Fewer companies reimburse airline fees
USA Today
A report released today by travel and expense management company GetThere says 78% of corporate travel managers who answered a GetThere survey said their companies reimbursed for a first checked bag last year, down from 95% in 2010.
The percentage of travel managers whose companies covered the costs of on-board food or beverage dropped to 42% last year, compared with 53% the year before.
As companies tighten travel budgets, another report released Monday reveals that U.S. airlines bring in more revenue from fees for bags and other products and services than do the world’s other carriers.
India’s top court bans tourism in tiger parks
Kansas City Star
India’s top court has banned tourism in tiger reserve forests across the country in an effort to save the endangered big cat.
Lawyer Wasim Kadri says the Supreme Court has also announced stiff penalties on Indian states that have not created buffer zones around tiger habitats.
The court on Tuesday fined eight states for failing to declare buffer zones around tiger reserve forests and gave officials three weeks to act on its orders.
Thailand tourists warned of ‘vicious gang attacks’
TVNZ
Two Canadian sisters die mysteriously in their rented bungalow on an idyllic Thai island, believed poisoned. Less than week later, a 60-year-old Australian woman is stabbed to death in botched robbery outside a luxury resort in Phuket.
Their deaths are the latest in a tumult of violence and intrigue to shake tourism in postcard-perfect Thailand, raising questions over whether it is squandering a prized asset by failing to protect travellers arriving in record numbers.
Other headlines are less dramatic but equally troubling: taxi driver mafias, transvestite thieves, pollution, tourist brawls, traffic accidents, and at airports, radar glitches, flight delays and long immigration queues.
American Airlines Unveils Ultra-Stylish Cabins
Passport Magazine
American Airlines plans to enhance and modernize travel with 200 new narrowbody deliveries from Airbus and Boeing—these are a part of the previously announced order for 460 new aircraft that American has ordered. “We intend to be the only airline to offer a three-class service and the first to offer fully lie-flat First and Business Class seats on transcontinental flights with our Airbus A321 transcontinental aircraft,” said Virsab Vahidi, American’s Chief Commercial Officer. “By using the A321 aircraft with three classes of service and outfitted with fully lie-flat premium class seats, all-aisle access in First Class, and state-of-the-art amenities, we will be able to continue providing an industry-leading premium experience on transcontinental routes, while significantly reducing costs through improved fuel efficiency.”
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