Associated Press via Bloomberg | United Express will offer nonstop flights from Pensacola, Fla., to O’Hare International Airport starting Nov. 4. The flights will be operated using 50-seat Embraer jets.
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Filed under: Travel
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‘Where I’ve Been’ gets funding from Lightbank
Tribune staff report | The Chicago-based social travel network Where I’ve Been has received $750,000 in additional funding from Lightbank, the investment fund created by Groupon founders Eric Lefkofsky and Brad Keywell. Where I’ve Been
hopes to use the money to expand its user base. On Facebook, Where I’ve Been is a very popular application; it currently has 1,034,601 monthly active users on the social network. “Where I’ve Been exemplifies our strategy of identifying innovative and disruptive business models,” said Lefkofsky in a statement released by Where I’ve Been. “With its rich user data including travel intentions and high user engagement, Where I’ve Been has enormous potential to change the landscape of the travel industry.”
Previous coverage of Groupon from Chicago Breaking Business.
March 25, 2010 at 12:30 p.m.
Filed under: Airlines, Government, International, Transportation, Travel Treaty lets overseas investors buy U.S. airlines
By Julie Johnsson |
The U.S. and European Union have struck a sweeping new pact to
liberalize air travel across the North Atlantic, the largest market in
the world, by eliminating restrictions on foreign ownership and control
of airlines.
The Open Skies II agreement, which must be approved
by the U.S. Congress and European parliament, would end U.S. rules
limiting overseas investors to a 25 percent ownership stake in a U.S.
airline.
No tipping at Chicago’s Elysian luxury hotel
The motor entrance to The Elysian, a hotel and condominium tower near State Street and Walton. (Chris Walker/ Chicago Tribune)
Dow Jones Newswires-WSJ | The Elysian Hotel in Chicago, which
opened in December, has adopted a no-tipping policy, a move that breaks
with standard practices across the high-end- and luxury-hotel market,
says the head of a trade association.
“I haven’t seen ‘a no-tipping policy’ anyplace else,” says Joe
McInerney, president and chief executive officer of the American Hotel
& Lodging Association. “If you go to a no-tipping policy, certain
positions that have always lived off tips — like doormen, uniformed
services staff — what would they do?”
Elysian employees are paid competitive wages and benefits, says an Elysian spokeswoman.
Weekday fliers can get cheap fares if they act now
Associated Press | Leading discount airlines have launched
a new round of airfare sales for summer, but travelers may have to act
fast and be flexible on dates to grab the best deals.
Sales from JetBlue Airways, Frontier Airlines and AirTran Airways end
this week.
March 12, 2010 at 4:25 p.m.
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Filed under: Airlines, Consumer news, Technology, Transportation, Travel United begins offering digital boarding passes
By Julie Johnsson | United Airlines is the latest carrier to go paperless.
Chicago-based United on Friday unveiled mobile boarding passes at its home hub at O’Hare International Airport, new technology that allows passengers with iPhones, BlackBerries or other devices to check-in via cell phone.
United passenger revenue outpaces others
Associated Press | United Airlines is seeing passenger revenue
rise faster than the rest of the airline industry, with business travel
and other high-end fares picking up.
The carrier said on Tuesday that January passenger revenue for each
mile it flew rose 10.5 percent. That gain is three times bigger than
the airline industry as a whole.
Orbitz Worldwide names 2 new directors
Associated Press | Online travel retailer Orbitz Worldwide Inc.
said Thursday that it has named Martin Brand and Brad Gerstner to its
board of directors, effective immediately.
Brand is a managing director in the private equity group at The
Blackstone Group, which held more than half of Orbitz shares as of the
end of 2009, according to filings. He is also on the board at
Travelport Limited, Performance Food Group and Bayview Asset Management
LLC.
Radisson to spend $1.5B on facelift, expansion
Associated Press | The owner of the Radisson chain is launching a $1.5 billion rebranding and expansion to make its hotels more luxurious in markets where it now lags and increase the number of hotels it operates by 50 percent.
Carlson Hotels Worldwide is announcing the plan Wednesday even as its industry continues to struggle with plunging revenue and mounting debt. About 15 percent of hotels nationwide are behind on payments, according to one measure.
Andy Shaw to sell Lincoln Park bed and breakfast
A room in the Windy City Urban Inn bed and breakfast owned by Andy Shaw and his wife.
| ELITE STREET | By Bob Goldsborough | With a desire to spend more time at their Michigan summer home, former WLS-Ch. 7 political reporter Andy Shaw and his wife want to scale back from their labor-intensive lifestyle running their Windy City Urban Inn bed-and-breakfast inside their Lincoln Park mansion.
So, they’ve listed the eight-bedroom mansion for $3 million. After they sell it, they plan to move to a condo downtown. |
See also • Elite Street: Former Blackhawk from $6,000 a month renter |
American Eagle regional jets to offer 1st class
Associated Press | The regional affiliate of American Airlines says it will set aside room on some of its planes for first-class seating beginning this summer.
American Eagle said Thursday it will offer nine first-class seats on its CRJ-700 jets, which are much smaller than most planes operated by big sister American Airlines. The jets will have 63 or 65 coach seats after the redesign.
Hyatt Hotels narrows loss in 4Q
Doorman Antonio Williams outside the Park Hyatt hotel
in downtown Chicago. (E. Jason
Wambsgans/Chicago Tribune)
By Julie Wernau | Hyatt Hotels Corp. will be concentrating on long-term growth and
expansion in light of near-term declines in occupancy, room rates and
lucrative group bookings that have hurt the hotel sector, the company
said in its first earnings call this morning since the company’s public
offering in November.
Mark Hoplamazian, president and chief executive officer for Hyatt, said
while the company stresses the importance of owning a portion of its
portfolio – 102 hotels versus 424 managed or franchised — they have
been concentrating efforts on increasing franchising and management
agreements that require little to no capital, particularly in Southeast
Asia, India and China, where revenue per available room has fared
better than in the U.S.
Orbitz shares sink on 4Q loss
Tribune staff report | Shares in Chicago-based travel Web company Orbitz Worldwide Inc. dropped more than 17 percent in morning trading after the company reported it had swung to a loss in the fourth-quarter.
Orbitz lost losing $18 million, or 21 cents per share compared to a profit of $8 million, or 10 cents per share, in the same period a year ago.
Pope urges caution on use of airport body scans
A security officer demonstrates full body scan image on a computer screen on trial at Manchester Airport in Manchester, England in January. (Photo Christopher Furlong/Getty Images)
By Julie Johnsson
| Pope Benedict XVI urged caution on the use of body scanners to screen
airline passengers, stating that “human dignity must be preserved,”
reports the Telegraph.
Addressing 1,200 airport workers during the weekend, the pontiff never
directly mentioned the scanners, which can reveal foreign objects
hidden beneath clothing — and even breast implants.
