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Volume 6, Issue 27, July 9, 2008 |
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A new study released last week says that up to 12,000 laptops are left behind at U.S. airports each week, and that only 30 to 35 percent of them are reclaimed. This particular study, conducted by The Ponemon Institute and sponsored by Dell, is being publicized in connection with new laptop security and tracking services from Dell, but the laptop manufacturer isn’t the only one tackling the problem.
In the April 2 edition of eFlyer, we reported on an initiative by the Transportation Security Administration to encourage luggage manufacturers to develop scanner-friendly laptop cases. The TSA promised to issue guidelines by August, and seems to be on track. Several manufacturers submitted prototypes which were approved and are going into production, such as two Pathfinder models: Their book-like designs allow the laptop “page” to be viewed easily without being separated from the rest of the case.
Dell’s tracking system is being shipped with certain new business-model laptops and includes a module embedded deep in the BIOS that reports a lost or stolen computer’s new “address” if it is used; some GPS-enabled models can report their locations to the manufacturer’s central tracking service.
Most laptops lost at airports are left behind at security. The simplest solution is to place your laptop in a bin that’s between other of your belongings so that you’re less likely to forget it. 
The latest airline to take a test of mobile phones to the sky is TAP, which has begun a six-month trial of OnAir’s onboard communications service. Passengers will be able to use smartphones and mobile phones to send and receive emails, text messages and voice calls; so far one of the airline’s Airbus A319 aircraft has been equipped with the service, with specific routes not specified. Flight crew has the ability to override the voice function at its discretion.
Four Seasons has opened its second hotel in Istanbul, this one on the European side of the Bosphorus Strait. The Four Seasons at the Bosphorus is a renovated 19th-century Ottoman palace with two new wings, a long waterfront terrace, several restaurants and a spa.
Aisle seats no more than five rows from an exit are the safest seats on an aircraft. That’s one of the results of a new study conducted by Greenwich University for the British Civil Aviation Authority. The research analyzed 105 air crashes and the seating of 2,000 survivors and found that exit rows, along with the rows directly in front or behind them, have the highest degree of survivability, while the worst odds are for those six or more rows away from the nearest exit.
Just opened: The Dana Hotel & Spa on North State Street in the River North neighborhood of Chicago. The newly built 26-story hotel has 216 guestrooms, a full-floor spa with a large menu of massages and other spa services, a rooftop lounge with central firepit and a beef/sushi/yakitori fusion restaurant with great city views. Guestrooms have floor-to-ceiling windows, glassed-in showers and all the latest high-tech “mod cons.”
Qantas is inaugurating a couple of new efforts to make life better for its frequent flyers. The airline is opening new domestic business-class lounges at its terminals in Sydney (SYD) and Melbourne (MLB) this month, to join the one it opened in Brisbane (BNE) on June 30; Canberra (CBR) is slated to receive the new lounge in October and Perth (PER) will bring up the rear in 2010. The airline will offer free wireless Internet in these clubs, as it now does at all Qantas Clubs in Australia.
The airline has also unveiled a new triple-option frequent flyer program. Qantas Frequent Flyer members can now redeem points. according to a new redemption schedule, for Any Seat Awards on Qantas and Jetstar flights, including all taxes and charges, by booking at least 24 hours ahead. Another option, Points Plus, allows members to use a combination of points and credit card payment for tickets as well as for products in the online store. Classic Awards are the traditional option, allowing fixed point levels to be redeemed for certain seats on certain flights.
The Water Club
1 Renaissance Way
Atlantic City, NJ 08401
tel 800 800 8817; 609 317 1000
www.thewaterclubatborgata.com
The newest addition to Atlantic City’s ever-changing skyline, The Water Club is the beautiful baby sister to its slightly older and extremely popular sibling, the Borgata Hotel Casino and Spa. The Borgata, which raised the bar for style and luxury in Atlantic City when it opened in 2003, has now expanded its presence by creating this stunning signature property right next door, connected to the older hotel by a short shopping corridor leading to the Borgata casino floor.
When I drove into the valet parking area ($10 for the length of a guest’s stay) during a recent visit, I was greeted by at least five valets and several beautiful young women who escorted me up the escalator to the front desk, where six more young ladies, dressed smartly in conservative brown suits and white shirts, quickly checked me in to a 22nd floor room. Two security guards checked my key card and opened the doors that led to the guest elevators. Additional security personnel protected the elevators that led to the 40 exclusive suites on the upper floors. All the newly hired staff were extraordinarily accommodating, and their crisp uniforms, easy smiles, and enthusiastic welcome were either the result of being on the job only two weeks, or having been well trained; I suspect both.
My room had oversized windows overlooking the marina, the city, and the Atlantic Ocean about a mile away. Decorated in shades of brown, my guestroom was spacious, with a king-size bed, divan and desk. Amenities included a Sony 40-inch high-def flat-panel TV, iPod docking station, two phones in the bedroom, one in the bathroom, 400-thread-count Egyptian cotton sheets, a large glass-enclosed shower stall with rainshower head, L’Occitane bath products, lots of cool dimmer switches for various bathroom lights, and the biggest, fluffiest bath towels I have seen in a hotel. High-speed WiFi access is available for $10 per 24 hours.
The Water Club’s Immersion spa takes up two floors near the top of the 43-story hotel, and offers lots of treatment rooms, an indoor lap pool, and a fitness area that faces a two-story glass wall with great views. Unfortunately, guests must book a spa treatment to use the lap pool and fitness facility. There are three small pools (two outdoor, one indoor) on the first floor that are free to guests, but the pool decks are confining and lounge chairs go quickly on hot days. Although the atmosphere is relaxing, The Water Club is not a resort property. I had to keep reminding myself that its public spaces are not meant for lingering, especially with a money-making casino so close by.
The hotel’s Sunroom lobby lounge, which also services the outdoor pool area, offers drinks and light meals prepared by noted chef Geoffrey Zakarian, and there are state-of-the-art meeting rooms on the second floor. The Water Club, which cost $400 million to build, contains 800 guestrooms and has the same gold reflective glass exterior as the Borgata, but the ambience inside is more like a quiet boutique hotel compared with its sister property next door. Although I was just a minute’s walk from the Borgata’s frenetic casino floor, I always felt cocooned while in The Water Club. Perhaps it was the “water” theme of the new property, with its small reflecting pools, water-image photos and art objects, and the ever-present sight of the bay and ocean from the windows that evoked the sense of solitude and calm.
Score: ••••• Ron Bernthal
Through July 31, Cathay Pacific’s deal of the month is for travel Sept. 1-Nov. 30. For fares starting at $926 (plus taxes and fees) you get round-trip flights from Los Angeles (LAX), San Francisco (SFO) or New York (JFK) to Bangkok (BKK) or Singapore (SIN), including unlimited free stopovers in Hong Kong (HKG). Maximum stay is 30 days.
A new sweepstakes from Choice Hotels is offering Ping golf clubs and tickets to an LPGA golf tournament among its prizes. Enter by Oct. 3 for a chance to win a trip to any of five 2009 LPGA tournaments (locations range from Florida to California), including round-trip airfare for two, four nights’ lodging, tournament tickets, $1,000 in spending money, two hours of golf lessons and a set of Ping golf clubs. Another prize includes a set of clubs, two golf lessons, and 20,000 Choice Privileges Points.
US Airways is adding a bonus dimension to Dividend Miles through Sept. 30 via its Grand Slam promotion. Essentially, whenever a Dividend Miles member conducts a qualifying transaction with any program partner, in addition to the miles earned, a credit for a “hit” is given. Every four hits equals 4,000 bonus points; 24 hits is a “grand slam” worth 30,000 bonus points.
The chic new Jia Shanghai, a 55-room boutique hotel on Nanjing Road, wants to help travelers Beat the Heat with their summer promotion. The summer deal costs approximately $233 a night and includes continental breakfast, a welcome cocktail, studio accommodations, a pizza in the hotel’s Issimo restaurant, all-day soft drinks, evening wine in the lobby, free local calls and free broadband and WiFi.
Virgin Atlantic has a special Upper Class fare for travel to London from the United States, good for travel Aug. 6-31, if you can buy it by June 21. The special fares, shown one-way, are: from New York (JFK or EWR) $1,179; from Boston (BOS) $1,319; from Washington (IAD) $1,329, from Chicago (ORD) $1,379, and from Miami $1,427.
