WAV Travel News - Monday Edition
Bill Vervaeke, CDME
West Palm Beach, FL 33411
(561) 795-5912 (Office & Facsimile)
(561) 318-9089 (Cellular)
Downtown Disney resorts offer special rates for educators
Teachers should be rewarded with more than a shiny apple, the folks seven Downtown Disney Resort Area Hotels insist. That’s why the hotels are offering educators from daycare and kindergarten to college to support staff special rates for stays through July 31.
The savings will give teachers and others involved in education a chance to take in special events happening at the resorts this summer, including Sounds like Summer Concerts at Epcot and Star Wars Weekends at Disney’s Hollywood Studios.
The hotels are close to more than 75 themed shopping, dining and entertainment venues, and will provide complimentary shuttle transportation every 30 minutes to all four Walt Disney World theme parks, two water parks and to the Downtown Disney area.
Hotels offering Teacher Appreciation rates include B Resort, rates from $119 per night; Best Western Lake Buena Vista Resort Hotel, rates from $89; Buena Vista Palace Hotel & Spa, rates from $79; DoubleTree Suites by Hilton, rates from $99; Hilton Orlando Lake Buena Vista, rates from $89; Holiday Inn Orlando, rates from $89; and Wyndham Lake Buena Vista Resort, rates from $87.
Report: Did Uber steal its most important tech?
Kevin Halpern says he worked for seven years making technology to match drivers to passengers.
Now, Uber is known around the country for doing exactly that. But Halpern hasn't seen a dime.
And now he's suing Uber, according to CNET.
Halpern founded Celluride Wirleess in 2002, and shared trade secrets with Uber co-founder Travis Kalanick, with a verbal agreement to keep things confidential. The tech is so integral to how Uber works that he calls it the "basis of Uber."
Halpern later made a beta version of Celluride which was similar to Uber, but never filed copyrights or patents. He later locked his plans in a safe.
An Uber spokesman told CNET the claims were "completely baseless."
It's far from the only lawsuit brought against Uber in recent years. A Jupiter motorcyclist and Palm Beach County taxi drivers have both sued the company in 2015 alone.
Amtrak trains back in service on busy Northeast Corridor
Amtrak trains resume service on NE corridor for first time since last week's deadly derailment
PHILADELPHIA (AP) -- Amtrak trains began rolling on the busy Northeast Corridor early Monday, the first time in almost a week following a deadly crash in Philadelphia, and officials vowed to have safer trains and tracks while investigators worked to determine the cause of the derailment.
Amtrak resumed service along the corridor with a 5:30 a.m. southbound train leaving New York City. The first northbound train, scheduled to leave Philadelphia at 5:53 a.m., was delayed and pulled out of 30th Street Station at 6:07 a.m.
About three dozen passengers boarded the New York City-bound train in Philadelphia, and Mayor Michael Nutter was on hand to see the passengers and train off.
All Acela Express, Northeast Regional and other services also resumed.
Amtrak officials said Sunday that trains along the Northeast Corridor from Washington to Boston would return to service in "complete compliance" with federal safety orders following last week's deadly derailment.
Company President Joseph Boardman said Amtrak staff and crew worked around the clock to restore service following Tuesday night's crash that killed eight people and injured more than 200 others.
Boardman said Sunday that Amtrak would be offering a "safer service."
In Philadelphia on Monday, Nutter stood on the platform, greeting passengers and crew members. He pulled out his cellphone and took pictures as the train rolled out just after 6 am.
"It's great to be back," said Christian Milton of Philadelphia. "I've never had any real problems with Amtrak. I've been traveling it for over 10 years. There's one accident in 10 years. Something invariably is going to happen somewhere along the lines. I'm not worried about it."
Milton said he'd probably be sleeping as the train goes around the curve where the derailment happened. But, he said he'll think about victims.
"I might say a prayer for the people who died and got injured," he said.
Tom Carberry, of Philadelphia, praised the agencies involved in restoring service.
"My biggest takeaway was the under-promise and over-deliver and the surprise of having it come back this morning when that wasn't expected," Carberry said. "That was a good thing for Amtrak."
At New York City's Penn Station early Monday, police with a pair of dogs flanked the escalator as a smattering of passengers showed their tickets to a broadly smiling Amtrak agent and headed down to the platform.
A sign outside the train flashed "All Aboard" in red letters.
The conductor gave a broad all-clear wave, stepped inside and the train glided out of the station at 5:30 a.m.
Passenger Raphael Kelly of New York, looking relaxed, said he was "feeling fine" and had "no worries."
Kelly, who takes Amtrak to Philadelphia weekly, said with a smile that if he did have any concerns, "I have to get over it."
Amtrak spokesman Craig Schultz said it was important to restore service, calling the Northeast Corridor "an economic engine here on the East Coast."
"There are a lot of stakeholders that have a say and a stake in the Northeast Corridor, so it's very important for our passengers, for Amtrak and, I think, all of us," Schultz said.
At a service Sunday evening at the site to honor the crash victims, Boardman choked up as he called Tuesday "the worst day for me as a transportation professional." He vowed that the wrecked train and its passengers "will never be forgotten."
Federal regulators on Saturday ordered Amtrak to expand use of a speed-control system long in effect for southbound trains near the crash site to northbound trains in the same area.
Federal Railroad Administration spokesman Kevin Thompson said Sunday the automatic train control system is now fully operational on the northbound tracks. Trains going through that section of track will be governed by the system, which alerts engineers to slow down when their trains go too fast and automatically applies the brakes if the train continues to speed.
The agency also ordered Amtrak to examine all curves along the Northeast Corridor and determine if more can be done to improve safety, and to add more speed limit signs along the route.
U.S. Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx, interviewed Monday on MSNBC, noted the activation of automatic train control systems for the Northeast Corridor, and said that "we're taking a look at additional steps beyond what we've taken."
Foxx said the government aims to ensure that "intercity travel sets a high bar for safety."
"We are putting it (ATC) in place today with the northbound trains going in the Amtrak system," he said. "We are also taking additional looks to make sure we are doing everything possible" to promote safety.
"I promise you that we are looking into the entire (rail) system and we are not done yet," Foxx said.
Almost 20 people injured in the train crash remain in Philadelphia hospitals, five in critical condition. All are expected to survive.
Investigators with the National Transportation Safety Board, meanwhile, have focused on the acceleration of the train as it approached the curve, finally reaching 106 mph as it entered the 50-mph stretch north of central Philadelphia, and only managing to slow down slightly before the crash.
"The only way that an operable train can accelerate would be if the engineer pushed the throttle forward. And ... the event recorder does record throttle movement. We will be looking at that to see if that corresponds to the increase in the speed of the train," board member Robert Sumwalt told CNN's "State of the Union."
The Amtrak engineer, who was among those injured in the crash, has told authorities that he does not recall anything in the few minutes before it happened. Characterizing engineer Brandon Bostian as extremely safety conscious, a close friend said he believed reports of something striking the windshield were proof that the crash was "not his fault."
"He's the one you'd want to be your engineer. There's none safer," James Weir of Burlison, Tennessee, told The Associated Press in a telephone interview on Sunday.
Investigators also have been looking into reports that the windshield of the train may have been struck by some sort of object, but Sumwalt said on CBS's "Face the Nation" program Sunday that he wanted to "downplay" the idea that damage to the windshield might have come from someone firing a shot at the train.
"I've seen the fracture pattern; it looks like something about the size of a grapefruit, if you will, and it did not even penetrate the entire windshield," Sumwalt said.
Officials said an assistant conductor on the derailed train said she heard the Amtrak engineer talking with a regional train engineer and both said their trains had been hit by objects. But Sumwalt said the regional train engineer recalls no such conversation, and investigators had listened to the dispatch tape and heard no communications from the Amtrak engineer to the dispatch center to say that something had struck the train.
US gas prices rise 22 cents per gallon
Survey shows US gas prices rise 22 cents a gallon, but increases expected to slow
CAMARILLO, Calif. (AP) -- The average national price of a regular gallon of gasoline has jumped 22 cents in the past three weeks to $2.80.
Industry analyst Trilby Lundberg said Sunday that higher crude prices caused by a weaker U.S. dollar and strong gasoline demand drove the increase.
However, she says the price was 93 cents lower than a year ago.
The average national price for midgrade was $3.00 and premium was $3.16. Diesel was $2.97.
In a survey of cities in the Lower 48 states, Los Angeles had the highest-priced gasoline at $3.95 a gallon. Baton Rouge, Louisiana, had the lowest at $2.32.
The average price in California was up 53 cents to $3.76 a gallon.
Lundberg says gasoline price hikes will likely slow or stop because of an expected increase in supplies.
Extreme athlete Dean Potter dies in Yosemite BASE jumping accident
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Extreme athlete Dean Potter, renowned for his bold and sometimes rogue climbs and BASE jumps, was among two people who were killed while attempting a wingsuit flight in Yosemite National Park, a park spokesman said Sunday.
Someone called for help late Saturday after losing contact with Potter, 43, and his climbing partner, Graham Hunt, 29. They had jumped from a 7,500-foot (2,300-meter) promontory called Taft Point, park ranger Scott Gediman said.
He said a search-and-rescue team looked for the men overnight but couldn't find them. On Sunday morning, a helicopter crew spotted their bodies in the Yosemite Valley.
No parachutes had been deployed.
BASE jumping, in which someone parachutes from a fixed structure or cliff, is illegal in Yosemite.
Potter and Hunt, who lived near Yosemite, were prominent figures in the park's climbing community, Gediman said.
"This is a horrible incident, and our deepest sympathies go out to their friends and family," Gediman said. "This is a huge loss for all of us."
Potter is famous for completing solo ascents, tightrope walks across some of the world's most famous rock formations, and BASE jumps without a rope, tether or other safety gear. He drew criticism in May 2006 after he made a "free solo" climb of Utah's iconic Delicate Arch, prompting outdoor clothing company Patagonia to drop its sponsorship of him.
Recently, he appeared in a film that chronicled his adventures BASE jumping with his dog.
Airbnb releases a report claiming Airbnb generated more than $1Bn in economic activity for NYC last year
While not everyone believes it’s such a bright idea to rent your home to random strangers from the Internet, New Yorkers appear to think otherwise — at least that’s what Airbnb wants us to believe. In a study commissioned by the home-sharing website, grandly titled The Tremendous Impact of Airbnb in New York, the company lauded its contributions to the Big Apple’s bottom line, claiming it generated $1.15 billion in economic activity in the city last year, nearly doubling the dollar amount from the period in its previous study.
It says the average Airbnb host is your run-of-the-mill New Yorker, who’s just trying to make ends meet in a pricey city, and the average guest stays outside of Manhattan, benefitting businesses that wouldn’t normally see those tourist dollars. The reports states that $235 million of that activity was generated in boroughs outside of Manhattan, adding that guests spend on average $600 in the neighborhoods in which they stay, painting a pretty rosy financial picture for small business owners in non-hotel districts.
Other highlights of the report include:
The average Airbnb guest in New York stays nearly 2 nights more (5.8 nights total) and spends $290 more at local businesses ($1,060 total) than the typical hotel guest
90% of hosts in New York City share their primary residence
$640 is the average amount that a host earns, and 72% of those hosts use that income to pay their rent or mortgage
5 nights is the average length of time a host rents their space
Over 80% of listings are outside of traditional hotel districts
42% of guest spending is in the neighborhood where they are renting
5.8 nights is the average Airbnb guest stay
It says the Airbnb community also supported more than 10,500 jobs in New York during 2014.
Report: Air India Pilot Suspended for Showing Up Drunk to Flight
An Air India (AI) commander was slated to fly a Sharjah, United Arab Emirates-to-India flight on Saturday, but was instead suspended for showing up to his waiting aircraft completely drunk, The Times of India (TOI) reported.
Apparently this isn’t the first time the unidentified pilot got soused before work. According to the TOI, this is the third time he failed a pre-flight breathalyzer test.
An anonymous source told the TOI that Sharjah’s civil aviation authority will be sending a report to India’s Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA). And the source said, “Since he has been reportedly found 'heavily intoxicated,' DGCA may have no option but to suspend his flying license for five years, which almost means he cannot fly as a pilot ever again with an Indian airline."
The TOI said the rules were just relaxed — a five-year suspension used to be the penalty after the second instance of drunkenness.
A spokesman for AI told the Hindustan Times, “The captain was not fit to fly. We arranged another pilot to operate the Sharajah-Cochin-Delhi flight. The pilot has been detained for questioning. He was smelling of liquor. An inquiry is on.”
Aviation expert Rajji Rai pointed out to the Hindustan Times how unusual India’s handling of drunk pilots is relative to other countries. "It’s only in India that a pilot is let off multiple times after being caught drunk. In most Western countries, the crew is sent straight to jail after being caught drunk the very first time. Lives of hundreds of passengers are at stake if the person in command of the aircraft is drunk.”
To his credit, the pilot was recently honored for conducting flights to rescue Indians from Yemen under the banner of Operation Raahat.
FBI Docs: Airliner Hacker Took Control of Plane
Online security expert Chris Roberts joked on Twitter in mid-April that by hacking into a plane’s systems, he could get the oxygen masks to deploy. This earned him a greeting by the FBI after landing in Syracuse, N.Y., four hours of questioning, and seizure of his laptop and electronics.
A few days later, after being stopped from boarding a Colorado-to-San Francisco United flight, an airline spokesman confirmed it was due to the worrisome tweets. As reported by TravelPulse, via the AP, he added, "However, we are confident our flight control systems could not be accessed through techniques he described."
But court documents suggest the FBI does not agree, as per multiple reports. They appear to be building a case against Roberts for his airline hacking escapades.
Canadian news organization APTN acquired documents that contained transcriptions of interviews the FBI conducted with Roberts earlier this year. One part of an affidavit, signed by FBI agent Mike Hurley, says, "(Roberts) stated that he successfully commanded the system he had accessed to issue the 'CLB' or climb command. He stated that he thereby caused one of the airplane engines to climb resulting in a lateral or sideways movement of the plane during one of these flights."
According to the documents, Roberts hacked into the plane's controls via the in-flight entertainment system using a laptop, and an Ethernet cable. He claimed to the FBI that such entertainment system vulnerabilities exist in Boeing 737-800, 737-900 and 757-200 aircraft as well as Airbus A-320s.
Wired reported that Roberts told both them and the FBI that he has accessed "in-flight networks about 15 times during various flights but had not done anything beyond explore the networks and observe data traffic crossing them."
Roberts has repeatedly claimed publicly that he does not have malicious intentions.
Regarding airline safety from hacking, CBS News quoted a Government Accountability Office report that stated, "Modern aircraft are increasingly connected to the Internet. This interconnectedness can potentially provide unauthorized remote access to aircraft avionics systems."
United Airlines offers rewards for spotting bugs in the system
United Airlines may be having a change of heart about hackers.
A cybersecurity expert who joked during a United Airlines flight about hacking into the plane’s avionics computers was banned from flying on the carrier, even though the expert said he was pointing out a vulnerability in the airline’s Wi-Fi system.
Now United Airlines is offering rewards to anyone who can uncover a bug in the airline’s website, app or other software.
The so-called “bug bounty program” offers 50,000 to 1 million airline loyalty reward miles, depending on the severity of the bug.
The program has several caveats, including the most obvious: You can’t get a reward if you are the source of the bug.
“We believe that this program will further bolster our security and allow us to continue to provide excellent service,” the airline said.
Star Wars Weekends 2015 lands at Disney
The latest chapter in Walt Disney World Resort's love letter to Star Wars fans is unfolding with this weekend's opening of Star Wars Weekends 2015 at Disney's Hollywood Studios.
The events have traditionally been a boon to Orlando's late spring tourism season with fans flocking to pay homage to The Force. And the Star Wars nation has even more reason to celebrate as anticipation builds toward the December premier of The Force Awakens. The five event weekends, May 15-June 14, include three cornerstones of geek fandom:
Special appearances: Emperor Palpatine himself, Ian McDiarmid, will help open this year's festivities with his first-ever Star Wars Weekends appearance, May 15-17, while the voice of Yoda and several Muppet favorites, Frank Oz, will make his first event appearance during the last weekend, June 12-14.
Exclusive merchandise: Event shopping has been split from one mega-store experience into separate vending areas along the park's Streets of America that deal in specific items, from limited edition and exclusive Star Wars Weekends memorabilia to more generic Star Wars saga merchandise.
Costuming: In recent years, Disney has recognized the cosplay culture — prevalent at fan conventions — by encouraging fans to dress up for special park events. And the Star Wars nation loves to oblige with everything from store bought costumes to home made masterpieces.
Sunday Biker Gang Shooting Leaves Nine Dead, 18 Injured
WACO: (May 17, 2015) Rival motorcycle gangs turned a local restaurant into a shooting gallery Sunday afternoon and when the gunfire was over, nine people were dead. 18 were injured and 192 were arrested..
Early Monday, law enforcement had turned their attention to the risk of additional bike gang members looking to retaliate, and initiate further violence in the Waco area.
Sunday afternoon, Waco Police, assisted by Department of Public Safety troopers, police officers from several cities and deputies from the McLennan County Sheriff's Office were surrounding the Twin Peaks Restaurant, in the Central Texas Market Place after several people were reported shot during a rival motorcycle gang fight, Waco police Sgt. W. Patrick Swanton said.
Police initially said three gangs were involved, but later said factions from at least five gangs took part in the melee.
Police and troopers were in the parking lot trying to secure the area and protect citizens when a fight broke out inside the restaurant and spilled into the parking lot.
Swanton said the fight quickly escalated from fists and feet to chains, clubs and knives, then to gunfire.
Gang members were shooting at each other and officers at the scene fired their weapons, as well, Swanton said.
Other patrons in Twin Peaks and some employees locked themselves in a freezer to escape the fight.
The scene at the Market Place between Don Carlos and Twin Peaks was absolute chaos, Swanton said.
"It is one of the most violent scene I've seen in my 34 years as a police officer in Waco," Swanton said.
Swanton said officers recovered more than 100 weapons from the scene and there were several vehicles that had bullet holes in them.
Swanton said no officers and no civilians were injured.
Swanton said police are prepared to deal with any additional bike gang members who choose to come to Waco.
The 18 victims who were not pronounced dead at the scene were taken by ambulance to Baylor Scott and White Hillcrest Medical Center, which later was placed on lock down, but officials at Hillcrest said they had no comment.
Later reports indicated one of those taken to Hillcrest died there.
Department of Public Safety Trooper D.L. Wilson said officers arrested three men near the Cabella’s store at about 4:30 p.m. after they seized weapons from them.
Wilson said officers recovered weapons from all over the parking lot and likely would call for ladders so they could check the roves of nearby buildings for more weapons.
A Waco Transit bus was sent to the scene to transport suspects from the mall to the McLennan County Jail and to a downtown command center.
Swanton also said police have been trying to work with management at Twin Peaks for several weeks but have been thwarted in their efforts to avoid a situation like happened Sunday afternoon.
A McLennan County official said the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission has revoked Twin Peak's alcohol license for a period of seven days while the investigation continues.
A witness who was having lunch across the parking lot at Don Carlos Mexican Restaurant said he and his family had just finished eating and walked into the parking lot when they heard several gunshots and saw wounded being taken from the fight scene.
"We crouched down in front of our pick-up truck because that was the only cover we had," the man, who asked not to be identified, said.
He and his family were traveling to Salina, Kansas and decided to stop for lunch.
He said he saw several wounded men being treated.
He also said there were several police officers at the scene and ambulances were responding to the scene to aid those hit by gunfire.
Law enforcement set up a command center in downtown Waco to interview and process bikers who had been at the scene, many of whom were brought downtown by Waco city buses. Police said the number of bikers they detained and interviewed was in the 'hundreds'.
A News 10 photographer who was at the downtown location and said he witnessed several men being arrested there.
Officers also were in route to the Flying J Truck Stop, at New Road and Interstate 35 because a large number of bikers had been seen gathering there.
Swanton said the scene at Twin Peaks is "as secure as it can be right now," Swanton said, but police are concerned that groups who were involved in the first incident may be moving to other locations in and around Waco where more violence could erupt.
Swanton said citizens should avoid the area until an all clear can be issued.
The Interstate 35 exit onto Loop 340 southbound is closed, as is the access road that runs alongside the Interstate.
"We have multiple medical and law enforcement resources in the area who are dealing with the issue," Swanton said.
Ambulances from West, Limestone and Coryell counties were at the scene to assist local EMS units.
Trouble at Twin Peaks among rival bikers had been brewing for some time, District Attorney Abel Reyna told News 10 about two weeks ago.
Reyna said local police were on heightened alert in anticipation of trouble on Thursday nights, when Twin Peaks hosts a Biker Night.
Reyna said some weeks ago trouble erupted between two local motorcycle gangs and that spilled over into gangs from the Dallas-Fort Worth area showing up to support the local groups.
-----------
Statement from Jay Patel, Operating Partner, Twin Peaks Waco franchise:
"We are horrified by the criminal, violent acts that occurred outside of our Waco restaurant today.
We share in the community's trauma.
Our priority is to provide a safe and enjoyable environment for our customers and employees, and we consider the police our partners in doing so.
Our management team has had ongoing and positive communications with the police and we will continue to work with them as we all want to keep violent crime out of our businesses and community.
We will continue to cooperate with the police as they investigate this terrible crime," said Patel.
Florida posts another first quarter tourism record
Governor Rick Scott says Florida is on course to pass the magical 100 million visitor mark this year after announcing record first quarter arrivals.
An estimated 28.4 million people came to Florida in the January-through-March period, up 6.2% on last year's previous best.
"We are excited to start 2015 off with our biggest quarter ever, which puts us on pace to exceed our goal of 100 million visitors to Florida this year," Scott said.
Scott also revealed a rise of nearly 5% in the number of direct travel-related jobs in the state to 1,186,900.
The biggest rise of all was the number of non-Canadian foreign visitors to the state, which leapt more than 7% to 2.9 million.
Airlines for America predicts best summer ever for air travel
Industry trade organization Airlines for America is predicting passenger traffic for summer 2015 could be the highest ever.
A4A forecasts 222 million passengers, or an average 2.4 million a day, will pass through US airports during the June-August summer period.
This would represent an annual rise of 4.5%, or an extra 104,000 passengers a day.
The total includes an estimated record high 31 million passengers travelling overseas on international flights.
A4A said its member airlines are increasing seat capacity by 4.6% to meet summer demand.
"The continued rise in US consumer sentiment and employment is leading to more people traveling more often, and air travel remains one of the best consumer bargains in America," said John Heimlich, A4A vice president and chief economist.
"With 13 of the 15 busiest air travel days of the year falling in the summer months, U.S. airlines are well-prepared to accommodate the increased travel demand," Heimlich added.
Heimlich said the 10 publically traded US airlines posted a combined profit of $3.1 billion in the first quarter of 2015.
"Healthy air travel demand and lower, yet still volatile, fuel prices are helping US airlines close the gap to average US corporate profitability. In the first quarter, airlines invested more than $20 per passenger in capital improvements, taking care of employees, continuing to pay down debt and returning cash to shareholders."
Hertz increasing car rental fees this summer
In expectation of strong seasonal demand Hertz will increase car rental prices from next month.
Retail car rental fees will go up $5 a day or $20 a week while all other locations will increase $3 a day or $10 a week.
The price increases will include all brands including Dollar and Thrifty.
Shares of Hertz rose 5.3% on the news, however new CEO John Tague admitted first quarter results were 'disappointing,' declining 3% to $1.5 billion.
Hertz said 'significant progress' was being made to plans to cut annual costs by $200 million, which will include the closure of up to 5% of its off-airport locations.
Hertz is still continuing efforts to restate three years' worth of financial results and still has a long way to go to fully appease shareholders.
Hertz' shares have dipped 17% year-to-date and by almost 28% over the past 12 months.
Genting completes takeover of Crystal Cruises
Genting Hong Kong has announced it has completed the acquisition of Crystal Cruises from Nippon Yusen Kabushiki Kaisha (NYK).
The completion of the $550 million deal has sparked a number of executive changes at the cruise line.
Executive Chairman of the Genting Group and a former chairman of Norwegian Cruise Line, Lim Kok Thay becomes chairman of Crystal.
Current Crystal COO Edie Rodriguez becomes the line's new CEO.
"Genting Hong Kong is delighted and honored to add Crystal to our global hospitality and leisure brands," said Lim Kok Thay.
"The current management team and crew will continue to lead Crystal's six-star operation while Genting will provide the financial resources and proven expertise in innovative ship design to deliver a new ultra-luxury ocean vessel by 2018. We look forward to ushering in a new era of luxury cruising with Genting Hong Kong's support."
Genting Hong Kong also owns Asia cruise line Star Cruises and holds a major shareholding in Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings.
Southwest Airlines flies south of the border, prompting fare cuts
Airline travelers looking to save money have a couple of reasons to cheer and one cause to grouse.
The good news is that airlines in the U.S. are setting aside more seats for travelers wanting to redeem loyalty reward points. Also, airfares to Mexico and Central America have dropped sharply since Southwest Airlines began selling tickets to those destinations, forcing competing carriers to match the lower fares.
The bad news is that federal officials now say airlines that offer super-cheap fares by mistake are not required to honor the deals.
A survey to determine the availability of seats for loyalty rewards members concluded last week that U.S. carriers are increasingly generous with rewards seats. For example, when survey takers made online requests for seats for rewards club members on Alaska Airlines, they found seats available 80% of the time, up from 58.6% of the time last year.
The increased number of seats may show that airlines are trying harder to keep loyal customers happy, said Daniel Farrar, chief executive of Switchfly, a company that develops software for airline and hotel loyalty rewards programs. Switchfly commissioned the survey.
“The key takeaway is that airlines can’t afford to allow a single customer to have a bad experience,” he said.
For travelers planning to vacation south of the border, an analysis by the travel website Farecompare.com found that fares to vacation spots like Cabo and Cancun have dropped by more than 50% since low-fare carrier Southwest recently announced new routes from Houston to Mexico and Central America, starting in October.
Farecompare Chief Executive Rick Seaney attributed the drop to “good ol’ competition.”
But if you find a super low fare that was the result of a mistake by the airlines, the U.S. Department of Transportation issued a temporary ruling saying airlines do not have to honor those prices as long as they reimburse the out-of-pocket expenses of travelers who bought the mistaken fares.
Airlines routinely make errors on fares, but they retract only the most egregious mistakes to save on the administrative cost of canceling hundreds of tickets, said George Haskell, chief executive for Flightfishing.com, a travel website that monitors such mistakes.
“Airlines are working hard to put a lid on these things,” he said. “Every time it happens, it’s a public relations disaster.”
Amtrak liability to crash victims has a dollar number
WASHINGTON (AP) — For the first time, Amtrak could face a $200 million payout to train crash victims — the limit set by Congress. But that may be too low to cover the costs of the eight lives lost and more than 200 people injured in last week's derailment in Philadelphia.
That payout cap for a single passenger rail incident was part of a late effort in 1997 to pass a law that would rescue Amtrak from financial ruin and help it one day become independent.
Adjusted for inflation, which the law does not consider, that amount would be just under $300 million now. And Amtrak is still far from independent.
An Associated Press review of past cases found that Amtrak never before has been liable for a $200 million payout for a single passenger rail incident. The Philadelphia crash could be the first time the liability ceiling — designed specifically for Amtrak — would actually apply to the railroad.
It's not known how high the costs of victims' deaths and injuries from Tuesday's crash will run.
The train, which left Washington headed to New York, was moving at more than twice the speed allowed on a curve when it derailed not long after it stopped at Philadelphia's 30th Street Station. Investigators haven't determined why the train was traveling so fast.
On Friday, an Amtrak employee filed the first lawsuit, asking for more than $150,000 in damages. Amtrak employees are not limited by the $200 million cap because it only applies to passengers.
"I don't think Amtrak has ever faced a situation like this, and since they own the Northeast Corridor, they're 100 percent on the hook," said Frank Wilner, author of the book, "Amtrak: Past, Present, Future."
Using past passenger rail accidents as a guide, some lawyers expect damages from the crash to be similar to a 2008 accident in Los Angeles, which resulted in a $200 million payout to victims. In that crash, the train's engineer was texting and didn't stop at a red signal when the train collided head-on with a freight train, killing 25 people and injuring more than 100.
The money was paid to victims by Metrolink, which provides commuter rail service in Southern California, and Veolia Environment, a French company that operated the rail service at the time.
A judge divided the $200 million among the victims, with sums between $12,000 and $9 million. In some cases, lawyers said the amounts were far less than the projected costs of medical care needed as a result of the crash.
Paul Kiesel, a Los Angeles attorney who represented victims from the 2008 crash, said $200 million "can be just a drop in a bucket to compensate people who are the victims of passenger rail collisions in America."
But Kiesel said he is not aware of another passenger rail incident in which the $200 million cap has been a factor.
Amtrak spokesman Marc Magliari said he was unable to say whether Amtrak had ever paid $200 million in damages for a single passenger rail incident.
Among the almost 20 victims from the Philadelphia crash still in the hospital, five are in critical condition.
It's difficult to put a price on a person's life, said Howard Spier, a Miami-based lawyer and former president of the Academy of Rail Labor Attorneys. But the people traveling on the Amtrak train that crashed last week are typically successful, he said.
"The more you've got going on in your life, the more your damages are worth," Spier said.
Though passenger rail crashes that lead to $200 million victim settlements have been rare in America, liability has long been a concern.
"Limits on liability are essential for our economic future," former Amtrak president Tom Downs told Congress in 1996.
In 1997, the year the liability cap was passed, Amtrak faced bankruptcy, and Congress had been trying for three years to come up with a plan to turn the struggling rail line into a profitable company without government subsidies.
Among issues challenging Amtrak financially were liability for all accidents involving Amtrak, even if they weren't Amtrak's fault. Establishing a cap on damages would help Amtrak purchase insurance at a reasonable cost.
At the time, Amtrak had about $200 million in liability insurance, government auditors said in a 1995 report. It was facing lawsuits totaling more than $200 million for a range of incidents.
A $200 million limit on liability for passenger rail accidents was added to a compromise bill at the end of the debates.
"That is what we are trying to do, is have some sort of quantifiable limit so we will know what the costs would be in the most extreme circumstances," then-Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchinson, R-Texas, said on the Senate floor.
Democrats supported the $200 million cap, too.
"Amtrak passengers will have to bear a limit on Amtrak's liability to them, much the same way that the airlines limit their liability to passengers," said then-Sen. Earnest Hollings, D-S.C.
Airlines do have a cap, but it's not the same as what Congress created for passenger railroads.
An international aviation convention established a per-passenger cap on damages at about $160,000. If an airline is proved negligent in court, victims' families can sue for more, unlike the families of passenger rail victims.
In 2010, some California lawmakers moved to increase the cap to $500 million, but the rail industry successfully lobbied against the measure.