Travel Industry Archive

The bankruptcy court decided yesterday that Republic’s offer to purchase Frontier’s outstanding shares for $108.75 million was adequate, and they are permitted to proceed. That, however, doesn’t mean this is a done deal. The purchase agreement has a clause that says basically if Frontier can do better, they should go ahead and do it. So if anyone out there would like to own...

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Club Med recently announced the launch of its first-ever loyalty rewards program, Club Med Great Members. I’m surprised a brand as well-known as Club Med didn’t have a loyalty program before, but with just about every other hotel and resort company investing in their programs left and right, it’s probably a good idea. Club Med’s new program is free to join, as are...

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Kansas City’s Hotel Phillips reluctantly makes its debut in “Bruno” – In the Sacha Baron Cohen film, “Bruno,” Cohen uses a Hotel Phillips hotel room in Kansas City, Mo. as the setting for a scene involving himself and another actor handcuffed together in a sadomasochistic encounter gone awry. Blaine Proctor, director of sales and marketing for the hotel,...

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Despite the Department of Justice’s objections, the Department of Transportation has moved ahead in approving two proposals that will significantly benefit the carriers involved as well as the traveling public: Antitrust immunity has been approved for Continental to join the Air Canada, Austrian, bmi, LOT, Lufthansa, Swiss, TAP, and United agreement that already exists. This allows them...

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Four Seasons Hotel San Francisco in default — The Four Seasons Hotel San Francisco is in default on its $90 million, two-year loan, developer Millennium Partners announced today. Millennium, known for luxury condos and hotels, said that it stopped payments as a negotiating strategy with LNR Property Corp. Analysts call it a “default of convenience” and a way to force...

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It looks like Virgin America has finally found some new investors to take over the stakes previously held by Cyrus and Black Canyon, according to the Financial Times. They say this should settle the foreign ownership issue, but I’m not so sure. Cyrus and Black Canyon had the option to cash out their shares with a guaranteed 8 percent return, and needless to say, they jumped at the...

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June was a mixed bag for airline traffic.  Everyone except Allegiant saw capacity decline, and for many airlines, that allowed them to increase load factors further.  Allegiant saw a load factor decrease for the first time since they started posting 90 percent+ loads, I believe.  JetBlue saw the largest load factor decline, but it also reduced capacity less than everyone else.  Click for...

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My last Travel Roundup featured this item, about Sage Hospitality’s free night at one of its hotels for those committing at least eight hours to community service as part of its “Give a Day, Get a Night” campaign. One of the first things you see as you look at their Web site publicizing their campaign is that it says, “Get a complimentary night stay or 50 percent...

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Las Vegas Sands Corp. may offer Macau IPO to raise cash — Las Vegas Sands Corp. is considering an initial public offering of its Macao properties along with some business sales to raise a much-needed $3.5 to $4 billion. The company needs about $2 billion to finish a Macau hotel and casino or face losing all of its assets completely, according to U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission...

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If United ever needed a reason to take every customer complaint seriously, Dave Carroll and his guitar have provided one. This should actually be a good lesson for those airlines that still think social media isn’t important. Dave is a musician with Sons of Maxwell, and in the spring of 2008, he took his guitar with him on the road. He checked the guitar, got on the plane, and then...

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