World Traveler

A century ago strikes typically shut down cities. Now nationwide travel industry strikes instantly affect travelers world wide--which means that an advantage in technology, such as the ability to check alternative routes through a cell phone, has gone from a luxury to a must. Photo courtesty of Wikimedia Commons.

Okay, it was not much of an economic recovery, but it was happening. And although it was barely perceptible, the travel industry was rebounding.

And for a brief moment in time, in the great big world of journeys, voyages and even business trips, life was good.

Then came the most recent spate of travel-related strikes. As they say, when it rains is pours, and this can be considered an absolute truism when it comes to follow-the-leader tendencies of European unions. Now the European traveler is dealing with headaches galore—which, if you can take just a tiny bit of unadulterated company promotion—means that Psiloc’s World Traveler is more relevant than ever.

But first the facts. Lufthansa pilots only just suspended a still-painful strike over worries that they could be replaced by cheaper workers, and on Tuesday, only one day later, French air traffic controllers walked off the job and British Airways cabin crews decided to go on strike as well, with the dates and details still to be announced. Meanwhile, basically the entire country of Greece was in the hold phase as unions shut down anything and everything they could possible shut down.

Needless to say, by midweek, the European travel sector was reeling. The French strike caused mass flight cancellations, and the combined one-two punch of the Lufthansa and French air-traffic controllers strike was a headache for the traveler equaled perhaps only by the worse of this year’s winter weather. Toss in Greek strikes, Spanish protests and the coming British Airways strike, and the odds of getting to your destination on time is beginning to look like a roll of the dice.

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Thanks to World Traveler's Hotelzon plug-in, the days of frantically and blindly calling hotels for an available room are over. Photo courtesy of Wikipedia Commons.

The Hotelzon plug-in promises to be an exciting new addition to the World Traveler open platform. Why? Simply because this is an app that is going to simplify travel.

Personally speaking, it’s difficult to imagine now just how much stress I have experienced over the years while trying to find a place to stay at the last minute. In my youth I was a much more spontaneous traveler, and sometimes I would just pick up and go with nothing but a ticket, a toothbrush and a change of clothes. The one cloud in these “accidental trips” was finding a place to stay once I actually got where I was going. I would make phone call after phone call, frantically trying any and every advertised number. Hotels. Hostels. Private room. You name it. Sometimes it got pretty late before I found an available room, and looking back, I count myself lucky. Some colleagues have vivid memories of failing to find a place to stay and sleeping awkwardly on the legions of hard plastic chairs bolted to the floor that seem de rigueur for airport terminals—chairs which are highly recommended as a way to discover pain in parts of your body you never knew existed.

Times have changed. I like to book in advance—in fact, I actually like to plan my trips. But the specter of an overbooked hotel and late night scrambling to find somewhere to stay is still with me. That’s why I’m so excited by this new plug-in. I miss the spontaneity of my youth, but I don’t miss late-night speed dialing to find somewhere to stay. Now with the Hotelzon plug-in for world Traveler, I can have that spontaneity back whenever I want. What’s more, if something should go wrong with my plans I have instant access to alternative accommodation.

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Hollywood director Kevin Smith took Southwest Airlines to task for its decision to boot Smith from a flight under what have been termed "too-fat-to-fly" regulations. Southwest's requirement that forces oversized passengers to purchase two seats for comfort and safety reasons has been company policy for 25 years--but Smith's Twitter and press campaign made waves, and Southwest eventually apologized.

Those inconvenienced by the new ice age that has descended on the U.S. and Europe may find this hard to believe, but airline travel is getting better.

Or is it?

First the pluses: The business travel sector is already rebounding, despite worries that the sluggish world economy would severely hamper travel for years. A number of U.S. airlines showed a fourth quarter profit, with others beating analyst expectations, and even the related hotel sector—which has been battered hard by the recession—is also showing signs of recovery, with the Marriott Hotel chain returning to the black in Q4 2009, according to the international business wire service, Bloomberg.

Then there are the yet more immediately tangible bright spots for the traveler. In 2009 U.S. airlines posted the best on-time record since 2003, according to the U.S. Transportation Department—and lost luggage complaints dropped to 2004 levels.

And as regular airline travelers will be the first to point out, this is quite a big deal.  

All kidding aside, this is an achievement worth noting. Airlines have managed to overcome time-sucking hurdles such as increased security due to terrorism and the resulting War on Terror, as well as a tough economy that punished the entire travel industry, especially in 2008.

Moreover, as U.S. flights invariably affect schedules the world over, there has been an undeniable trickle down effect. If your Transatlantic flight stays on schedule, you are probably going to make that Rotterdam to Munich connection as well.

However—and as we’ve covered security issues ad nauseam, we’ll skip them for now—there have been a few new lows for both the traveler and the airline industry. Chief among these, you have the brilliant or abysmal pay-for-luggage idea, depending on who is doing the talking. No, there is no doubt that a number of profit-challenged airlines have made the most of charging for “extra” luggage and carry-ons—and this one does not look like it is going away anytime soon—but to say the public is irritated hardly does the subject justice.

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Royal Caribbean's Oasis of the Seas gamble has paid off. And at more than 220,000 gross tons, it is not only the largest passenger vessel in the world, but it is about the same size as the U.S.S. Nimitz aircraft carrier. Photo by Ereine/courtesy of Wikipedia Commons.

With fourth-quarter results in from major U.S. airlines and travel players, it appears that the gloom-and-doom predictions for travel were at least somewhat exaggerated. Five of the U.S.’s top nine airlines turned in profits in Q4, with other airlines beating what had been lackluster analyst expectations–and, surprise of all surprises, in some cases airline stock is even noticeably rising on Wall Street. .

Now, another major player in U.S. travel, Royal Caribbean Cruises, has also posted a profit of USD 3.4 million in Q4 2009—more than double that of last year—while projecting 2010 share earnings at between USD 2.00 and USD 2.20 a share, a level well-beyond the previously predicted USD 1.48 Thomson-Reuters estimate.

And how did they do it? In part by adding new liners to its 38-ship fleet, including the massive Oasis of the Seas ocean liner, which at 225,282 gross tons is by far the largest of its kind in the world.

To put this in perspective, at a time when the travel industry looked about to topple—not only from the fallout of the U.S. mortgage crisis, but from renewed terrorist efforts—Royal Caribbean put, among others, a passenger ship roughly the size of an aircraft carrier on the market.

An ensuing 30-percent increase in bookings over the previous year makes the Oasis addition, in particular, no less than a stroke of genius. (more…)