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Volume 5, Issue 51, December 18, 2007 |
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With the holiday season fast upon us, it seems appropriate to focus on the dreams and wishes of frequent travelers. In this issue, you’ll find some good news: More airport wireless, more brand-name hotels in far-flung places, more flights to popular locations, and more ways to earn frequent flyer miles and save on airfares. And to earn yourself a Christmas gift, please take this last chance to enter the eFlyer/American Airlines eShopping Mall contest for your chance to win one of five 8GB iPod nanos.
Two recent studies, both by the Cornell Institute of Hospitality Management, also shed some light on what you care about — and don’t — when it comes to restaurants.
What restaurant patrons don’t really care about, it seems, is the lighting. Many psychology studies have shown that people respond positively to natural light, but in a surprising result, that effect does not extend to restaurants. Normally, the report says, “full-spectrum light increases people’s sense of well-being, which should, in turn, result in behavior changes.” But researchers replaced the lighting in test-subject restaurants and found absolutely no effect on what customers bought, how long they stayed, or how much they tipped. We may want our days to be “merry and bright,” but it seems that in restaurants, we go for ambience.
Another study showed that, when it comes to restaurants, business diners really hate to wait. More than half the respondents in the survey said they would not even consider dining in a restaurant that doesn’t take reservations, and that call-ahead waitlists are considered a poor substitute. Additionally, restaurants that only take waiting lists, but not reservations, are considered to “not care about me” and not “respect my time.” These surveys are well respected by people in the hospitality industry, so let’s hope the message gets across.
All our best wishes for a happy, restful and fulfilling holiday season. Watch for your next issue of eFlyer on January 8, 2008; meanwhile, check the Global Traveler home page for any late-breaking news. 
Enter the eFlyer and AAdvantage eShoppingSM Mall contest by Dec. 19 and you could win one of five 8GB iPod Nanos. This is a special holiday bonus for eFlyer readers, with five grand prizes being awarded. To enter, first visit www.aadvantageeshopping.com and find a travel-related gift in one of the many stores in the American Airlines AAdvantage eShopping online mall, then write its name on the eFlyer entry form along with your contact information. Five winners will be chosen among all completed entries received by noon Dec. 19, with the prizes shipped in time for holiday gift-giving.
While you're visiting the AAdvantage eShoppingSM Mall, check out the various bonus mileage offers available for your holiday shopping, including the extra bonus offer for shopping with your MasterCard® card. No purchase is required to enter the contest.
If your holiday wishes include more airports with wireless Internet connectivity, then you’ll find Santa Claus left your gift in Washington, D.C. Both Reagan National (DCA) and Dulles International (IAD) now have WiFi throughout their terminals. It’s not free, except for an automatic connection to the airports’ Web home pages and the Metropolitan Washington Airport Authority. All the major wireless operators participate, so if you already belong, a dropdown list will appear once you click on your laptop’s browser icon. If you don’t have a wireless account, you’ll be prompted through a log-in page and asked to pay a $9-a-day minimum connection fee.
Just opened: the Ritz-Carlton Beijing, the company’s second in that city and third hotel in China. The interior of the Chaoyang-district hotel is inspired by an English country manor, but the 305 guestrooms have all the “mod cons,” including flat-screen TVs, WiFi, and iPod docking stations. The top floors house the modern fitness center and spa, and three restaurants feature, respectively, Italian, French and Chinese cuisine. Meanwhile, the Fairmont Singapore has just opened in the Raffles City complex. The first Fairmont hotel in Asia, it has 769 guestrooms, spectacular views of the Singapore skyline and Marina Bay, 17 restaurants and bars, a vast spa with 35 treatment rooms, 24-hour fitness, two outdoor pools, and tennis courts.
Traveling over the holiday season is rarely smooth sailing, but at least with AccuWeather’s new Holiday Travel Center you can get the latest information all in one place. The site includes the weather, traffic reports and flight delay information for all the major U.S. travel cities, plus the weather reports for international destination cities.
If you’re on the road, as usual, over the holidays, here are some tips from other veteran travelers: the pilots and cabin crew of British Airways. Airport stores in the United States are great places to do your non-souvenir holiday shopping, they say. Their favorite shopping spots are JFK Terminal 7, Orlando International (MCO), Philadelphia International (PHL), and Miami International (MIA). Their favorite gifts to buy on the road: perfume, scarves, chocolates, and electronics — all easy to pack, and not necessarily looking like they were bought at an airport. Just remember not to have any purchases giftwrapped if they need to go through any security checkpoints.
Travelers in 2008 will be able to reap the benefits of some new announcements by several airlines. Singapore Airways, which recently began nonstop flights from Houston (IAH) to Singapore (SIN) three days a week, will provide nonstop service between Houston and Moscow (MOS) the other four days; those flights will continue on to Singapore. Star Alliance has added two new member carriers, Air China and Shanghai Airlines. Miles on all alliance member carriers will count toward those airlines’ frequent flyer programs, including premium status, and vice versa. Northwest Airlines, in cooperation with its partner KLM, is adding daily nonstop flights to London Heathrow (LHR) from three cities: Detroit (DET), Minneapolis/St. Paul (MSP) and Seattle (SEA), starting in the spring.
Vail Cascade Resort & Spa
1300 Westhaven Drive
Vail, CO 81657
tel 800 282 4183 or 970 476 7111
www.vailcascade.com
Vail is not so much one village as a series of them, hugging the mountains in its steep valley, and as you arrive from the east (as you do when driving from Denver), the first you come to is Cascade Village. This is the home of the Vail Cascade Resort & Spa complex. It’s not as “complex” as it sounds, with modest-size buildings surrounding an attractive central courtyard. It has that “ski village” feel, but not the kind with Swiss knickknacks that make you want to yodel. See the Dec. 23 GT Blog for photos and more commentary.
The décor is “mountain contemporary” — lots of stone and wood inside and out. I traversed the cozy lobby with its a stone fireplace to get to the concierge and check-in desk. I was quickly checked in and (with a glimpse into the lounge bar and the restaurant en route) guided back through the small lobby to the elevator banks and, ultimately, to my guestroom.
The room was lovely, all in greens, browns and natural tones, with a French door to a large balcony overlooking the pool deck (with its two hot tubs) and the creek. The sound of the babbling brook was the perfect soundtrack for a mountain visit, and together with the dark wicker headboard, wood-framed black-and-white photos, wood and metal lamps and red accent pillows, managed to make the ambience seem Mountain West rather than masculine. In addition to plenty of counter space in the luxurious modern bath, there was a separate counter area above the minibar for the coffeemaker, which (at least for me) doubled as a convenient catchall for things I dropped off when I came in the front door, or needed to remember on my way out.
Working space and high-tech amenities were also first-rate. The oversized deck had its own comfy chair, and my choice of wired or wireless Internet access. The entertainment system, via the TV remote, had loads of TV channels, pay movies, pay CDs, music videos and kid programming, and a game controller and keyboard for TV-based games and Internet access (i.e., you can manage quite well if you leave your laptop or GameBoy at home). On the other hand, if I’d brought any peripherals, from a DVD player to a PS2 or VCR, I could have run them through the system.
A short walk across the central courtyard, or across the skyway connecting the two buildings, is the Aria Spa & Club, a large fitness center and top-notch spa open to members as well as to hotel guests. I tried several of the services, which were wonderful. Look for a full report in an upcoming issue of Global Traveler.
The hotel’s main restaurant, Chaps, is also terrific, with grilled fare the specialty. It deserves its own story; check the next issue of eFlyer on Jan. 8 for more.
Score: ••••• Mary Hunt
BMI’s new fare sale to its U.K. destinations is good for tickets purchased online through Dec. 24. The sale fares, good for travel between Jan. 1 and March 31, apply not only to BMI’s own gateway cities, Chicago (ORD) and Las Vegas (LAS), but also to those it code-shares with fellow Star Alliance carriers. The code-share city sale is good for flights to Manchester (MAN); sample fares, round-trip, are: from Los Angeles (LAX), $540 in economy, $940 in premium economy, $2,958 in business; from Cincinnati (CVG), $486/$886/$2,518; from Newark (EWR) $406/$806/$2,304. Passengers originating in Chicago or Las Vegas can add on Aberdeen (ABZ), Glasgow (GLA) or Edinburgh (EDI) for $38 round trip in any class; add Belfast (BFS), Exeter (EXT) or Norwich (NWI) for $154.
Book a room at The James Chicago for a stay anytime through Dec. 27, and you have your choice of two holiday packages. The Holiday Shop package starts at $299 a night and includes a $75 Bloomingdale’s gift card, and complimentary delivery of your shopping booty from a nearby mall to the hotel. The Chicago-Style Christmas package includes your choice of a Loft or Penthouse Loft, a Christmas stocking filled with treats, tea for two in the lobby or in your room, a massage for two, and a carriage ride down Michigan Avenue; it costs $1,199 ($2,500 in a Penthouse Loft). Or, until March 31, you can book The James’s Winter Wonderland Package, which includes ice skate rental, car transportation to Millennium Park for skating, tea for two in the lobby, and dinner for two at Primehouse; that cost is $359.
Through Jan. 31, members of Continental’s OnePass mileage program can earn 9,999 bonus miles by renting a car from Budget for at least five consecutive days. Any car category qualifies, as long as you book at least 24 hours ahead and use discount code U082506.
Until Feb. 29, if you stay at any participating property in the Hilton family of hotels (Hilton, Waldorf-Astoria Collection, Conrad, Hilton Garden Inn, Doubletree, Embassy Suites, Hampton Inn, and Homewood Suites) outside the United States, you can earn quadruple Delta SkyMiles. Use the code P81BAB.
U.S.-based members of El Al’s Matmid loyalty program are being treated to extras this winter. For travel to Israel between Jan. 21 and March 29, program members pay just $723 round trip from New York (JFK, EWR), $830 from Miami (MIA), or $870 from Los Angeles (LAX). The offer is good on all nonstop flights. In addition, travelers get a 300-point discount when using Matmid points to book economy-class tickets to Israel on any flights that departs from a U.S. gateway by March 31.
