Hotels cut expenses with new self-service kiosks
Hotels cut expenses with new self-service kiosks — Self-service kiosks in hotel lobbies, which let travelers bypass the front desk at check-in, will eventually help hotels stem rising labor costs by enabling them to serve guests with fewer staff. Marriott International will roll out the kiosks this summer, allowing guests to check in, get key cards and check out without interacting with hotel staff.
Hotels adding “tip†to bill — After Regis Philbin tipped a bellman at Florida’s ritzy Boca Raton Resort & Club last weekend, the talk-show host got a check-in surprise. The bellhop said that $9 covering his services would automatically be on the bill, Philbin told his TV audience. He was too embarrassed to ask for his tip back, but this new wrinkle in hotel fees irked him.
American passenger in food fight — A passenger who thought he was entitled to a meal on a flight, not just pretzels, got into a squabble that let to police meeting the plane when it landed. Law enforcement officials greeted American Airlines Flight 1842 from Las Vegas when it landed this morning at Miami International Airport. Authorities said a Platinum level frequent flyer passenger entered the galley because he thought he was entitled to a meal, not just pretzels.
Southeast owner breaks silence, blames GE — Southeast Airlines owner Tom Kolfenbach recently agreed to an interview with The Tampa Tribune, his first comments to the news media since he abruptly shut down the Largo-based airline Nov. 30. One issue involves the final paychecks, which United Bank and Trust Co. of St. Petersburg has refused to cash for most of Southeast’s 350 former employees.
Hertz cuts grace period on rentals — The Hertz Corporation, which last month withdrew a planned $2.50 booking fee after customers protested, has quietly embarked on another revenue-raising experiment by slashing its grace period for late vehicles in Europe and other international locations to 29 minutes from 59 minutes. Hertz, a unit of the Ford Motor Company, has also made formal a new currency exchange fee for certain overseas customers.
Cruise.com sinks into bizarre spamming counter-suit — Imagine asking a corporation to stop spamming you and instead of honoring your request, it sues you in federal court and continues to send the same unwanted, junk email you asked it to stop sending in the first place. This is precisely what happened to Mark W. Mumma, a web hosting and email service provider in Oklahoma City. A suit was filed against Mumma in the U.S. District Court’s Eastern District of Virginia on Feb. 8 by suspected spammer cruise.com, its parent company and the parent’s principals.