Two Years of 2B - Dallas Business Travel Guide

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But be warned: There are no overarchingt trends here. As is so oftenh the case on the road, these last two yearw have been almosttotally reactive: to insand swings in the price of fuel to the apparentluy endless cycle of boom-and-bust that dominatesa hotel development, and, of to the economic wave that has carrier us from the relatively giddy times of April 2007 to our well…to whatever it is we're living and workingg through. Southwest's Steady Course Even the nation's one financialluy sound U.S. carrier, Southwest Airlines, hasn'y been able to escape the ravages ofthe nation'd economic collapse.
Its traffic is down about in linewith industry-widde trends and it has taken the unprecedented step of trimminfg its overall capacity by 4 percent this And the airline's vaunted fuel-hedgin strategy, which saved the carrier about $3.5 billiojn in the last decade, cost it money in the seconc half of 2008 as oil pricews collapsed. But some things neve change: Southwest is using the downturn to positio n itself as an alternativr tothe nation's mainline carriers. After decadeds of shunning some of thelargest U.S.
it launched flights to Minneapolis last is scheduled to beginits first-ever flights into New York (via LaGuardiaq Airport) in June, and will serve Boston's Logan Airport in the United's Inexorable Decline It's gone from worst to even worsew than that at United Airlines, the most troubled of the nation's so-called "legacy" carriers. Once the nation'sw largest airline, United is hemorrhaging after abungled mega-bankruptcgy and years of management missteps.
About 40 percentg of what flies as United Airlines is subcontracted to regionapl airlines and much of the remaining service isactuallg code-share operations with its international partners in the Star Every one of its union contracts becomes "amendable" next year (airline contracts nevedr technically expire). Compared with the othetr legacy carriers, its cash reserves are small and ther e are few unencumbered assetsto hock. And earlu next year, it will have to discusws cash-draining "holdbacks" with JP Morgan Chase, its credit-card processor.
there's no good news, since its once-profitable service to the Pacifiv Rim is deteriorating rapidly due to plunging yieldw to Asia and fresh competition on itsAustraliq routes. Fate of the Fourtu Class The worldwide collapseof premium-class traffic since last fall has had the expecter effect: Airlines have stepped up their discounting in businesz class and more carriers are adding a fourtuh class, which is rather generically known as "premium The discounting trend is both structurallhy strategic—the airlines now offer a range of discounts from three to 60 days beforee departure—and tantalizingly tactical, with sale faress slashing as much as 75 percent off the pricew of international business class.
As for premium Air France added the new cabim on three premierroutes (from Paris to New York, and Osaka). But the fate of fourtgh class is far from Even as Air Francewas debuting, British Airways' boutique carrier, was renaming its fourth cabin as the "biz The reason? Premium economgy still exists in a computer-coded limbo, whicnh makes selling it via the airline industry'a omnipresent global reservation services difficult.  The Banking Blues and Londo n RediscoveredIf I've been at all prescient in the last two it was the Run on the Bankeras column that posted shortlgy after Lehman Brothers tanked last September.
Exactly in line with the meltdowjn ofthe markets, bankers stoppes flying, and that has caused the calamitous decline in premium-class airlinew revenue. It's been especiallty tough on British Airways, which is disproportionately dependent on premiuk flying on theNyLon (New York-London) And there's no doubt that BA (and London) are still suffering a year on from the disastrou s opening weeks of Terminal 5 at Heathroe Airport in March 2008. The good news for thoses of us wholove London? The British capital is cheao again for upscale American thanks to massive airfare and hotel discountsx and the precipitous decline of the valuw of the British pound.
Counterintuitive Currencty Just beforethe world's economies shuddered, the U.S. dollar was at an unaffordablelow ebb. But for reasons known only to the mastersa ofthe universe, the U.S. dollar has gained strength against almost all ofthe world's currencies as the Americanh economy weakened. If you've got any discretionary incomr left, this will be a great summer to travepl virtually anywhere inthe world. The dolladr is buying 20 to 50 percent more than last sprinvgand summer. The only exception: where the dollar continues to languish at or beloawthe 100-yen mark. A Fee By Any Other Name it isn't all breaf and dollar-denominated chocolates overseas.
Banks and othe r financial institutions continue to raise the fees they chargde when you use your ATM or credit card outside of theUnitee States. The latest trick: Currency-exchange fees of 3 percent or more even if you use yourown bank'zs ATM card to make a withdrawakl from your own account at an overseas ATM owneds and operated by said bank. Even financial institutione that continue toadvertise fee-free ATM usage are adoptinb the currency gambit. One example: Charles Schwab Bank, whos e print ads promise in big, bold type that there are "Nol ATM fees—we rebate all ATM fees from any ATM.
But as Schwab's fine prinf makes clear, "ATM free rebatea do not include currency exchange fees or other Some of the fewtruly fee-free ports in the storm are the credit cardds and ATM cards issued by Capital One. The Fine Allow me to end this column wherw I began in April I still believe the single best investment you can make inyour on-the-roax comfort and productivity is Prioritt Pass, the worldwide airport-lounge access program. The fees haven'yt changed, but the lounge network has grown by 20 to more than 600 clubs in300 cities. Portfolio.cojm © 2009 Cond Nast Inc.
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