I want my MTV—everywhere

New technology lets you watch your favorite shows on the road

With a busy travel schedule, you might spend hours at home catching up on your favorite TV programs. Well, now you can take your shows with you. A new service from TiVo, called TiVo To Go, allows subscribers with Home Media Option to move TV programs from their TiVo DVR to a laptop or PC for viewing on the road. And those with a PC DVD burner can burn TV programs onto a DVD and take them anywhere. TiVo subscribers must first purchase and install Sonic software onto their PCs, available at www.tivo.com. Meanwhile, say you’re overseas and you want to surf your usual 200 channels. New York–based K2B, Inc., has launched TV2Me, which allows cable and satellite TV subscribers to space-shift their entire range of subscribed channels to anywhere they travel. Using a video server appliance and broadband Internet connection, programs can be viewed from anywhere on a PC, laptop or large-screen monitor. K2B says the service is used on four continents, with units priced from $4,750, available only at www.spaceshift.net.

Self-defeating check-ins

Study finds many still haven’t embraced airport kiosks

Some things never change, even when better options are available. Most travelers (59 percent) still prefer standing in line at an airline’s check-in counter to using curbside check-in (10 percent) or self-service kiosks (18 percent)—even though the latter options are significantly faster, according to a J.D. Power and Associates 2004 Global Airport Satisfaction Index Study. Checking in at the counter takes an average of 19 minutes, compared with eight minutes using a self-check-in kiosk and 13 minutes checking in at curbside. Only 5 percent of those surveyed obtained boarding passes through the Internet. Ironically, overall satisfaction is higher among passengers who check in at curbside, online and at self-check-in kiosks. The study also found that the average security checkpoint wait time is 16 minutes at large airports, 15 minutes at medium-sized airports and 13 minutes at small airports. Airports with the longest security wait times include Washington Dulles, Denver and Los Angeles; those with some of the shortest waits are Singapore, London Gatwick and Sydney.

Far East airports are tops

Survey rates Hong Kong, Singapore as passenger favorites

The J.D. Power and Associates 2004 Global Airport Satisfaction Index Study also found that passenger satisfaction is higher at airports with business centers, wireless Internet connections and abundant shopping. Among large airports, Hong Kong International ranked highest in passenger satisfaction, followed by three U.S. airports: Orlando, Denver and Dallas/Fort Worth. Among medium-sized airports, Singapore’s Changi International ranked highest for the third consecutive year and received the highest overall passenger satisfaction score by a significant margin. Singapore was followed by Pittsburgh, Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky and Portland, Ore., respectively. Overall satisfaction is significantly higher for passengers at small airports, where wait times and passenger facilitation are generally more manageable. Calgary and San Antonio tied for the highest ranking among small airports, followed by Austin, Boise and Indianapolis. The study polled more than 9,000 passengers who flew between October 2003 and November 2004.

Direct booking preferred

Business travelers favor airline, hotel sites over online agencies

If your company has an unmanaged or lightly managed travel policy, chances are you prefer using airlines’ and hotel companies’ Web sites to those of online travel agencies, according to a Keynote Systems study of 1,500 business travelers. These travelers visit online agency sites more frequently, but are actually more satisfied with the services of airline and lodging Web sites, the study says. “This differs from all other Keynote studies in the travel industry, where the online agencies consistently outperformed supplier sites,” the company says. Business travelers often use online travel agencies as an information resource and then proceed directly to specific air, hotel or rental car Web sites for “superior” services (such as determining airline flight schedules or locating hotel rooms with high-speed Internet access). Price is a top driver in determining where to purchase online, but it decreases in importance the more frequently a businessperson travels, Keynote says.

One for the little guy

New organization targets travelers from small businesses

The American Small Business Travelers Alliance (ASBTA) is a new nationwide non profit group that says it will provide an array of services for small business owners. “For the first time, the nation’s 25 million small business travelers (SBTs) will have a collective voice and the clout they need to take advantage of travel bargains, programs and offers designed especially for them,” ASBTA President Chuck Sharp says. ASBTA will provide free travel information specifically tailored to SBTs, as well as negotiated rates with key airlines, car rental companies and hotel chains, Sharp says. The group is also establishing relationships with travel agencies that cater to the needs of small business travelers. Members receive a travel newsletter, news advisories, travel research on small business trends, and participation in small business travel conferences. The annual membership fee is $100. For more information, call 214/965-8302 or visit www.asbta.com.

Hertz, Avis deploy Wi-Fi

Wireless links are going into their airport locations

Hertz and Avis are racing to offer Wi-Fi network hotspots at their respective airport locations nationwide. Hertz says it plans to introduce Wayport Wi-Fi access in more than 50 U.S. airports during the first quarter of 2005. Customers will be able to connect to the Internet from inside the Hertz facility, as well as from the #1 Club Gold rental area. Major airport locations to receive the service include California, Florida, Texas, New York, Illinois and Pennsylvania. Customers can join Wayport or purchase a one-time connection for use at the Hertz location for a minimal fee. Meanwhile, Avis is using SBC Communications’ FreedomLink service, which will be available in up to 88 Avis locations at major U.S. airports by early 2005. The service is also available in Avis business centers. Customers can join FreedomLink for $19.95 a month or purchase a day membership for $7.95 and receive unlimited access to SBC Wi-Fi hotspots for 24 hours.

Getting burned

Some may not like it hot in the hotel shower

Careful with that spigot. A recent survey conducted at major hotel chains across the U.S. reveals that most hotel bath, shower and sink fixtures deliver hot water at scalding temperatures. “Dangerously high water temperatures are being delivered at most hotel rooms nationwide,” according to Powers, a Chicago-based supplier of water-heating technology. Of the first 142 hotel guestrooms surveyed, nearly 90% delivered maximum hot water temperatures from showers in excess of 115 degrees F, while more than half provided water in excess of 125 degrees F—“way too hot for safe bathing,” the survey found. Remarkably, 16% delivered water in excess of 140 degrees F. The average maximum shower temperature was 126.1 degrees. What’s considered the maximum safe temperature for bathing? One hundred and four degrees F, Powers says. The highest recorded temperature at a hotel shower was 171.5 degrees F. At 140 degrees F, it takes only 3 seconds to sustain a first-degree burn, the company says. Ouch!

Coming to a hotel room near you…

Get an eBay degree or connect with your kids during your next hotel stay.

EBay and LodgeNet Entertainment Corporation are teaming up to offer pay-per-view, in-room video sessions of the popular eBay University in more than 250,000 hotel rooms across the U.S. More than 430,000 people in the United States earn a living selling on eBay, and, according to a recent ACNielsen survey, 70 percent of small businesses say that eBay has helped their businesses become more profitable. And if you’re thinking of blending family and business travel, Homewood Suites by Hilton now offer the “Homewood Connections” program, which helps families stay connected while they’re apart, as well as helping to make it easier for parents to take their kids on business trips. The program offers complimentary wireless two-way messaging devices, the “Homewood Connections Cyber-speak Guide,” a complimentary family grocery-shopping service and tips from family travel expert Eileen Ogintz.

In brief

Sometime this year, you might be able to use your cell phone to check in for flights, select seats and pick up boarding passes. Airline industry telecommunications giant SITA has teamed with Siemens Business Services to develop the technology…Los Angeles International Airport will receive a two-stage, $11 billion infusion to modernize it. The improvements will take about 15 years to complete, and will be the first upgrade of the world’s fifth-busiest airport since 1984…American Airlines is now selling $3 snack boxes in the main cabin on domestic flights longer than three hours. Non-alcoholic beverages remain complimentary, as do first-class meals. A sandwich or wrap is $5 on select transcontinental and Hawaii flights. The carrier says the move will save roughly $30 million annually…Virgin Atlantic Airways has opened a new 5,000-square-foot Clubhouse at Hong Kong Airport…Airlines have yet another drag on the bottom line: Obese passengers, whose extra weight has resulted in heftier fuel costs, according to a government report. Americans gained an average of 10 pounds through the 1990s, causing the airlines to spend $275 million for 350 million additional gallons of fuel in 2000, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention…Toronto plans to build a $1.7 billion second airport in Pickering, about 20 miles east of Toronto, opening to recreational and private planes in 2012 and conventional air traffic by 2032. Montreal’s Mirabel Airport, which opened in 1975 as the city’s second airport, just 35 miles away, failed to catch on and finally closed to all passenger traffic in 2004.

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