From WBBM-Ch. 2 | Illinois residents being warned of scam artists preying on owners of vacation timeshares, posing as timeshare resellers to deceive consumers out of thousands of dollars. The Attorney General’s office has received dozens of complaints since January from timeshare owners targeted by the scam, according to a release. Get the full story >>
Filed under: Travel
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Sep. 15, 2010 at 10:26 a.m.
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Filed under: Defense, Manufacturing, Tourism, Transportation, Travel Boeing spaceship seats up for sale
Boeing has lined up a space tourism company to sell seats on the spaceship it wants to build to fly to the International Space Station.
Boeing says it has a deal with Space Adventures to market seats on the flights. Space Adventures currently sells seats on trips to the space station aboard the Russian-built Soyuz spaceship.
New airline ‘cheap seats’ inspired by saddle
New airline seats inspired by a saddle. (Aviointeriors)
An Italian company is about to take the wraps off a space-saving seat for commercial aircraft that promises a flying experience similar to riding a horse.
Aviointeriors’ SkyRider seats are more like a saddles with armrests than like the traditional flat-cushion seating that fliers are accustomed to. The SkyRider seats are smaller and sit a little higher, which would allow airlines to narrow the distance between seat rows.
On a short-haul flight, the space between rows in economy seating now is at a minimum 28 inches, according to data provided by SeatGuru.com. The SkyRider could cut that down to 23 inches. Get the full story »
Dollar Thrifty accepts $1.4B bid from Hertz
Dollar Thrifty has accepted a new bid of about $1.43 billion from Hertz, which is battling Avis for the rental car company.
Sep. 10, 2010 at 9:48 a.m.
Filed under: Airlines, Airplanes, Airports, Labor, Regulations, Transportation, Travel, Unions New rules would mean fewer hours for sleepy pilots
Some airline pilots would fly fewer hours and others would fly longer under proposed rules to help prevent dangerous fatigue, transportation and labor officials said Friday.
The proposal would set different requirements based on the time of day, number of scheduled flight segments, flight types, time zones and likelihood that a pilot is able to get enough sleep, Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood said in his blog. The proposal is being released Friday. Get the full story »
Hancock Center to open ice rink on 94th floor
Ice skating in Chicago in January is nothing new. Doing it on the 94th floor of the John Hancock Center is a little different. Officials at the 100-story Chicago skyscraper say they’re putting in a 1,000-square foot ice-skating rink in the tower. It’ll be open to the public from January through March. Get the full story »
Sep. 7, 2010 at 4:55 p.m.
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Filed under: Airlines, Investigations, M&A, Technology, Travel Sources: Justice Dept. probing Google deal with ITA
The U.S. Justice Department is looking into allegations that Google Inc’s purchase of airline ticketing firm ITA Software Inc will cost rivals access to data they need to compete with the search giant as it moves into the travel market, sources familiar with the probe said. Get the full story »
Gas prices expected to fall even more
Gasoline prices have been falling for weeks, and they could go even lower as autumn’s leaves begin to drop.
The national average for a gallon of unleaded regular was $2.681 on Friday, according to AAA, Wright Express and Oil Price Information Service. That’s 6.6 cents lower than a month ago and 8.5 cents higher than a year ago.
Delta to upgrade seats in 747 business class
Delta Air Lines Inc. plans to upgrade the seats on its Boeing 747s next summer, while cutting the number of seats in the plane’s most expensive cabin.
Delta detailed the changes Thursday, which are part of a $1 billion plan announced in January to overhaul seats and make other customer improvements. Get the full story »
Aug. 31, 2010 at 5:29 p.m.
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Filed under: China, International, Policy, Politics, Tourism, Trade, Travel Daley, business leaders going to China, South Korea
Mayor Richard Daley will travel to China and South Korea next month to promote Chicago as a destination for businesses and tourists.
The Sept. 18-24 trip will be sponsored by the Chicagoland Chamber of Commerce and World Business Chicago. The mayor will make stops in Shanghai, China, and in the cities of Busan and Seoul in South Korea.
Aug. 27, 2010 at 6:05 p.m.
Filed under: Airlines, Airplanes, Airports, Labor, Litigation, M&A, Transportation, Travel, Unions, Updated Justice Department OKs United-Continental merger
Passengers at the United and Continental kiosks at O'Hare International Airport, May 3, 2010. (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast)
The Justice Department approved the proposed merger of United and Continental airlines Friday, closing an unexpectedly speedy four-month investigation that paves the way for the mega-deal to close by Oct. 1.
To win the blessing of federal antitrust regulators, United and Continental agreed to lease slots for 18 round-trip flights to Southwest Airlines at Newark Liberty International Airport, beginning in March 2011.
Justice officials said the slot transfer was struck in “response to the department’s principal concerns” regarding the merger, which critics have warned will speed consolidation and eventually leave the three largest U.S. carriers with a lion’s share of the market. Get the full story »
Gas prices drop ahead of Labor Day
Prices at gasoline stations across the country should keep dropping as travelers hit the road for late-summer trips.
The national average pump price has declined for 17 days in a row, reaching $2.682 for a gallon of unleaded regular gasoline on Friday, according to AAA, Wright Express and Oil Price Information Service. The price is 6.3 cents lower than a month ago and about 6.2 cents higher than it was last year at this time.
AAA sees more of us hitting road on Labor Day
The number of Americans expected to travel during the Labor Day weekend will rise 9.9 percent from 2009 as some aspects of the U.S. economy show signs of improvement, travel and auto group AAA said Wednesday.
Close to 34.4 million travelers will venture at least 50 miles from home, up from 31.3 million last year when the recession curbed holiday plans, AAA forecast. Get the full story »
U.S. air fares poised to climb this fall
Travelers on U.S. airlines can look forward to higher fares and higher fees this fall as demand recovers from the 2009 economic recession, a top fare expert said Monday.
Fares for domestic flights are 16 percent to 20 percent higher than they were a year ago, said Rick Seaney, chief executive of Farecompare.com. Get the full story »
