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<item rdf:about="http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/06/business/worldbusiness/06charts.html?partner=rssnyt&#x26;emc=rss">
<title>Now Europeans Are Slower to Spend, and It Shows</title>
<link>http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/06/business/worldbusiness/06charts.html?partner=rssnyt&#x26;emc=rss</link>
<description><![CDATA[For the first time in more than a decade, consumers in much of Europe are buying less than they did a year earlier, helping to slow economies that may have fallen into recession.    
]]></description>
</item>

<item rdf:about="http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/06/business/06fannie.html?partner=rssnyt&#x26;emc=rss">
<title>U.S. Rescue Seen at Hand for 2 Mortgage Giants</title>
<link>http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/06/business/06fannie.html?partner=rssnyt&#x26;emc=rss</link>
<description><![CDATA[The plan would replace the leaders of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and virtually wipe out their shareholders but allow them to continue to function uninterrupted.    
]]></description>
</item>

<item rdf:about="http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/06/business/worldbusiness/06ruble.html?partner=rssnyt&#x26;emc=rss">
<title>Big Summer Sell-Off Hits the Russian Stock Market</title>
<link>http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/06/business/worldbusiness/06ruble.html?partner=rssnyt&#x26;emc=rss</link>
<description><![CDATA[Russia’s stock market is suffering its worst correction in nearly a decade as sliding oil prices, political attacks on private companies and instability after last month’s war in Georgia spook investors.    
]]></description>
</item>

<item rdf:about="http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/07/business/07feed.html?partner=rssnyt&#x26;emc=rss">
<title>The Feed: The Allure of Plain Vanilla</title>
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<description><![CDATA[As the economy sputters and consumers look to save money, the privately held supermarket chain Aldi is suddenly emerging as a major force in the grocery business.    
]]></description>
</item>

<item rdf:about="http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/06/business/06auto.html?partner=rssnyt&#x26;emc=rss">
<title>Union Leader&#x2019;s Legacy May Be Hard to Match</title>
<link>http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/06/business/06auto.html?partner=rssnyt&#x26;emc=rss</link>
<description><![CDATA[Basil E. Hargrove, president of the Canadian Auto Workers union, enjoys a public profile in Canada that arguably has not been matched since the days of Walter P. Reuther and Jimmy Hoffa.    
]]></description>
</item>

<item rdf:about="http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/06/business/worldbusiness/06asia.html?partner=rssnyt&#x26;emc=rss">
<title>Stocks Withstand Jump in Jobless Rate</title>
<link>http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/06/business/worldbusiness/06asia.html?partner=rssnyt&#x26;emc=rss</link>
<description><![CDATA[Wall Street managed a slight gain on Friday, a day after concerns about the economy, and in particular the labor market, sent the Dow plunging. Markets in Europe and Asia ended the day lower.    
]]></description>
</item>

<item rdf:about="http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/06/world/americas/06mexico.html?partner=rssnyt&#x26;emc=rss">
<title>Mexican Court Rules Against Wal-Mart</title>
<link>http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/06/world/americas/06mexico.html?partner=rssnyt&#x26;emc=rss</link>
<description><![CDATA[Mexico’s Supreme Court ruled that the country’s top retailer violated the Constitution by paying a worker in part with store cards usable only in Wal-Mart stores.    
]]></description>
</item>

<item rdf:about="http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/05/business/worldbusiness/05yuan.html?partner=rssnyt&#x26;emc=rss">
<title>Main Bank of China Is in Need of Capital</title>
<link>http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/05/business/worldbusiness/05yuan.html?partner=rssnyt&#x26;emc=rss</link>
<description><![CDATA[China’s central bank is in a bind, after snapping up roughly $1 trillion worth of Treasury bonds and mortgage-backed debt issued by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac over the last seven years.    
]]></description>
</item>

<item rdf:about="http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/05/business/worldbusiness/05euro.html?partner=rssnyt&#x26;emc=rss">
<title>Two Banks in Europe Stand Pat on Rates</title>
<link>http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/05/business/worldbusiness/05euro.html?partner=rssnyt&#x26;emc=rss</link>
<description><![CDATA[Both the European Central Bank and the Bank of England kept their key interest rates unchanged Thursday amid concerns of high inflation and a slowing economy.    
]]></description>
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<item rdf:about="http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/05/business/worldbusiness/05oligarchs.html?partner=rssnyt&#x26;emc=rss">
<title>Russia&#x2019;s Oligarchs May Face a Georgian Chill</title>
<link>http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/05/business/worldbusiness/05oligarchs.html?partner=rssnyt&#x26;emc=rss</link>
<description><![CDATA[Some policy makers are starting to suggest that the best way to influence the Kremlin would be to put more pressure on the Russian business community in Europe.    
]]></description>
</item>

<item rdf:about="http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/05/business/worldbusiness/05venture.html?partner=rssnyt&#x26;emc=rss">
<title>BP Makes Deep Concessions in Agreement With Russian Partner</title>
<link>http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/05/business/worldbusiness/05venture.html?partner=rssnyt&#x26;emc=rss</link>
<description><![CDATA[BP agreed to replace the American head of its Russian joint venture and surrender some control on the board to resolve a bitter dispute with its Russian partners.    
]]></description>
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<item rdf:about="http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/05/business/worldbusiness/05tax.html?partner=rssnyt&#x26;emc=rss">
<title>British Companies Emigrating Over Taxes</title>
<link>http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/05/business/worldbusiness/05tax.html?partner=rssnyt&#x26;emc=rss</link>
<description><![CDATA[In the past week, three British companies have announced plans to move abroad before the end of the year, unhappy about a lack of clarity about tax rules and eager to cut their tax bill.    
]]></description>
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<item rdf:about="http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/04/business/04auction.html?partner=rssnyt&#x26;emc=rss">
<title>Two Brokers Accused of Securities Fraud</title>
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<description><![CDATA[Two former brokers at Credit Suisse have been indicted on fraud and conspiracy charges in connection with the sale of auction-rate securities, federal prosecutors said.    
]]></description>
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<item rdf:about="http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/04/business/worldbusiness/04coke.html?partner=rssnyt&#x26;emc=rss">
<title>Coke Bids for Chinese Juice Giant</title>
<link>http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/04/business/worldbusiness/04coke.html?partner=rssnyt&#x26;emc=rss</link>
<description><![CDATA[The Coca-Cola Company said it had made a bid to acquire one of China’s largest juice makers for about $2.5 billion.    
]]></description>
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<item rdf:about="http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/04/business/worldbusiness/04siemens.html?partner=rssnyt&#x26;emc=rss">
<title>Siemens Accused of Posting a Rival&#x2019;s Secrets</title>
<link>http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/04/business/worldbusiness/04siemens.html?partner=rssnyt&#x26;emc=rss</link>
<description><![CDATA[Rival software maker Dassault Systèmes accused Siemens of posting confidential business data about Dassault clients on Siemens’s intranet.    
]]></description>
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<item rdf:about="http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/04/business/worldbusiness/04regulate.html?partner=rssnyt&#x26;emc=rss">
<title>Europe Weighs Caps on Roaming Fees for Text Messages</title>
<link>http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/04/business/worldbusiness/04regulate.html?partner=rssnyt&#x26;emc=rss</link>
<description><![CDATA[The price control would substantially cut the roaming fees that individuals are charged to send text messages and limits that could reduce the cost of surfing the Internet.    
]]></description>
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<item rdf:about="http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/04/business/worldbusiness/04air.html?partner=rssnyt&#x26;emc=rss">
<title>American Defends Plan for British Airways Alliance</title>
<link>http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/04/business/worldbusiness/04air.html?partner=rssnyt&#x26;emc=rss</link>
<description><![CDATA[American Airlines rejected claims that a proposed alliance with British Airways would create a monopoly on trans-Atlantic service from London’s Heathrow Airport.    
]]></description>
</item>

<item rdf:about="http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/04/business/worldbusiness/04looney.html?partner=rssnyt&#x26;emc=rss">
<title>Bank of Canada Offers a Downbeat Outlook</title>
<link>http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/04/business/worldbusiness/04looney.html?partner=rssnyt&#x26;emc=rss</link>
<description><![CDATA[The Bank of Canada held its key interest rate steady on Wednesday, as expected, and was downbeat on the prospects for growth in the United States and Canada.    
]]></description>
</item>

<item rdf:about="http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/04/business/worldbusiness/04ford.html?partner=rssnyt&#x26;emc=rss">
<title>Ford to Revive Engine Plant in Canada</title>
<link>http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/04/business/worldbusiness/04ford.html?partner=rssnyt&#x26;emc=rss</link>
<description><![CDATA[The automaker said it would reopen a plant in Windsor, Ontario, after the government announced 80 million Canadian dollars in assistance for the project.    
]]></description>
</item>

<item rdf:about="http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/04/world/asia/04tata.html?partner=rssnyt&#x26;emc=rss">
<title>Indian Carmaker Says Local Politics Stopped Factory</title>
<link>http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/04/world/asia/04tata.html?partner=rssnyt&#x26;emc=rss</link>
<description><![CDATA[The Tata Group said its plans to manufacture the world’s least expensive car were halted when it was caught in the middle of a political dispute in West Bengal State.    
]]></description>
</item>

<item rdf:about="http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/03/business/worldbusiness/03fund.html?partner=rssnyt&#x26;emc=rss">
<title>Abu Dhabi Puts More Cash on the Line in Hollywood</title>
<link>http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/03/business/worldbusiness/03fund.html?partner=rssnyt&#x26;emc=rss</link>
<description><![CDATA[Abu Dhabi Media, flush with oil cash, is adding to the $1 billion deal it announced with Warner Brothers last year, and is putting another billion in a new movie business.    
]]></description>
</item>

<item rdf:about="http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/03/business/worldbusiness/03soccer.html?partner=rssnyt&#x26;emc=rss">
<title>English Soccer Club Sale Reveals Emirates&#x2019; Rivalry</title>
<link>http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/03/business/worldbusiness/03soccer.html?partner=rssnyt&#x26;emc=rss</link>
<description><![CDATA[Soccer may not yet compare with blue chip stocks. But the intense interest in the soccer club Manchester City illustrates the appeal of these visible assets for foreign investors.    
]]></description>
</item>

<item rdf:about="http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/03/business/worldbusiness/03women.html?partner=rssnyt&#x26;emc=rss">
<title>Wage Gaps for Women Frustrating Germany</title>
<link>http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/03/business/worldbusiness/03women.html?partner=rssnyt&#x26;emc=rss</link>
<description><![CDATA[Despite having a woman as head of government, Germany has one of the widest gender wage gaps in Europe.    
]]></description>
</item>

<item rdf:about="http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/03/technology/03alcatel.html?partner=rssnyt&#x26;emc=rss">
<title>New Alcatel-Lucent Leaders Vow to Move Ahead</title>
<link>http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/03/technology/03alcatel.html?partner=rssnyt&#x26;emc=rss</link>
<description><![CDATA[Ben Verwaayen, who was appointed chief executive on Tuesday, said he would push forward with the integration of the troubled French-American company.    
]]></description>
</item>

<item rdf:about="http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/02/business/02mine.html?partner=rssnyt&#x26;emc=rss">
<title>In Parts of Canada, Landowners Battle Prospectors</title>
<link>http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/02/business/02mine.html?partner=rssnyt&#x26;emc=rss</link>
<description><![CDATA[Landowners campaign to change a provincial law that allows anyone who pays the equivalent of $23.50 to dig for pretty much any mineral on private property in much of rural Ontario.    
]]></description>
</item>

<item rdf:about="http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/04/business/worldbusiness/04fobriefs-DEERETOOPENC_BRF.html?partner=rssnyt&#x26;emc=rss">
<title>World Business Briefing | Europe: Germany: Deere to Open Center</title>
<link>http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/04/business/worldbusiness/04fobriefs-DEERETOOPENC_BRF.html?partner=rssnyt&#x26;emc=rss</link>
<description><![CDATA[Deere & Company, the farm equipment maker, plans to establish a European Technology and Innovation Center in Kaiserslautern, Germany, to meet demands of customers in the region.    
]]></description>
</item>

<item rdf:about="http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/04/business/worldbusiness/04fobriefs-ECONOMICEXPA_BRF.html?partner=rssnyt&#x26;emc=rss">
<title>World Business Briefing | Australia/new Zealand: Australia: Economic Expansion Slows</title>
<link>http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/04/business/worldbusiness/04fobriefs-ECONOMICEXPA_BRF.html?partner=rssnyt&#x26;emc=rss</link>
<description><![CDATA[Australia’s economic expansion slowed to the weakest rate in more than three years as consumers reduced spending, stoking speculation the central bank would cut interest rates again.    
]]></description>
</item>

<item rdf:about="http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/04/business/worldbusiness/04fobriefs-TOTALTOBUYEN_BRF.html?partner=rssnyt&#x26;emc=rss">
<title>World Business Briefing | Europe: France: Total to Buy Energy Assets</title>
<link>http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/04/business/worldbusiness/04fobriefs-TOTALTOBUYEN_BRF.html?partner=rssnyt&#x26;emc=rss</link>
<description><![CDATA[Total, the French oil company, agreed to buy Talisman Energy’s assets in the Dutch sector of the North Sea for $480 million.    
]]></description>
</item>

<item rdf:about="http://www.portfolio.com/business-travel/features/2008/09/04/Hotel-Security-Tips?tid=true">
<title>Trip Tactics</title>
<link>http://www.portfolio.com/business-travel/features/2008/09/04/Hotel-Security-Tips?tid=true</link>
<description><![CDATA[It&rsquo;s hard to say how common theft is at hotels, but it does happen. Rather than leave security entirely in the hands of management, take these precautions to make sure you don&rsquo;t lose your shirt&mdash;or watch or money or laptop. When checking in to a hotel, read the fine print on your room registration and in the room itself: Most hotels are not liable for anything that happens to your belongings. If leaving your luggage to be stored, make sure it will be in a locked room. To deter thieves, make it appear that your room is occupied by leaving the TV on and putting a &ldquo;Do Not Disturb&rdquo; sign on the door. Avoid broadcasting your room number. If a desk clerk announces it, request a room change. Use the room safe&mdash;or ,better yet, the hotel&rsquo;s own safe&mdash;for valuables. Buy a security cable so you can lock your laptop to a piece of furniture so it&rsquo;s secure even when you&rsquo;re not there. If something is stolen, don&rsquo;t just alert the manager but contact the local police to file a report; you&rsquo;ll likely need it if you want to seek redress with your insurance company; many homeowners&rsquo; policies cover losses on the road. However, according to the Insurance Industry Institute some companies limit the amount of such &ldquo;off-premises coverage&rdquo; to 10 percent of the insurance you have for all of your possessions. Expensive items like jewelry may require a rider to insure to their full value. As a further safeguard, you may want to carry documentation for items like cameras, video equipment, or a computer, in case something should happen to them while you&rsquo;re away.
  

   
]]></description>
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<item rdf:about="http://www.portfolio.com/business-travel/features/2008/09/04/Hotel-Crime?tid=true">
<title>Crime in the Suites</title>
<link>http://www.portfolio.com/business-travel/features/2008/09/04/Hotel-Crime?tid=true</link>
<description><![CDATA[On a trip to London a few years ago, security consultant Bruce McIndoe had a few hours to kill after checking out of his hotel room. So he left his luggage with the bell captain&mdash;something most business travelers do without a second thought. But McIndoe does think about it now, for when he returned that afternoon, he discovered his bags had been stolen. &ldquo;They said they were very sorry, but their luggage closet had overflowed and so they threw a few bags out in a hall unattended,&rdquo; he recalls. McIndoe knows he has plenty of company: As president of Maryland-based Ijet consultants, which advises corporations on protecting employees and property around the world, he&rsquo;s heard many tales of theft, petty and otherwise, at some of the world&rsquo;s better hostelries. Once, he learned that at a five-star resort in the Bahamas, a gang had been stealing items from guests while they lazed by the pool. &ldquo;The hotel was aware of it and was quietly dealing with it, but yet they did nothing to alert their guests,&rdquo; he says. &ldquo;The bottom line is that hotels have little interest in ensuring that their guests don&rsquo;t get pilfered.&rdquo; That&rsquo;s one reason it&rsquo;s hard to say just how common hotel crime is&mdash;they have little incentive to draw attention to problems, and most local law-enforcement authorities lump such incidents in with general statistics on crime. (More than a decade ago, the Justice Department&rsquo;s National Crime Victimization Survey found that the rate of crimes against travelers was 127.8 per 1,000 people, versus 213 crimes per 1,000 in the general population.) And unless the loss is substantial, travelers often choose not to pursue their grievance once they&rsquo;re back home. But anecdotes abound&mdash;both about theft and the lack of response from hotels. Hotels can usually duck legal responsibility for theft on their property, and victims of theft are often met with indifference or even skepticism from managers, especially since guests may be unable to offer hard proof that they were in fact carrying the valuables that are now gone. When McIndoe examined the fine print on his claim check, he was startled to learn it absolved the hotel&mdash;a full-service luxury property&mdash;of all responsibility. Although the hotel eventually offered some compensation, he was struck by how little protection consumers have in such circumstances. Now, he says, he always verifies that his suitcase will be in a locked room while it&rsquo;s out of his sight. But even cautious travelers may be tripped up. Melanie Graczyk, a loan officer with Access National Mortgage in Roanoke, Virginia, thought she knew all the rules: She&rsquo;s a frequent traveler, and her husband worked for years in the hotel business. When she stayed in the brand-new Hilton Garden Inn in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, last year, she was surprised to find that there were no safes in the room, so she hid $600 in cash in her drawer. During her stay, workmen entered her room to fix a broken air conditioner. Soon after that, she noticed the money was gone. She immediately reported the loss to the front desk. &ldquo;They told me I could walk to the police station and file a report,&rdquo; she said. &ldquo;The reactions I got ranged from total indifference to almost accusatory.&rdquo; She followed up with letters and emails and finally heard from an insurance-company representative who said that under New Hampshire law, the hotel was not liable. (A manager at the property told Portfolio.com that the security was &ldquo;very good,&rdquo; and she felt that the incident had been handled appropriately. In addition, the hotel states on its registration form that safety deposit boxes are at the front desk.)&nbsp;&ldquo;It is a major problem,&rdquo; says Madeline Lee Bryer, a Manhattan attorney who has represented victims of hotel muggings, including a businesswoman from Canada who suffered a broken jaw in a push-in robbery at New York&rsquo;s Paramount Hotel eight years ago; the attacker was later caught and sent to jail, and Bryer sued the hotel for failing to provide adequate protection. (The suit was settled; Paramount did not respond to requests for comment.) Bryer says that hotels don&rsquo;t see security as a &ldquo;moneymaking proposition&rdquo; because there&rsquo;s little advantage to be gained by raising a subject that would only stir negative feelings on the part of their customers. &ldquo;They want people to be lulled into this false sense they&rsquo;re in the protective arms of this pleasant environment,&rdquo; she adds. &nbsp;Of course, that is exactly why thieves prey on hotel guests; it&rsquo;s hard to imagine a more tempting target than a group of people uprooted from their familiar surroundings, trying to relax or distracted by travel hassles, many of them carrying valuables. The hotel industry, for its part, says they address security, but discreetly. &ldquo;A lot of hotels added more security after 9/11; it is just that many customers don&rsquo;t see it,&rdquo; says Joe McInerney, head of the American Hotel &amp; Lodging Association in Washington. With a few exceptions, such as Las Vegas&rsquo; Bellagio, where guards inspect your key before you enter an elevator, hotels prefer their security to be invisible. Common measures include posting security cameras in more locations, especially in corridors and near elevators; positioning uniformed and plainclothes security guards in public areas and at entrances, and performing more intensive background checks on employees. (Electronic key cards have made it harder for unauthorized persons to enter guest rooms but doesn&rsquo;t necessarily protect against inside jobs.) &ldquo;You don&rsquo;t want consumers to think they are in an armed camp,&rdquo; McInerney says.Travelers are often surprised by the lack of sympathy they encounter when they report a crime. Jane Eccles, an artist who was traveling last year with her consultant husband, says she was rebuffed when several hundred dollars worth of jewelry was stolen from her room at a conference center in Princeton, New Jersey. The couple had packed their bags and left them in the room while they grabbed breakfast in the dining room. When Eccles opened her suitcase shortly after leaving the property, she discovered the theft and immediately contacted the hotel, but was told there was no evidence that anyone other than the guests had entered the room. &ldquo;They said they were covered, and that was it,&rdquo; Eccles says. Bryer says that most state laws appear to back the lodging industry in disclaiming responsibility for theft. Moreover, some hotel sources say that if they were always to accept their guests&rsquo; versions of events, they could open themselves to a wave of false claims and insurance fraud. Some hotels are making security a priority; Marriott is introducing automatic dead bolts at many of its properties and has a policy of investigating &ldquo;any and all thefts&rdquo; against guests, says Roger Conner, a spokesman for the chain. He claims these measures and the secure keys have dramatically reduced guest-room theft, although he would not provide actual figures. We might be left in the dark, but avoid being left in the lurch with these tips on security. 
      
  
   
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<item rdf:about="http://www.portfolio.com/business-travel/seat-2B/2008/09/02/Fall-Business-Travel-Issues?tid=true">
<title>What Not to Worry About</title>
<link>http://www.portfolio.com/business-travel/seat-2B/2008/09/02/Fall-Business-Travel-Issues?tid=true</link>
<description><![CDATA[Business travelers come by paranoia legitimately. The airlines unabashedly rig their fare structures to guarantee we pay the most and often get stuck in the middle seat. Hotels deftly stack their rate cards to ensure we pay the highest rate and often end up with the room nearest the noisy ice machine.   I would never suggest that we business travelers abandon this well-earned paranoia, but I do think there are some things we need not worry about this fall. It simply won't be as bleak as the ill-informed talking heads have lead us to believe.  Don't Sweat the Prices All year the &quot;experts&quot; have warned about massive and imminent airfare increases. And at least on the surface, there was plenty to worry about. Airlines were unprepared when oil jumped from last summer's $75-a-barrel price to this spring's highs around $150 a barrel. And with fuel accounting for 40 percent of costs, Delta chief executive Richard Anderson's claim that fares would need to rise 20 percent seemed chilling but rational. And fares have risen&mdash;at least a dozen times since January.  But looking at the surface leads to superficial analysis. The experts forgot that airlines&mdash;and airfares&mdash;don't exist in a vacuum. As fares rose, Americans stopped booking vacations they couldn't afford. And business travelers cut flying to match the needs of their own businesses, which were negatively impacted by skyrocketing energy prices.  The result: As I predicted in a June column, airlines had to slash some fares at the last minute to fill seats. So the prices travelers paid actually rose much more slowly and much more modestly than the bloviators expected. In July, for example, Continental Airlines said its RASM (revenue per available seat mile flown) was just 4 percent higher than in July 2007. The Air Transport Association, the airline trade group, pegs the average year-over-year price increase at about 7 percent. Of course, the problem with averages is that no traveler pays the &quot;average&quot; price. I don't doubt that business fares have risen faster than leisure fares&mdash;paranoia strikes deep, you know&mdash;but year-over-year airline-revenue figures prove that prices aren't rising precipitously.   The slowdown in air travel has affected hotels and resorts too. And as we discussed in a recent column, the lodging gravy train has stalled. Hotels are discounting lustily to keep their existing rooms filled and put heads on beds on the new properties that continue to open. &nbsp; Don't Sweat the Fees Airlines have piled on the fees this year and it has led to the virtual &quot;unbundling&quot; of airfares. Many items once included as part of the basic fare are now &agrave; la carte options. But many of the new fees are for options that business travelers don't use or don't like anyway. Why worry about fees for checking a second bag when surveys say that about 80 percent of us don't check a second bag? And do you really mourn the loss of &quot;free&quot; food and snacks in coach? Most of us despise that slop anyway. Airports now have a vigorous food and beverage scene, so buy before you fly.  But one new fee might matter: Four large airlines (American, United, US Airways, and Northwest) now charge for checking a first bag. But they exempt elite and full-fare flyers like us. And they're fighting a rearguard action against three major carriers (Continental, Delta, and JetBlue) that refuse to levy a first-bag fee. If those three gain customers by keeping the first checked bag bundled in the basic fare, the other four will give way. Of course, the market is perfect: If Continental, Delta, and JetBlue don't gain market share, that means a first-bag fee doesn't bother us, so they'll add the charge too.  Don't Sweat the Capacity Cuts This week airlines begin what can only be called the Big Pulldown. Most will slash passenger capacity by about 10 percent compared to their flight schedules last fall. That has led to a frenzied spate of analysis claiming that there'll be a shortage of seats in the skies.   In a word: Baloney. Traffic is falling faster than airlines can trim capacity. In fact, the A.T.A. predicted a 6 percent decline in passengers over the Labor Day weekend, the last busy period of the summer season. Airline executives tell me their advance bookings for fall, especially for overseas travel, aren't living up to expectations. There will be plenty of seats to go around.   Don't Sweat Laptop Seizures The federal government says&mdash;and courts have so far agreed&mdash;that Customs agents have the right to seize and examine your laptop when you reenter the country. The laptop rule is based on settled law about the government's right to search baggage at the borders without suspicion of wrongdoing. This has infuriated many business travelers, who are paranoid (there's that word again) that the government will copy, store, and disseminate the data and information taken from confiscated laptops.  We can dispute the fine points of search-and-seizure rules, the rights of the individual versus a snoopy government, and the logic of equating a data-loaded laptop to a bag full of clothing. I'm all for fighting the power. Just make sure you don't have sensitive data on your laptop when you return from overseas. Upload it to an online storage site or a virtual private network, then wipe your hard drive clean.   The Fine Print&hellip; Despite its continued profitability thanks to efficient operations and savvy fuel-hedging strategies, Southwest Airlines has put the brakes on its growth. In fact, its winter 2009 schedule, released last week and effective in January, shows about 200 fewer flights a day. The reductions are mostly in flight frequencies. Only three routes have been completely dropped from Southwest's route map. Related LinksThe Last TabooWho Takes the Hit? Tips for a Sky-High Spring
  

   
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<item rdf:about="http://www.portfolio.com/business-travel/features/2008/08/28/Dining-Alone-in-Minneapolis?tid=true">
<title>Table for One: Minneapolis</title>
<link>http://www.portfolio.com/business-travel/features/2008/08/28/Dining-Alone-in-Minneapolis?tid=true</link>
<description><![CDATA[Play the word-association game with Minneapolis, and one of the first responses will invariably be &quot;cold.&quot; Yes, Minnesota winters can be brutal, but the months-long stretches of freezing temperatures have fostered an abundant array of indoor activities, including first-rate theater, music, visual arts, and literary scenes.         And most recently, dining. The city is coming into its own as a culinary destination, in part because many Minneapolis chefs are taking advantage of being smack-dab in the middle of one of the nation's most productive agricultural regions. That proximity means exceptional grass-fed beef, exquisite farmstead cheeses, artisanal grains, and the nation's best foie gras can be all put to extremely good use.        The compact business district, a 15-minute cab ride from the airport, has the area's deepest restaurant pool&mdash;and what feels like more steak houses per capita than perhaps any other American city. Jean-Georges Vongerichten and Wolfgang Puck have outposts here, and one of the country's top microchains, the Oceanaire Seafood Room (and its solo-diner-friendly oyster bar), got its start in landlocked Minneapolis, accessing saltwater fish from both coasts via Northwest Airlines' busy hub. Visitors should also explore the mile-long stretch of Asian restaurants on Nicollet Avenue just south of downtown that locals call Eat Street, as well as the Midtown Global Market, an Art Deco-era Sears store now home to several dozen mom-and-pop startups.         Many don't-miss downtown restaurants (view slideshow) are plugged into the Skyway System, a human Habitrail of second-story bridges that connect more than 60 city blocks, and a blessing for anyone unaccustomed to blizzard conditions. In nicer weather, follow the natives' example by booking a sidewalk, rooftop, or patio table&mdash;the warmth won't last long.        Downtown: Bank    88 South Sixth Street    612-656-3255      The room alone is worth a visit: a soaring Art Moderne banking lobby (pictured above) paneled in enough teak to trigger an endangered-species alert and decorated with carved medallions symbolizing the region's abundant natural resources. The former tellers' windows have been opened up as a chef's counter, a prime party-of-one address for enjoying New American cooking: a crackling pork chop with dainty fried green tomatoes, tartare two ways (mellow salmon and spicy tuna), delicate pan-seared halibut, vibrant meal-in-a-bowl soups, and pastry chef Liz Matheson's ingenious and inexpensive three-bite desserts. Go ahead, order two.        Dress: Suits to khakis    Prices: Expensive    Reservations: A must for lunch, suggested for dinner    Close to: Located in the Westin Minneapolis        Downtown: Solera    900 Hennepin Avenue    612-338-0062       Single diners will feel right at home at the long, curvaceous tapas bar, where even the most reserved Minnesotans will chat to strangers while grazing over chef Tim McKee's meticulously prepared small plates. The vast assortment includes velvety black cod finished with a smoked paprika vinaigrette, and deviled eggs filled with blue crab and honey-glazed veal. The equally lengthy all-Spanish wine and sherry lists feel like a quick Iberian getaway, and the popular open-air rooftop lounge boasts a hopping late-night scene targeting the 25-to-40 crowd.&nbsp;        Dress: Fashionable    Prices: Moderate    Reservations: Recommended for a table; not accepted for the tapas bar    Close to: Chambers Minneapolis Hotel, W Minneapolis&ndash;The Foshay           &nbsp;Warehouse District: 112 Eatery    112 North 3rd Street    612-343-7696       The city's toughest reservation can be a breeze for solo walk-ins content to take a seat at the snug brick-lined bar, where they can dive headlong into chef Isaac Becker's eclectic fare. The menu at this hotspot easily moves from modest bites&mdash;a refreshing crab salad, sizzling pounded lamb cooled by goat's-milk yogurt, a bacon and fried-egg sandwich slathered in scorching harissa&mdash;to more substantial dishes such as house-cut tagliatelle tossed with foie gras meatballs and a category-killing burger. The tres leches cake is not to be missed. Regulars know to book a booth in the long, narrow downstairs caf&eacute; and save the ho-hum second-floor dining room for tourists.       Dress: Casual    Prices: Moderate    Reservations: A must for a table; not accepted for the bar    Close to: Graves 601 Hotel           Midtown: Town Talk Diner    2702 &frac12; East Lake Street    612-722-1312       The chattiest bartenders in town preside over this retooled 1940s diner, dispensing retro cocktails and conversation with equal aplomb. Back in the cramped kitchen, chef Tor Westgard cranks out modern spins on short-order classics. The highlights include fried chicken over wild-rice waffles, duck mini-burgers, and anything that comes out of the deep fryer, especially the batter-dipped sweet-and-sour pickles and the strangely elegant cheese curds, a local fare favorite elevated to high art. If the desserts include pineapple upside-down cake, order it.       Dress: Casual    Prices: Moderate    Reservations: Suggested but not necessary     Close to: Not much, but an easy five-minute ride from downtown via the Hiawatha light-rail line          Downtown: Vincent    1100 Nicollet Mall       You'll leave this expense-account establishment knowing at least one Minneapolitan: chef Vincent Francoual, who makes it a habit to meet and greet his customers. A window seat facing Target's Nicollet Mall headquarters is just the spot to watch the city stroll by while digging into a burger stuffed with braised short ribs and Gouda and a small mountain of golden matchstick fries. Traditional bistro fare also includes escargot drenched in garlic butter, expertly prepared omelets, lavishly stuffed crepes, and a garden-fresh nicoise. Cheeses are chosen with affection and authority, and for something sweet, Francoual offers his favorite childhood dessert&mdash;petite madeleines served with vanilla ice cream and chocolate sauce.        Dress: Suits to khakis    Prices: Expensive    Reservations: Suggested for a table    Close to: Hyatt Regency, Hilton, and Millennium hotels           South Minneapolis: Corner Table    4257 Nicollet Avenue South    612-823-0011        Local ingredients are featured at chef Scott Pampuch's unassuming cafe, which clocks the seasons like a finely tuned Cartier Roadster. In August, the menu is swimming in sweet corn and tomatoes, and if the thermometer is below zero, then it's all root vegetables and Minnesota-raised beef, poultry, and fish. Place your faith in the five-course tasting menu, which changes daily to reflect availability from area farmers. The intelligent and affordable wine list is a pleasant bonus.       Dress: Casual    Prices: Moderate    Reservations: Suggested but not necessary    Close to: Not much, but an easy 10-minute cab ride from downtown           University of Minnesota: Al's Breakfast    413 14th Avenue Southeast    612-331-9991       Skip room service and greet the morning at this local legend, a funky 14-seat shoebox where generations of U of M nobodies and bigwigs alike have bonded, shoulder-to-shoulder, over &quot;Wally Blues&quot; (walnut-blueberry pancakes), haystack-like hash browns, tender waffles, and poached eggs drizzled with silky hollandaise. Just don't plan to linger over a third cup of coffee; the turnover-minded staff will reflexively pour it into a to-go cup.        Dress: Casual    Prices: Downright cheap    Reservations: Not accepted    Close to: University of Minnesota campus, a five-minute cab ride from downtown        Related LinksMinnesota Twins' Ballpark Dispute Heads for MediationHouses of PainA Nation of Staycationers
  

   
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<item rdf:about="http://www.portfolio.com/business-travel/features/2008/08/21/Dining-Alone-in-Denver?tid=true">
<title>Table for One: Denver</title>
<link>http://www.portfolio.com/business-travel/features/2008/08/21/Dining-Alone-in-Denver?tid=true</link>
<description><![CDATA[Denver may not be at the culinary heights to which it aspires, but it has already come a long way from the buffalo burgers and green chili that were typical fare a decade ago. In the past several years, the more relaxed, affordable, outdoorsy lifestyle of this Rocky Mountain gateway has drawn seasoned chefs from around the globe. They've brought with them everything from savory French food to some of the most creative Italian cooking this side of New York.That's good news for the 50,000 or so visitors who will be in Denver for the Democratic National Convention. The city has virtually every kind of cuisine, ethnic and otherwise, friendly bar dining, communal tables, and someone always looking for good table conversation. And while finding great local cuisine isn't hard, you'll have to venture a few blocks away from the relatively new convention center at the east end of LoDo (Lower Downtown). Here, our picks for solo dining a mile high. Lower Downtown: Snooze2262 Larimer Street303-297-0700Snooze, a local favorite near the ballpark in LoDo, may be the best morning haunt in town. Owner Jon Schlegel, along with chef/partner Brenda Buenviaje, have come up with a.m. originals such as the Snooze Spuds Deluxe&mdash;heaping portions of hash brown with melted cheese and eggs&mdash;and the Molten Chocolate French Toast&mdash;challah filled with Ghiradelli chocolate and vanilla cr&egrave;me anglaise. If you like an early start, there's also a full bar with morning cocktails ranging from pomegranate mimosas to morning manhattans. It's so casual you almost feel like you could show up in pajamas and no one would say a word.Dress: CasualPrices: InexpensiveReservations: Not necessaryClose to: LoDo and Coors Field Cherry Creek: Barolo Grill3030 East Sixth Avenue303-393-1040Depending on who you ask, this Northern Italian classic has the best bar in town for sipping wine, dining, or both. The bartenders are incredibly knowledgeable about pairing wines with house dishes such as braised duckling or pancetta-wrapped salmon. They know their pasta too. Owner Blair Taylor takes all of his employees to Italy each year to study up on the region's flavors. Barolo also places a big focus on wines, stocking more than 850 varieties, more than 90 percent of them Italian. You can't reserve a spot at the bar&mdash;but if it's full when you arrive, it's worth the wait. Dress: Business casualPrices: ExpensiveReservations: Necessary for a table; not accepted for the barClose to: The JW Marriott Hotel at Cherry Creek&nbsp;Larimer Square: Bistro Vend&ocirc;me1420 Larimer Square303-825-3232People-watching is one of the things that's made this classic French bistro so popular. It's located in Larimer Square, once the hangout of members of the Beat Generation (i.e. Jack Kerouac and company) and now a gentrified neighborhood with small boutiques and some of the city's best restaurants. A petite jardin adorns Bistro Vend&ocirc;me's outside patio, where most prefer to dine and watch the crowds (weather permitting). The restaurant can only accommodate 48 inside, but the close-together tables are conducive to striking up conversation with neighbors. The small bar is also comfortable for singles. Food is French brasserie style&mdash;steak au poivre, crepes, roasted chicken, and what many claim are the best fries in the city&mdash;and the martinis are legendary. Dress: CasualPrices: ModerateReservations: RecommendedClose to: Hotel Teatro and the Denver Center for the Performing ArtsHotel Monaco: Panzano909 17th Street303-296-3525The scent of garlic permeates Panzano, a Northern Italian spot in the Hotel Monaco. Dishes such as ahi tuna with avocado and white truffle oil, house-made fettuccini with shrimp and pancetta, and grilled lamb with borlotti beans keep Panzano at the head of Denver's &quot;best restaurant&quot; list. This is a big, raucous place, but the large bar is good for solo diners and a fine place to sip a glass of wine from the extensive list. Lunch is a power scene; evenings are more laid-back.Dress: Business elegantPrices: ExpensiveReservations: Recommended Close to: The 16th Street Mall and the financial districtHighlands Neighborhood: Sushi Sasa2401 15th Street303-433-7272Sushi restaurants can be a good choice for eating alone&mdash;the best seats in the house are usually at the bar; the preparation provides entertainment. But raw fish isn't an obvious pick in a city far from the sea. The two-year-old Sushi Sasa is the exception, a tiny neighborhood eatery that draws raves for its Kumamoto oysters, black cod, and toro tartare. Sit in the well-lit upstairs or head to the downstairs lounge for a drink. Just don't try to pronounce the name of the place more than twice after sampling the sake. Dress: Anything goesPrices: ModerateReservations:&nbsp; Not needed for the barClose to: DowntownGolden Triangle: Palettes100 West 14th Avenue ParkwayDenver Art Museum303-534-1455If you're looking for an escape, head to the Denver Art Museum for some culture, then to the caf&eacute; run by Kevin Taylor, who helped kick off the local gourmet dining craze. You won't be alone in your aloneness here&mdash;or disappointed by the food, which includes an award-winning sweet corn soup with guacamole and barbecued shrimp, and Colorado lamb rib chops with lentils and spinach. Taylor uses only ingredients that are fresh and seasonal. Dress: CasualPrices: Moderate to expensiveReservations: SuggestedClose to: DowntownRelated LinksBest of the FestFace to Face With the Monster ThickburgerFace to Face With the Monster Thickburger
      
  
   
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<item rdf:about="http://www.portfolio.com/business-travel/seat-2B/2008/08/19/In-flight-Internet?tid=true">
<title>No WiFi in the Sky</title>
<link>http://www.portfolio.com/business-travel/seat-2B/2008/08/19/In-flight-Internet?tid=true</link>
<description><![CDATA[  Listen to a podcast of this column.The long and winding road to in-flight internet service led to a dead end at London's Heathrow Airport back in February 2003. About a month after Lufthansa first tested Boeing's satellite-based internet technology, Boeing herded a gaggle of media types onto a similarly equipped British Airways transatlantic flight.  Stan Deal, charged with selling Boeing's Connexion internet service to airlines and travelers, was ecstatic. The test went swimmingly, and everyone on board had surfed the Web without a glitch. When we landed, however, there was a shortage of Boeing-supplied limos. Deal made a beeline for the taxis, but I suggested the Heathrow Express train, which would get us into London in just 20 minutes. Deal would have none of it.  As we crawled through the morning traffic for two hours, I hammered Deal over pricing. Boeing's plan to charge passengers $30 a flight for internet access was insane, especially in the introductory phase. &quot;We pay eight grand to fly business class from New York, and B.A. will pour me as much $50-a-bottle Champagne as I can drink. But if I want to use the internet, I gotta pay $30?&quot; I said, with what I thought was undeniable logic. &quot;You can't nickel-and-dime high-yield customers like that.&quot;  Deal would have none of that, either. Boeing launched Connexion in the summer of 2004 at $30 a pop. Lufthansa and a dozen other international carriers&mdash;although not B.A. or any U.S. airline&mdash;installed it. But passengers refused to pay. Connexion died, largely unmourned, on December 31, 2006. Airlines that shelled out about $500,000 a plane were left in the lurch, and Boeing lost an estimated $300 million. The only bright spot: When Boeing gave away internet access in Connexion's final months, passenger usage skyrocketed.  Almost two years later, we're still essentially nowhere with in-flight access, which is shaping up as the final, possibly unconquerable, internet frontier.  Lufthansa, Connexion's biggest booster, continues to search for a replacement system for its overseas flights. But as Connexion proved, satellite internet is costly to install and expensive to operate, and access speeds are pokey. A European system called OnAir, sponsored by Boeing's largest competitor, Airbus, also seems stalled. And Aircell, a much-publicized service that promises to offer domestic in-flight internet using a cheap, fast air-to-ground system, is months behind schedule.  You've surely heard of Aircell. With great fanfare and compliant mainstream media coverage, it has announced deals to wire aircraft operated by American, Delta, and Virgin America airlines. It has a brand name for its internet service, Gogo Inflight. It has a pricing structure: $9.95 to $12.95 a flight. &nbsp;Aircell has everything but service. Earlier this year, American Airlines wired 15 of its Boeing 767s, but the internet access has yet to be turned on for commercial use. It's barely been tested. According to American, Gogo was used in June on two &quot;dress rehearsal&quot; flights and tested on two additional flights last week. Yet the airline won't publicly commit to a date when it will finally begin what it describes as a &quot;three- to six-month trial to customers.&quot;  &quot;This thing should have been working months ago,&quot; one frustrated American executive told me last week. &quot;Obviously, there's something wrong.&quot;  Why the delay? Aircell isn't talking and refused repeated requests for an interview. Instead, its public-relations agency referred me back to its press releases, most of which said Aircell would be operating by now. (August 20 update: American Airlines finally announced the Internet trial would start today. American claims passengers can now buy Internet service on its 767s, which fly between New York and three cities: Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Miami.)  Aircell's deals with Delta and Virgin America are also less than meets the eye.  Earlier this month, Aircell and Delta claimed the airline's entire fleet of 330 domestic aircraft would be wired by next summer. Delta even told some reporters that it would have 75 planes equipped by the end of the year. But that rollout schedule seems overly aggressive. The Federal Aviation Administration, which must issue a certificate for each type of aircraft that Aircell wants to wire, says the company's application for the MD-80 series planes that Delta uses has just been submitted. The spokesperson I talked to said Aircell's application wouldn't even be addressed &quot;until the fall.&quot;  Aircell and Virgin America announced their deal almost a year ago, just weeks after Virgin America launched service in August 2007. But the F.A.A. says Aircell hasn't applied for a certificate to install its equipment on Virgin America's Airbus aircraft.  In fairness, Aircell isn't the only in-flight internet service that, well, isn't. A company called Row 44 has deals with Southwest and Alaska airlines. Like Connexion before it, Row 44 says it will use a satellite system. But when Alaska announced its plans last September, it promised tests by the spring. In January, when Southwest announced its plans, testing was supposed to begin on four aircraft this summer. Neither has materialized.  Late last year, JetBlue wired a single plane with a proprietary system that can accommodate limited in-flight emailing and instant messaging. But the program is still being tested, JetBlue told me last week, and no decision has been made about its future.  What's keeping in-flight internet from becoming a reality? I wish I knew; nobody I've spoken to knows or is willing to say. I'm beginning to blame myself. If I'd just been more persuasive in that taxi five years ago, Connexion might still be around, and you could have been reading this from the sky.   The Fine Print&hellip; The Transportation Security Administration says travelers toting laptops with &quot;checkpoint friendly&quot; bags won't be required to remove their computers at the security checkpoints. But the bags, which are just coming to market, are fraught with compromises: They must have a laptop-only section; nothing except the laptop can be placed in the special compartment; the bag must be opened to expose the laptop; and the T.S.A. reserves the right to demand the laptops be taken out of the case.   Related LinksFlying on Empty Airbus Gets a Lift Deals Taxi for Takeoff
  

   
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<item rdf:about="http://www.portfolio.com/business-travel/seat-2B/2008/08/12/Best-of-Business-Travel?tid=true">
<title>The Best of Seat 2B</title>
<link>http://www.portfolio.com/business-travel/seat-2B/2008/08/12/Best-of-Business-Travel?tid=true</link>
<description><![CDATA[While Joe Brancatelli is on a much-deserved break from his weekly business-travel column, we thought we'd take a look back at the last 16 months of work for Portfolio.com. Here's where he's been most memorable, most useful, and most accurate at predicting the future. Most PopularUrban Travel Legends Joe debunks long-held beliefs about secret codes, upgrades, key cards, and hotel-room cleanliness. A Watery Grave for Hotel TubsTravelers have strong feelings about&hellip;bathtubs. An October column about how hotels are sending tubs down the drain drew a heated response. Worst. Airline. Ever. Few airlines are performing well these days. But since this column, the Bureau of Transportation Statistics reported that less than 60 percent of United's June flights were on time. That makes it the country's second-poorest performer for the month. Most PracticalHow to ComplainWhen things go wrong (as they so often do), you need to bring business sense to the process of getting compensated. Eating Well on the FlyAs airline food gets worse, airport selections are getting better. Great eats in 18 American cities.&nbsp; Surviving SiberiaInto every executive's life, some coach-class travel must fall. That's especially true when flights are packed and the economy is lagging. How to cope with the back of the bus. Most PrescientFrequent-Flier FallaciesLast year, Joe advised readers to view their frequent-flier miles more realistically&mdash;and to stop banking them like money. This year, airlines are upping the miles needed to redeem tickets, and adding on extra fees. Southwest's Seven Secrets for SuccessOne week after a column detailing why Southwest has done so well for so long, the airline posted a 15 percent jump in second-quarter profit. Ship, Don't SchlepA few months after Seat 2B explained the ins and outs of shipping luggage instead of checking it came a wave of new airline fees for bags. Related LinksThe Nightmare Before ThanksgivingLast Bytes: HTC "Dream," Apple, Google...Last Bytes: EA/Take-Two, GPhone, "White Spaces," Apple Fire
  

   
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<item rdf:about="http://www.portfolio.com/business-travel/seat-2B/2008/08/05/Devaluation-of-Airline-Miles?tid=true">
<title>The Miles Bye Club</title>
<link>http://www.portfolio.com/business-travel/seat-2B/2008/08/05/Devaluation-of-Airline-Miles?tid=true</link>
<description><![CDATA[  Listen to a podcast of this column.The airline guys who invented frequent-flier programs almost 30 years ago and then turned them into wildly successful marketing vehicles eventually began calling miles &quot;the nation's second currency.&quot; After all, they said with a warranted appreciation for what they had wrought, what else in America was so easily earned, so widely accepted and so valuable?    These days, however, frequent-flier miles are looking a lot like Zimbabwean dollars. The currency is being devalued with spirit-crushing regularity. There's less and less to buy with it now that airlines are slashing their route networks and seating capacity. And today's frequent-flier program managers have been given a mandate from their C-suite bosses: Generate fast cash by squeezing frequent fliers with a battery of fees&mdash;even though the new charges are destroying the long-term allure and profit potential of the plans.    &quot;I understand why business travelers are disgusted,&quot; the manager of a major frequent-flier program told me a couple of weeks ago. &quot;My bosses want revenue and they want it now. They want it from the partners who buy the miles and from the travelers who earn awards. And they don't want me to have access to the seats [for awards] that the revenue-management guys think they can sell. So what am I left with? Travelers understand that they can earn all the miles they want. But using them? Not so much.&quot;    Want a graphic example of how fast the frequent-flier programs are devolving? Consider the developments at United Airlines, which operates Mileage Plus, the nation's second-largest plan:    To shore up its cash position last month after another quarter of multibillion-dollar losses, United turned to Chase, the bank that issues Mileage Plus credit cards. Chase promptly ponied up a $600 million prepayment for miles that will be distributed to Chase customers in the form of bonuses for taking and using any of the half-dozen flavors of Visa cards emblazoned with the Mileage Plus logo.    Although the mileage deal was bundled with other cash considerations that Chase extended to United, it's not hard to figure out how many miles that $600 million bought. Big frequent-flier program partners like credit card banks usually pay around a penny a mile, so United will need to mint about 60 billion new miles for Chase. That'll expand United's current pool of 511 billion unredeemed miles by about 12 percent.    The devaluation of United's &quot;currency&quot; is worrisome enough. But since United's route network is shrinking&mdash;by the end of the year, the airline estimates its worldwide seating capacity will be 10 percent lower than it was at the end of 2007&mdash;Mileage Plus members are looking at double-digit inflation even as the supply of goods to &quot;buy&quot; with Mileage Plus miles is contracting by double digits.    United is not alone in using its mileage program as a cash cow. Continental Airlines, which operates the OnePass program, recently received a cash infusion from Chase, also the issuer of OnePass credit cards. And Delta Air Lines might not have survived its 2005 bankruptcy without a huge forward purchase of SkyMiles by American Express, which issues Delta's credit cards. And just like United, all of the big airlines are slashing their seating capacity by 10 to 15 percent this fall as they mint and sell billions of new miles.  &nbsp;The inevitable economic effect of too many miles chasing too few seats: Airlines are hiking, sometimes by hundreds of thousands of miles, the amounts needed to claim an award.    Delta, for example, revised its award chart again just last week. Last year it took the unprecedented step of slapping restrictions on its most expensive (and formerly unrestricted) SkyMiles awards. For the first time ever, Delta told its fliers: There are seats you can't have no matter how much of our currency you want to spend. The new three-tiered award structure Delta unveiled last week revives unrestricted awards, but at a brutally high cost. The best ones, redeemable for international business-class travel to Europe or Asia, now cost upward of 370,000 miles round-trip, or about 100,000 miles more than last year.    Continental's program is also undergoing a major devaluation. Earlier this year, it raised award levels by thousands of miles. Last month, it raised fees and now charges a co-pay of as much as $500 to claim an upgrade award. And last week it announced it would do what Delta has just abandoned: impose restrictions on its most expensive, previously unrestricted awards.    And the concept of a &quot;free&quot; seat as a frequent-flier award is gone too. Years ago airlines decided an award ticket didn't include applicable taxes and fees. Then they imposed charges if you booked an award too close to departure, claimed one by telephone, or changed your booking after the award was issued. Last month came the next wave: Fees of as much as $100 simply for claiming the award. American Airlines even invented a $5 omnibus fee. Its purpose? By the airline's own admission, the fee applies if you somehow managed to avoid all the other award fees it now charges. Depending on the airline, your destination, and your time frame, a formerly free award seat can cost you as much as $300.     As a result, airline programs now give fliers less for their loyalty than hotel frequent-guest plans, gas-rebate credit cards, or other frequency schemes.    About a month ago, one frequent-flier program manager told me that he thought &quot;a penny a mile is a pretty damn fine return on your loyalty.&quot; That's a shocking assertion considering that frequent-flier programs once paid you three to five cents. And it also behooves frequent fliers to look elsewhere for a return.    Take Chase, for example. Its United Mileage Plus and Continental OnePass cards generally give customers one mile of credit for each dollar charged. In other words, a 1 percent rebate for every dollar spent. But why settle for that when Chase's Freedom Visa Signature offers you $50 cash back after your first charge, a 3 percent rebate on selected purchases, and 1 percent back on everything else?    The Fine Print&hellip;  Should travelers simply stop playing in the frequent-flier programs? No, because the plans remain the vehicle the airlines use to confer elite status recognition and upgrades. So the obvious solution is to use frequent-flier programs only to accrue miles earned from flying. In most cases, those are still the only miles that count toward elite airline status anyway. For some other thoughts about how to beat the system, read last fall's Frequent Flier Fallacies column.    Related LinksDeals Taxi for TakeoffWill It Fly?Bad Times at the Airport
      
  
   
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<item rdf:about="http://www.portfolio.com/business-travel/seat-2B/2008/07/29/The-Hotel-Room-Glut?tid=true">
<title>Heartbreak Hotels</title>
<link>http://www.portfolio.com/business-travel/seat-2B/2008/07/29/The-Hotel-Room-Glut?tid=true</link>
<description><![CDATA[The Summer Olympics open in Beijing on the auspicious date of 8-8-08&mdash;which won't be particularly lucky for the city's hoteliers. There won't be nearly enough visiting heads on hotel beds during Beijing's big event.  Like so many Olympics before it, the 2008 Summer Games aren't turning out to be much of a tourist magnet for the host city. About 420,000 people visited Beijing last August; Chinese officials are expecting only about 10 percent more next month. But 13,000 new rooms have already been built in the Chinese capital, and the new inventory is expected to reach 30,000 by the end of the year. The glut is particularly noticeable in Beijing's luxury tier, where there are about 50 five-star properties, up from fewer than 20 five years ago. The result: Occupancy rates and room prices have been falling; Chinese tourism officials admitted earlier this month that almost half of the city's four-star inventory was still available for the Olympics period.  Beijing's Olympian oversupply is making headlines, but the same basic tale is being spun in many places around the globe. Especially in the United States and the Caribbean, there suddenly aren't enough travelers to fill existing properties. More hotels are opening as they emerge from the three- to five-year property-development pipeline. As airlines hack away at autumn flight schedules and raise fares, there's likely to be even fewer people traveling.  The U.S. hotel industry posted a record $139 billion in revenue last year and profits surged 5.3 percent to $28 billion. But the company that produced those rosy statistics, Smith Travel Research, says 2008 will be &quot;tougher.&quot; Frits van Paasschen, chief executive of Starwood Hotels &amp; Resorts Worldwide, whose brands include Sheraton, Westin, St. Regis, and W, is blunter. Domestic &quot;lodging demand dropped significantly in May,&quot; he admitted last week.   The declines in some markets are startling. In Hawaii, hotel occupancy plummeted by more than 11 percent in early July. Almost half of the rooms on the Big Island were empty, and one in three rooms on Maui were dark. Things weren't any better in suburban Boston, where occupancy this year is running at about 63 percent. And PKF Hospitality, the much-consulted experts, suggests a direct relationship between declining airline capacity and hotel occupancy: For every one percent drop in the number of airline seats, hotels will see a 0.39 percent decline in demand. That would translate to a 3.9 percent fall in lodging demand as carriers trim 10 percent of their capacity this fall, PKF says. &nbsp;Hard hotel times aren't likely to elicit a lot of sympathy from those of us who pay the bills. Nightly rates at the nation's 4.4 million rooms have been rising at about twice the rate of inflation for years as hotels made the most of rising demand. Or as the travel manager of a corporation with thousands of business travelers told me graphically last week: &quot;Hotels made it clear who had the hammer when we negotiated rates the last couple of years. But when we start doing contracts for 2009 after Labor Day, I'll have the hammer. And I'll be whacking some knees to get my prices down.&quot;   To shore up sagging bookings, hundreds of hotels around the country are wooing travelers with free gasoline cards that slice as much as $50 off the effective nightly room rate. Other hotels are dabbling in more traditional value-added inducements: free breakfasts or dining credits in the hotel restaurants; complimentary massages or a free round of golf; gift cards at nearby department stores; and a blizzard of swag such as logo shirts, hats, and sunglasses. (See a slide show of hotel deals here.)  In the Caribbean and Hawaii, where flight cuts have made it much harder for guests to visit, concessions have been even more dramatic. Sandals, which operates a dozen couples-only all-inclusive resorts in Jamaica, Antigua, St. Lucia, and the Bahamas, has been advertising discounts of as much as $1,100 a couple. The savings is offered as an &quot;air credit&quot; against your bill to offset the high price and inconvenience of flying. More than a dozen hotels in the Turks and Caicos have banded together to offer guests a fourth night free. A travel packager has been promoting summer vacations on the lush (if rainy) Hawaiian island of Kauai, with free car rentals, meals, wine, and, of course, free nights.   There is one thing hoteliers aren't yet offering in great supply: lower room rates. &quot;Luxury properties especially hate lowering their room rate&quot; because they think it hurts their image, explains Michael Matthews, whose r&eacute;sum&eacute; includes notable marketing and managerial stints at Rosewood, St. Regis, Ritz-Carlton, and Regent hotels. &quot;If he can avoid cutting the rate in the downtimes, a general manager will give you virtually anything else you ask for: room upgrades, free cabanas at the pool, a suite, limo service, spa treatments, free meals.&quot;  To make sure you get the best perks, &quot;call the general manager before you arrive and introduce yourself,&quot; Matthews says. &quot;Don't be pushy, but let him know you'd like more for your rate.&quot;  What happens if value-added perks don't put our heads on their beds this fall and winter? &quot;We'll make the offers even richer,&quot; the top marketing executive of a major mid-priced brand told me last week. &quot;As a last resort, we'll look at rate cuts. But I hope we don't get to that.&quot;  The Fine Print&hellip; Hotels in New York, Philadelphia, and Miami continue to do well, primarily due to an influx of European travelers who are taking advantage of the weak dollar. Bargains will be scarce in those cities. But Las Vegas is already suffering from a massive decline in visitors and prices. Nevada gaming officials say the take at the city's casinos was down in May for the fifth consecutive month. And a website devoted to Vegas says nightly room rates have plunged after five years of escalating prices.  Related LinksAre the Olympics Worth It?Is Olympic Gold the New Black?Lenovo's Consumer PCs
  

   
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<item rdf:about="http://www.portfolio.com/business-travel/features/2008/07/24/Barcelona-Solo-Dining-Guide?tid=true">
<title>Table for One: Barcelona</title>
<link>http://www.portfolio.com/business-travel/features/2008/07/24/Barcelona-Solo-Dining-Guide?tid=true</link>
<description><![CDATA[Thanks to facilities built for the 1992 Olympics and burgeoning international investment (it's up 26 percent this year), Spain's cultural capital is giving Madrid a run for its money as the country's top business destination. And thanks to chef Ferran Adri&agrave;, it challenges Paris as global culinary hub.   Love foamed beetroot or hate it, it's difficult to deny that Adri&agrave; fomented a food revolution by marrying science and haute cuisine. His eatery, El Bulli, is two hours outside the city, and while his influence can be seen from Australia to Chicago, it may be most obvious in downtown Barcelona. Even visitors who can't squeeze into Adri&agrave;'s culinary temple can experience experimental fare&mdash;but they can also turn to far more conservative cuisine.   Seafood is the centerpiece of most meals here, and local shellfish plays a leading role in the city's cuisine. Tapas are also widespread, even at more formal restaurants. That's a boon for solo travelers, who can choose from a huge range of small dishes (razor clams and olives are popular), washing them down with beer, vermouth, or cava produced in the nearby Pened&egrave;s region. These light meals are served at all hours, which is helpful in a country where eating out is a form of nightlife. Most restaurants don't open until 8 p.m.; venture in before 9 p.m. and it's likely to be you and the waiters. Here, a half-dozen great places to dine alone, whether early or late.    Ciutat Vella: Commer&ccedil; 24  C/Commer&ccedil; 24  +34 93 319 21 02  Solo diners eat here for the same reason they might go alone to a museum: to enjoy the artwork undisturbed. Carlos Abellán was a line chef at El Bulli before starting his own restaurant, and Adri&agrave;'s influence is visible down to Abellán's trademark &quot;Kinder egg,&quot; which arrives foaming with truffle and potato. The open kitchen is brightly lit so diners can watch the cooks wield syringes and aerosol cans. Minimum order is three tapas, but most guests order the tasting menu of 10 small courses. The waitstaff gravely explains the contents of each dish&mdash;usually not terribly obvious&mdash;and enforces the strict non-smoking policy.  Dress: Business/business casual Prices: Expensive Reservations: Not necessary for the bar; otherwise recommended  Barceloneta: Agua Passeig Mar&igrave;tim 30 +34 93 225 12 72 Terraced restaurants overlooking Barceloneta seem a logical place to find outstanding seafood, but many are tourist traps serving sad, soggy paella. Agua is an exception and locals know it, so make a reservation if you plan to sit outside. The view of a rocky promontory is a big draw, but Mediterranean dishes like monkfish and clam stew or salmon tartare with leeks run a close second. The jamón ib&eacute;rico on toast is worth trying if only because the specialty ham is so hard to obtain abroad.&nbsp;  Dress: Business/business casual Prices: Moderate Reservations: Recommended for the terrace &nbsp;Barceloneta: 7 Portes  Passeig Isabel II 14 +34 93 319 30 33 &quot;1 p.m. to 1 a.m., uninterrupted&quot; is written across the front door of this restaurant, the oldest in Barcelona. While it is among the best fish joints, 7 Portes does well to advertise its most salient feature in a city where it is gauche and nigh impossible to eat early. Popular &quot;rich man's paella,&quot; is so dubbed because the chef has shelled the lobster, mussels, and clams. The dining rooms are divided into smoking and non-smoking, which breaks down into locals and visitors, pleasure and business, respectively. Famous guests have included Pedro Almodóvar, Salvador Dalí, and Orson Welles. Dress: Casual Prices: Moderate to expensive Reservations: During peak hours  Ciutat Vella: Ca L'Isidre C/Les Flors 12 +34 93 441 11 39 Ca L'Isidre is the grand dame of Barcelona cuisine, serving Catalan favorites like morcilla (blood sausage) and lamb brains in black butter as well as less advanced options. The menu changes daily, depending on what the chef finds in La Boqueria, Ciutat Vella's iconic market. The stately restaurant has only 50 seats, and solo diners are tucked into a nook at the front. (The restaurant has 50 seats, the nook four.) Service is highly professional, down to the ritual of cutting and lighting the after-dinner cigar. El Raval may have been a more salubrious part of town when the restaurant opened in 1970; these days it is wise to take a taxi.  Dress: Fashionable Prices: Expensive Reservations: Recommended  Montju&iuml;c: Oleum Parc de Montj&iuml;uc, Palau Nacional +34 93 289 06 79 Located in the National Art Museum of Catalunya, this three-year-old restaurant has created more buzz for the institution than its Romanesque collection. It has soaring multicolored marble walls, and an angled overhead mirror reflects the stunning hilltop view back at the well-heeled lunchers (dinner is by prearrangement for groups only). The food is an upscale version of menu del día, prescribed by Franco to ensure a filling midday meal with wine for workers. Along with a stray foam or two, the English-language menu sports some charming clunkers like &quot;cream of gourd with artichokes to the rosemary and creaking of ham&quot;&mdash;a winner, by the way.  Dress: Business/business casual Prices: Moderate Reservations: Not necessary  L'Eixample: Paco Meralgo C/ Muntaner 171 +34 93 430 90 27 This minimalist bar has everything that is fun about tapas&mdash;a wealth of choice, energetic crowd, bantering waiters&mdash;while eliminating intimidating elements with an English menu and balanced gender ratio (Barcelona tapas bars are often dominated by older men). Be prepared for conversation here&mdash;your neighbors won't be shy with suggestions. Must-trys include the potato bomba and raw cod salad. An elderly customer took pains to explain that the Catalan custard, an eggy cr&egrave;me brul&eacute;e, is actually a local invention. &quot;The French stole it!&quot; Dress: Casual Prices: Inexpensive Reservations: Not necessary  Related LinksFace to Face With the Monster ThickburgerFace to Face With the Monster ThickburgerTable for One: Paris
  

   
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