Traveling? Beware of ‘shrouding’ schemes
Traveling? Beware of ‘shrouding’ schemes — A room at the Marriott may cost only $150, but the final bill looks a lot different once you have handed your car keys to the valet, used the high-speed Internet connection and eaten the $11 oatmeal. Late fees on credit cards have jumped. So have many mutual-fund fees. Two young economists, Xavier Gabaix and David I. Laibson, have come up with a name for this practice: shrouding. (The New York Times)
Couple believed to go overboard on Caribbean cruise — An elderly Vietnamese-American couple disappeared during a Caribbean cruise and they probably fell overboard, officials said Monday. The 71-year-old man and 67-year-old woman aboard the Carnival Destiny ship disappeared sometime Thursday between the islands of Barbados and Aruba, U.S. Coast Guard Petty Officer Omar Barrera said. (AP)
Car rental rates on the rise — Car-rental prices are rising, the result of growing demand from a rebound in travel and a tight supply of vehicles. Expedia, one of the largest online travel-booking sites, reports an average daily rate for May of $28 before taxes and fees, up 12% from a year ago. And Expedia’s Noah Tratt says travelers should expect more of the same. (USA Today)
Air Canada plays matchmaker in latest airline merger — An Air Canada investment in a combined US Airways-America West entity would complement its own international expansion plans, industry sources said yesterday, while also driving additional U.S. passenger traffic and generating maintenance contracts. (Globe and Mail)
Size matters in rental bait and switch — Many car rental companies, desperate to enhance their sputtering revenue, are pushing customers to upgrade to more expensive models. And by several accounts, the latest tactic at some franchises is to claim that the requested vehicle is not available. I should know. Twice in recent months - once at Los Angeles International Airport, the other at Kennedy International Airport - I have been the object of their zeal. (The New York Times)
Boeing delivers live TV to laptops on board — Boeing Co. unit Connexion said Tuesday it will provide about four live television channels to airline passengers using laptop computers on select flights in a bid to expand its in-flight wireless Internet service. Connexion sets up so-called wireless hotspots in the sky by using satellites to deliver the Internet to planes and extending these links to passenger laptops via Wi-Fi, or short-range wireless links that work on most laptops. (Reuters)
Southwest offers big signing bonuses — Southwest Airlines is offering signing bonuses of $2,500 as it tries to quickly fill 30 jobs at Philadelphia International Airport. The bonuses, which were announced yesterday, are for new hires who work at least six months at the $8.75-an-hour jobs. (Inquirer)
United strike averted, for now — United Airlines and its mechanics’ union reached a tentative agreement last night on a five-year contract calling for $96 million in wage and benefit cuts. The deal with the Aircraft Mechanics Fraternal Association came as a federal bankruptcy judge was holding hearings on United’s bid to impose cuts on its 7,000 mechanics. The union had threatened to strike at the airline, a unit of the UAL Corporation, if its contract was set aside and the cuts imposed. (The New York Times)
Air travelers are getting madder by the month — Higher oil prices and lower inflation-adjusted wages are making for some unhappy consumers — an ominous mix that could have troubling implications for the economy. The University of Michigan’s latest American Customer Satisfaction Index fell nearly 1 percent in the first three months of the year, the biggest quarterly drop since 1997 except for an even bigger decline the last three months of 2004. (Post Gazette)
Comparison site guns for travel giants — In the same week that Lastminute.com was acquired by Travelocity owner Sabre holdings for £577 million, a new UK company Allcheckin has launched a price comparison site for flights, hotel and car-hire information. The Allcheckin price comparison site is aimed at leisure and business travellers but unlike the conventional sites like Travelocity and Expedia which search individual airlines and hotels Allcheckin searches across the conventional sites to save you the time of going to each one individually. (Netimperative)
Contributing: Leslie Friedman, Mary Staley