the year is serious business for frequent fliers, who'll stop at nothing to secure their status for the coming year. And now that we live in the age of the airline fee, clocking silver, gold or platinum is more important than ever: Most card-carrying road dogs are exempt from checked baggage charges. (They also sometimes get a special security checkpoint lane, free upgrades and other niceties.)

The LA Times attempted to illuminate the sometimes shadowy world of mileage runners this weekend, with an article by an airline geek who has:

Flown from Charlotte to Amsterdam and stayed just long enough to visit a coffee shop and see some Van Goghs.

Included is the mandatory mention of FlyerTalk.com, which maintains a lively forum on mileage running deals riddled with airline lingo even we need a cheat sheet to decode. But isn't it a little ridiculous to spend hundreds of dollars and dozens of hours flying just to get a gold star from your preferred carrier? It goes way beyond just saving on some baggage fees, says the Times:

I am upgraded to first class about half the time I fly.

Related Stories:
· Hi, I'm a Frequent-flier Addict [LAT, via]
· Running for Miles [Jaunted]

[Photo: Caveman 92223]

Business Travel Column Struggling To Maintain Relevancy

November 4, 2008 at 10:00 AM | 1 Comment

Joe Brancatelli is a long-time business traveler, a print media consultant and the guy who writes the Seat 2B column for Portfolio. At least for now, anyway: The magazine recently decided to cut 20 percent of its total staff, scale back its print production schedule to 10 issues a year and chop its web crew from 35 people to 5.

So with the magazine struggling to make good on a rumored $100 million start-up investment, business travel spending on the wane thanks to a global recession and a historic election taking place, you know, right now, what did Joe write about today? Ultra-premium loyalty programs so exclusive you can't even sign up for them.

After a seven-paragraph anecdotal lede, Brancatelli finally starts outlining some of the outrageous perks that travel companies apparently still shower on a small group of guests who, despite being important enough to earn unimaginable coddling from airlines and hotels, still need an extra ego boost. Of course, reading about the "secret societies" won't get you any closer to joining them because "If you have to ask, you don't qualify."

So, what's the point of the article then? We're not 30-year veterans of the publishing industry, but at least we try to be relevant and interesting on a daily basis.

Related Stories:
· Secret Societies [Portfolio]
· Empty Nast Syndrome [NYO]
· It's Nasty over at Conde [NYP]

[Photo of Conde Nast HQ: Tone Walker]

Sleeping Soundly on Swiss

June 2, 2008 at 9:15 AM | 0 Comments

We love to daydream about the ultimate airline seat--the one that actually enables us to sleep well. Swiss Air has just announced a new version of a fully-flat seat for business class that looks like it might do the trick.

By 2011, all of Swiss Air's long haul flights will have these six-foot-plus long "beds" installed, with a pretty clever design that saves space by having a passenger's feet fitting into a cut-out of the seat in front.

They're also replacing conventional foam with an air cushion filling that you can easily adjust to be either firm or soft. We'd be happy to have that at home, too!

For green fans, the new seats have one more bonus--each one is 9 pounds lighter so the planes will be cheaper to fly, saving 2,000 tons of CO2 emissions a year. Comfortable seats that save the planet? We always knew those Swiss could do more than just make great chocolate.

Related Stories:
· Swiss Unveils New Generation Business Class [Business Traveller]
· Airlines coverage [Jaunted]

[Photo: Swiss Air]

Refundable Airfares: JetBlue Haz Dem

January 29, 2008 at 10:00 AM | 0 Comments

Now that Southwest is courting business travelers with laptop-friendly gate areas and "business select" fares, it seems JetBlue is jumping into the mix. The JFK-based LCC just announced that it'll start offering fully refundable fares. To get folks interested, JB is offering quadruple True Blue points for refundable tickets bought through February 13.

A quick search for JFK-SFO flights in early February found seats for $199 before taxes. A search for flights on the same dates with refundable fares came up with $549 tickets. We'd call that paying a premium.

But if you need full flexibility--date changes, cancellations and name changes are all OK--these tickets are the way to go. (And why worry about the price if your company's paying for it?) Now if only the airline could get that in-flight WiFi system working...

Related Stories:
· Frequent Flyer Travel: Keep Your Miles Alive [Jaunted]
· Why JetBlue's In-Flight WiFi Isn't That Great [Jaunted]
· JetBlue Travel: Inside the New Terminal 5 [Jaunted]

[Photo: Aaron Gustafson]

Road Warrior Travel: Your Mobile Office at SLC

January 28, 2008 at 2:00 PM | 0 Comments

We were flying home from our trip out to Sundance when we stumbled upon these rental offices at Salt Lake City International. From Regus Express, they're basically short-term cubicles that you can rent to avoid the prying eyes and the pricked up ears of your fellow passengers. Office time goes for a steep $9 for 15 minutes (or $16 for 30 minutes), but if you're expensing it, who cares, right?

Each one of these little business niches has high-speed wired Internet with VPN capability, a fax, a land line phone and even a computer. You're of course free to use your own laptop instead.

The SLC location is between concourses C and D. (It's conveniently near a bar for toasting the newly made deal or drowning your business sorrows!) Regus has locations in Atlanta, Cincinnati, Oakland, Philly and Seattle, too.

Post click, the interior of a Regus cube.

Related Stories:
· Regus Express, SLC [Official Site]
· Business Travel coverage [Jaunted]
· Airport WiFi Guide [Jaunted]

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Power Nap Pods at Columbus Circle

April 18, 2007 at 10:19 AM | 0 Comments


Whether you're an exhausted tourist, exhausted slave to the man, or a Six Columbus team member with too much time to spare, secure power naps can be had in the Columbus Circle area. (We don't recommend passing out in the park.) Yelo is a walk-in spa on 57th Street specializing in reflexology and nap therapy. Their private Yelo Cabins are designed to help you doze off for 20-40 minutes, or just enough time to refresh without getting too messed up.

Nap prices start at $12 for 20 minutes, and an additional $3 per 5 minutes after that, up to $24 for 40 minutes. Reservations are not required, but can be made via phone. Gift cards are also available, for that special Six Columbus staffer in your life--you know they need something to do and can't be caught dead at another hotel in the immediate area.

Related Stories:
· Yelo Power Naps [Official Site]
· Jason Pomeranc Gives Six Columbus Hotel Workers Designer Uniforms But No Hotel [HotelChatter]

Running for Miles

December 13, 2006 at 12:30 PM | 0 Comments


Is it that time of year already? No, not holiday shopping and tree trimming time. It's time to book "mileage runs" to bump your frequent flier mileage up to where you'd like it to be. At least, that's what Joe Sharkey tells us in his latest On The Road column.

Here's the deal, says Joe. If you want to retain elite status--silver, gold, double-super platinum elite, whatever--you need to fly a set number of miles in a year. (Usually at least 25,000 for the lowest status, which can net you early boarding, free upgrades and smiles from gate agents.) Credit card purchases and the like that accrue miles normally don't count: You've actually got to put your butt in the seat. That means Joe and his buddies have been known to fly back and forth to Guam--twice--to boost their mileage. Our fave part of the article, though, comes when Joe chats with a shadowy figure in the frequent flier world known only as Viajero Joven:

"Some people want to do over 50,000 miles, which is not possible in a single trip because of the size of the planet," he said. "So they do multiple trips, consecutively."

Now that's our kind of guy.

[Photo: Mareen Fischinger]

Related Stories:
· End of Year. Short on Miles. Coach Class, Here I Come [NYT]
· Jaunted's Business Travel coverage [Jaunted]

Airline Report: Eos' "Bedtime Beats"

December 11, 2006 at 2:00 PM | 0 Comments


Eos is the unofficial king of all-business class transatlantic airlines, and even with the upcoming launch of L'Avion (the airline formerly known as Elysair), it looks like they'll be staying pretty much unchallenged in that spot for now. Eos provides fully-flat sleeper seats at round-trip prices that hover around $3150.

So what's an airline at the top of its game to do for more attention? Pile on the random amenities, of course! Because there's nothing classier than classical music, Eos is now offering a collection of tunes called "Bedtime Beats" on its handheld in-flight entertainment systems. All of the music has been specially chosen to fall in the range of 60-80 BPM, at which scientific studies show it is most conducive to your best sleep quality.

Throughout December, Eos will also dole out free CD copies of the compilation to passengers on its 9:00 p.m. flights departing from JFK. Cute, we suppose, but we like another promotion they're running better. Until December 22, customers who book a flight (for any date through April 30)  will receive 100 JetBlue TrueBlue points good for a free round-trip on JetBlue.