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	<title>Business &#38; MoneyCategory: Travel &#124; Business &#38; Money &#124; TIME.com</title>
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		<title>Business &#38; MoneyCategory: Travel &#124; Business &#38; Money &#124; TIME.com</title>
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		<title>Airline Baggage Fees: On the Rise &#8212; Yet More Passengers Deem Them &#8216;Reasonable&#8217;</title>
		<link>http://business.time.com/2013/05/16/airline-baggage-fees-on-the-rise-yet-more-passengers-deem-them-reasonable/</link>
		<comments>http://business.time.com/2013/05/16/airline-baggage-fees-on-the-rise-yet-more-passengers-deem-them-reasonable/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 16 May 2013 09:45:14 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Brad Tuttle</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Airlines]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Companies & Industries]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Saving & Spending]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Smart Spending]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Transportation]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Travel]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[airfare]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[airline fees]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Alaska Airlines]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[American Airlines]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[ancillary fees]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[baggage fees]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Delta]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Frontier Airlines]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[JetBlue]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Southwest Airlines]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Spirit Airlines]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[ticket change fees]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://business.time.com/?p=80091</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Even as overall baggage fees have increased, some of the nation&#8217;s biggest airlines aren&#8217;t collecting as much as they did a couple of years ago. Perhaps even more surprisingly, there&#8217;s been a sharp rise in travelers who aren&#8217;t bothered by the idea of paying extra for checked luggage. The Bureau of Transportation Statistics just released airline revenue data for 2012, and guess what? We paid more in fees than the year before. The Associated Press and other outlets highlighted how the nation&#8217;s 15 largest airlines collected baggage fees totaling $3.5 billion and $2.6 billion worth of ticket change fees, representing increases of 3.8% and 7.3%, respectively, compared to 2011. The numbers probably aren&#8217;t surprising to the average traveler. Airline fees have been rising for years, and the idea that baggage fees crept up by merely a few percentage points may even come as somewhat of a relief. A closer look at the BTS&#8217;s figures, however, offers some data that is a bit of a surprise. Delta tops the list of baggage fee collectors, with $866 million in 2012. Yet Delta barely increased its baggage fee revenues last year; they reached roughly the same level ($864 million) in 2011. What&#8217;s more, the totals of both years are down significantly from 2010, when Delta reaped $952 million in baggage fees alone. (MORE: One Airline That Stubbornly Refuses to Pile on Fees &#8212; For Now) So believe it or not, the $866 million in baggage fees collected by Delta probably comes as a disappointment to the airline. Insiders said last summer that Delta had plans to collect an extra $1 billion in passenger fees—all kinds, not just baggage—annually by 2014. Delta isn&#8217;t the only major carrier struggling to siphon more baggage fee money from customers. American Airlines has also seen a falloff in baggage fees: $580 million in 2010, $593 million in 2011, and &#8220;just&#8221; $557 million in 2012. Meanwhile, Spirit Airlines, the country&#8217;s most fee-crazed carrier, managed to crank up baggage fee tallies to $168 million last year, more than the double<img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=business.time.com&#038;blog=31173800&#038;post=80091&#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><featured_image>http://timebusinessblog.files.wordpress.com/2012/06/luggage1.jpg?w=240</featured_image>
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			<media:title type="html">Luggage</media:title>
		</media:content>

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			<media:title type="html">bradtuttle</media:title>
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		<item>
		<title>One Airline That Stubbornly Refuses to Pile on the Fees (For Now)</title>
		<link>http://business.time.com/2013/05/07/one-airline-that-stubbornly-refuses-to-pile-on-the-fees-for-now/</link>
		<comments>http://business.time.com/2013/05/07/one-airline-that-stubbornly-refuses-to-pile-on-the-fees-for-now/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 07 May 2013 15:06:17 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Brad Tuttle</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Airlines]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Companies & Industries]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Saving & Spending]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Smart Spending]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Transportation]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Travel]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[airline fees]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[American Airlines]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[baggage fees]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[carry-on bag]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[carryons]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[checked baggage]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[checked luggage]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Delta]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Frontier Airlines]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Gary Kelly]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Southwest]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Southwest Airlines]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[united airlines]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://business.time.com/?p=79198</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Most airlines view fees for baggage and ticket changes as easy, highly lucrative revenue streams. Southwest Airlines views them quite differently: If it added baggage fees on par with other carriers, Southwest says it would lose roughly $1 billion. When United Airlines increased ticket change fees to $200 (up from $150), the assumption was that competitors would follow suit. Well, airlines are just so predictable. To almost no one&#8217;s surprise, American, US Airways, and Delta are now also charging a $200 fee to any passenger hoping to change flight plans within the U.S. (International fees are higher.) In other airline fee news, Denver-based Frontier Airlines just tweaked its fee structure. Starting on July 1, passengers traveling on the cheapest tickets will have to pay $1.99 and up for in-flight beverages, while certain customers who are members of the airline&#8217;s loyalty program and/or who have booked pricier flights will continue to get non-alcoholic drinks for free. More confusingly, very soon, some Frontier passengers will have to pay $25 to $100 for the privilege of bringing a carry-on bag onto the plane. As the Denver Post reported, only customers who book Frontier flights through third-party sites such as Expedia and Travelocity are subject to the carry-on baggage fee. The exact amount a passenger is charged will be determined by how and when the customer checks in for the flight. The purpose of Frontier&#8217;s new carry-on fee is obviously to entice passengers to book tickets directly with the airline&#8217;s website—do so and a carry-on is allowed for free. Frontier is trying to get more revenues upfront (by not passing along a portion of sales to a middleman booking site), and if that&#8217;s not possible, to collect more money per passenger later on (from drinks and checked baggage fees). (MORE: End of New Airline Fees? Nation&#8217;s Most Fee-Crazy Airline Is Tapped Out of Ideas) For that matter, Frontier&#8217;s unique fare structure also forces customers to consider whether they&#8217;d prefer to pay now or pay later. Passengers select among four kinds of tickets, and while<img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=business.time.com&#038;blog=31173800&#038;post=79198&#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><featured_image>http://timebusinessblog.files.wordpress.com/2013/01/139622344-e1358871769164.jpg?w=240</featured_image>
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			<media:title type="html">Southwest jet aircraft departing, Orlando International Airport</media:title>
		</media:content>

		<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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	</item>
		<item>
		<title>FAA Order Formally Lifts Boeing 787 Grounding</title>
		<link>http://business.time.com/2013/04/25/faa-order-formally-lifts-boeing-787-grounding/</link>
		<comments>http://business.time.com/2013/04/25/faa-order-formally-lifts-boeing-787-grounding/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 25 Apr 2013 15:34:02 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Associated Press</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Companies & Industries]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Travel]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://business.time.com/?p=78565</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[(WASHINGTON) — Federal regulators are telling airlines they can fly Boeing&#8217;s 787 Dreamliners again as soon as they replace its problematic lithium ion batteries with a revamped battery system. A Federal Aviation Administration safety order posted online Thursday applies to all U.S. airlines, but only one airline — United — currently has 787s in their fleet. They have six. The FAA estimated the repair costs for those planes at $2.8 million. The planes have been grounded since mid-January, following a battery fire on a 787 parked at Boston&#8217;s Logan International Airport, and a smoking battery that led to an emergency landing by another 787 in Japan. There are 50 of the planes in service worldwide, but Boeing has purchase orders 840 more planes. Newly delivered will come with the revamped system. MORE:  Reports: Boeing Dreamliner Could Fly Next Month<img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=business.time.com&#038;blog=31173800&#038;post=78565&#038;subd=timebusinessblog&#038;ref=&#038;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://business.time.com/2013/04/25/faa-order-formally-lifts-boeing-787-grounding/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<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/2013/01/143330369.jpg?w=240</featured_image>
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			<media:title type="html">The New Boeing Dreamliner Touches Down At Manchester Airport</media:title>
		</media:content>

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			<media:title type="html">timeassociatedpress</media:title>
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		<item>
		<title>Oof! Airline Fees Rise Yet Again: At Least $200 to Change a Flight</title>
		<link>http://business.time.com/2013/04/24/oof-airline-fees-rise-yet-again-at-least-200-to-change-a-flight/</link>
		<comments>http://business.time.com/2013/04/24/oof-airline-fees-rise-yet-again-at-least-200-to-change-a-flight/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 24 Apr 2013 17:11:18 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Brad Tuttle</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Airlines]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Companies & Industries]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Saving & Spending]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Smart Spending]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Travel]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[airline fees]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[American Airlines]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[change fees]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[flights]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[JetBlue]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Southwest Airlines]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Spirit Airlines]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[united airlines]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://business.time.com/?p=78446</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[This week, United Airlines jacked up fees on passengers who need to adjust travel plans. For flights within the U.S., customers must fork over at least $200 (up from $150) for changing tickets. The carrier raised the change fee on certain international flights as well, from $250 to $300 for many routes to South America. In reality, passengers can wind up paying much more to change a flight itinerary. That&#8217;s because on top of the fee, a customer must pay the fare difference of the original flight price compared to the going rate of the new itinerary being booked. Say you purchased a round trip on United from Chicago to Phoenix for $300, and then needed to change the travel dates to a week later. At the time you made the change, a flight for the new dates was selling for $500. To switch to that flight, United would charge a $200 change fee, plus another $200 for the fare difference ($500 minus $300). So the change would cost $400 overall—or more than the original ticket cost! And that&#8217;s on top of the $300 spent on the initial booking. (MORE: End of New Airline Fees? Nation&#8217;s Most Fee-Crazy Carrier Is Tapped Out of Ideas) So-called legacy airlines have assessed change fees in this manner for years, but the fee itself has risen swiftly. The standard was $50, then $75, then $100. In 2008, United raised its change fee from $100 to $150, curiously citing &#8220;high fuel costs&#8221; as the reason. (It&#8217;s not like gas gets any more expensive when passengers change flights.) The Wall Street Journal noted that Delta and United collected $1.1 billion in reservation change fees just in the first nine months of 2012. And why would United need to hike fees further? &#8220;We carefully manage our seat inventory and incur costs when a traveler elects not to fly in a reserved seat,&#8221; a United spokesperson said in a released statement. &#8220;We adjusted this fee to better compensate us for those costs.&#8221; Consumer advocates view the situation differently:<img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=business.time.com&#038;blog=31173800&#038;post=78446&#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/2012/06/14280759211.jpg?w=240</featured_image>
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			<media:title type="html">United Airlines</media:title>
		</media:content>

		<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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		<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>
		</media:content>
	</item>
		<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[Tourism]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Saving]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Saving & Spending]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Smart Spending]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Travel]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[deals]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Carnival]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Carnival Triumph]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Carnival Cruise Lines]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[poop cruise]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[cruise from hell]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[fire sale]]></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>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[Transportation]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Tourism]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Saving & Spending]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Smart Spending]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Travel]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Charles Schumer]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[safety]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[frank lautenberg]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[cruises]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[vacations]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Carnival]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Caribbean]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Carnival Triumph]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Carnival Cruise Lines]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Carnival Dream]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Carnival Elation]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Jay Rockefeller]]></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>Welcome to North Korea! Inside the Growing Business of Geopolitical Adventure Tourism</title>
		<link>http://business.time.com/2013/03/19/welcome-to-north-korea-inside-the-growing-business-of-geopolitical-adventure-tourism/</link>
		<comments>http://business.time.com/2013/03/19/welcome-to-north-korea-inside-the-growing-business-of-geopolitical-adventure-tourism/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 19 Mar 2013 16:28:15 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Mike Walker</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Companies & Industries]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Travel]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://business.time.com/?p=74393</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Dylan Harris runs Lupine Travel, a U.K.-based travel agency offering tours of geopolitical hot spots like Iran, Chernobyl and Dennis Rodman&#8217;s new favorite vacation destination, North Korea. Although the U.S. government has placed economic sanctions on the isolated totalitarian state because of its nuclear program — and issued warnings for those traveling to the country — Americans are not prohibited from traveling to North Korea.  We spoke to Harris about growing interest in travel to North Korea and what visitors can expect. Harris says Lupine&#8217;s bookings to North Korea doubled in 2012 to around 600, about half from Asia and the rest from the U.S., the E.U. and Australia. His company&#8217;s four-day tours of North Korea cost from $780 to $1,100, depending on the time of year, not including airfare to Asia. (Americans must also pay an additional $430 for the flight from China because they&#8217;re barred from entering North Korea by train.) When arranging a tour, Harris&#8217; first step is applying for visas, a process that usually takes about three weeks and seems primarily focused on establishing that no one in the group is a journalist — which is the only reason an application has ever been rejected, Harris says. Next, he proposes an itinerary to the government travel agency, and its officials tell him which places the tour group will be allowed to visit. “North Korea is a bit different because we can’t actually book anything,&#8221; says Harris. (MORE: Cyprus: The E.U. &#8216;Rescue&#8217; That Risks Backfiring) As a result, virtually every trip features the same sites, including the towering statues of North Korea’s founder Kim Il Sung and his son Kim Jong Il (at the feet of which visitors are asked to present flowers), the heavily fortified demilitarized zone that lies between North and South Korea and the North Korea Peace Museum, a down-the-rabbit-hole history lesson for Americans, who are portrayed as oppressors and the clear-cut losers not only of the Korean War, but also of the remaining half of the 20th century, which was &#8220;won&#8221; by North Korea&#8217;s socialist &#8220;miracle.&#8221; One of the<img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=business.time.com&#038;blog=31173800&#038;post=74393&#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>
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			<media:title type="html">TIME.com</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[Tourism]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Saving]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Saving & Spending]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Smart Spending]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Travel]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[europe]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[ikea]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[hotels]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Gen X]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[millennials]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Gen Y]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[lodging]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Marriott]]></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>
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			<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>
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			<media:title type="html">A table at a restaurant</media:title>
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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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		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
	<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>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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