ExpertFlyer Blog

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Introducing WannaJet: Offering Private Jets at a Business Class Price
DuPont Registry Press Blog

The first private jet service offering seats on private flights at a fixed price, comparable to Business Class fares. Read more…

Top Five Tips for Business Traveling
Business Travel Tips Blog

…There are some little-known tips and tricks that may come in handy when you travel for business, whether you’re traveling domestically or abroad. Here are five of the best little-known travel tips for business traveling. Read more…

"Did you know?..."

Frequent-flier 101? Classes promise to make you an air-travel guru
USA Today

Want to become a frequent-flier expert? There's a class for that. In fact there are two; "Saving on airfare and redeeming frequent-flier miles" is the basic course while the "advanced" class is dubbed: "Securing top elite status and flying in luxury."  Read More...

Summer Travel Tax Deductions
Tire Review

...keep in mind that if your summertime travel is primarily for business or career-related education such as training, then a portion of the trip may be tax-deductible.  Read More...

One-on-One with Meredith Hanrahan, chief travel officer, Cheapflights.com

Each month, ExpertFlyer sits down with an executive in the travel industry to provide insight to changes in the industry and how it affects the way you do business.  It's another way ExpertFlyer is providing additional information to empower the business traveler.

 

This month ExpertFlyer sat down with Meredith Hanrahan, chief travel officer for Cheapflights.com.  Cheapflights.com is an online shopping comparison engine that makes it easy for consumers to research, compare and save on domestic and international trips.

“This is a good time to travel.  There are still deals out there for the early part of summer that are still at last year’s prices.”

 - Meredith Hanrahan, chief travel officer for Cheapflights.com

1)    As a leading US travel website for price search and comparison, what are some of the interesting and recent queries that are surfacing from travelers?

We’ve kept our eye on the how trends change search behaviors, such as the economic downturn, natural disasters and political transitions and we watch the rise and shift in popularity in travel destinations.  For example, we are seeing a downturn in travel to Greece and upturn in popular destinations, such as Cancun.  We just did a survey of emerging new summer travel spots around the world – ones that have seen a major jump in user interest from 2009 to 2010.  Highlights from the list include Minneapolis, Seattle, Dallas, San Francisco, Phoenix, Cancun, Manila and Dubai.

"Did you know?..."

Bonus Frequent Flyer Miles for Business Bi-Coastals on American
The war between airlines for business travelers on lucrative cross-country routes is heating up just as the busy summer travel season approaches, with American Airlines announcing a rare promotion featuring bonus miles for frequent flier members. Read more: http://bit.ly/akTNEP

Food Flight
Airlines keep coming up with creative ways to tick people off. Spirit Airlines announced this month that it will start charging passengers as much as $45 to bring a carry-on bag. RyanAir is getting ready to install coin-operated toilets. But there may be at least one upside to the current extra-fee-ganza: better airline food.  Read more: http://bit.ly/dd4sKt

Apple iPad for business: Three reasons to love it, three reasons to ignore it
Let’s look at why businesses and IT departments should keep an eye on the iPad, as well as the top reasons why it’s safe for the corporate world to ignore it at this point.  Read more: http://bit.ly/bPOC6B

United and Southwest Perks and Promotions

United Airlines has announced that it is rolling out a bundle called Premier Travel, which can be purchased online when booking or when checking in.  It lets you check two bags at no charge, use premium security and boarding lines, get a seat in United’s “Economy Plus’’ coach section and earn a 25% mileage bonus. Also with Premier Travel Plus, you get double miles and access to United’s airport clubs. For short trips, Premier Travel starts at $47 each way and Premier Travel Plus starts at $84 each way. All the details can be found here.

Also, Southwest Airlines is bringing back double credits for a little over a month. You can get double frequent-flier credits on flights between September 17th and October 31st. Details and registration for the promotion can be found here.