Subscribe in a reader
The risk is in fully relying on the training manual
I highly recommend a college education.
However, I know for sure, that my true experience as a journalist and now a thriving business woman has stemmed from my “real world” experience. This thought leads me to today’s post.
As a part of my hospitality training programs, I always leave my students with a nice manual that captures the essence of everything that I have shared with them about how to serve family travelers, smarter. I consider it a good gesture, a way to make it “official” if you will.
My technique is to share with the hospitality team the importance of every word and how when in doubt, look it up and be in the know.
After experiencing heartfelt appreciation for having penned two or three days of information for them, I have them sign off on a pledge stating that they WILL NOT rely on this manual to improve their guest relations, instead, that they will get OUT THERE in the REAL WORLD and treat family travelers with kindness, day in day out. And that they understand the experience expressed in this manual is only based on proven market research facts and should not be relied on or used as a crutch. Tried and true hospitality stems from the heart, not in this manual.
Surprisingly, the staff is taken back each time. Just when silence can seem so loud, it’s then that they realize that changing the way families travel, forever, begins with them and no one else. Does your team know this?
Do they know that it’s only by getting out there and actually DOING the work that they gain sharper insight and skills in how to treat guests no matter what form of travel they are in. While I highly recommend having an education in the world of hospitality, I like to leave my students knowing that they ARE the change that I want to see for family travel. It gets them every time!
Worst case scenerios when traveling overseas and how to handle them
Spring is around the corner and that means family travel plans are in full gear for many of you.
Have you ever stopped to think about what you would do if your luggage got lost in Paris, or if for some reason, you couldn’t get through customs.
Today’s article is a good resource to tackle those trivial questions that may arise when traveling across the pond. If you have any tips that have worked for you, please share them with us.
In the meantime, here’s what to do if you lose your passport, break a leg or even get arrested overseas.
By Eric Lucas | Bing Travel
The Bucharest baggage carousel stopped twirling. All of the other passengers had plucked their luggage from it. Even my suitcase, checked through three flights from Seattle, had arrived. My wife’s bag, however, was a no-show. Now what?
Tourists in Haiti among many who are missing after the deadly earthquake
Hatian presidential palace (Lisandro Suero, AFP/Getty Images)
More than three million people are in need of emergency aid following the magnitute-7.0 earthquake that stunned Port-Au-Prince, Haiti on Tuesday. Hotels are among some of the buildings that collapsed, leaving several tourist missing.
As the poorest country in the western hemisphere, Haiti isn’t a major family travel destination, its neighboring region, the Dominican Republic is. The Dominican Republic shares the Espanola Island with Haiti. From what I understand, the Dominican Republic was not affected by the earthquake and is assisting in humanitarian aid.
WANT TO HELP?
USA Today | Hotel Check-In | Barbara De Lollis
As rescuers rush to save lives in the wake of the earthquake in impoverished Haiti, we’re starting to learn more about the extreme devastation to Haiti – including to its hotels and visitors.
I’m also seeing how Twitter is being used as a real-time tool by people trying to speed rescue efforts in these precious hours immediately following the 7.0 quake. My source? This real-time Twitter feed generated using the words, “Haiti” and “hotel.”
In the last hour, Twitter user @unasu sent out an urgent request for help to save a friend’s brother and his three daughters at the urban resort in Port-au-Prince, Karibe Hotel, where they are missing.
“OMG..friend’s brother and three girls are trapped in a collapsed hotel in Haiti. no machinery in the area. just chaos. (READ MORE)
New year promises cloud with a silver lining for air travel
www.mediabistro.com
Air travel has been, without a doubt, more stressful for many family travelers over the last few weeks. According to today’s report, air travel is looking up for passengers, well, in some areas.
USA Today Travel | David Grossman
In recent years, surging oil prices, airline bankruptcies and consolidation, terrorist bomb plots, invasive security procedures, pandemic scares, ancillary airline ticket fees and the deepest recession in decades have transformed business travel into a Darwinian struggle for survival. Once the havoc created by the recent attempt to bring down a U.S. jetliner abates, 2010 may prove to be a less turbulent and more benign year for air travelers. Barring the return of the H1N1 flu, an unexpected oil price surge or another unforeseen crisis, air travel may even hold a few bright spots in the coming year. Here are eight factors likely to affect air travel for business travelers in 2010.
Capacity changes in a gradual economic recovery
To combat the recession, many corporations slashed travel budgets by as much as 30% and downgraded travelers from first or business class to coach. In response, U.S. airlines reduced domestic capacity by nearly 11% and international capacity by 7% according to the Air Transport Association.
The International Air Transport Association (IATA) projects the world’s airlines lost $11 billion in 2009 and will lose another $5.6 billion in 2010. Despite these horrific losses, IATA believes the worst may be over as passenger demand is slowly rising again. Airline passenger traffic has now reached the halfway point between its highest peak in early 2008 and its lowest levels in early 2009. (READ MORE)
Civil liberty groups say stringent airline screening spurs racism
Full-body scans and intense pat downs are all part of TSA’s new airline screening procedures for passengers arriving from nations listed as “state sponsors of terrorism.”
The American Civil Liberties Union oppose this type of screening stating that there is no no realistic way to predict the national origin of a potential attacker. What do you think?
Reuters News Service
NEW YORK (Reuters) – More stringent screening launched on Monday for airline passengers from 14 nations, part of a crackdown after the botched Christmas Day bombing of a Detroit-bound flight, are ineffective and unconstitutional, civil liberty groups charged.
The tighter security measures, which range from passengers being patted down to advanced explosives detection and full-body scans, constitute racial profiling when there is no realistic way to predict the national origin of a potential attacker, the American Civil Liberties Union said.
The measures announced by the U.S. Transportation Security Administration affect passengers arriving from Cuba, Iran, Sudan and Syria — nations listed as “state sponsors of terrorism” — as well as Afghanistan, Algeria, Iraq, Lebanon, Libya, Nigeria, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Somalia and Yemen.
“Every individual flying into the U.S. from anywhere in the world traveling from or through nations that are state sponsors of terrorism or other countries of interest will be required to go through enhanced screening,” the TSA said. (READ MORE)
Nightmare of delays slowly dissolve at Newark Airport
Aristide Economopoulos/The Star-Ledger
This has REALLY gotten out of control!
However, I do understand TSA’s position. They cannot afford to let something like the Dec. 25 incident happen again… ever. Their butts are on the line.
It’s sad to say, but flying with your family is not a good idea right now. Airport security and the extreme precautions taken by TSA will only get worse, and I’m a very optimistic person.
It would be nice to say that you can avoid delays by flying out of smaller airports like Burbank Airport or Lehigh Valley International Airport, but that’s not a good idea since most small airports are connected to the major hubs anyway.
The FTS team is grounding all families right now. We’ll inform you when we think it’s safe to fly again. By “safe” we don’t mean danger. “Safe” for us is avoiding unecessary delays and harrassment.
Here’s the latest…
MSNBC
Newark, N.J. — Flights departing Newark International Airport were running behind schedule Monday in the wake of a security breach.
Officials say a man was spotted walking through a screening checkpoint exit into the secure side of a terminal on Sunday.
The incident caused major delays and grounded flights for six hours Sunday at the airport, one of the busiest in the nation.
A spokeswoman for Continental Airlines told NBC News that about 100 flights were affected, including 27 cancellations.
Transportation Security Administration officials made passengers leave Terminal C and be rescreened after the man entered the “sterile” area around 5:30 p.m. The man wasn’t found, but the TSA said its re-screening effort ensured every passenger was fully screened. (READ MORE)
Family travel predictions for 2010
I predict that in 2010, TSA will open family security check lanes year round.
Happy New Year everyone! Thanks for making Family Travel Suite the number one resource for family travelers in 2009. Here’s to a fabulous 2010!
*Be the first to receive our posts, Subscibe today!
USA Today|Travel News
NEW YORK (AP) — The travel gurus are reading their crystal balls for the new year, and here are some of their predictions.From Travelocity.com’s Genevieve Shaw Brown:
• Airfares are going up, but hotel rates are going down.
• Resorts in popular destinations dependent on air travelers — Caribbean, Hawaii — will be particularly good values.
• All-inclusive resorts will gain popularity with budget-conscious travelers.
• Booking early is the best way to get the lowest airfare. Capacity cuts means airlines have more pricing power than 2009.
• Vacation packages will be the best overall value. Hotels are not keen to lower their standalone rates, but will do so as part of a package. Travelers who bundle flight and hotel will save the most.
From Hotwire.com’s Clem Bason:
• Travel sales will remain flat; travel deals will continue to improve.
• Hotel prices will continue to drop. Deal-hunters should watch markets such as Las Vegas, Miami, Los Angeles and San Francisco, where Hotwire expects unsold inventory could be sold at up to 55% off.
• Air prices will stay flat, as capacity cuts offset the slow recovery in business travel, leading to price stability.
• Car rental prices will be high, with few deals and some sold-out locations. Use less-expensive brands such as Payless or Advantage and rent from off-airport locations to save money.
• Get savings from vacation packages, with discounted deals online.
• Price differences between five- and four-star hotels will get smaller. (READ MORE)
Terrorist attack gets you one free ticket from airline
All jokes aside, overall, I think this is a nice gesture. I mean, what else could the airline do to illustrate that they really 
do care about passenger safety. Delta Airlines, the carrier who owns Northwest, is even showing its gratitude to the passenger who subdued the Nigerian bomber. Exactly what that package includes has not been disclosed.
What do you think? Is a free plane ticket enough? What would you expect in a case like this one?
*Let us bring this blog to you, Subscibe today!
Associated Press | Harry R. Weber
ATLANTA — Delta Air Lines Inc. is offering travel credits to passengers on the Amsterstam-to-Detroit flight that a terror suspect tried and failed to blow up on Christmas.
Spokeswoman Susan Elliott told the Associated Press today the world’s biggest carrier is notifying passengers about the vouchers. The amount wasn’t disclosed.
According to authorities, a Nigerian man who said he was an agent for al-Qaida tried to blow up Northwest Airlines Flight 253 as the plane was preparing to land in Detroit on Friday. It was carrying 278 passengers and 11 crew members.
Delta is offering its gratitude to one of the passengers who subdued the suspect. Elliott declined to say whether that passenger would receive additional compensation beyond the travel voucher. (READ MORE)
Nigerian bomber story is in the lead
In an attempt to keep this blog fair and balanced, I’ve put forth the effort to ensure that I review other stories.
However, my news feeds have been coming in all day with coverage about the recent terrorist attempt. I’ve been skimming through the headlines, trying to find the latest developments. To keep it exciting, I thought it would be neat to just list all of the headlines surrounding the story and let you pick and choose which angle interests you. Consider this your family travel blog buffet.
N’joy!
1. Obama calls airline security breach totally unacceptable’ |Margaret Talev | McClatchy Newspapers
2. Politically Correct War on Terrorism Continues | NewsWax | Jim Kouri…| World Bulletin
3. Do tightened airport security measures protect us or distract from the problem? |Los Angeles Times blog
4. No Fear Of Flying? Makes Perfect Sense, Experts Say | NPR
5. Airline Security Or Threat To Privacy? | ABC News
6. Airport security always one step behind |Christian Wolmar | BB News
7. Police search for Detroit bomb accomplice | ABC News Online
8. U.S. official admits security failed in air scare | Ottawa Citizen
Blogger puzzled by recent terrorist attack and the state of flight safety
And he’s not alone.
Last Friday’s attempt to blow up a Northwest Airlines flight has left me scratching my head as well. I’ve flown with my family within the last six months and from what I remember, security was hectic. They checked every nook and cranny of my diaper bag, and they asked me and all of my children to step aside for a special screening. It took all that I had to take long, deep breaths and count to 10, in my head, to keep from losing it. With all that harassment from TSA, a terrorist still managed to board a plane, armed.
I digress. I realize that this flight was inbound from Amsterdam, which makes it clear that there was a slip up on the international security front. Looking back at my experience, I really don’t think the bomber would have made it past the American TSA.
I stand firm that we are not safe. I encourage family travelers not to rest their faith in airline security, there’s evidentally too much human error involved. I like to think that when me and my family make it to and from our destinations safely, it’s not because of heightened security, it’s simply by God’s grace that we made it, alive.
Radical Development
Last Friday’s terrorism attempt was just another horrible reminder that there are evil people in the world who have nothing better to do other than cause heart ache and destruction. Over the last few months I have done a lot of flying as well as my family has taken a handful of trips and I must admit that while terrorism is always in the back of my mind this recent event has raised the question just how secure are we in the air? I know airline security is much more complicated that one would like to think but how can something like this recent event happen? CNN has reported:
The father of a man suspected in a botched terror attack aboard a Northwest Airlines flight contacted the U.S. Embassy in Nigeria recently with concerns his son was planning something, a senior U.S. administration official said Saturday.
The father — identified by a family source as Umaru Abdul Mutallab — contacted the U.S. Embassy “a few weeks ago” saying his son, Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, had “become radicalized,” the senior administration official, who is familiar with the case, told CNN.
If in fact the father of Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab had in fact contacted the U.S. Embassy, how was this individual allowed to board any aircraft much less one bound for the United States? It maker one doubt that our government has policies and guidelines in place that actually work. I for one am outraged and concerned over the holes in our security system that should prevents attacks such as this. Thanks to brave men and women on this flight the terrorist was not able to carry out his mad plan and was quickly arrested and charged. (READ MORE)
