Travel Industry Archive

A while back we wrote about the glut of topless pools luring love-starved men to hotels — for a charge. But earlier this week at the Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino’s new topless Sapphire Pool, which featured strippers from the Sapphire Gentlemen’s Club, was closed during an “integrity check” by plainclothes police officers after they arrested eight women for...

More...

Despite Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nevada, disavowing any secret governmental travel blacklist, he’s now protesting it. At this point, I think Reid had to make some grandstanding or be thought weak in front of his constituents. And for the former boxer, that was not going to happen. So now comes the Protecting Resort Cities from Discrimination Act of 2009, sponsored by Reid and two Florida...

More...

Yesterday, Southwest announced that it was entering a bid to buy Frontier out of bankruptcy. Why exactly would they want to do that? As far as I’m concerned, this is only about eliminating a competitor. Sure, there are other minor benefits, but for the most part, it’s all about cleaning up Denver and strengthening its position there. There really isn’t room for three...

More...

In a twist on free-stay giveaways, Bayside Hotel in Santa Monica, Calif., plans on giving out 2,000 reward certificates to “do gooders” in a promotion the hotel is calling “Bay It Forward.” Unlike most hotel free night stays, which are awarded once you’ve stayed for a minimum number of nights, Bayside’s gimmick is to give out 2,000 certificates good for $50...

More...

Sen. Harry Reid protests Nevada destinations on government blacklist — Despite previous protestations about a secret government blacklist, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., has now sent letters to heads of every federal agency and Cabinet secretaries requesting they reject governmental travel regulations that pooh-pooh destinations like Las Vegas and Reno. The controversy was...

More...

Those hoping to see airline expansion at Chicago’s O’Hare airport should be eagerly anticipating November 3. That’s the day that Delta is targeting for its consolidation with Northwest at the airport, and that means a lot of gates are opening up at an airport where that doesn’t happen too often. This is actually a chain reaction. Continental, anticipating its entrance...

More...

If you all remember my last posting, I was less than happy with the possibility of Virgin America ridding itself of its redeye flight meal in first class. (Some said the goal of the redeye is to gain a much shuteye as possible — am I the only one who can’t sleep on a moving vehicle?) On Flight 25 from John F. Kennedy International Airport to San Francisco, we spent about 40 minutes...

More...

It looks like the travel metasearch wars are heating up, and this time, it’s being handled like a third grade fight. Kayak is accusing Microsoft’s Bing Travel (formerly Farecast) of copying Kayak’s interface. I believe the conversation went something like this: Kayak: Stop copying me Bing: Stop copying me Kayak: Come on, quit it! Bing: Come on, quit it! Kayak:...

More...

Station Casinos Inc., unable to come up with an agreement with creditors, said it filed Chap. 11 bankruptcy reorganization petitions in Reno, Nev. today. According to a press release, Station said it remained a money-making enterprise but its crushing $5.7 billion debt load is making it difficult to continue operations. Not surprising to hear, especially considering most casinos and resorts are...

More...

United has started making some changes to its international schedule this winter, and there’s one very odd change that jumped out. United is re-entering the intra-Europe market. No, this isn’t a full scale invasion on Europe but rather a single daily 777 from London/Heathrow to Brussels. Brings back memories of when Pan Am and TWA used to fly all around Europe, doesn’t it?...

More...