August 2010
In this issue...

• Final Secure Flight Deadline Looming - Update Your Profile Now
• Delta Beefing Up Flights Out of Washington-Reagan National Airport
• Southwest Credits to Become Less Flexible
• Mexicana Airlines Suspends Flights Because of Financial Woes
• October Webinar: The Secrets to Travel Management Data and Reporting
• April Airline Load Factors Hit Record High and Capacity Rises for the First Time Since 2007
• Customs Aims for More Takers for Its Trusted Traveler Program
• Hotel Room Rates Diverge - Average Hotel Rates For the Summer Cool Off - Business Travel Rebound Boosts U.S. Hotel Industry
• Air Travelers Face an Array of Fees
• US to Start Collecting New Fee from Foreign Visitors
• Comparing Past, Present Airfares is More Difficult with New Fees
• Number of Airline Flights in Lengthy Tarmac Delays Plunges
• Vacation Hotspots by Diana Greer, Personal Travel Consultant
  

FINAL SECURE FLIGHT DEADLINE LOOMING - UPDATE YOUR PROFILE NOW

The final stage of the TSA Secure Flight implementation is upon us. Many airlines are taking a stricter rule and deadline than that required by the TSA. Travelers who have not provided us with their Date of Birth and Full Legal Name as it appears on their ID by September 15, 2010, will be inhibited from having tickets issued in their name by at least one major airline, American Airlines. Other major airlines are expected to quickly follow with similar regulations. The TSA requires a hundred percent of passengers traveling within the USA and its territories to have Secure Flight Passenger Data in all reservations for travel as of November 1, 2010. For more information regarding Secure Flight, please click here.

Many of our customers can check to see if this information has already been updated with MacNair by logging in here, and then clicking on the PROSHOP. If your information is complete, thank you. If you need to update your Date of Birth, please do so within the online profile. If you need to update your name so that it matches your Government Issued Photo ID commonly used for travel as it appears on your profile, please complete this form. If you do not have access to the online profile, please contact a MacNair consultant immediately so that they can manually update your profile. Travelers who fail to update their profile prior to September 15, 2010 may be prohibited from traveling and will incur a fee at the time of booking so that their profile can be updated by a member of MacNair's team.

DELTA BEEFING UP FLIGHTS OUT OF WASHINGTON-REAGAN NATIONAL AIRPORT

With its convenient location near central Washington, D.C., Reagan National Airport is the area's preferred airport for business travelers. On October 31st, Delta will launch new nonstop service from the airport to Hartford, CT; Columbus, OH; Jacksonville, FL; Orlando, FL; Miami, FL; Tampa, FL; and St. Louis, for a total of 21 new daily nonstop flights to and from Reagan National. In addition, Delta's existing service from Reagan National to Boston will be expanded with five additional daily frequencies for a schedule of 12 flights each day, while Delta's service to Indianapolis will be expanded from two to three daily flights. As part of the schedule re-alignment, Delta will be discontinuing service between Reagan National and Huntsville, AL.

When the schedule upgrade is complete, Delta will serve 22 cities nonstop from Reagan National, compared with 16 in the fall of 2009.
More details on the schedule enhancements at Washington-Reagan are available here.
(Source: Delta press release)

SOUTHWEST CREDITS TO BECOME LESS FLEXIBLE

Effective January 28, 2011 unused travel funds may only be applied towards the purchase of future travel for the individual named on the ticket. Any change to this itinerary may result in a fare increase. Southwest traditionally has allowed unused credits to be used towards other travelers. (Source: Southwest Airlines)

MEXICANA AIRLINES SUSPENDS FLIGHTS BECAUSE OF FINANCIAL WOES

Mexicana Airlines has been forced to suspend flights, it said, because of its troubled financial situation. "Mexicana Airlines will be forced to cancel certain flights over coming days to optimize available resources and ensure that priority is given to home-bound passengers," the carrier said in a statement. Mexicana, Mexico's largest airline, filed for bankruptcy protection and stopped selling tickets earlier this month. MacNair Travel has already contacted clients booked on Mexicana and protected them on other flights. (Source: Travel Weekly, The Wall Street Journal)

OCTOBER WEBINAR: THE SECRETS TO TRAVEL MANAGEMENT DATA AND REPORTING

MacNair Travel's next webinar titled "The Secrets to Travel Management Data and Reporting" is scheduled for Tuesday, October 26, 2010 at 12pm Eastern.
The webinar will be presented by Michael MacNair, President and CEO of MacNair Travel. Randy Bilbra, Executive Director, Finance and Administration will be co-presenting. To sign up for the free webinar, please RSVP by October 25th to Rian Watson at rwatson@macnairtravel.com or 703-650-5256 and login instructions will follow.

APRIL AIRLINE LOAD FACTORS HIT RECORD HIGH AND CAPACITY RISES FOR THE FIRST TIME SINCE 2007

The Department of Transportation reported that U.S. airlines carried nearly 60 million passengers in April. The load factors, which measure how full carriers are, reached record highs of around 80 percent. A rise in fuel costs and lower demand had caused airlines to reduce capacity. However, in the first year-over-year increase in three years, North American airlines are adding seating capacity to their planes this month. The one percent increase compared with August 2009 is the first increase since 2007 and seating capacity to and from North America is even higher at four percent. But those flights account for only a quarter of the capacity of airlines in North America. Capacity on U.S. airlines dropped in 2008 when jet fuel prices soared and they stayed low as business travel slumped amid the recession. (Source: CNNMoney.com, Bloomberg, Businessweek/The Associated Press)

CUSTOMS AIMS FOR MORE TAKERS FOR ITS TRUSTED TRAVELER PROGRAM

U.S. Customs and Border Protection hopes a new marketing push will net 100,000 total enrollments in its Global Entry program. About 58,000 passengers have registered so far for the trusted traveler program designed to speed their trip through Customs. "In order to have the security and trade promotions benefits, we have to go way beyond 60,000 members," says CBP Commissioner Alan Bersin. (Source: USA TODAY)

HOTEL ROOM RATES DIVERGE - AVERAGE HOTEL RATES FOR THE SUMMER COOL OFF - BUSINESS TRAVEL REBOUND BOOSTS U.S. HOTEL INDUSTRY

Hotel rates at upper-tier establishments increased year-over-year last month, while rates at lower-tier hotels continued to decline, according to recently released data. "While this is certainly an encouraging sign, virtually all of the increase in room rates was found in upper-end hotels and those in New York City," said Mark Lomanno, president of Smith Travel Research, which released the data. "The industry's recovery will not be in full swing until room rate increases are seen in a much wider swath of industry segments." Despite a slight increase in airfares over the summer, hotel rates have declined, according to Travelocity. The average domestic hotel rate for the summer as of May 20th was $140 and the international rate was $201. But the domestic rate had declined to $131 as of mid-July and the average international rate fell to $182. In other positive news, U.S. hotels, particularly upscale properties in New York and elsewhere on the East Coast, are reporting higher occupancy and stabilizing room rates, due in large part to a rise in business travel. While occupancy remains well below peak levels, the current increase bodes well for the rest of the summer, experts say.
(Source: Google/The Associated Press, BTNOnline.com, The New York Times)

AIR TRAVELERS FACE AN ARRAY OF FEES

Travelers booking tickets on the nation's airlines face an array of fees, including those for changing tickets, standby travel fees and phone reservation fees. The growing number and cost of these fees has raised concerns among lawmakers; a House subcommittee recently met to discuss whether the fees should be more clearly disclosed to travelers. (Source: The New York Times)

U.S. TO START COLLECTING NEW FEE FROM FOREIGN VISITORS

The Travel Promotion Act has established a federal tourism bureau that will be funded through fees charged to U.S. visitors. The fees, which are expected to total $14 per visitor every two years, will be collected through the Electronic System for Travel Authorization (ESTA) starting September 8th.The $14.00 fee will be broken down into a $10 travel promotion fee and a $4 operational fee for using ESTA.
(Source: BTNOnline.com, Federal Register.gov)

COMPARING PAST, PRESENT AIRFARES IS MORE DIFFICULT WITH NEW FEES

Airfares have been increasing steadily since the beginning of the year, according to official data. But airlines also have been adding fees for services such as checking luggage and using pillows, making comparisons of past and present airfares increasingly difficult. "For most travelers, the airfare is now the starting point rather than the end point in calculating what your trip cost will be," said Henry Harteveldt, a Forrester Research analyst. Look for MacNair's solution to help make sense of this confusion to be announced in the September 2010 edition of the InFlight. (Source: The New York Times)

NUMBER OF AIRLINE FLIGHTS IN LENGTHY TARMAC DELAYS PLUNGES

In June 2009, 268 airline flights were stranded on tarmacs for three hours or more, according to a U.S. report. This year, after the Department of Transportation started fining airlines for the delays, just three flights were stuck for more than three hours. Cancellations, meanwhile, were unchanged. (Source: Bloomberg)

VACATION HOTSPOTS BY DIANA GREER, PERSONAL TRAVEL CONSULTANT

• Great Deals for Tahiti and South Pacific - One of the world's top ranked small luxury cruise ships, Paul Gauguin Cruise Line sails Tahiti, French Polynesia and the South Pacific year round. Through our special relationships, MacNair Travel is able to offer free airfare from the west coast and 2-for-1 cruise fares on many sailings for all of 2011. This is the best way to see the Tahitian Islands on the Paul Gauguin with prices starting at $3,997.00 per person for seven days all inclusive.
• Great Cruise Deals from Baltimore for the Holidays - This is the time to make your plans and take advantage of the fantastic reduced holiday rates on cruises sailing from Baltimore. This is particularly great for those that don't like to fly. The Enchantment of the Seas offers cruises from Baltimore to Bermuda, Canada and the Caribbean. MacNair Travel is able to offer the following deals through our special relationship with Royal Caribbean: Set sail on a nine-night Caribbean Cruise on November 18th starting at the unbelievable rate of $599.00 per person and enjoy Thanksgiving at sea. For those looking for an unforgettable gift for your family, book a holiday cruise. The Enchantment sails on December 18th starting at $899.00 for Christmas at sea. The New Years Cruise sails December 27th with prices starting at $1,099.00. These are great deals that won't last long so call now and make this holiday season a memorable one!
• Romantic Bali for $200 a Night - As Elizabeth Gilbert's best selling memoir Eat, Pray, Love comes to the big screen, filmgoers will be treated to the breathtaking visuals of the "Love" setting: Ubud, Bali, where Julia Roberts finds a soul mate in the arms of Javier Bardem. Bali's lush beauty makes Ubud the ultimate location for amour. This is a great destination for honeymooners with rates starting under $200.00 a night at the 4-Star Komaneka Resort at Monkey Forest in Ubud, Bali, to higher rates for the luxurious Orient Express Ubud Hanging Gardens Resort and Spa. There is a resort for everyone's budget and the spectacular scenery is the same for all.
• Fall Weekend Getaway - The Inn at Perry Cabin is just a short drive from Washington, DC over the Bay Bridge on the Eastern Shore. This elegant 19th century mansion on the waterfront beside the Chesapeake Bay is steeped in history. It is a wonderful retreat with delightful gardens, a bird sanctuary and an infinity pool next to the sleepy little port of St Michaels. MacNair Travel offers a Bed and Breakfast Package for $275.00 a night.

Check out our latest specials and deals or contact the Personal Travel Division at MacNair Travel Management at dreamtrippers@macnairtravel.com or 703-836-1101 today!

Please feel free to send comments or suggestions to our editor, Tony Torres, at ttorres@macnairtravel.com.