service posts
by Meg Nesterov (RSS feed) (4 months ago)
Oct 7th, 2011 at 2:00PM: Many visitors to New York City come for the shopping. What to do with all those bargains and souvenirs when it's time for dinner? You could stow them at your hotel or use a left luggage desk at a transportation center like Port Authority, but what if your day takes you different places?
Cubby is a new bag check and luggage storage service on Manhattan's Park Avenue South and 23rd Street ...
by Dana Murph (RSS feed) (10 months ago)
Mar 23rd, 2011 at 12:00PM:
The goal here was to utilize Xcom Global's MiFi rental service to stay connected and work while traveling. The trip? Four days in England, followed by three in France. I was scheduled to shoot my first international wedding in Paris, and was spending a few days in England beforehand -- partly to enjoy the country, and partly to ensure that no weather problems in the US delayed my flight over. ...
by Meg Nesterov (RSS feed) (1 year ago)
Nov 18th, 2010 at 10:00AM: So you've chosen your vacation destination - booked the tickets, agonized over TripAdvisor to find a hotel, and bought the guidebooks or downloaded the apps. Whether you like to plan your itinerary in advance or play it by ear, there are a few things you should research in advance to make your arrival - and your trip - go smoothly.
From airport taxis to local laws to transit passes, what should ...
by Meg Nesterov (RSS feed) (1 year ago)
Sep 28th, 2010 at 10:30AM: Daniel Edward Craig shares a name with the current James Bond, and like 007, he's a world traveler and a man of many hats. He's taken a career in hotel management and a keen ear for storytelling and parlayed it into a murder mystery book series, an engaging industry blog, and a hotel and social media consultancy. Here he tells Gadling about his history in the travel world, who's providing the best ...
by Heather Poole (RSS feed) (1 year ago)
Sep 20th, 2010 at 9:30AM: You've boarded a flight and you're feeling pretty relaxed sitting in that big comfy first class seat. Sucka, you think to yourself as a couple of passengers check you out on their way to coach. Glancing at your watch, you wonder where the heck the flight attendant is because you're dying of thirst and shouldn't she be offering drinks right about now!
Predepartures. That's what flight attendants ...
by Tom Johansmeyer (RSS feed) (1 year ago)
Aug 23rd, 2010 at 12:30PM: "Surly demeanor" is what bugs passengers most about flight attendants, confirming any suspicion anyone's ever had about customer service in the airline industry. More than 5,100 readers weighed in on a USA Today survey, with 38 percent saying that attitude was the worst part of dealing with flight attendants.
What else can't we stand about flight attendants? According to USA Today, 21 percent ...
by Tom Johansmeyer (RSS feed) (1 year ago)
Jul 22nd, 2010 at 2:00PM: As much as passengers complain about airline employees (and we do), we give them reason to complain about us. And, we complain about each other. There's clearly no risk of a love-fest breaking out in the gate area, and if you look closely, you can see how the situation will only get worse. There are all kinds of conditions set to make air travel miserable (well ... more so), and that means ...
by Laurel Miller (RSS feed) (1 year ago)
Mar 4th, 2010 at 1:00PM: A Delta Airlines connection flight was cancelled last Thursday, after two female flight attendants engaged in a catfight. According to the Associated Press, Rochester-to-Atlanta-bound Delta Connection Flight 887 was forced to return to the departure gate after one of the passengers fell ill. Memphis-based Pinnacle Airlines spokesman Joe Williams states that there was no physical contact between ...
by Tom Johansmeyer (RSS feed) (2 years ago)
Jan 26th, 2010 at 1:00PM: Nothing can stain a perfectly planned trip like poor restaurant service. In the hotels, this usually isn't a problem, as the wait staff is governed by the same fanatical commitment to keeping guests happy as everyone else on the property. But, nobody wants to eat every meal on site, so you're bound to venture out for most of your lunches and dinners. This is where you'll wind up rolling the dice. ...
by Katie Hammel (RSS feed) (2 years ago)
Jan 12th, 2010 at 11:00AM:
As a budget traveler, I've always been averse to spending much more than $150 per night on a hotel room. I've always figured, "it's just a room" and that aside from a comfortable bed in a quiet, clean building, I didn't really need more much. I never thought I would consider spending $500 for a single night in a hotel. But all that changed when I stayed at the Four Seasons Hualalai on ...
by Tom Johansmeyer (RSS feed) (2 years ago)
Nov 6th, 2009 at 9:00AM: It sounds counterintuitive, right? Normally, customers expect that extra effort, and we complain constantly that we don't get it enough. What we sometimes don't understand, though, is that the extra effort is at the root of many of the customer service problems we encounter. Going the extra mile at the wrong time can be a disaster.
I remember a case presented at a conference I attended back in ...
by Katie Hammel (RSS feed) (2 years ago)
Jul 29th, 2009 at 2:00PM: Go Fast Cab, a company that hopes to change the way you hail a taxi, is now offering service in Chicago. Rather than standing out on the street in the cold or rain, waiting impatiently for the sight of a taxi with an illuminated "available" light, all you have to do is text and a cab will arrive at your door.
Here's how it works. You text your address to 777222 (777CAB) and the request is ...
by Heather Poole (RSS feed) (3 years ago)
Dec 30th, 2008 at 10:30AM:
Recently I read an interesting article in the New York Times, Up, Up, and Go Away, about an ex flight attendant who worked for TWA in the 1970's when flight attendants were known as stewardesses and stewardesses were as glamorous as movie stars and passengers were treated like royalty and flying was..well...just better - in every way possible! The stewardess featured in the article above wrote ...
by Heather Poole (RSS feed) (3 years ago)
Nov 10th, 2008 at 10:30AM:
I like working in business class. What I like even more are the other flight attendants who enjoy working in business. Call me crazy, but I even like business class passengers. I do!
What I find interesting about business class passengers is that the majority of them find it hard to believe that the cabin they prefer to sit in is the cabin that goes the most junior when it comes to company ...
by Josh Lew (RSS feed) (3 years ago)
Oct 14th, 2008 at 3:00PM: With the present conditions offering little reason for airline execs to break out the expensive cognac to toast to their success, some airlines (at least those who aren't fearing for their lives) are looking to the future. The likes of Cathay Pacific and Finnair are developing routes to Asia that they hope will become lucrative once the world economy starts playing nice. These airlines are ...
by Josh Lew (RSS feed) (3 years ago)
Oct 8th, 2008 at 11:30AM: High airfares and high gas prices have had many people feeling like they are stuck in a corner. Or at least stuck at home. For me, a Twin Cities resident with friends and family in Chicago, the $100 round trips of the past (AirTran and NW) made it easy to call The Windy City a second home. Likewise, my Cubs-loving acquaintances were only an hour or two away from watching a team that has actually ...
by Ember Swift (RSS feed) (4 years ago)
Aug 22nd, 2007 at 7:57PM: Ember Swift, Canadian musician and touring performer, will be keeping us up-to-date on what it's like to tour a band throughout North America. Having just arrived back from Beijing where she spent three months (check out her "Canadian in Beijing" series), she offers a musician's perspective on road life. Enjoy!
My roommate Elaine is awesome. She's from Calgary, AB and a friend of my sister's ...
by Adrienne Wilson (RSS feed) (5 years ago)
Oct 6th, 2006 at 12:52PM: No one likes writing restaurant rants including myself, but when I encounter very bad service it then becomes my obligation to all potential travelers to make such piss poor service known. Sigh. Before I begin with my rant let me set up the scene in Keystone, SD around this time of year. For starters it's off-season in Keystone and what may be a bustling little place right outside of Mount ...