I thought this article was particularly relevant;
From news source
Blackbookmag.com
By Bryce Longton Nov 18, 2009
Airlines are sticking it to passengers all the way around these days. Baggage fees seem to be here to stay, seats in coach are shrinking in size, and some airlines are booting off passengers for even thinking about possibly getting sick. On top of all that, there is something super-sneaky going on in the fine print of the "fees" that some airlines (Delta/Northwest, I'm talking to you) are charging on top of normal ticketing prices.
First there was the “holiday fee,” and now it seems there is the random-whenever-I-want ”Peak Travel Day” fee. This bogus “Peak Travel Day” fee will not show up named as such, but it will be folded into the price of your ticket. There are now 30 of these PTD’s in 2010, with fees ranging in cost from $10 for peak travel days like March 7-8 for the Oscars, and $50 for peak travel day February 8 for the Super Bowl. Note: it doesn’t matter if you’re traveling because of these events or not, the prices stand higher. Other peak days like March 14 ($30) don’t seem to make much sense, unless they’re counting the annual Portland Curry Festival as a bang-up event. Next thing you know the airline industry will be in cahoots with Hallmark creating new fake holidays to jack up prices around. The tiny silver lining to this phony fee is the fact that they’re published, allowing savvy fliers to avoid the days, or at least decide that it’s worth it to travel on the peak days. For those of you on a budget, stick to flying on off-peak days in general, which tends to be Tuesdays and Wednesdays.
Pothos: Travel news, travel industry updates, corporate and business travel
Wednesday, November 18, 2009
Thursday, November 5, 2009
Virgin Airlines Special
Currently, Virgin Atlantic has a special offer. If you fly in a qualifying class between Sep 15 and Nov 30, 2009, you will receive up to $300 worth of American Express®-branded reward cards.
Call POTHOS to book your next Virgin flight!
Call POTHOS to book your next Virgin flight!
Tuesday, November 3, 2009
a report from Florianopolis BRASIL
Why come here? Well, for me, I was invited by the Santa Catarina Government as a meeting planner to see what the city has to offer. What did that really mean? Nothing. No one has shown me a single thing; activity, tour, reason to come. So, upon some of my own investigations, here is what I have learned
1. The hotel has only two good business hotels. One is a Brasilian local brand and the other a Sofitel. I should have stopped there and known better than to book. I never trust the local brands.... too inconsistent, and the Sofitel sure got off on the wrong foot with me at check in! I entered lobby at 11am to be told my room is ready but check in is 2pm and if I wanted to access room now, there would be a half day charge. Half day!? They made the one sin for me... offering a service that has no cost to them and then wanting to charge for it. Did they know I was here at request of Sanata Catarina government, certainly they did. I should have stayed asleep in Sao Paulo. My blood pressure started rising.
2. The Sofitel is a updated property; the beds are comfortable, shower is ok, room is small but comfortable. The breakfast in the restaurant is sad. All in all, not a luxury property as branded but ok.
3. The taxi cab ride from the airport to Floripa (the center city) was expensive! More than Sao Paulo or Rio. The ride was long but also the taxi meter started at double the price. I thought this was just unique to airport but when I went to dinner last night, I realized that is the starting rate for all taxis.
4. They have 1 good churrascaria; Ataliba (www.churrascariasataliba.com.br) but it doesnt hold a candle to what you find in Rio.
5. The city center is not really walkable. No beach, just a beautiful bay lapping on a rocky shore. Great scenery, nice walking paths along the water, no swimming.
6. I like big cities and I like small villages. The first because of the number of activities and choices and the second to get a feel for the life away from the bulk of tourism. This is neither. It is in between with nothing of interest that I know about.
So, why come to Florianopolis? Don't. Go to Rio, the Amazon, Salvador.... so many other exciting places in Brasil!
I am ready to leave now. Too bad I have no time left to stop in Rio and end on a high/happy note, but I have to head home and back to the office. Rio will have to wait for a few months.
1. The hotel has only two good business hotels. One is a Brasilian local brand and the other a Sofitel. I should have stopped there and known better than to book. I never trust the local brands.... too inconsistent, and the Sofitel sure got off on the wrong foot with me at check in! I entered lobby at 11am to be told my room is ready but check in is 2pm and if I wanted to access room now, there would be a half day charge. Half day!? They made the one sin for me... offering a service that has no cost to them and then wanting to charge for it. Did they know I was here at request of Sanata Catarina government, certainly they did. I should have stayed asleep in Sao Paulo. My blood pressure started rising.
2. The Sofitel is a updated property; the beds are comfortable, shower is ok, room is small but comfortable. The breakfast in the restaurant is sad. All in all, not a luxury property as branded but ok.
3. The taxi cab ride from the airport to Floripa (the center city) was expensive! More than Sao Paulo or Rio. The ride was long but also the taxi meter started at double the price. I thought this was just unique to airport but when I went to dinner last night, I realized that is the starting rate for all taxis.
4. They have 1 good churrascaria; Ataliba (www.churrascariasataliba.com.br) but it doesnt hold a candle to what you find in Rio.
5. The city center is not really walkable. No beach, just a beautiful bay lapping on a rocky shore. Great scenery, nice walking paths along the water, no swimming.
6. I like big cities and I like small villages. The first because of the number of activities and choices and the second to get a feel for the life away from the bulk of tourism. This is neither. It is in between with nothing of interest that I know about.
So, why come to Florianopolis? Don't. Go to Rio, the Amazon, Salvador.... so many other exciting places in Brasil!
I am ready to leave now. Too bad I have no time left to stop in Rio and end on a high/happy note, but I have to head home and back to the office. Rio will have to wait for a few months.
Monday, November 2, 2009
swine flu, bird flu, SARS......
Seems like I have survived them all. I have not (yet) caught any kind of bug his season. Good German DNA, strong immune system, I dont know...... It is certain that I have the Delta32 DNA variant which means somewhere along my biological lineage, my ancestors survived the plague in Europe. It is scientifically proven if you have D32 you tend to be more resilent.
I have been on 8 flights in 10 days and am VERY conscious about people sneezing, coughing, wheezing and alike. As a matter of fact, in Chicago airport, I actually "jumped" slightly when person sat near me that was obviously sick and started hacking and sneezing. I promptly moved seats. But not much you can do on an airplane. I know I am tempting fate as I write this because the travel gods will get me going home! :)
I do find one thing interesting.... all we hear about stay home and away from groups if your sick; people have to go to work for income, airlines still charge a $150 penalty to change plus difference of airfare. All the chatter we make about trying to isolate if we are sick to prevent or arrest the spread; like closing schools and such, we are not taking the most obvious actions.
I believe in empirical data. I will not question the virus is out there and many are sick, some very ill or pass away. But how many vs. population percentage? You have to wonder, people fall ill and die of many things. When the numbers exceed anything previous like the plague in Europe and consume double digits of the population, then it will be serious to me.
I have been on 8 flights in 10 days and am VERY conscious about people sneezing, coughing, wheezing and alike. As a matter of fact, in Chicago airport, I actually "jumped" slightly when person sat near me that was obviously sick and started hacking and sneezing. I promptly moved seats. But not much you can do on an airplane. I know I am tempting fate as I write this because the travel gods will get me going home! :)
I do find one thing interesting.... all we hear about stay home and away from groups if your sick; people have to go to work for income, airlines still charge a $150 penalty to change plus difference of airfare. All the chatter we make about trying to isolate if we are sick to prevent or arrest the spread; like closing schools and such, we are not taking the most obvious actions.
I believe in empirical data. I will not question the virus is out there and many are sick, some very ill or pass away. But how many vs. population percentage? You have to wonder, people fall ill and die of many things. When the numbers exceed anything previous like the plague in Europe and consume double digits of the population, then it will be serious to me.
Sunday, November 1, 2009
No Smoking please, anywhere
and the list just keeps getting longer; bars, restaurants, hotels and now rental cars! Starting in October, Avis & Budget have made their cars 100% smoke free. If you dare light up, you will be facing a $250 extra cleaning charge. I would want to rent that car because it is my experience rentals cars are filthy almost 100% of the time anyway. My biggest pet peeve; windex the windows! and I dont even want to tell you what I have found under the seats. It makes me insane to pay $50 or $60 a day and have a dirty car. I am more understanding is it is $15 a day. For that kind of savings, I will stop at a store and buy windex & paper towels to clean it myself.
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