EXECUTIVE TRAVEL SKYGUIDE E-ALERT 11/21/05 Welcome to EXECUTIVE TRAVEL SKYGUIDE E-ALERT for the week of November 21, the weekly e-mail of essential business travel news! To sign up for the e-Alert, click here. JetBlue keeps expanding at Boston US Airways to cut back Pittsburgh schedules even more Southwest gains more gates at Chicago Midway American re-launches corporate booking site United enhances Mileage Plus benefits GAO study cites security concerns over air cargo Singapore adds Internet access on New York route BA plans Club World overhaul in 2006 Tampa adds new economy parking facility Radisson extends free Internet; Four Seasons reopens in Geneva AIRLINES JetBlue keeps expanding at Boston JetBlue Airways, which recently introduced multiple daily departures between Boston Logan and its New York JFK base using its new 100-passenger Embraer 190 jets, will do the same between Boston and Washington Dulles on January 17, 2006. The company said it will initially offer six daily roundtrips on the BOS-IAD route (five on weekends), and it is offering introductory fares as low as $25 each way, with a November 30 purchase deadline. JetBlue also recently kicked off new Boston-Seattle service, and plans to add Boston-Austin, Tex. flights January 19, followed by new service from Boston to Nassau in the Bahamas February 2, and from Boston to Richmond at the end of March. The airline said that by April, its Boston operation will have grown to 50 departures a day. US Airways to cut back Pittsburgh schedules even more The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reported last week that US Airways will shrink its Pittsburgh flight operations one more time in early January, dropping below 200 flights a day. Following the cutback, the newspaper said, PIT will be the fifth-largest airport for US Airways in terms of daily departures, after Charlotte, Philadelphia, Phoenix and LaGuardia. US Airways will reportedly drop its three daily PIT-Dallas/Ft. Worth non-stops, as well as its four flights a day from Pittsburgh to Detroit, operated by Trans States Airlines. PIT-San Francisco service will reportedly be cut back from daily to four days a week, and the airline will cut some frequencies between Pittsburgh and Charlotte, Orlando, Tampa and Richmond. Southwest gains more gates at Chicago Midway A bankruptcy plan presented in Indianapolis last week by ATA Airlines would reduce that carrier's presence at Chicago Midway even more, turning over four more gates there to partner Southwest Airlines, according to the Chicago Tribune. That would give Southwest a total of 29 gates at Midway, vs. the 14 it had before ATA filed for Chapter 11 and formed a code-share partnership with Southwest in exchange for financial aid. To get the four gates, Southwest will reportedly forgive $20 million of a $47 million loan it made to ATA as debtor-in-possession financing. ATA has lately been sharply reducing its schedules at Midway and has stopped all service at Indianapolis, its home base. The plan reportedly calls for changes in ATA's code-share relationship with Southwest, but those details were sealed, the newspaper said. American re-launches corporate booking site Citing "growing demand from corporate customers," American Airlines said last week it is teaming up with travel giant Cendant to re-launch www.CorporateAAcess.com, its online corporate booking tool. The site will allow customers to book privately negotiated fares for American, American Eagle and AmericanConnection flights, as well as negotiated hotel and rental car rates; in addition, users will be able to book publicly available fares and prices for other airlines, hotel and car vendors. Company travel managers will get instant access to real-time traveler data and can easily integrate data into back-office systems, American said. The new CorporateAAccess.com will be tested with key accounts through the end of this year, with a full rollout in the first half of 2006, the company said. United enhances Mileage Plus benefits United Airlines said that starting in January 2006, Mileage Plus members will be able to claim bonus rewards when they achieve certain thresholds, i.e. 40,000 elite qualifying miles or 40 segments; 75,000/75; 125,000/125 and 300,000/300 segments. The bonus rewards, which require no mileage redemption, include dining certificates; a tour of United's flight training center in Denver; triple flight miles for a month; and the ability to elevate another Mileage Plus member to elite status. United also said that as of November 15, 2005, it eliminated Mileage Plus award service fees through next year for 1K and Global Services members; and that million-milers will get two confirmed regional upgrades on January 1, 2006 good for paid travel within North America. Details are available at www.united.com/NewMPRewards. FAA/SECURITY GAO study cites security concerns over air cargo A report from the Government Accountability Office last week warned that despite all the security measures applied to airline passenger travel, there's still one big gap in the system: air cargo. GAO's report said that about one-fourth of all air cargo shipped in the U.S. goes into the holds of commercial airliners, and only a small percentage of it is ever inspected. The Transportation Security Administration does impose certain registration requirements on shipping companies, GAO noted, but it said that the limited amount of physical inspections carried out on air cargo represents a serious shortcoming in aviation security. GAO suggested that studies should be conducted of the entire shipping process to seek out vulnerabilities so that they can be corrected. INTERNATIONAL Singapore adds Internet access on New York route Singapore Airlines last week started offering Connexion by Boeing broadband Internet access on its New York JFK-Frankfurt-Singapore route. Passengers can use their own wireless-equipped laptops to access the service from their seats. Pricing options start at $7.95 for a 30-minute starter package, and range up to $29.92 for six hours or more of unlimited use. Purchasers also get access to four TV channels from their laptops including MSNBC, CNBC, BBC World and Eurosport News. Users can register online at www.connexionbyboeing.com. BA plans Club World overhaul in 2006 B/E Aerospace said it has won a $150 million contract from British Airways to overhaul business class seating on all of the carrier's long-haul planes. The company, which specializes in aircraft seating and interiors, said it will design and manufacture "next-generation horizontal lie-flat bed seats," using a platform that matches BA's forward and aft-facing seating configuration. Deliveries of the new seats are expected to start in mid-2006. AIRPORTS Tampa adds new economy parking facility Tampa International Airport has cut the ribbon on the first phase of a $71 million, six-level economy parking garage, offering 3,300 covered spaces. The facility has a system of lighted signs to tell drivers how many spaces are available on each level, as well as a self-service credit card payment option. Shuttle buses operate to the terminals every three to seven minutes. Phase 2 will open next summer, officials said, providing another 2,300 spaces. Parking at the economy garage costs $7 a day, vs. $14 at the airport's long-term lot and $18 at the short-term lot. Meanwhile, Tampa has also added a cell-phone waiting lot for persons picking up arriving passengers, so they won't wait in lanes outside the terminal until their party is ready. It's south of the Post office, across from the economy parking garage. HOTELS Radisson extends free Internet; Four Seasons reopens in Geneva Effective January 1, Radisson Hotels & Resorts will offer free high-speed Internet access in the guestrooms of all its properties in the Western Hemisphere; it will be either wireless or wired depending on the individual hotel's communications infrastructure. The service is already available at Radisson SAS hotels in Europe and the Mideast and Radisson Edwardian's U.K. properties. In Switzerland, the Four Seasons Hotel des Burgues Geneva has reopened after a year-long renovation - Regent International has cut the ribbon on the Regent Shanghai - Marriott plans a December opening for the Rome Marriott Park Hotel in the Italian capital; it said the hotel will have Europe's largest convention center, with meeting facilities for 7,000 - Starwood has opened the new Sheraton Presidente in San Salvador, El Salvador. In the U.S., Conrad Hotels is taking over Le Meridien Chicago, just off North Michigan Avenue - The former Holiday Inn at St. Louis' Westport Plaza district is now the Doubletree St. Louis at Westport - Doubletree has also taken over management of the former Wyndham at Newark Liberty International Airport - A December 1 opening is set for the new Hotel Indigo Chicago-Palatine, in suburban Palatine not far from O'Hare Airport. AIR ROUTES ATLANTA (ATL). Delta has increased its Atlanta-St. Maarten schedule to daily frequencies. DEALS AND SPECIALS FOR BUSINESS TRAVELERS You say you're not allowed to book a first class fare? Aeromexico has unveiled a new fare promotion called "Pay Coach and Travel First Class," available from U.S. gateways to Mexico City, so that "business travelers can easily observe their company's travel policies and still fly first class to Mexico," a spokesman said. The Y1 fares - essentially full-fare coach - buy you a first class seat, give you access to the airline's VIP airport lounges, and let you make changes for no fees. They're 50-62 percent less than published first class fares. Sample roundtrip prices: $654 from Phoenix, $818 from DFW, $996 from Miami, $1,428 from New York JFK. They can only be booked through a travel agent or by calling the airline at 800-237-6639. Government taxes and fees are extra. Passengers who buy a Thai Airways (www.thaiairways.com; 800-426-5204) business class ticket from New York to Bangkok, with travel starting by December 31, will receive business class tickets to two other cities in Thailand at no extra charge. Persons who buy an economy class New York-Bangkok ticket and leave by December 10 can upgrade to premium economy class for a special rate of $199 each way. The recently-opened Grand Hyatt at Dallas/Ft. Worth Airport (800-233-1234; www.hyatt.com) has introduced a "Park-Sleep-Fly" package for travelers who have an early flight out in the morning. For a rate starting at $219, you get a one-night stay and parking for up to seven nights. A valet will take your car when you check in and have it waiting outside the terminal when you return from your trip. For links to other websites where you can search for bargains, click here: www.executivetravelonline.com/reference/deals.html For in-depth analysis, news, features and opinions about the current business travel scene, check out Joe Sent Me (www.joesentme.com), produced by veteran traveler advocate/journalist Joe Brancatelli and a team of contributors. By Jim Glab To sign up for the e-Alert, click here.