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Many or even most corporations donate to political parties and individual candidates, but few are as blatant in their support as Spirit Airlines.

The discount carrier has been “naming” its sales the way tropical storms and hurricanes are named, and the letter J sale has been named Jeb. Jeb Bush, governor of Florida and the brother of the president, is reportedly on the Republican Party’s short list of candidates for president, and Spirit’s “Jeb 2008″ imagery in the Spirit ad riffs off the Bush-Cheney 2004 campaign iconography.

What an unbelievably boneheaded move.

Sure, this will garner some publicity, and all press is good press, right? Maybe not. For starters, most companies try to keep their political contributions out of customers’ sight, out of fear of alienating a clientele. But also, did any lawyers actually go over this ad? Will the ad spend be calculated as a donation to Jeb’s campaign? Donations need to be reported to state and federal regulators, and this could easily be interpreted as a campaign contribution. Enjoy your legal bills, Spirit!

Maybe Spirit was just upset that they weren’t included in BuyBlue.org’s list of airlines. The BuyBlue website categorizes companies of all industries according to their political donations, as well as issues such as labor practices, environmentalism, etc. These latter issues are more contentious, but the political donations data are fairly straightforward. (For international readers: blue = Democratic Party, red = Republican Party.)

Regardless of your politics, it’s interesting to check out BuyBlue to see how your “favorite” corporations have behaved. There is to my knowledge no “BuyRed” site, but the site lists data for both blue and red companies — so draw your own conclusions from the data. (Click for BuyBlue lists for hotels, airlines, and an alphabetical list of all tracked companies across industries.)

Via Jaunted.
tags: travel | Spirit Airlines | Jeb Bush | politics | Democrats | Republicans

FYI, I’ve got a guest post up at Dr. Vino’s Wine Blog. The topic: Wine tastings and travel… in Utah, of all places.

Check it out. For anyone interested in wine, be sure to visit the main DrVino.com site for plenty of wine picks (high quality, low prices) and stories of the politics behind wine production.

Update: The post was just named a “blog post of the week” by Food & Wine magazine online!

tags: travel | Utah | wine

Some further observations on the Marriott smoking ban, which is still making the rounds, hitting the front page of the Washington Post yesterday.

Christopher Elliott suggests a potential problem in executing this strategy: Marriott’s website still lists smoking rooms for dozens, if not hundreds of properties. I’d add that this has two ramifications: an IT problem, and a customer service problem.

The IT problem is simpler to solve, though not without its costs or hassles. The customer service problem is harder, but could have bigger payoffs: Does the company contact each person who reserved a smoking room? If so, do they offer to “walk” the guest to an equal or better property that offers smoking rooms? A refund? A free night? They might lose the smoker’s business in the future, but doing something will be necessary for the smoking ex-guests to keep any positive feelings toward the chain. And treating them nicely might actually lead to some positive word-of-mouth — among the nonsmoking crowd. (”Well, they kicked me out because I smoke, but they gave me a room at the Hilton.” “Oh, really, how nice of Marriott! They’re all-nonsmoking AND have good service?…honey, let’s book a room!”) Failing to find a replacement room for the customer on the other hand could lead to some cranky postings about Marriott in TripAdvisor.

On the other hand, meeting and convention business might be more at risk, as Sue Pelletier has suggested. I would wager that largely American-audience meeting clienteles might not be affected much, but international groups might balk at a Marriott meeting. Or maybe they’d just contract a separate hotel for the smokers. Perhaps Marriott itself would subcontract a portion of the block to a local rival, sending them all of the smokers. Though competitors should consider the possiblity that an influx of smoking guests might a Trojan Horse: As I suggested earlier, it may not be in any property’s interest to be known as a smoky hotel.

tags: travel | Marriott | smoking

Tour companies and Caribbean resorts are taking a page from first-time homebuyer or car dealership incentives: Vacation discounts for Americans who get their first passport.

The impetus: American citizens will finally need a passport to travel to/from Mexico, Canada, and the Caribbean after December 31, 2006. (One year later for land crossings.) Readers from other countries may be asking, “What, Americans didn’t need a passport to travel to these places before??” Nutty, but true.

Giving a discount to people who didn’t previously have a passport is brilliant marketing, and it’s practically a public service. Less than a quarter of Americans currently have a passport — it wasn’t necessary within the region, after all — but that number will rise in coming years.

Info about U.S. passport applications can be found here. Order early.

(image)
tags: travel | passports

The NYT’s description of Dubai Aerospace’s plans for “frustration-free” or “high-speed” airports has me scratching my head, wondering what this would really look like:

…these airports will feature automated communication systems with sensors that will spot arriving customers, track them and their luggage, and help guide them through lines and onto their flights. The bottlenecks of security stops and check-in lines will be a thing of the past…

Sounds terrific. And everyone gets a pony.

Missing from the story: Details. How is this supposed to work? Will passengers be required to wear an RFID tag matched with their luggage?? Will security be as smooth as the subways in “Total Recall“? The company’s Flash-heavy website is silent on the mechanics of their business model.

Seriously, I’m curious, but …how?

tags: travel | airports

Eos Airlines, the all-biz class airline is once again offering a free companion ticket to those who purchase tickets with their American Express card. (They’ve done this before.)

Call (800) 455-8035 or book online. Book by Thursday July 20, 2006 and travel between Monday July 24, 2006 and Saturday September 30, 2006. Make sure the “affinity code” box lists “COMPUS” if boooking from the United States, and “COMPUK” if booking from the United Kingdom.

US Airways must be trying to get on Rune Tapper’s good side. The airline is redesigning its air sickness bags, adding advertising to the bags you see in the seatback pockets.

US Airways already slaps ads on the tray tables, but admits to worrying that the inflight experience is becoming more and more like riding in a subway car, plastered with ads. They also admit that “the jury isn’t in on advertising on tray tables as a decent way to boost revenue,” so barf bags may not end up being a real cash cow. But the bags are easier to replace than the tray tables, should passengers react negatively.

I’d rather see the ads on the bags than on the plane’s hardware. Remember, onboard advertising could still get worse: Ads could still go on the underside of tray tables, on the overhead bin doors, inside the bins, on the bathroom door, on the cockpit door, on the flight attendant uniforms, on the windowshades, and perhaps even in a laser light show on the ceiling of overnight flights. (Please, don’t.)

In any case, if you see a new ad-laden bag, send it to Rune. He’ll appreciate it, and US Airways is missing from his online collection.

(image: ad-covered Ryanair “dual-purpose” air sickness bag, via sicksack.com)

Last week, American Airlines reinstated the seasonal short-hop award. For flights with a one-way distance of 750 miles or less, the roundtrip economy saver award ticket costs 15,000 miles instead of 25,000. A first class ticket costs 30,000 instead of 50,000 miles. This is a limited-time offer, valid between September 1, 2006 and February 28, 2007.

This is particularly good news for short flights to smaller airports, which are often ludicrously expensive given the distance flown (and given the inability to upgrade, since it’s often on an RJ). A purely arbitrary example: A 224-mile flight from Chicago to Traverse City, Michigan costs $372.60 cash or 15,000 miles and $5 in taxes. That’s 2.45 cents per mile, which is pretty good. (Sure, it’s not 10 cpm on a first-class ticket to South Africa, but still…)

While American’s offer is for a limited time, United is making the short-hop award a permanent feature of Mileage Plus starting October 16. EDIT: They killed it. While making it appear permanent when they first announced the reduced-mileage award, United put a February 28, 2007 expiration on their awards as well, just like American. Boo!) But there’s a tradeoff: United’s mileage limit on these short flights is a frustratingly small 700 miles. (See my earlier comments on United’s revised rules here.) Those 50 miles can make a big difference.

tags: travel | AMR Corp. | frequent flyer miles | American Airlines

Marriott Hotels in North America are going smoke-free in September. Last year, Westin, part of the Starwood chain, banned smoking in all its rooms and public spaces and began to impose fines on violators of the ban.

The Marriott move goes further by extending the ban to all brands under the corporate umbrella. That means Ritz-Carlton, Renaissance, Courtyard, Fairfield, etc. Westin’s policy affected 77 hotels. Marriott’s policy affects 2300. That’s huge.

Smokers are bound to be miffed. But hotels are private property, and the move is a market decision. I also don’t think there will be an all-smoking hotel chain coming down the pike, like the all-smoking airlines that have been proposed. Consider that 85 to 90 percent of hotel rooms at mid- to upscale chains are already nonsmoking. The market for smoking rooms is small and shrinking, despite the smoking population being larger than 10%.

As a non-smoker, I’m all for the ban. (Here come the angry e-mails!) I haven’t been stuck in a smoking room for several years, but if this reduces my odds of getting stuck in one, then all the better. But the more noticeable change will be in the public areas, such as lounges.

Smokers will still be allowed to go outside for a drag. Or they can stay in another hotel.

I predict that other chains will follow suit. If smokers migrate to another brand, then those brands might develop a reputation as being “smoky.” That, in turn, could drive away the larger non-smoking market. So expect other Starwood brands, Hyatt, and Inter-Continental to eliminate smoking as well. Smoke-filled rooms may all but disappear at major chains, except for the lower-end brands. (If Motel 6 or Econolodge go smoke-free, I’ll be surprised.) In any case, thumbs up to Marriott for the change.

The days of the 1-cent Ryanair fares may soon be over. And consumers will be better off.

If approved by 25 European governments and the EU parliament, the legislation proposed by the European Commission would force airlines to list the total price of a ticket up front. This means that all fees, fuel surcharges, taxes, etc., would need to be stated on websites and in newspaper advertising.

The legislation would also require that airlines charge European travelers the same fare, regardless of which country they call home. Sale fares could no longer be isolated to one country within the EU.

It’s about time. U.S. ticket sales are bad enough, with fares often advertised pre-tax, but the European airfare shell game takes the cake. Carriers like Ryanair falsely advertise ludicrously low base fares, which come with mandatory add-on fees that passengers may not even use — like the wheelchair charge that every passenger pays. The fuel surcharges on international flights are hardly any better. None of these fees are optional, and they go to the airline, not to any government. They’re really part of the fare, and should be treated as such. Period.

While many online travel agencies, and even some airlines, are working around this by giving the “total price” when you run a search, it’s still up to individual providers to decide whether they want to be honest with their customers or deceive them. The EC is right to be cracking down on this. I hope other governments follow suit.

See also:
- Senator slams surcharges
- Weakening airfare advertising regulation, redux
- U.S. regulators to weaken airfare advertisement rules?

tags: travel | false advertising | airfare

In space no one can hear you sleep
We’ve got hotels under water, hotels on oil rigs, and cruise ships are essentially floating hotels, so why not hotels in space? Better yet: inflatable hotels in space? Last week, a prototype inflatable space hotel was launched into orbit. Space tourists have to spend the night somewhere, after all… Now if I can earn points for my stay, then we’re in business.

More free hybrid parking
Following in the footsteps of Kimpton Hotels (earlier story here), 60 of Marriott’s Renaissance Hotels offer free parking for hybrid cars, now through December 31.

Free your mind, man
Forget hotels with free DSL: Demand free LSD! Photo via HotelChatter.

Allergen-free rooms put to the test
University of Buffalo researchers are conducting experiments at the Buffalo Niagara Marriott in Amherst, NY to see how well various allergen-reduction systems work. Early results are promising: “Although the project is only in its early stages, preliminary results show that such dramatic reductions in suspended small particle concentrations can be attained and maintained in rooms outfitted with some of these devices and treatments.” Allergen-free rooms cost about $10 more per night.

tags: travel | hotels

Iran Air’s slogan from the 1970s, brilliant in its simplicity, and predictive of the contemporary coach travel experience.

Sure, it’s no “Blazing like a mother comet producing meteor showers throughout the world.” (Starflyer Airlines of Japan) Still my favorite airline slogan, bar none. Beat that!

For a blast from the past, enjoy Iran Air’s pre-revolutionary 1970s TV advertising for the U.S. market:

(via BB)
tags: travel | Iran Air