Starwood
expands W brand in Europe
Starwood disclosed plans for a pair of
W hotels. St. Petersburg, Russia, will be the site
of a 135-room W opening in 2008 near St. Isaac's Square. The hotel,
a new-build, will be the first W in Eastern Europe. Separately, W
plans to convert a building in Milan, Italy, to a 76-room hotel due
to open in December 2008.
Spirit to
unbundle service 'frills'
Spirit, classifying itself as an
"ultralow-cost carrier," said it lowered its fares by as much as
40% on March 6, but as of June 20 it will begin charging passengers
up to $10 apiece for their first two checked bags and $1 for juice,
soda, coffee and tea. The new checked-bag fee will apply to
customers who booked their Spirit flights after March 5.
Spirit also is
ditching its Spirit Plus class, which comes with dedicated
check-in, priority boarding and free snacks and drinks. It is
keeping its roomier seats and selling them at a premium as Big
Front Seats without the Spirit Plus extras. Those extras go away
June 20.
JetBlue
stand-in flies on four routes
JetBlue contracted with
ExpressJet to provide temporary service on four
routes while JetBlue sends its 25 Embraer 190 aircraft back to the
manufacturer for software upgrades to improve
reliability.
Affected are
JetBlue services from Boston to Buffalo and Washington (Dulles) and
from New York (Kennedy) to Columbus, Ohio, and Richmond, Va., from
March 8 to April 30. The flights will be noted as "operated by
ExpressJet." Because ExpressJet's 50-seat aircraft won't deliver
the same level of service, JetBlue is giving those passengers a $25
voucher.
Expedia
expands carbon offset plan
Expedia
Inc. extended its carbon offset program in partnership
with TerraPass to Expedia Corporate
Travel clients, who can now calculate the amount of carbon
dioxide that their employees' business travel creates, and purchase
carbon offsets from TerraPass.
Also, ECT is
making offset purchases and pledged that its own employees' travel
would be "carbon neutral" by the end of 2007.
HRG to
increase workforce in U.S.
HRG North
America plans to expand its workforce by more than a
third, adding 600 customer reps and travel counselors to its
1,600-person roster by the end of 2007, officials said. Within two
years, HRG North America intends to more than double its home-based
staff to around 20% of its workforce, to provide flexible hours for
global clients and as a hedge against service
disruptions.
CheapTickets has voluntourism
site
CheapTickets and the United Way of
America launched a co-branded Web site to enable travelers
to spend vacation time doing volunteer work. The Web site, at http://volunteer.cheaptickets.com, features a search
engine for travelers to identify volunteer opportunities and book
their trips.
MSC
Orchestra set for Med debut
MSC
Cruises will christen its newest ship, the MSC
Orchestra, in Civitavecchia, Italy, on May 14. The second
in the line's Musica class, the 2,550-passenger ship will cruise
the Med year-round.
Friends
& Colleagues
The National Tour Association's board of
directors appointed Lisa Simon president. Simon
had been interim president since the departure of Hank Phillips in
August 2006. Simon was the NTA's executive vice president from 1998
to 2004. Prior to her return to the NTA in 2006, Simon was
executive director of the International Coach Federation. " " " The
Four Seasons Hotel Miami appointed Debbie Finch
director of sales. Finch joins the Four Seasons Hotel Miami from
the Biltmore Hotel in Coral Gables, Fla., where she had been the
director of sales since 2000. " " " Kirk Lanterman
has not been nominated for re-election to Carnival Corp.'s board of
directors because he has reached the age of 75. The policy follows
the company's corporate governance guidelines. Lanterman has served
as a director of Carnival Corp. since 1992. He retired as CEO of
Holland America Line in 2004. " " " Auto Europe appointed
Michael Garcia president of the Americas. Garcia
was in international sales and marketing at Hertz. " " " Cayman
Airways appointed Patrick Strasburger CEO and
John Wrightington vice president, commercial.
Strasburger was vice president of airport services for Spirit
Airlines. Wrightington was managing director of network management
for Caribbean Star.