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	<title>Business &#38; MoneyCategory: Tourism &#124; Business &#38; Money &#124; TIME.com</title>
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		<title>Business &#38; MoneyCategory: Tourism &#124; Business &#38; Money &#124; TIME.com</title>
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		<title>Theme Park Inflation: Universal Orlando Becomes First to Cross $90 Admission Mark</title>
		<link>http://business.time.com/2013/05/22/theme-park-inflation-universal-orlando-becomes-first-to-cross-90-admission-mark/</link>
		<comments>http://business.time.com/2013/05/22/theme-park-inflation-universal-orlando-becomes-first-to-cross-90-admission-mark/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 22 May 2013 13:30:27 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Brad Tuttle</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Companies & Industries]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Saving]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Saving & Spending]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Smart Spending]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Tourism]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Travel]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Disney]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Florida]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[hotels]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Orlando]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[SeaWorld]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[souvenirs]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Universal Orlando]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Universal Studios]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Universal Studios Orlando]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[vacation packages]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Walt Disney World]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://business.time.com/?p=80535</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[It&#8217;s become an annual springtime tradition. Each year around Memorial Day, some theme park—likely in central Florida—jacks up ticket prices by a few bucks, prompting the competition to follow suit with their own price hikes. This year, like last, it&#8217;s Universal Studios Orlando leading the charge. Toward the end of May 2012, the company raised its single-day admission to $88, up from $85, making Universal Studios Orlando the most expensive theme park in the U.S. Within weeks, Walt Disney World took over that title by boosting its one-day base pass to $89. That&#8217;s the adult price; kids ages 3 to 9 catch a $6 price break, with a $83 single-day ticket. This week, Universal again was out in front of the seasonal ticket price hikes, raising its single-day, single-park adult admission to $92 plus tax. The child one-day ticket now starts at $86. As ThemeParkInsider.com explained, it&#8217;s highly likely that Universal&#8217;s theme park competitors will follow along with their own price hikes, making the argument that right now may be a good time to purchase those Disney admissions passes: History shows that whenever one of the Big Three in Orlando &#8212; Disney, Universal and SeaWorld &#8212; raises prices, at least one of the others follows. So if you&#8217;re on the fence about buying Walt Disney World or SeaWorld Orlando tickets, you might want to hurry up and do it before those parks match Universal&#8217;s increase. (MORE: Is Airlines-Style Variable Pricing Coming to Theme Park Tickets?) More so than ever, the price hikes seem intended to push visitors into buying multi-day theme park passes. The one-day adult admission to a single Universal Studios park is $92, while a two-day pass runs $125.99 and a three-day ticket is $140.99. In other words, if you&#8217;re buying a three-day pass, the second and third days cost a total of $49, or a little over half the price of that first day&#8217;s admission. A four-day pass costs just $10 more than the three-day version. All of the prices above are for passes that allow entrance<img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=business.time.com&#038;blog=31173800&#038;post=80535&#038;subd=timebusinessblog&#038;ref=&#038;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
	<primary_category>Tourism</primary_category><primary_category_link>http://business.time.com/category/companies-industries/tourism/</primary_category_link>
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			<media:title type="html">bradtuttle</media:title>
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		<title>Car Sharing: Future Looks Bright, Even With Some Cloudy Legal Issues</title>
		<link>http://business.time.com/2013/05/20/car-sharing-future-looks-bright-even-with-some-cloudy-legal-issues/</link>
		<comments>http://business.time.com/2013/05/20/car-sharing-future-looks-bright-even-with-some-cloudy-legal-issues/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 20 May 2013 18:24:27 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Brad Tuttle</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Autos]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Companies & Industries]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Saving]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Saving & Spending]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Small Business]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Smart Spending]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Start-Ups]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Technology & Media]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Tourism]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Transportation]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Travel]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[airport parking]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[airports]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[apps]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Austin]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Avis]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[car sharing]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Cars2Go]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[disruption]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[electric car]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Lyft]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Nissan Leaf]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[parking]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[peer to peer]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[RelayRides]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[San Francisco]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Seattle]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[sharing]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[SideCar]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[SmartCar]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[smartphone apps]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Tesla]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Uber]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Wheelz]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Zipcar]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://business.time.com/?p=80109</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[There&#8217;s just no stopping the sharing. Despite recent legal challenges to certain &#8220;peer to peer&#8221; car-sharing services, the range of sharing options keeps on expanding, making it easier and easier for consumers to skip taxis, traditional car rentals — and car ownership in general. Last week was quite the roller-coaster ride for peer-to-peer car-sharing service RelayRides. First, the company, which arranges for drivers to borrow cars owned by other members for $5 to $20 per hour, announced it had purchased a car-sharing competitor called Wheelz. The move not only expands the reach of RelayRides, it also opens up the possibility of incorporating the Wheelz technology known as DriveBox, which allows cars to be rented and driven away via app — no swapping of car keys required. As the company eliminates hassles and attracts more renters and car owners to participate, the potential for the business model soars, as explained in Fortune: &#8220;Our vision isn&#8217;t to stop at the car-rental market,&#8221; says RelayRides CEO Andre Haddad. &#8220;It&#8217;s really to help disrupt the concept of car ownership by enabling people to rent cars whenever they need them and access [cars] on a need-basis rather than having to buy one.&#8221; The company&#8217;s lofty goal is to be able to offer a RelayRides car within a 10-minute walk of 100 million Americans by the end of 2015. That goal may be slightly harder to achieve thanks to the second bit of big RelayRides news that took place last week. As Haddad related in a blog post, RelayRides suspended all operations in New York State as of Thursday because the Department of Financial Services &#8220;believes there is noncompliance with certain unique aspects of NY insurance law.&#8221; (MORE: Peak Traffic-Ticket Season Is Here: Police Pushed to Give More Seat-Belt Citations) The Wall Street Journal reported last week that SideCar, a ride-sharing app, likewise was forced to suspend its service in New York City after a judge indicated SideCar drivers were essentially operating taxis or car services without a license &#8212; which is illegal. Officials in other<img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=business.time.com&#038;blog=31173800&#038;post=80109&#038;subd=timebusinessblog&#038;ref=&#038;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
	<primary_category>Transportation</primary_category><primary_category_link>http://business.time.com/category/companies-industries/transportation-companies-industries/</primary_category_link>
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			<media:title type="html">bradtuttle</media:title>
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	</item>
		<item>
		<title>What the Boston Bombing Means for the Economy and the Stock Market</title>
		<link>http://business.time.com/2013/04/16/what-the-boston-bombing-means-for-the-economy-and-the-stock-market/</link>
		<comments>http://business.time.com/2013/04/16/what-the-boston-bombing-means-for-the-economy-and-the-stock-market/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 16 Apr 2013 12:23:11 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Michael Sivy</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Bonds]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Commodities]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Economy]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Exchanges]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Investing]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Markets]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Mutual Funds]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Portfolio Strategy]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Stocks]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Tourism]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Travel]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Wall Street]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Wall Street & Markets]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://business.time.com/?p=77856</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Terrorism poisons everything. The greatest damage, of course, results from the lives that are lost and the people who are injured. Nonetheless, it’s natural to wonder whether an event such as yesterday’s bombing at the Boston Marathon is likely to have a longer-term impact on the economy and the stock market. Anything that makes people more anxious and uncertain about the future has a negative effect on business and on stocks. The bombing occurred shortly before 3 p.m. E.T., and the Dow — which had earlier in the day started to rally from the day’s lows — fell another 120 points in the last hour of trading. Is that likely to be it? Or should investors expect further big losses over the coming days and even weeks? The attack on September 11, 2001, seems to suggest that the effects of a terrorist attack might be long lasting. Following that tragedy, the Dow dropped 1,400 points and needed more than two months to get back to even. However, it’s worth noting that at the time of the attack on the World Trade Center, the Dow was already down 1,500 points from the year’s high. And after the market made up its losses from 9/11, it went on to gain another 1,000 points in the first four months of 2002. So clearly there were other factors driving stock prices. Moreover, not all incidents have such a drastic impact. In fact, it’s possible to divide terrorist acts into four categories with dramatically different economic results: Attacks on individual companies. Terrorism that targets a specific company — such as the kidnapping of employees or the bombing of offices — has a damaging effect on the shares of the company targeted. In some cases, a stock can be hit hard and have a sizable loss. But overall, the effect tends not to be very great. A recent study found that in 75 incidents, the average stock-market loss was only 1% or 2%. Competitors were not affected one way or the other. Attacks on the energy sector.<img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=business.time.com&#038;blog=31173800&#038;post=77856&#038;subd=timebusinessblog&#038;ref=&#038;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
	<primary_category>Wall Street &amp; Markets</primary_category><primary_category_link>http://business.time.com/category/wall-street-markets/</primary_category_link>
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			<media:title type="html">michaelsivy</media:title>
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		<item>
		<title>Caribbean Cruises for Less Than $50 a Day? Fire Sales (Quite Literally) from Carnival</title>
		<link>http://business.time.com/2013/04/15/caribbean-cruises-for-less-than-50-a-day-fire-sales-quite-literally-from-carnival/</link>
		<comments>http://business.time.com/2013/04/15/caribbean-cruises-for-less-than-50-a-day-fire-sales-quite-literally-from-carnival/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 15 Apr 2013 16:41:57 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Brad Tuttle</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Companies & Industries]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Cruise Industry]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Saving]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Saving & Spending]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Smart Spending]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Tourism]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Travel]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Carnival]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Carnival Cruise Lines]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Carnival Triumph]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[cruise from hell]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[deals]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[fire sale]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[poop cruise]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://business.time.com/?p=77818</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[In the weeks after the Carnival Triumph debacle, cruise analysts and agents were quick to report that cruise sales remained strong, and that cruise lines felt no need to resort to &#8220;panic pricing&#8221; to fill ship cabins. Lately, however, it looks like Carnival is panicking. The infamous Triumph episode, dubbed the &#8220;cruise from hell&#8221; and the &#8220;poop cruise&#8221; due to the fact that passengers were stranded for several days at sea without toilets after a fire in an engine room, was followed by a string of other ugly incidents involving Carnival ships. In the aftermath, politicians have been calling for a new cruise ship &#8220;bill of rights&#8221; for passengers. And apparently, travelers by and large have simply been avoiding booking Carnival sailings, to the point that the cruise line has felt compelled to offer last-minute cabins at fire sale prices. Last week, Bloomberg reported that four-night Carnival cruises were being offered starting at just $149 per person—or a mere $38 per person, per night. (Normally, a cruise priced anywhere around $100 per person per night is considered a deal.) One travel agent explained to Bloomberg why it&#8217;s worth it for Carnival to drop prices so dramatically: “The prices did go down,” said Manny Lubian, president of Futura Travel Inc. in Miami. “An empty ship doesn’t make as much money. They’d rather have bodies in them, buying drinks and spending money.” (MORE: Is $500 Enough for Enduring the Cruise from Hell?) While those prices seem remarkably cheap—perhaps even cheaper than just staying home, considering that meals and entertainment are included—they don&#8217;t include several mandatory fees, notably port charges and taxes. The total for two passengers in the cheapest Carnival cabin was $454, according to Bloomberg. Like most cruise lines, Carnival also adds service gratuities automatically onto passenger bills, to the tune of $11.50 per person, per day. Carnival&#8217;s $149 sale has expired, but as of Monday the cruise line was offering a May 13 departure out of Miami on the Imagination starting at $179, or &#8220;as little as $45/night,&#8221; as the<img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=business.time.com&#038;blog=31173800&#038;post=77818&#038;subd=timebusinessblog&#038;ref=&#038;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
	<primary_category>Cruise Industry</primary_category><primary_category_link>http://business.time.com/category/companies-industries/cruise-industry/</primary_category_link>
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			<media:title type="html">bradtuttle</media:title>
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		<title>Under the Gun: Businesses Pressured, Punished in States Passing Tough Gun Regulations</title>
		<link>http://business.time.com/2013/04/10/under-the-gun-businesses-pressured-punished-in-states-passing-tough-gun-regulations/</link>
		<comments>http://business.time.com/2013/04/10/under-the-gun-businesses-pressured-punished-in-states-passing-tough-gun-regulations/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 10 Apr 2013 14:00:04 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Brad Tuttle</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Companies & Industries]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Economy & Policy]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Government]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Small Business]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Tourism]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Alaska]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[boycotts]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[colorado]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Connecticut]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[gun control]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[guns]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[hunting boycott]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Maryland]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Newtown]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Oregon]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[texas]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://business.time.com/?p=77129</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[States have been passing tougher gun laws with the hopes of preventing another Newtown. But lawmakers are facing the possibility that their efforts to save lives may be killing local businesses and jobs. In early April, Connecticut lawmakers passed new gun-control regulations that are among the strictest in the nation. For the most part, the new rules don&#8217;t prevent local factories from producing guns and ammunition like they have for decades. And yet several weapons manufacturers are actively exploring options for relocating to a new state. A Hartford Courant article explained why: The trouble is not the direct effects of the ban — they&#8217;re allowed to continue manufacturing, and each firm will lose a few percentage points of their sales — but rather, the companies&#8217; standing in an industry where customers famously punish certain brands. (MORE: The Hidden Cost of Tax Refunds) Connecticut weapons manufacturing firms have been flooded with emails from gun enthusiasts, like this one sent to Stag Arms, a New Britain-based company that produces rifles: &#8220;I&#8217;ve narrowed down my purchase of an AR-15 to a few companies and yours was one of them until you decided to stay in that communist state.&#8221; The Courant lists three Connecticut weapons firms that are looking into moving operations—including roughly 300 jobs—to Arkansas, Kansas, Texas, or another more gun-friendly state. Throughout early 2013, these and other states &#8220;claiming to be friendly to the Second Amendment,&#8221; in the words of a USA Today story, have been offering tax breaks and abundant cheap labor to woo weapons manufacturers away from states that have passed or are considering tougher gun restrictions. Businesses in Maryland are facing pressures similar to those in Connecticut. An Eastern Shore arms manufacturer named LWRC has been asked by officials in states such as Nebraska, Mississippi, Nevada, and Texas to relocate, with tax incentives waived as an enticement, according to the Baltimore Sun. Executives at LWRC seem most motivated to move not by the financial incentives, but due to fear of offending the gun-buying public. &#8220;The rest of the country<img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=business.time.com&#038;blog=31173800&#038;post=77129&#038;subd=timebusinessblog&#038;ref=&#038;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
	<primary_category>Small Business</primary_category><primary_category_link>http://business.time.com/category/small-business/</primary_category_link>
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			<media:title type="html">bradtuttle</media:title>
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		<item>
		<title>How the U.S. Travel Industry Is Adapting to a Growing Wave of Chinese Tourists</title>
		<link>http://business.time.com/2013/04/09/how-the-u-s-travel-industry-is-adapting-to-a-growing-wave-of-chinese-tourists/</link>
		<comments>http://business.time.com/2013/04/09/how-the-u-s-travel-industry-is-adapting-to-a-growing-wave-of-chinese-tourists/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 09 Apr 2013 19:41:15 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Josh Sanburn</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Companies & Industries]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Tourism]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://business.time.com/?p=77128</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Tourists from China now spend more on international travel than tourists from any other country. The U.S. travel industry is slowly learning how to attract them. According to a report released last week by the U.N. World Tourism Organization, Chinese travelers spent $102 billion on international tourism in 2012, 40% more than they spent in 2011. More than 80 million Chinese traveled internationally in 2011, outspending German tourists — the longtime leader in overseas travel spending — for the first time. Those numbers have steadily climbed since 2000, when 10 million Chinese traveled abroad. (MORE: Google Fiber Heading to Austin as Cities Race to Boost Web Speeds) This remarkable growth — largely due to relaxed government restrictions on foreign travel and the rise of a Chinese middle class with disposable income — has forced the U.S. travel industry, from hotels to restaurants to shopping centers, to adapt to this influx of Chinese tourists. The hotel industry has perhaps been the most attentive. According to USA Today, Marriott has stationed 20 sales representatives in China and teaches employees in the U.S. to speak basic Mandarin phrases like hello and thank you. The Marriott Marquis in New York City has even replaced room numbers on the 44th floor with names because the number four is considered bad luck in many Asian cultures. Hilton sends its reps to China regularly to meet with corporate travel planners and, according to the report, started a Chinese-guest program, staffed with native Chinese speakers. The company features Chinese meals and displays oranges and tangerines (often considered good luck) in 63 of its hotels. Meanwhile, Starwood, which owns Sheraton, Westin and W hotels, has revised its amenities and services as well, according to USA Today: “In-room tea kettles, slippers, translated restaurant menus and welcome brochures, on-site translation services and comfort food such as congee (rice porridge) and noodles&#8221; can now be found at many of Starwood&#8217;s properties. States around the country have also been experimenting with ways to draw more Chinese tourists. According to BBC News, the Massachusetts Office of Travel and Tourism<img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=business.time.com&#038;blog=31173800&#038;post=77128&#038;subd=timebusinessblog&#038;ref=&#038;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
	<primary_category>Tourism</primary_category><primary_category_link>http://business.time.com/category/companies-industries/tourism/</primary_category_link>
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			<media:title type="html">jsanburn</media:title>
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		<title>Air Travel by the Pound and Other Odd Airline Pricing Schemes</title>
		<link>http://business.time.com/2013/04/08/air-travel-by-the-pound-and-other-odd-airline-pricing-schemes/</link>
		<comments>http://business.time.com/2013/04/08/air-travel-by-the-pound-and-other-odd-airline-pricing-schemes/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 08 Apr 2013 09:45:20 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Brad Tuttle</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Airlines]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Companies & Industries]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Saving & Spending]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Tourism]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Transportation]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Travel]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[a la carte]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[airline fees]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[baggage]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[bundled]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[obesity]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Ryanair]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Samoa Air]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Southwest Airlines]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Spirit Air]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Spirit Airlines]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[travel fees]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[weight]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://business.time.com/?p=76575</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[After tiny upstart carrier Samoa Air announced it would start charging passengers based on how much they weigh, travelers reacted by calling the pricing model wacky, impractical, even discriminatory. But it&#8217;s only one of several weird, possibly unwelcomed ways that flights might be priced down the line. Samoa Air&#8217;s announcement of a &#8220;pay-by-the-pound&#8221; model didn&#8217;t come completely out of the blue. Ryanair, the notoriously fee-happy European carrier, floated the possibility of a &#8220;fat tax&#8221; on overweight passengers a few years ago, though the main point may have been to generate publicity. Southwest Airlines has periodically drawn attention over the years due to its policy of forcing larger passengers to purchase two seats. Just days before Samoa Air introduced its new pricing policy, a professor from Norway published a report making the case that charging passengers based on total weight—person and baggage combined—is a policy that all airlines should consider, in order to cut weight on planes and also to price flights fairly. “Many passengers ask why airlines only charge for overweight baggage but not for overweight passengers, if weight is the key concern for an airplane operation and more weight results in more fuel consumption,&#8221; Bharat Bhatta wrote in the March issue of Journal of Revenue and Pricing Management. A &#8220;pay-as-you-weigh&#8221; structure &#8220;may provide significant benefits to airlines, passengers and society at large,” Bhatta says. (MORE: Southwest Airlines New Image: Not Really About Cheap Flights Anymore) Samoa Air CEO Chris Langton seems to agree. After news spread of the airline&#8217;s pricing change, Langton defended the model in a Reuters story, and said he expected other airlines to follow suit: &#8220;Aeroplanes always run on weight, irrespective of seats. There is no doubt in my mind that this is the concept of the future. This is the fairest way of you travelling with your family, or yourself.&#8221; While it&#8217;s possible that the practice of charging passengers by the pound could one day be commonplace, it&#8217;s unlikely to happen anytime soon on a large scale. Samoa Air flies very small planes (12-seaters), and<img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=business.time.com&#038;blog=31173800&#038;post=76575&#038;subd=timebusinessblog&#038;ref=&#038;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
	<primary_category>Airlines</primary_category><primary_category_link>http://business.time.com/category/companies-industries/airlines-big-companies/</primary_category_link>
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			<media:title type="html">bradtuttle</media:title>
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		<title>Strange Bedfellows: 4 Companies Surprisingly Getting into the Hotel Business</title>
		<link>http://business.time.com/2013/04/04/strange-bedfellows-4-companies-surprisingly-getting-into-the-hotel-business/</link>
		<comments>http://business.time.com/2013/04/04/strange-bedfellows-4-companies-surprisingly-getting-into-the-hotel-business/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 04 Apr 2013 14:00:33 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Brad Tuttle</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Companies & Industries]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Hollywood]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Saving & Spending]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Technology & Media]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Tourism]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Travel]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Dubai]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[grocery store]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[health]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[hotels]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[ikea]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[lego]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[legoland]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[lodging]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Marriott]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[movie studios]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[movies]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Moxy]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[paramount pictures]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[resort]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[supermarket]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Whole Foods]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://business.time.com/?p=76503</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[What do a toy company, a supermarket, a low-cost furniture chain, and a movie studio have in common? They&#8217;re all trying to extend their brands—perhaps in embarrassingly awkward fashion—into the hotel business. Should companies stick strictly to what they know and do best? These four brands think otherwise, and they&#8217;re branching out by getting involved in the hotel and resort game: Whole Foods In mid-March, supermarket chain Whole Foods announced (via USA Today) that sometime within the next few years it planned on opening a health resort in or around downtown Austin, where the company is headquartered. &#8220;Think of it as a center where people would go for a day, a weekend or a week for healthy lifestyle education,&#8221; Whole Foods co-founder John Mackey said. The idea is that people would seek out the resort and &#8220;education center&#8221; for the same reasons many shoppers head to Whole Foods: It has a reputation for promoting healthy lifestyles, with a particular emphasis on fresh, natural foods. Whole Foods&#8217; shoppers also have a reputation for their willingness to spend big bucks in pursuit of their healthy lifestyles. That bodes well for any hotel, spa, and resort business. (MORE: Why Some Brand Extensions Are Brilliant and Others Are Just Awkward) Few travelers would be excited to stay in supermarket-branded lodging. ShopRite Motel anybody? But because the Whole Foods brand is so closely associated with health, extending it to a health resort may make a lot of sense. Compared to McDonald&#8217;s ill-advised experiment operating four-star hotels in Europe a decade ago, a Whole Foods health resort seems like a slam dunk. IKEA Marriott is involved with the creation of a new brand of hotels for millennials called Moxy. Marketing Moxy strictly at younger travelers is somewhat surprising. Even more surprising, though, may be Marriott&#8217;s partner in the venture: DIY furniture giant IKEA. Moxy isn&#8217;t being launched for the sake of furniture product placement; IKEA products won&#8217;t be featured in hotel rooms at all. And yet, the companies involved are making the case that IKEA&#8217;s self-sufficient,<img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=business.time.com&#038;blog=31173800&#038;post=76503&#038;subd=timebusinessblog&#038;ref=&#038;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
	<primary_category>Tourism</primary_category><primary_category_link>http://business.time.com/category/companies-industries/tourism/</primary_category_link>
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			<media:title type="html">bradtuttle</media:title>
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		<title>Southwest Airlines: We&#8217;re Not Really About Cheap Flights Anymore</title>
		<link>http://business.time.com/2013/03/26/southwest-airlines-were-not-really-about-cheap-flights-anymore/</link>
		<comments>http://business.time.com/2013/03/26/southwest-airlines-were-not-really-about-cheap-flights-anymore/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 26 Mar 2013 11:00:30 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Brad Tuttle</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Advertising]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Companies & Industries]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Marketing]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Saving]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Saving & Spending]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Smart Spending]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Tourism]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Transportation]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Travel]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[airfare]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[airfarewatchdog]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[AirTran]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[CrankyFlier]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[flights]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[low-fare airlines]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Southwest]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Southwest Airlines]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://business.time.com/?p=75705</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[The U.S.&#8217;s biggest &#8220;low fare&#8221; airline appears to be experiencing an identity crisis. In Southwest&#8217;s new ad campaign, there&#8217;s no silly humor and no mention of &#8220;bags fly free&#8221; or cheap flight prices. The message is that this is a different airline — one that longtime customers may feel is hard to recognize or even like. &#8220;The campaign is a departure in tonality for Southwest, and we hope it inspires our customers,&#8221; Southwest executive Bob Jordan said in a press release announcing its new commercial, which debuted during the NCAA March Madness basketball tournament. &#8220;Southwest has changed a lot over the years, we keep getting better, and we want customers to see us in a new light.&#8221; The ad will come as &#8220;a shock&#8221; to TV viewers, according to the Chicago Business Journal, because of the disappearance of &#8220;all the silly, cartoonish aspects of its advertising.&#8221; The ad features no goofball humor, nor any messages about Southwest&#8217;s low fares or its value-laden &#8220;bags fly free&#8221; policies that tell the masses &#8220;you are now free to move about the country.&#8221; Instead, the commercial is filled with images of people diligently going about their jobs, as well as heartwarming clichés like “The American dream just doesn&#8217;t happen. It&#8217;s something you have to work for.&#8221; The image of Southwest as a plucky upstart taking on the industry giants is, in other words, totally gone. We&#8217;re left with the Southwest logo and a voice-over claiming its status as &#8220;America&#8217;s largest domestic airline.&#8221; (MORE: What Can Consumers Expect From the American–US Airways Merger? Nothing Good) Among travel insiders, the ad is being viewed as a sign of a possible &#8220;identity crisis&#8221; within Southwest. The CrankyFlier bashes the commercial, which is probably unsurprising given the name of the blog. &#8220;This ad is just pure &#8230; bleh,&#8221; the post states. &#8220;It says nothing to me. This could be for Southwest or any other legacy airline.&#8221; No song lyrics are audible during the ad, but the CrankyFlier&#8217;s Brett Snyder identifies the tune playing in the background and notes that<img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=business.time.com&#038;blog=31173800&#038;post=75705&#038;subd=timebusinessblog&#038;ref=&#038;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
	<primary_category>Travel</primary_category><primary_category_link>http://business.time.com/category/companies-industries/travel-companies-industries/</primary_category_link><featured_image>http://timebusinessblog.files.wordpress.com/2013/03/145508109.jpg?w=240</featured_image>
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			<media:title type="html">Southwest Airlines passenger planes are</media:title>
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			<media:title type="html">bradtuttle</media:title>
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		<title>In the Wake of Ugly Incidents at Sea, the Cruise Industry Is in Hot Water</title>
		<link>http://business.time.com/2013/03/21/in-the-wake-of-ugly-incidents-at-sea-the-cruise-industry-is-in-hot-water/</link>
		<comments>http://business.time.com/2013/03/21/in-the-wake-of-ugly-incidents-at-sea-the-cruise-industry-is-in-hot-water/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 21 Mar 2013 18:16:38 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Brad Tuttle</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Companies & Industries]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Economy & Policy]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Government]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Saving & Spending]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Smart Spending]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Tourism]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Transportation]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Travel]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Caribbean]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Carnival]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Carnival Cruise Lines]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Carnival Dream]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Carnival Elation]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Carnival Triumph]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Charles Schumer]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[cruises]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[frank lautenberg]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Jay Rockefeller]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[safety]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[vacations]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://business.time.com/?p=75266</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[When one cruise ship experiences problems at sea, it&#8217;s categorized as an isolated incident. What happens when several ships operated by the same company run into high-profile trouble? Lawmakers start grumbling, and threatening the entire cruise industry. The so-called &#8220;cruise from hell&#8221; that left Carnival Triumph passengers stranded for five days without working toilets was a black eye for the cruise industry, and for Carnival Cruise Lines in particular. Most disturbing of all is the Triumph incident has been followed by a string of other problems aboard its sister ships. Last week, a trip aboard the Carnival Dream had to be cut short due to technical problems, and roughly 4,300 passengers were flown home early, and given partial refunds and discounts on future cruises. According to CNN, passengers on the Dream complained of &#8220;human waste all over the floor in some of the bathrooms,&#8221; and that for hours before the evacuation, &#8220;We are not allowed off of the boat despite the fact that we have no way to use the restrooms onboard.&#8221; As a peace offering, the Los Angeles Times reported, Carnival flew in Grammy-winning artist Jon Secada to perform for Dream passengers while they were stuck on the ship. (MORE: Marriott &#38; IKEA Launch a Hotel Brand for Millennials. What Does That Even Mean?) Over the years, enough things have gone wrong on sailings with Carnival and its affiliated brands—the company also owns Costa Cruises, infamous for last year&#8217;s Concordia tragedy—that a photo history of the cruise line&#8217;s disasters was created. And enough things have gone wrong on Carnival sailings recently to draw the attention of prominent U.S. lawmakers. After the Dream breakdown, U.S. Senator Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ), chairman of the committee that oversees cruise ships, release a statement announcing, “This latest cruise ship breakdown raises serious concerns about the industry&#8217;s ability to ensure a safe and enjoyable experience for its passengers.” Lautenberg noted, &#8220;Cruises are for families and friends to relax and enjoy life, and we owe it to the public to look into this industry and ensure<img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=business.time.com&#038;blog=31173800&#038;post=75266&#038;subd=timebusinessblog&#038;ref=&#038;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
	<primary_category>Tourism</primary_category><primary_category_link>http://business.time.com/category/companies-industries/tourism/</primary_category_link>
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			<media:title type="html">bradtuttle</media:title>
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		<title>Marriott &amp; IKEA Launch a Hotel Brand for Millennials: What Does That Even Mean?</title>
		<link>http://business.time.com/2013/03/08/marriott-ikea-launch-a-hotel-brand-for-millennials-what-does-that-even-mean/</link>
		<comments>http://business.time.com/2013/03/08/marriott-ikea-launch-a-hotel-brand-for-millennials-what-does-that-even-mean/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 08 Mar 2013 18:34:35 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Brad Tuttle</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Companies & Industries]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Saving]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Saving & Spending]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Smart Spending]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Tourism]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Travel]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[europe]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Gen X]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Gen Y]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[hotels]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[ikea]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[lodging]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Marriott]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[millennials]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Moxy]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Moxy Hotels]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://business.time.com/?p=74129</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Most hotels are marketed to a specific group: travelers. Not Baby Boomer travelers or Gen X travelers or millennial travelers—but all travelers. But a new hotel brand called Moxy has been specifically &#8220;designed to capture the rapidly emerging millennial traveler.&#8221; This week, hotel giant Marriott announced that it was partnering with the Swedish furniture maker IKEA to create a new brand called Moxy Hotels. The first location will open near Milan&#8217;s Malpensa airport in early 2014, and the plan is for roughly 150 Moxy properties to be launched all over Europe during the next 10 years. The fact that a famed furniture company is involved in the venture has raised eyebrows. (And no, the hotels won&#8217;t be packed with IKEA bed frames, book cases, and other merchandise.) It&#8217;s also noteworthy that the brand is being aimed at a specific age group: Designed to capture the rapidly emerging millennial traveler, the new brand combines contemporary stylish design, approachable service and, most importantly, an affordable price. In other words, if you&#8217;re old, this probably isn&#8217;t the place for you. Moxy properties won&#8217;t be checking IDs or posting an age maximum or anything. In fact, in the press release announcing the brand, a Marriott executive clarifies that Moxy was created for &#8220;the next generation traveler, not only Gen X and Y but people with a younger sensibility.&#8221; (MORE: Is $500 Enough for Enduring the Cruise from Hell?) So what do millennial travelers want in a hotel, according to Moxy&#8217;s designers? What is that &#8220;younger sensibility&#8221; all about? A few key phrases plucked from the press release offer some clues: &#8220;Economy Tier&#8221; Moxy rooms will be offered at price points and amenity levels somewhere in between a hostel and a four-star hotel. Typical nightly rates will range from $80 to $100. Considering that today&#8217;s millennials are living with high unemployment and underemployment amid a global economic slump, the below-average hotel price point is apparently a necessity. Younger consumers have also shown a reluctance to pay for things that older generations consider necessities, including cars<img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=business.time.com&#038;blog=31173800&#038;post=74129&#038;subd=timebusinessblog&#038;ref=&#038;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
	<primary_category>Travel</primary_category><primary_category_link>http://business.time.com/category/companies-industries/travel-companies-industries/</primary_category_link><featured_image>http://timebusinessblog.files.wordpress.com/2013/03/moxy.jpg?w=240</featured_image>
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			<media:title type="html">bradtuttle</media:title>
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		<title>Has the Carnival Triumph Episode Hurt Cruise Sales?</title>
		<link>http://business.time.com/2013/03/08/has-the-carnival-triumph-episode-hurt-cruise-sales/</link>
		<comments>http://business.time.com/2013/03/08/has-the-carnival-triumph-episode-hurt-cruise-sales/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 08 Mar 2013 14:00:27 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Brad Tuttle</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Companies & Industries]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Cruise Industry]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Saving & Spending]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Smart Spending]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Tourism]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Travel]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Carnival]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Carnival Cruise Lines]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Carnival Triumph]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Costa Concordia]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Costa Cruises]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[cruise agents]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[cruise broker]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[lawsuits]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[travel agents]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://business.time.com/?p=74206</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Cruise industry insiders say that in the weeks after the Carnival Triumph debacle made news, cruise sales have remained strong, prices have remained steady, and overall, travelers today are just as likely to book a cruise as they ever were. The results of a new poll suggest otherwise. By some accounts, cruise prices dropped 12% in the aftermath of last year&#8217;s Costa Concordia disaster, in which the ship sunk off the coast of Italy and 32 people died. No one died on the Triumph, but because the ship received so much bad publicity while it was stranded for five days at sea, and because the conditions on board were so atrocious, the widespread assumption was that the episode would damage Carnival&#8217;s reputation and sales—and perhaps even hurt the cruise industry as a whole. (MORE: Is $500 Enough for Enduring the Cruise from Hell?) So, has the cruise industry been hurting in the weeks since the Triumph was the subject of so much unwanted attention? Cruise agents—who have an obvious interest in spreading the word that business is good—say that (you guessed it) business has been good. The week after Triumph passengers made it back to land—which happened to be around Valentine&#8217;s Day—agents in South Florida were telling the Sun Sentinel that sales hadn&#8217;t decreased in the slightest. In fact, they say just the opposite happened: &#8220;We saw an unbelievable increase of 76 percent this Valentine&#8217;s day compared to last Valentine&#8217;s Day,&#8221; [iCruise.com's Don] Walker said. &#8220;Our clients are certainly feeling the love right now with an amazing array of promotions in the market including free gratuities, free beverage packages and ship board spending credits.&#8221; Stewart Chiron, known as &#8220;The Cruise Guy,&#8221; wrote: The good news is that there hasn&#8217;t been a negative consumer response relating to Triumph. The current wave season continues to be strong for the industry, as evidenced by higher pricing, year-over-year. None of the cruise lines have engaged in &#8220;panic pricing.&#8221; When asked by CruiseCritic if there had been a falloff in demand, one agent said, “On<img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=business.time.com&#038;blog=31173800&#038;post=74206&#038;subd=timebusinessblog&#038;ref=&#038;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
	<primary_category>Cruise Industry</primary_category><primary_category_link>http://business.time.com/category/companies-industries/cruise-industry/</primary_category_link>
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			<media:title type="html">bradtuttle</media:title>
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		<title>The Disturbingly Hot Tourist Activity in Hawaii, Vegas: Shooting Guns</title>
		<link>http://business.time.com/2013/03/07/the-disturbingly-hot-tourist-activity-in-hawaii-vegas-shooting-guns/</link>
		<comments>http://business.time.com/2013/03/07/the-disturbingly-hot-tourist-activity-in-hawaii-vegas-shooting-guns/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 07 Mar 2013 13:00:44 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Brad Tuttle</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Advertising]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Companies & Industries]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Odd Spending]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Tourism]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Travel]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[assault weapons]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[guns]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Hawaii]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[japan]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[las vegas]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Newtown]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Sandy Hook]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Waikiki]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://business.time.com/?p=73936</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[From bungee jumping to surfing lessons to hours at the craps table, tourists have been known to spend good money on a wide range of thrilling, only-on-vacation activities. Target practice with an assault weapon can now be added to the list. In the aftermath of the mass shooting at an elementary school in Newtown, Conn., there have been plenty of arguments made that guns are necessary for protection, or that perhaps we need much stricter gun control. In some popular tourist destinations, another argument is being promoted: Guns are supposedly good clean fun. Within a couple months of the Newtown massacre, the Associated Press highlighted a number of over-the-top Las Vegas shooting range promotions aimed at tourists, including real-life &#8220;shotgun wedding&#8221; ceremonies and &#8220;romantic&#8221; packages allowing couples to renew their vows and shoot guns, all for one price. Sin City has been living up to its nickname and was &#8220;embracing tourists&#8217; newfound interest in big guns the only way it knows how: by going all in,&#8221; the story noted. &#8220;Customers just want to have fun,&#8221; one employee at a Vegas shooting range explained. &#8220;It&#8217;s like a bucket list item.&#8221; (MORE: Tempting the Young: New Efforts to Get Younger Consumers Hooked on Guns, Soda &#38; More) Naturally, gun-control advocates have a different take: &#8220;These gun stores and shooting ranges offer bad puns in poor taste in their efforts to put a happy face on firearms, yet each day more than 86 Americans die from gun violence,&#8221; said Newtown native Josh Sugarmann, who is executive director of the Washington D.C-based Violence Policy Center. USA Today recently reported that the guns-n-tourists trend isn&#8217;t limited to Vegas. &#8220;Ground zero for gun tourism,&#8221; in fact, is reportedly not the Las Vegas Strip but beautiful Waikiki, Hawaii. Normally thought of as a paradise for beaches, surf, and relaxation, Waikiki is also a magnet for foreigners—Japanese, in particular—who want to try their hands at something they&#8217;d never be able to do at home: Tourists from countries with the strictest gun laws, such as Japan, are the most<img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=business.time.com&#038;blog=31173800&#038;post=73936&#038;subd=timebusinessblog&#038;ref=&#038;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
	<primary_category>Tourism</primary_category><primary_category_link>http://business.time.com/category/companies-industries/tourism/</primary_category_link>
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			<media:title type="html">bradtuttle</media:title>
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		<title>Flight Prices to Get Personal? Airfares Could Vary Depending on Who Is Traveling</title>
		<link>http://business.time.com/2013/03/05/flight-prices-to-get-personal-airfares-could-vary-depending-on-who-is-traveling/</link>
		<comments>http://business.time.com/2013/03/05/flight-prices-to-get-personal-airfares-could-vary-depending-on-who-is-traveling/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 05 Mar 2013 14:42:45 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Brad Tuttle</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Airlines]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Companies & Industries]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Saving & Spending]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Tourism]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Travel]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[airline fees]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Business Travel]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[customized pricing]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Delta]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[flight search]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[frequent fliers]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Macs]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[online shopping]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Orbitz]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[personalized pricing]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Resolution 787]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Staples]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://business.time.com/?p=73751</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Travelers are annoyed by the very real possibility that they&#8217;ll sit down on a plane next to someone who paid much less for the same flight. Potential changes to how flights are priced in the future could be even more annoying. Consumers like the idea of an even playing field: Everyone gets the same opportunity to snag a good price on a product or service. Getting a deal is generally a matter of perseverance and timing. The price is the price, and the dollar figure one sees has nothing to do with who you are or your history of purchases. A system that functions otherwise—with &#8220;personalized&#8221; prices, causing some to pay more and others less for the same item, purchased at the same exact time—strikes many as unfair. Consumers have had reactions ranging from outrage to mild &#8220;they&#8217;re-screwing-us-again&#8221; aggravation when news has broken of such &#8220;personalized&#8221; or &#8220;customized&#8221; pricing. Three recent examples: Delta was apparently overcharging frequent fliers last year; Orbitz showed higher-priced hotels to Mac users; and the Wall Street Journal reported that Staples&#8217; website varied in-store and online prices based on how close the shopper was to an Office Depot or OfficeMax. (MORE: What Can Consumers Expect from the American-US Air Merger? Nothing Good) Now, according to a New York Times&#8217; editorial, most of the world&#8217;s big airlines have OK&#8217;d a new pricing system, and the result is that passengers could be offered different fares depending on &#8220;how regularly they fly, where they live and the kind of trip they are taking.&#8221; Instead of fares rising or falling based on when the ticket is being purchased or whether the seat is in coach or business class, other more &#8220;personalized&#8221; factors will be incorporated, so that the results of your flight search could be much different than your business traveler neighbor. Such &#8220;personalized&#8221; shopping options are always presented merely as a way to give consumers what they want. The Times notes that industry officials say the system is &#8220;simply a way for airlines to better tailor their services to<img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=business.time.com&#038;blog=31173800&#038;post=73751&#038;subd=timebusinessblog&#038;ref=&#038;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
	<primary_category>Travel</primary_category><primary_category_link>http://business.time.com/category/companies-industries/travel-companies-industries/</primary_category_link>
		<media:content url="http://0.gravatar.com/avatar/f8de938518e7b986d552694ed99aa54d?s=96&#38;d=http%3A%2F%2F0.gravatar.com%2Favatar%2Fad516503a11cd5ca435acc9bb6523536%3Fs%3D96&#38;r=G" medium="image">
			<media:title type="html">bradtuttle</media:title>
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		<title>Why Some Restaurants Hate Restaurant Week</title>
		<link>http://business.time.com/2013/02/28/why-some-restaurants-hate-restaurant-week/</link>
		<comments>http://business.time.com/2013/02/28/why-some-restaurants-hate-restaurant-week/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 28 Feb 2013 16:00:57 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Brad Tuttle</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Advertising]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Companies & Industries]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Food and Beverage Industry]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Marketing]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Saving]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Saving & Spending]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Small Business]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Smart Spending]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Tourism]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Travel]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Alex Seidel]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Atlantic City]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Denver]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[diners]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[eating out]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Fruition]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Ocean County]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[restaurant deals]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Restaurant Week]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[toledo]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://business.time.com/?p=73255</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Restaurant Week deals promise increased foot traffic during what&#8217;s normally a slow time of year, as well as ample exposure to new customers. Could Restaurant Week promotions also be bad for business? Every year at around this time, it&#8217;s peak season for Restaurant Week, when restaurants in cities ranging from Atlantic City to Toledo offer special set-course pricing deals for lunch and dinner. California&#8216;s Orange County Restaurant Week, for example, stretches through March 2, with restaurants rolling out special menus and flat $20 lunches and $30 to $40 dinners. More than 100 restaurants are participating. And yet, they&#8217;re not necessarily joining in to turn a profit this week, as an OC Register article pointed out: “We’re not going to do this for free, but we’re not making anything on it, either,” said Cathy Pavlos, chef-owner of Lucca in Irvine. “The whole point is to show the public what we can do. “It’s show time.” (MORE: Why Restaurants Have Been Holding Back on Hiking Menu Prices) For some restaurants, though, the prospect of drawing in new customers isn&#8217;t enough to justify participating in Restaurant Week promotions. To play along, restaurants typically must pay fees to local tourism bureaus. For Restaurant Weeks in places such as Atlantic City and Ocean County, fees run around $500. In Denver, restaurants fork over $350 to $450, plus an additional $660 if they want to be included in advertising. According to the Denver Post, the fees are but one of many reasons several of the city&#8217;s top restaurants aren&#8217;t bothering with a Restaurant Week deal this year. Johnny Ballen, a co-owner of The Squeaky Bean, told the paper that he is skeptical that cheap Restaurant Week deals boost business in the long run. &#8220;They say it&#8217;s all about getting people out to restaurants to try them, but I don&#8217;t really think it creates return business,&#8221; he said. In fact, some restaurant owners think that Restaurant Week crowds can annoy their best customers. &#8220;Quite honestly, we lost money last year,&#8221; Frank Bonanno told the Denver Post, explaining<img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=business.time.com&#038;blog=31173800&#038;post=73255&#038;subd=timebusinessblog&#038;ref=&#038;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
	<primary_category>Food and Beverage Industry</primary_category><primary_category_link>http://business.time.com/category/companies-industries/food-and-beverage-industry/</primary_category_link><featured_image>http://timebusinessblog.files.wordpress.com/2013/02/88624432.jpg?w=240</featured_image>
		<media:thumbnail url="http://timebusinessblog.files.wordpress.com/2013/02/88624432.jpg?w=240" />
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			<media:title type="html">A table at a restaurant</media:title>
		</media:content>

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			<media:title type="html">bradtuttle</media:title>
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		<title>Loan Out Your Car at the Airport for Free Parking, Free Car Wash &amp; Bonus Gas Money</title>
		<link>http://business.time.com/2013/02/25/loan-out-your-car-at-the-airport-for-free-parking-free-car-wash-bonus-gas-money/</link>
		<comments>http://business.time.com/2013/02/25/loan-out-your-car-at-the-airport-for-free-parking-free-car-wash-bonus-gas-money/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 25 Feb 2013 15:00:29 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Brad Tuttle</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Autos]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Borrowing]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Companies & Industries]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Entrepreneurship]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Saving]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Saving & Spending]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Small Business]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Smart Spending]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Start-Ups]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Tourism]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Travel]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[car rentals]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[car sharing]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[FlightCar]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Getaround]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[peer to peer]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[RelayRides]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[rentals]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[sharing]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://business.time.com/?p=72570</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Parking at the airport can easily run $20 per day. That&#8217;s in the &#8220;cheap&#8221; long-term lot, requiring a long shuttle ride to the terminal. Valet service can cost way more. But what if you could get airport parking valet service totally for free—with a car wash and free gas to boot? That&#8217;s the gist of the offer from a startup called FlightCar, which began offering its service at San Francisco International Airport in early February. What&#8217;s the catch? In exchange for free parking, a free car wash, and a gas card worth up to $10 for each day the car is left behind, owners agree to allow FlightCar to rent out their vehicles to customers &#8212; i.e., strangers. The business model basically brings peer-to-peer car rental services such as Getaround and RelayRides to the airport. And if you think about it, the airport is the perfect place for a rental handoff. Sign up with FlightCar, and a valet meets you at the airport. That saves drivers the trouble of having to park in the long-term lot and hop on the shuttle to the gate. When a car owner is on a trip, he&#8217;s obviously not using the vehicle, so it&#8217;s OK that he won&#8217;t have wheels for the agreed-upon time. What&#8217;s more, a vehicle becomes a money-loser, to the tune of $10, $15, perhaps even $35 per day, when it&#8217;s sitting idle parked at the airport. (MORE: Pay Less For Sporting Event Tickets &#8212; After You&#8217;ve Already Bought Them) Those daily fees disappear, however, when the owner agrees to work with FlightCar. Complimentary car washes are thrown into the deal—before and after the car is loaned out—and owners receive gas cards worth $10 for each day the vehicle is rented. FlightCar says it pre-screens all customers and insures vehicles up to $1 million. Wired notes that the company eases the minds of car owners in a few other ways as well: FlightCar also foots the bill if anything less dramatic goes wrong during the rental, including refilling your tank if<img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=business.time.com&#038;blog=31173800&#038;post=72570&#038;subd=timebusinessblog&#038;ref=&#038;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
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	<primary_category>Start-Ups</primary_category><primary_category_link>http://business.time.com/category/small-business/start-ups-small-business/</primary_category_link>
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			<media:title type="html">bradtuttle</media:title>
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		<title>Is $500 Enough for Enduring the Cruise from Hell?</title>
		<link>http://business.time.com/2013/02/19/is-500-enough-for-enduring-the-cruise-from-hell/</link>
		<comments>http://business.time.com/2013/02/19/is-500-enough-for-enduring-the-cruise-from-hell/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 19 Feb 2013 13:00:48 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Brad Tuttle</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Airlines]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Companies & Industries]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Marketing]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Saving & Spending]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Smart Spending]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Tourism]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Travel]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Carnival]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Carnival Cruises]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Carnival Triumph]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[compensation]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Costa Concordia]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[cruise line]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[cruises]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[disasters]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[PR]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[public relations]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://business.time.com/?p=72308</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[So you&#8217;ve survived for five days stranded at sea aboard the Carnival Triumph. The ship had no working toilets, sewage dripped from walls, and the whole place smelled &#8220;like a hot port-o-potty.&#8221; Here&#8217;s $500 for your troubles. Last week, after the Triumph was finally tugged into Alabama and passengers kissed solid ground in relief, Carnival announced that all passengers on the ship—which was hit with a fire in an engine room and left without power in the Gulf of Mexico—would receive some compensation. The offer included a full refund for the cruise and travel expenses, reimbursement for nearly everything they spent on board the ship, a credit good toward a future cruise, plus a check for $500. To some, the offer didn&#8217;t exactly seem generous. &#8220;I would have expected more really,&#8221; said travel expert George Hobica, who runs the deal-finding site AirfareWatchdog.com. &#8220;I think giving them their money back and $500 is pretty cheap.&#8221; Carolyn Spencer Brown, editor of CruiseCritic.com, had basically the same reaction. &#8220;What these people went through was worth more than $500,&#8221; she said. &#8220;It&#8217;s a little bit insulting. It&#8217;s almost as if Carnival would have been better off offering nothing than to go so low.&#8221; (MORE: Why Didn&#8217;t Carnival Evacuate Passengers from Its Stricken Cruise Ship?) So where did Carnival come up with the $500 figure to begin with? The cruise line didn&#8217;t explain. In situations involving refunds and compensation for travelers, there usually isn&#8217;t much explanation other than that the policies and dollar figures somehow seem about right. &#8220;It&#8217;s all about PR,&#8221; said Brown. &#8220;This was probably determined by the marketing department more than anybody.&#8221; Calamities like the Triumph can obviously be bad for the cruise line at the center of the storm. They can also damage the cruise industry as a whole. In the aftermath of the sinking of the Costa Concordia—which just &#8220;celebrated&#8221; its one-year anniversary last month—cruise prices decreased by 12%. To minimize the public-relations damage, to salvage some sort of goodwill with affected customers, and also to cut off lawsuits before<img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=business.time.com&#038;blog=31173800&#038;post=72308&#038;subd=timebusinessblog&#038;ref=&#038;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
	<primary_category>Travel</primary_category><primary_category_link>http://business.time.com/category/saving-spending/travel-saving-spending/</primary_category_link><featured_image>http://timebusinessblog.files.wordpress.com/2013/02/03584796.jpg?w=240</featured_image>
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			<media:title type="html">Carnival Triumph cruise ship arrives in Mobile, Alabama, USA</media:title>
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		<title>What Can Consumers Expect from the American-US Air Merger? Nothing Good</title>
		<link>http://business.time.com/2013/02/14/what-can-consumers-expect-from-the-american-us-air-merger-nothing-good/</link>
		<comments>http://business.time.com/2013/02/14/what-can-consumers-expect-from-the-american-us-air-merger-nothing-good/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 14 Feb 2013 21:06:59 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Brad Tuttle</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Airlines]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Companies & Industries]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Tourism]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Travel]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[airfare]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[American Airlines]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[consolidation]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Consumer Travel Alliance]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[hubs]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[JoeSentMe]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[merger]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[us airways]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://business.time.com/?p=70576</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[American Airlines and US Airways have agreed to merge, and it looks like the result will be a mega-carrier that&#8217;s the world&#8217;s largest airline in terms of passenger traffic. Consumers groups say this is one marriage travelers should not be celebrating. Before the merger announcement was official, the Consumer Travel Alliance, an advocacy group for travelers, published an op-ed stating that there would be &#8220;no compelling consumer benefits&#8221; if US Airways and American Airlines were combined. In fact, it would directly impact consumers in a bad way, via higher fares all around: Competition will suffer. There will be just three major network airlines. All-in prices (airfares plus extra fees) will go up, and services will be reduced — all for a merger that is unnecessary for the long-term survival of either airline. In a longer press release, the CTA&#8217;s Charlie Leocha wrote that previous consolidation in the industry squeezed certain gateways, resulting in fewer flights offered in many cities: St. Louis is a ghost town compared to when it was a hub for TWA. Reno, Nevada, was abandoned by AA. Cincinnati has shut down several of its terminals because of cutbacks from Delta. Cleveland was forced to negotiate a separate agreement with Continental/United to keep its hub operating temporarily. (MORE: When Airfare Is So Cheap It&#8217;s a Steal &#8212; Literally) Airline service at Charlotte and Phoenix is likely to suffer with an American/US Airways merger, Leocha stated. Business travelers also see little to no upside with the proposed merger. &#8220;From a consumer standpoint – individual traveler or corporate travel department &#8211; there are few benefits to offset the negative impacts of this proposed merger that include reduced competition, higher fares and fees and diminished service to small and mid-size communities,&#8221; reads a statement from the Business Travel Coalition. It goes on: To be clear, there is benefit in a financially viable air transportation system. However, previous mergers have already enabled seat capacity cuts, higher fares and billions of dollars in fees for ancillary services resulting in a financially strengthening industry.<img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=business.time.com&#038;blog=31173800&#038;post=70576&#038;subd=timebusinessblog&#038;ref=&#038;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
	<primary_category>Travel</primary_category><primary_category_link>http://business.time.com/category/companies-industries/travel-companies-industries/</primary_category_link><featured_image>http://timebusinessblog.files.wordpress.com/2012/04/aaus.jpg?w=240</featured_image>
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			<media:title type="html">aaus</media:title>
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		<title>9 Easy Ways to Save Money on Your Next Vacation</title>
		<link>http://business.time.com/2013/02/11/9-easy-ways-to-save-money-on-your-next-vacation/</link>
		<comments>http://business.time.com/2013/02/11/9-easy-ways-to-save-money-on-your-next-vacation/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 11 Feb 2013 16:00:23 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Matthew Kepnes</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Companies & Industries]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Credit Cards]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Google]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Saving]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Saving & Spending]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Smart Spending]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Tourism]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Travel]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[airfare]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[airfarewatchdog]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[airlines]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[apartment rentals]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[australia]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Caribbean]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[cruises]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[europe]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[flights]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[frequent flier miles]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[hotels]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[house sitting]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Kayak]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Nomadic Matt]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[peak season]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Priceline]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[rail passes]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[shoulder season]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[trains]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[TripAdvisor]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://business.time.com/?p=70247</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[A few years ago, my parents took a three-week vacation to Israel. They spent more than $6,000. I can’t remember the last time I spent that much money in three weeks; that amount could last me up to half a year on the road. When I asked them what they spent so much money on, their reply amounted to, “Travel isn’t cheap! Hotels, car rental, tours, and airfare all cost money!” To me, that sums up the thinking I encounter every day. “I’d love to travel, but it’s just too expensive,” people say to me. “It costs a lot of money.” But that’s because the travel we are exposed to costs a lot of money. The ads, TV commercials, and magazines all feature high-end vacations, resorts, and cruises—the kinds of operations that can afford advertising. But it’s possible to travel in comfort without spending a ton of money. I know this because I’ve spent the last six years or so doing just that. In that time, I’ve been to over 70 countries and started a blog to help others travel cheaper, better, and longer. Earlier this month, I put all my years of travel experience into a book, How to Travel the World on $50 a Day, to further break down the myth that travel must be expensive. (MORE: When Airfare Is So Cheap It&#8217;s a Steal &#8212; Literally) No matter where you&#8217;re going, there are plenty of simple ways to cut expenses and still enjoy the quality vacation you and your family desire. Sure, there are some tradeoffs. But cheap doesn’t have to mean bad. Here are my top nine tips for turning any trip into an affordable activity: Sign up for a travel-related credit card. By utilizing the signup bonuses offered with airline credit cards, you can accumulate hundreds of thousands of miles each year without ever flying or spending more than you normally would. All U.S. carriers offer a branded card that gives you 30,000-50,000 bonus miles when you sign up and make one purchase. That’s a<img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=business.time.com&#038;blog=31173800&#038;post=70247&#038;subd=timebusinessblog&#038;ref=&#038;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
	<primary_category>Travel</primary_category><primary_category_link>http://business.time.com/category/saving-spending/travel-saving-spending/</primary_category_link><featured_image>http://timebusinessblog.files.wordpress.com/2011/06/suitcase.jpg?w=240</featured_image>
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			<media:title type="html">Suitcase</media:title>
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			<media:title type="html">TIME.com</media:title>
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		<title>When Airfare Is So Cheap It&#8217;s a Steal – Literally</title>
		<link>http://business.time.com/2013/02/08/when-airfare-is-so-cheap-its-a-steal-literally/</link>
		<comments>http://business.time.com/2013/02/08/when-airfare-is-so-cheap-its-a-steal-literally/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 08 Feb 2013 17:00:23 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Brad Tuttle</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Airlines]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Companies & Industries]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Odd Spending]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Saving]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Saving & Spending]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Smart Spending]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Tourism]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Travel]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[business ethics]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Christopher Elliott]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[ethics]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[FlyerTalk]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[online forums]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://business.time.com/?p=69724</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Sometimes, flights are so cheap that they&#8217;re obviously not just terrific sale prices, but mistakes. While everybody loves a deal, is booking a secret, mispriced fare tantamount to stealing? Experienced travelers love to swap insider tips—the location of a secret dinner club in Paris, thoughts on up-and-coming &#8220;next Prague&#8221; destinations, and, yes, the best deals on airfare all over the world. What happens, though, when an airline&#8217;s reservation system makes a mistake, and a flight halfway around the world that should cost, say, $1,800 is suddenly available to book online for just $20? Well, what sometimes happens is that word spreads quickly about these fares at popular forums like FlyerTalk, and many travelers try to snag the flights at rock-bottom prices before the airline catches the mistake. Consumer advocate Christopher Elliott, who has made a name for himself by helping people to avoid getting ripped off by airlines, hotels, and other travel companies, says that travelers who behave this way aren&#8217;t merely unethical, they&#8217;re thieves. In a recent post on his blog, Elliott wrote: Pointing out a fare error online and urging people to book one is like saying someone’s house isn’t locked and urging everyone to steal from it. The presence of these opportunists gives all of these sites a bad name, and in my opinion, they should be quickly expelled from the group. (MORE: End of New Airline Fees? Nation&#8217;s Most Fee-Craze Airline Is Tapped Out of Ideas) Not all travelers agree. Some say Elliott is dead wrong, in fact. In the post, Elliott asked readers to answer the blunt question &#8220;Is it ever acceptable to steal from an airline?&#8221; Nearly 4 in 10 answered &#8220;yes.&#8221; Dozens of commenters essentially said that airlines should be forced to honor all flights sold, regardless if a mistake occurred, and regardless of whether travelers booking the flights knew a mistake occurred. One commenter gave this justification: If a fare can be voided for being an &#8220;incorrect price&#8221; there&#8217;s nothing to prevent an airline from overbooking with higher last minute fares, then<img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=business.time.com&#038;blog=31173800&#038;post=69724&#038;subd=timebusinessblog&#038;ref=&#038;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
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	<primary_category>Airlines</primary_category><primary_category_link>http://business.time.com/category/companies-industries/airlines-big-companies/</primary_category_link><featured_image>http://timebusinessblog.files.wordpress.com/2012/06/ml_airlines_0603_blog.jpg?w=240</featured_image>
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