Delta Expands Saudia Ties As Airline Joins SkyTeam
Wall Street Journal
Delta Air Lines Inc. (DAL) said Wednesday that its partnership with Saudi Arabia’s national airline would be more extensive then previously disclosed, a year after coming under fire from religious groups over the planned link.
The newly rebranded Saudia this week joined the Delta-led SkyTeam global marketing alliance, providing the pact with its first Middle East member.
Delta faced a barrage of negative publicity last June when media reports suggested its ties with Saudia would lead to discrimination against some U.S. passengers on religious grounds because of Saudi Arabia’s visa policies.
Beware Greek euros travel company warns
The Independent
Check the serial numbers on your euro notes or you could be left with “funny money”, a leading British travel company warned yesterday in response to the deepening crisis involving the single currency.
DialAFlight told customers: “Although nobody is quite sure what will happen if Greece is ejected from the euro, we think it is possible that Greek euro notes would have to be used as a temporary currency.”
The company urged people to check their euro currency to look for the country of origin: Greek notes begin with the letter “Y” and Spanish notes with the letter “V”.
China’s Business Travel Set to Soar
Fox Business
The “sleeping giant” is on the move like never before. Chinese business travel, fuelled over the last decade by explosive economic growth, is indicative of the country’s mounting influence on the global marketplace.
This month, the Global Business Travel Association (GBTA) released their research findings on the future of China’s business travel spending and the numbers are staggering.
The country’s business travel budget is expected to grow 17% this year and 21% in 2013 to reach $245 billion. Currently in second place behind the U.S. in business travel spend, China could outpace the U.S. in the next couple years.
Mark Zuckerberg takes heat for no tip in Rome
USA Today
When in Rome, Facebook’s honeymooning co-founder and CEO reportedly did as most Romans do: Pay for a meal without adding an additional tip beyond the already-included service charge.
But by failing to leave a separate gratuity on their 32 euro (about $40) lunch of deep-fried artichokes, fried pumpkin flowers and ravioli stuffed with sea bass and artichokes washed down with bottled water and a pot of tea, Zuckerberg and his bride Priscilla Chan have set tongues wagging on both sides of the Atlantic.
“Waiters at Nonna Betta, which specialises in Roman Jewish cuisine, were amazed by Mr. Zuckerberg’s parsimony, not just because of his huge wealth but because of Americans’ reputation for tipping generously, as is expected of them at home,” writes the Telegraph.
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