Prime Summer Deals: A Sampler
In Wednesday's post, I reported that dire economic conditions generally - and in the travel-biz specifically - are prompting travel providers to cut prices and offer deals. Proof? Read on, and you'll see a sampler of deals; all were announced or kicked-in just this week. As always, if you book, carry out due diligence: check the fine print and be sure a deal works for you:
* Cathay Pacific Airways, Hong Kong's classy major airline, is offering triple miles in either its own Asia Miles program or in oneworld alliance partner American Airlines' AAdvantage program to passengers who fly across the Pacific in first or business class. Starting June 15, travelers flying on Cathay from Los Angeles, New York JFK or San Francisco to Hong Kong can earn triple miles, provided their trips originate in the United States and they have completed round-trip travel by Aug. 15. (www.cathaypacific.com/us).
* I indicated in Monday's post (May 18) that post-flu Mexico would be on sale. The sale is beginning. RIU Hotels & Resorts, which operates swank resorts on Mexico's Pacific and Caribbean coasts, is offering rates starting under $100 per person (not per room) for the month of June. Rates begin at $73 per person at the company's newest property, Riu Emerald Bay, which opens May 29 in Mazatlan, and, at 40 percent off, are not much higher elsewhere. (http://www.riu.com/ or tel. 888.RIU.4990).
* Amtrak is cutting fares 25 percent on some trains in the Eastern U.S. this summer. The fare cuts start Tuesday, June 2 and run through Sept. 3. Two weeks advance reservation is required. (http://www.amtrak.com/).
* Marrriott International Inc. is offering members of its Marriott Rewards program double points through June 26, with two nights worth of credits for every one-night stay. (www.marriottrewards.com/doublenights). Marriott is also slating 20 percent discounts for staying Thursdays through Sundays at any of 2,500 properties it runs around the world. That deal began Thursday and runs through Sept. 7. (www.marriott.com/globalratebreak or tel. 1.877.MARRIOTT).
* The Fairmont Hotel in Washington, D.C. is offering lodging and breakfast starting at $229 per night for families of two adults and two children. The package includes a copy of "City Walks for Kids,'' a guide to more than 100 free things to do in the capital city. Available through Dec. 31. (www.fairmont.com/washington or tel. 1.877.570.5566).
Right now, the cascade of travel deals that began during the drear days of winter and rolled on through spring is continuing into the summer. No doubt there's more to come.
Showing posts with label Mexico. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Mexico. Show all posts
Saturday, May 23, 2009
Monday, May 18, 2009
Pandemics of Panic?
The swine flu - er, Influenza A H1N1 - seems to be stabilizing following the initial outbreak in Mexico that sent scary images of people donning face masks and reports of school shutdowns and business closures shooting around the world. What at first appeared like a possible pandemic now seems more likely to be a dress rehearsal - and a wake-up call for public officials, journalists and travelers.
The flu certainly got the travel industry's attention, and as a travel journalist, I can see why. It hit travel at a delicate time, just as the travel biz was already struggling with the global economic crisis. Airlines already burdened by falling consumer demand in the Great Recession slashed the number of flights to Mexico. Some cruise-ship lines aren't even calling at Mexican seaports, preferring to err on the side of safety, till the all-clear finally and definitively sounds. In China, there was an overreaction, as Chinese officials interred Mexican travelers, to show how tough they could be - on others - after dragging their feet with SARS and avian flu a few years back. In Hong Kong, officials quarantined a major hotel for a week, following one confirmed H1N1 case.
Hindsight is always easy, of course. But even in the early days, back in late March and April, the flu outbreak seemed to me to be generating more fear of illness than actual illness. I thought: Why disrupt the routine operation of business, and throw the multi-billion-dollar travel world into turmoil for what even then appeared to be a disease only marginally more serious than seasonal flu? I think it, still.
Consider the numbers: Some 500,000 people worldwide die from influenza every year, according to the World Health Organization. Two months after the H1N1 flu was first reported, about 8800 cases have been recorded and 74 deaths attributed to the illness. I don't mean to make light of this; any illness is unpleasant and any premature death tragic. But seen in context, this is a minor spike in disease.
Of course, this flu could still have a resurgence. Absent that, lessons from this outbreak are clear: We should all take prudent steps to prevent contagion, on the road and at home, and we should not panic. Political leaders should stick to the facts and not posture or take ill-advised decisions to cover their backs.
Travelers should use common sense and follow the guidelines posted by tourism authorities, airlines, tour operators and industry groups such as the International Air Transport Association (www.iata.org) and the U.S. Air Transport Association (www.airlines.org), and health authorities such as the WHO (www.who.int) and America's Centers for Disease Control (www.cdc.gov). Broadly, that comes down to washing your hands, keeping your hands away from your face, using hand-wipes on planes and in airports and not traveling at all if you are sick. Do these simple things, and the risk of transmission will be reduced.
Tourism in Mexico - which accounts for about 8 percent of that country's economy, according to the New York Times - will come back. Huge hotel discounts (think 50 percent and more) and government subsidies to Mexican airlines and airports will help. But some of this could have been avoided. Thanks to the worldwide system of disease reporting and the 24/7 news cycle, speed can easily outstrip judgment; at its worst, this can produce pandemics of panic.
Next time, we need to keep all this in mind.
You can find more thoughts on travel and my recently published articles on my Web site, www.wishyouweretravel.net.
The flu certainly got the travel industry's attention, and as a travel journalist, I can see why. It hit travel at a delicate time, just as the travel biz was already struggling with the global economic crisis. Airlines already burdened by falling consumer demand in the Great Recession slashed the number of flights to Mexico. Some cruise-ship lines aren't even calling at Mexican seaports, preferring to err on the side of safety, till the all-clear finally and definitively sounds. In China, there was an overreaction, as Chinese officials interred Mexican travelers, to show how tough they could be - on others - after dragging their feet with SARS and avian flu a few years back. In Hong Kong, officials quarantined a major hotel for a week, following one confirmed H1N1 case.
Hindsight is always easy, of course. But even in the early days, back in late March and April, the flu outbreak seemed to me to be generating more fear of illness than actual illness. I thought: Why disrupt the routine operation of business, and throw the multi-billion-dollar travel world into turmoil for what even then appeared to be a disease only marginally more serious than seasonal flu? I think it, still.
Consider the numbers: Some 500,000 people worldwide die from influenza every year, according to the World Health Organization. Two months after the H1N1 flu was first reported, about 8800 cases have been recorded and 74 deaths attributed to the illness. I don't mean to make light of this; any illness is unpleasant and any premature death tragic. But seen in context, this is a minor spike in disease.
Of course, this flu could still have a resurgence. Absent that, lessons from this outbreak are clear: We should all take prudent steps to prevent contagion, on the road and at home, and we should not panic. Political leaders should stick to the facts and not posture or take ill-advised decisions to cover their backs.
Travelers should use common sense and follow the guidelines posted by tourism authorities, airlines, tour operators and industry groups such as the International Air Transport Association (www.iata.org) and the U.S. Air Transport Association (www.airlines.org), and health authorities such as the WHO (www.who.int) and America's Centers for Disease Control (www.cdc.gov). Broadly, that comes down to washing your hands, keeping your hands away from your face, using hand-wipes on planes and in airports and not traveling at all if you are sick. Do these simple things, and the risk of transmission will be reduced.
Tourism in Mexico - which accounts for about 8 percent of that country's economy, according to the New York Times - will come back. Huge hotel discounts (think 50 percent and more) and government subsidies to Mexican airlines and airports will help. But some of this could have been avoided. Thanks to the worldwide system of disease reporting and the 24/7 news cycle, speed can easily outstrip judgment; at its worst, this can produce pandemics of panic.
Next time, we need to keep all this in mind.
You can find more thoughts on travel and my recently published articles on my Web site, www.wishyouweretravel.net.
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