Travel briefs: Briefcases replace beachballs

Jul

Travel briefs: Briefcases replace beachballs

Marcus Page Travel Deals 2011-07-21

Briefcases replace beachballs

With summer nearly here, you might expect to see a jump in leisure travel — a chance for families to take vacations while the children are out of school.

But with the economy showing signs of rebounding and companies loosening the purse strings on travel budgets, a new survey suggests that business travel will surge during the summer while leisure travel will remain about the same as a year earlier.

So the lines at airports may be crowded this summer with business travelers wearing suits and lugging briefcases.

The number of business travelers who have committed to rent rooms this summer is about 8 percent higher than a year earlier. According to new data collected by Travelclick, a New York company that provides e-commerce products and services to the hotel industry. But the same report indicates leisure travel will remain about the same as last summer.

The revenue that hotels collect per room for business travelers is expected to go up 13 percent this summer compared with the same period last year, while revenue from rooms rented by leisure travelers is expected to rise only 4 percent, according to Travelclick.

“This summer, business travel has been and continues to be strong as the U.S. economy continues to recover,” said Tim Hart, executive vice president of business intelligence at Travelclick.

United will keep first-class seats

Although some airlines have eliminated first-class seats on international flights over the last few years, United Airlines has announced it will not follow suit even after it completes the merger with Continental Airlines this year.

First-class seats have been disappearing from international flights for years, but that trend accelerated during the recession when business travelers were forced to cut costs by flying in business or economy seats. To accommodate such fliers, many airlines improved business-class seats, making them the de facto first-class seats.

Delta Air Lines, for example stopped offering first-class seats on international flights years ago, opting instead to sell a “business elite” class. Last year, Qantas Airways replaced first-class seats with business-class seats on all its Boeing 747-400 planes, saying it was responding to “changing demands.”

“The economy has dictated the move away from premium seats, especially during the recession,” said Rick Seaney, founder of farecompare.com.

On international flights, Continental offers only economy seating and a “BusinessFirst” section that includes special meals and “flat bed” seats that fully recline.

“United is keeping first-class seats to compete internationally with Lufthansa, British Airways, Air France, Singapore and others, and to distinguish itself from Delta and US Airways,” said George Hobica, head of airfarewatchdog.com.

Alaska Airlines will expand Wi-Fi

Alaska Airlines plans to expand Wi-Fi services to more than 90 percent of its fleet of 117 Boeing 737s by the end of the month. In November, the carrier had wireless Internet on about 70 percent of its fleet.

Last week’s announcement came only days after the Seattle airline said that it was issuing new iPad tablet computers to its pilots to replace the 25-pound flight manuals that they take with them into the cockpit.

Alaska will be handing out the 1.5-pound iPads to all its pilots by mid-June. The devices will include a reading application that will let the pilots scroll through hundreds of pages of manuals, reference cards and other material.

But pilots will not get a break from the Federal Aviation Administration rules that forbid the use of electronic devices during takeoffs and landings. Besides, Internet access on jetliners is available only in the cabin, not in the cockpit.

And the iPads won’t have computer games, joked Alaska spokeswoman Marianne Lindsey. “The pilots will not be playing Angry Birds during takeoff.”

Royal glam tour for William,

Kate

LONDON — Prince William and Kate Middleton are getting a London apartment — in a palace — and the new royal bride is putting her famous wedding gown on public display.

Palace officials said the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge — as the newlyweds are formally known now — would use a small refurbished apartment at Kensington Palace as their official London home for the next year or so.

Royal Collection officials also announced Monday that Middleton’s memorable wedding gown will be on display at Buckingham Palace from July 23 until Oct. 3. The dress was designed by Sarah Burton of the Alexander McQueen fashion house.

Royal collection officials said the special exhibit will also display the veil, tiara, shoes and diamond earrings Middleton wore for her April 29 wedding.

The wedding display will be part of a popular tour of some of the palace’s state rooms offered to visitors during the summer. The tour includes a chance to see some of the queen’s formidable art collection, including works by Rembrandt and Rubens.

The state room tour typically costs 17.50 pounds ($29).

A date for the couple’s move into Kensington Palace has not been set, but is expected before they travel to Canada and the United States later in June.

Restoring the National Mall

WASHINGTON — Marriott hotels in D.C., Maryland and Virginia are helping to raise funds to restore the National Mall.

Bethesda, Md.-based Marriott International announced a new “Check In and Help Out” package will run through early September. When guests book a hotel stay with the package, $5 per night will be donated to the Trust for the National Mall.

Hotel guests also will receive complimentary breakfast and a book about the National Mall. Participating hotels include J.W. Marriott, Renaissance and Marriott Hotels in the Washington region.

The Trust for the National Mall also recently announced Laura Bush is joining the effort to raise $350 million to restore the most visited national park. Its dead grass, broken sidewalks and stagnant pools of water have drawn attention in recent years.

Museum to feature ‘Avatar’ in exhibit

SEATTLE — A music and popular culture museum in Seattle is banking on fans of the Oscar-winning film “Avatar” to take in a new exhibit on how director James Cameron brought Pandora and its inhabitants to the big screen.

The exhibit at the Experience Music Project and Science Fiction Museum and Hall of Fame opens at noon Saturday after a Friday event featuring Cameron, some of the movie actors and Richie Baneham, who won the Academy Award for best visual effects.

The goal is to educate and entertain, but not go so deeply into the “Avatar” world that it resembles an amusement park, museum associate curator Brooks Peck said. It will be the first of its kind to showcase artwork and props from the blockbuster film.

The exhibit at the museum — built by Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen — should also appeal to people interested in the science and technology behind movie making and set design.

Anyone who heads straight to the interactive displays when they visit a museum may be surprised by how much of a taste they will get of how the movie and the world of Pandora were created.

Visitors can try a virtual camera, like the one Cameron used, to see how the motion capture filming of the actors fit in with the virtual world created on computers. The gadget was created especially for the exhibit, which took more than a year to develop, Peck said.

Another interactive allows visitors to take the place of an actor from the film using motion capture technology.

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