The Top 10 Most Annoying Hidden Hotel Fees

The Resort Fee
“Why, then, would a resort tack on an additional $10 to $25 resort fee for each day of your stay, even if you never go near the pool or the beach? Because it can.”
Telephone Fees
“AT&T would charge our hotel 10 cents per local call. The hotel would then charge the guest between $1.50 and $2. Long distance was even worse. It’s a very easy way to add to the bottom line.”
The Energy Fee
“In reality, the fee has nothing to do with the amount of energy you actually consume during your stay. It just is what it is.”
The Technology Fee
“You’d think by now hotels would be scrambling to offer free high-speed Internet access as a competitive advantage, but that’s often not the case.”
The Groundskeeping Fee
“Here’s hoping you enjoy looking at the rose bushes that line the resort’s driveway. They could cost you an additional few bucks in “groundskeeping fees,” one of the more absurd fees that some resorts have come up with.”
The Towel Fee
Proceed with caution, especially at poolside, where cabana boys will offer you extra towels and then ask for your room number.”
The Safe Fee
“One could easily argue that a fee for an in-room safe is fair…if you actually use the safe. What’s unfair is charging you $3 a day just for the privilege of sleeping in the same room with a safe even if you never touch it. ”
The Housekeeping and Bellman Fees
“Maids and bellmen work hard for the money, and they depend on tips to supplement their income. That’s fine, but the tips should be up to you, not up to the hotel, which may assess mandatory gratuities but not tell you until you check out, long after you’ve already put cash in hands all around the hotel.”
The Parking Fee
“Hotels routinely get away with charging $20 or more per night (plus tips) for mandatory valet parking, even if there’s a convenient hotel parking lot just steps away.”
The Mineral Water Fee
“How nice to see a bottle of Evian or Fiji water on the credenza next your bed, just begging to be the quencher of your traveler’s thirst. And how utterly frustrating to be charged a $7 anti-dehydration fee.”

Bring Your Own Everything

Atlanta set up secret cameras inside 5 different hotel chains from the Holiday Inn to the Ritz Carlton and caught every single one of them failing to properly wash the room’s glasses. At every single hotel, regardless of price, the glasses were simply rinsed out and left for the next guest. Some hotels used dirty bath towels to wipe the glasses. One hotel employee rinsed the glasses after cleaning the toilet—using the same gloves. Another one sprayed the glasses with blue cleaning fluid that was marked “Do not drink.” Herpes, staph, hepatitus are all at risk.  Take a look.

For Only $320 Million, An Airbus Can Be Yours (Customized Furnishing Not Included)

 Singapore Airlines new Airbus 380 “Superjumbo” has just completed its maiden commercial flight and there are already plans to transform the world’s largest passenger plane into the pinnacle of private luxury — an executive jet.  Two European companies — Germany’s Lufthansa Technik and Switzerland’s Jet Aviation — have announced their intention to convert the enormous airliner into a flying mansion replete with private bedrooms, a movie theater, and a gym fitted with saunas and jacuzzis.

Rumors swept the European media in September that Lufthansa Technik, a subsidiary of Deutsche Lufthansa AG, had received an order for a VIP-configured A380 from Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich. Experts say only national governments and very few of the super wealthy can afford massive price tags that come with the higher category, such as a Boeing 767 that is three times the size of an average executive jet.

Lufthansa Technik already has drawn up a general design for a customized luxury A380 interior. A rendering of the layout provides the owner with two spacious private bedrooms on the upper deck, separated from a reception area with plush sofas and a wood and brass bar next to the central stairway. The private quarters allow for maximum comfort and convenience. A master bedroom includes an office, private dining room, dressing room, a fully fitted bathroom and a gym featuring both a steam bath and exercise machines. You can practically disappear for years living on that thing.

And we thought the French were the worst. The tourism slump is blamed on the shabby welcome many foreigners feel from Americans.

The number of foreign visitors to the United States has plummeted since the September 11, 2001 attacks on New York and Washington because foreigners don’t feel welcome. Since September 11, 2001, the United States has experienced a 17% decline in overseas travel, costing America 94 billion dollars in lost visitor spending, nearly 200,000 jobs and 16 billion dollars in lost tax revenue.

It’s clear what’s keeping people away in the post-9/11 environment: it is the perception around the world that travelers aren’t welcome. Travelers around the world feel the US entry experience is among the world’s worst. Do yourself a favor and be cordial to visitors. You’ll need the karma when you’re abroad.

“Either there was no work or they did not want to hire somebody without papers”

For years, millions of Mexican migrants working in the United States have sent money back home to villages like this one, money that allows families to pay medical bills and school fees, build houses and buy clothes or, if they save enough, maybe start a tiny business. After years of strong increases, the amount of migrant money flowing to Mexico has stagnated. Migrants and migration experts say a flagging American economy and an enforcement campaign against illegal workers in the United States have persuaded some migrants not to try to cross the border illegally to look for work. Some have returned to Mexico and many of those who are staying in the United States are sending less money home.

Last year, migrant workers worldwide sent more than $300 billion to developing countries — almost twice the amount of foreign direct investment. But in Mexico, families are feeling squeezed. The construction slump — along with a year-old crackdown on illegal immigration at the border and in the workplace, and mounting anti-immigrant sentiment in places — has made it even harder for Mexican migrants to reach the United States and land well-paying jobs. New walls, new guards and new equipment at the border have dissuaded many from trying to cross and raised the cost for those who try to as much as $2,800. Workplace raids and stories of summary deportations stoke fears among Mexicans on both sides of the border.

With those prospects, the next generation (some of them as young as 15) seemed to have few doubts about heading to the United States. “It’s really tough to go back,” says one worker . “Now they lock you up. Before, they grabbed you and sent you back. The laws were never this tough.”

Nudy Sleepwalkers on the Rise 

Workers at a chain of budget hotels are being given advice on how to deal with naked sleepwalkers.  A study by Travelodge found there had been more than 400 cases in the past year, almost all involving men. Sleep experts blame stress, alcohol abuse, lack of sleep for the disorder, eating cheese or consuming too much caffeine . A number had walked into the reception area asking for a newspaper or saying they wanted to check out. The advice includes keeping a supply of towels in reception to help preserve a guest’s dignity. Hah!

Sleepwalking 101: Sleepwalking is also called “somnambulism.” It is a parasomnia. A parasomnia involves undesired events that come along with sleep. Before walking, you might sit up in bed and look around in a confused manner. At other times, individuals may bolt from the bed and walk or run away. Your eyes are usually open and have a confused, “glassy” look to them. It can be very hard to wake a sleepwalker up. When you do wake up, you can be very confused. You might even attack the person who wakes you. Men, especially, are often violent during these episodes. Sleepwalking most often occurs in the first third of a night’s sleep or during other long sleep periods. Sleepwalking is more common in children and affects both boys and girls. The rate of it in children is as high as 17%.

Why aren’t these people finding their paychecks docked?

Federal employees are routinely abusing rules on business-class travel, taking trips to destinations like Zurich for $7,500 and costing taxpayers an extra estimated $145 million annually, congressional investigators have found. The improper use of premium-class travel is widespread at a half-dozen federal departments, including Agriculture, Treasury, Commerce and State, according to the Government Accountability Office report.

The investigators found very few first-class flights, which fall under even stricter rules. But they concluded that about 65% of the overall premium flights — or about $146 million worth — were improper or abusive, meaning either they broke the rules or were not appropriately authorized. That travel represents just 1 percent of overall flights, but it consumes 7 percent of the dollars spent on air travel because business class costs on average five times more than coach. That’s hardly a drop in the bucket compared to the everyday waste federal agencies go through.

Turning A Business Trip Into A Mini-Vacation

As work is increasingly making inroads into leisure time, many business travelers are finding ways to turn that equation around — combining their travel for work with time for cultural and historical sightseeing. The majority of adult American travelers (81%) have included a cultural or history-related activity while traveling, according to a 2007 report by the Travel Industry Association, while 62% regard learning about other cultures as important when they travel. Almost one in four of all trips in the United States in 2005 included a cultural or historical activity, the survey also found, and those travelers spent considerably more per trip on average, and stayed longer, than those who did not.

 Singapore Airlines better have a strong cleaner for those love stains.

Luxury cabins will return to the skies this month with the launch of a new ’super-first’ class on the Airbus A380 double decker. Singapore Airlines, which took delivery of the first of 19 A380s in Toulouse today, revealed that the planes will have 12 private suites for its top paying passengers.  

Each suite contains a leather seat and a full-sized bed with mattress. Unlike many airline ‘flat beds’ no part of the seat converts into the bed. The bed will be made up by cabin crew with Givenchy-designed duvets and cushions. The two middle suites can be converted into doubles for couples. Entertainment is provided through a 23-inch flat-screen TV, with a choice of 100 films and 180 TV programmes, and 700 CDs. Notice there’s no roof over this suite. People will be able to “peek” over the top. Mile high club and voyeurs galore.!

Here’s a list of calculators ranging from Mortgage APR to Auto Rebate vs. Low Interest Financing to Hourly Paycheck.

… and Airlines

Five airports with the worst on-time arrival performance:

• New York’s LaGuardia International Airport; 57.6%

• New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport; 58.7%

• Philadelphia International Airport; 61.3%

• New Jersey’s Newark Liberty International Airport; 62%

• Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport; 62.3%

Five airports with the best on-time arrival performance:

• Houston Intercontinental Airport; 82%

• Salt Lake City International Airport; 80%

• Oakland International Airport; 77.8%

• Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport; 77.5%

• San Diego International Airport; 77.4%

Five airlines with the lowest on-time arrival rates:

• Atlantic Southeast Airlines; 55%

• United Airlines; 66.2%

• Alaska Airlines; 67.1%

• Comair; 67.2%

• American Eagle Airlines; 67.5%

Southwest will begin providing connecting domestic flights to passengers arriving in the U.S. on international airlines and soon to be flying throughout the continent

Now facing rising costs, more competition from copycats and the prospect of slower domestic growth, Southwest Airlines is planning to make its boldest move ever: Next year, Southwest will begin providing connecting domestic flights to passengers arriving in the U.S. on international airlines. “We have to find a way to get our revenues up, and there are two basic ways to do it,” Chief Executive Gary Kelly said in a recent interview, “higher fares or get more passengers per flight.”

Barring higher fares, Southwest will aim for the latter. Eventually, the airline might even fly its own international routes, perhaps first to Mexico and Canada before taking on Asia and Europe. Hope they provide a meal on those flights. LAX could play a key role in its international expansion plans. But the airline right now can’t claim any more LAX gates — other carriers already have dibs on them — and that could force it to look elsewhere, such as San Francisco International Airport. In November, Southwest will launch eight daily flights each way between LAX and San Francisco, with promotional fares starting at $39.

Now Boarding 1-30; 31-60

Starting in early November, customers of Southwest Airlines Co. will be assigned a letter-number combination on their boarding passes, which will reserve their spot in their boarding group. According to a Southwest statement, when a gate agent calls a boarding group, passengers will take their place in their numerical order. Last group allowed to board: passengers in miniskirts.

Cash and Traveler’s Checks incurred high breakage costs, the amounts spent converting unused foreign currency back into local currencies

Debit cards are emerging as the cheapest way to pay for purchases and withdraw cash abroad, a study said Monday. The study of the “real costs of foreign currency transactions” for outbound travelers in 12 markets in Asia, Africa and the Middle East by MasterCard found that debit cards had the lowest overall costs among the foreign currency products.

Cash and traveler’s checks incurred high breakage costs, the amounts spent converting unused foreign currency back into local currencies. For a US$500 transaction, the cost was typically 1.9%. Credit cards, traveler’s checks and cash averaged 2.5 to 2.6%.

SWA Heard Your Complaints

As of Oct. 2, Southwest Airlines will end its long-standing policy of allowing people with young children to board ahead of most other passengers. The push behind Southwest’s policy change appears to have more in common with that age-old play-group complaint: No fair. Disabled passengers will still be allowed to pre-board, followed by Southwest’s traditional three groups of boarders: A, B and C. Seeing the children-first policy end will give these business travelers a measure of satisfaction.

Children under 5, and those traveling with them, won’t be stripped entirely of privilege. If they and their entourage don’t get boarding passes in time to be part of group A, they’ll be allowed to board right after that group, before B and C. This is to ensure that passengers with small children will find seats together. That’s harsh.