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Volume 6, Issue 4, January 30, 2008 |
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Coming next week: Global Traveler’s Silent Auction, where you can bid for trips and travel items while benefiting charity. The kickoff took place at Global Traveler’s annual GTTested Awards luncheon on Jan. 16 at the Jumeirah Essex House in Manhattan. Ivana Trump was the guest of honor; her appearance was on behalf of the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, which will again this year be the beneficiary of GT’s Silent Auction. LLS is the world’s largest voluntary health organization dedicated to funding blood cancer research, education and patient services.
The ballroom of the Jumeirah Essex House was packed with members of the travel industry elite. They were on hand to celebrate the awards given to more than 40 airlines, hotels, and other service providers who were voted the best in their categories by our readers.
Wines for the luncheon were provided by GT’s Wines on the Wing award-winners EVA Air, which took the overall award in 2007, and American Airlines, which came in first in white wines and second in red wines in our extensive wine-tasting. Many of the companies represented by the industry luminaries who attended the luncheon are donating great travel prizes for the Silent Auction.
Last year, more than 50 items were up for auction, from pairs of international airline tickets to hotel stays, miles and gift certificates. This year’s auction will be open to bidding next week at www.globaltravelerusa.com/auction. 
FLO Corp., one of the providers of a Registered Traveler program for U.S. travelers, has a new approach. In conjunction with Hilton Hotels Corp., as of Feb. 15 Hilton HHonors members will be able to pay for FLO memberships with their HHonors points. Several levels of FLO memberships are available, some including airline lounge access, premium concierge services and other extras. Meanwhile, Clear, the most active RT program, is teaming up with MasterCard to offer Clear membership as an optional cardmember benefit.
Valentine’s Day is on a Thursday this year, which means a business trip could extend to include a romantic night or weekend. In Denver, Hotel Teatro offers a Valentine’s Day package priced at $269, including champagne, chocolate, and breakfast in bed. InterContinental Boston’s Valentine package, priced at $499 a night, includes a couples’ massage and rose petals strewn on the bedding. The Conrad Centennial Singapore’s Match Made in Heaven package, priced at about $632 a night, includes flowers, teddy bears, and a ride on the Singapore Flyer observation wheel. In Hong Kong, Luxe Manor’s Themed Suite package includes dinner prepared and served in the brand-new Liai
son suite by a Michelin-starred chef; about $1,140 for one night.
Czech Airlines has added a Platinum level to its OK Plus Frequent Flyer Programme. Travelers who amass 100,000 miles in one calendar year, on Czech or its SkyTeam partners, earn Platinum status. Benefits include 100 percent Elite mileage bonuses, upgrades for two within 24 hours of departure, excess baggage allowance, and extra goodies such as lounge passes that Platinum members can pass along to friends.
The latest hotel on Dubai’s ever-changing skyline: the Copthorne Hotel Dubai in Port Saeed, Deira. The hotel is within walking distance of the Deira City Centre shopping district, and 10 minutes from Dubai International Airport (DXB). Its 163 guestrooms and suites have flat-screen TVs and high-speed Internet connections. Most feature Jacuzzi baths, balconies and views of the city and/or Dubai Creek.
American Airlines has added a smart mobile version of its AA.com Web site. When you enter AA.com from a mobile phone or handheld device, it automatically routes you to a simplified screen optimized for reading with portable electronics; there is no need to type in a dot-mobi address. Advantages include faster loading and easier menu navigation. So far, the mobile version allows check-in, itinerary review, and access to destination information. Additional features coming soon will allow mobile users to book and change flights, request upgrades, and access other AA.com features. If you prefer to reach the full site, a link on the mobile screen gives you access.
Park Hyatt Seoul
995-14 Daechi 3-dong
Gangnam-gu
Seoul 135-502, Korea
tel 82 2 2016 1234
www.seoul.park.hyatt.com
The lobby lounge of the 185-room Park Hyatt Seoul is on the 24th floor, the top level of this modern glass box in a business district of Seoul. It has lots of Japanese Aji stone, leather seats and Myanmar oak tables, and the lights of the city below are framed in 20-foot floor-to-ceiling windows. Look through one glass wall and you can see the hotel’s 50-foot indoor heated pool in the Park Club Spa, suspended over Seoul in a shimmering glass envelope.
Checking in was so visually pleasurable that I would have been happy sleeping in the sky lobby, but my room on the 17th floor was just as spectacular. A wall of windows made up one side of both the bedroom and the bathroom. Both the huge ceramic “soaking tub” and the glass “rainshower” stall are next to the windows and overlook the city, including some office towers a few blocks away. If they used binoculars, I am sure that nosy office workers could have invaded my privacy, but I kept the blinds up anyway, enjoying the novel experience of floating above the city in my glass environment.
In addition to the bedroom’s 32-inch flat-screen TV, there was also a remote-controlled version in the tub/shower area, embedded in a glass wall to keep the screen from getting wet. Very cool-looking. I kept slathering the wonderful-smelling Aesop bath creams on my face until I almost suffocated in herbs and essential oils, but revived myself later in the spa steam room and plunge pool. The rest of the room was nice too, but the bathroom blew me away.
I did not, however, spend all the time in the tub and the spa, tempting though they were. The dining options included Cornerstone — the hotel’s signature open-kitchen restaurant, with its oak wood-burning oven, walk-in 3,000-bottle wine cellar, and fresh food selections for breakfast through dinner — and The Timber House, styled after a Korean country house, offering Korean and Japanese bar menus plus whiskeys, sake, and the traditional Korean alcoholic beverage Soju.
The three-year-old Park Hyatt is located on the south side of Seoul’s Han River, near the Convention and Exhibition Center, World Trade Tower, and COEX Mall. It is also within steps of the Samseong subway station, where fast and frequent trains run to all districts in the city.
Score: ••••• Ron Bernthal
El Al is putting flights from its four U.S. gateways to Israel on sale for travel in February and March. From Miami (MIA) there are specific dates in February to which the sale applies, starting Feb. 10 for returns through March 20; from New York (JFK), Newark (EWR) or Chicago (ORD), the sale is for travel March 4–29. The round-trip economy-class sale fare is $833 from either New York metro airport, $1033 from Chicago and $1083 from Miami; add about $85 to any fare for additional taxes and fees.
If you’re planning to fly Malev, book online and you may win a free trip. That’s the deal the airline is offering to promote its e-Malev site. Anyone booking a ticket online by March 31 (for travel through the end of April) is entered in a contest for one of nine prizes. Prizes include business- and economy-class air travel, two-night hotel packages with spa amenities or city tours, and frequent flyer bonus points in Malev’s Duna Club.
Members of the VIP dining-for-miles programs of six airlines can now earn double miles for answering a questionnaire. Instead of the typical five miles per dollar spent at participating restaurants, members will earn 10 miles per dollar when they either click on a link provided with their reward confirmation or log into their member area for the individual airline’s program. Once you complete the short survey (which takes less than a minute) the program will process your miles at double the usual accrual during the entire awards period, which is until March 31. Participating dine-around programs are US Airways Dividend Miles Dining, AAdvantage Dining, Delta Skymiles Dining, Mileage Plus Dining, WorldPerks Dining For Miles, and Alaska MileagePlan Dining, all of which are administered by Rewards Network.
Rental car company Hertz is celebrating its 90th birthday this year, and it has picked some specific days to share the wealth with renters. On Jan. 31 and Feb. 7, between 9 a.m. and 9 p.m., weekly rental rates in Europe will be discounted 90 percent for the first 90 cars booked. And through St. Patrick’s Day, Auto Europe is offering discount rates in Ireland starting at $11.99 a day. The offer is good from now through March 18.
BMI today launched its first fare sale of 2008, in economy, premium economy and business class. The round-trip sale fares must be purchased by Feb. 6, for travel through March 31. The sale fares apply to BMI’s Chicago (ORD) and Las Vegas (LAS) gateways as well as to its code-share cities across the country, to Manchester (MAN) with add-on fares available to other U.K. cities. Sample round-trip fares are: JFK-MAN, $410 economy, $860 premium economy, $1,945 business; LAX-MAN $486/$936/$2,866.
