Washington In Bloom

What’s pink and blossoming in Washington?

That’s right. Magnolias!

Oh, and cherry trees:

There Is No Hotelicopter …

… says Wired’s wonderful blog, Autopia. Apparently there’s a story going around about a guy buying a huge helicopter and converting it into a hotel. And it’s almost April Fool’s Day …

No-Parking Sign At Washington Church

Photo by Mary Leblanc

Where To Hunt For Travel Deals And Bargains

So there are travel bargains everywhere and despite all the economic fear and uncertainty, you want to take advantage of the deals. Where to start?

I recommend keeping your eye on three Web sites until the right deal turns up for you. There are many more, but these three will keep you very well informed.

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Hotel Chains Struggle To Maintain Rates

Declining occupancy is pushing hotel rates lower, despite a desire in the industry to maintain “rate discipline,” the Dow Jones News Service reports in the Wall Street Journal.

A recent survey of hotel rates by Hogg Robinson showed that Moscow was the only global city to record rising room rates in February. Rates were down 5% in London, 19% in New York, 16% in Hong Kong and 22% in Zurich…

Hotel chains are facing the same  pressures as airlines, which have no rate discipline to speak of. Their cut-throat competition means they’ll slash anything — services, flight schedules, whatever they can — to keep rates low. But that’s not so easily done in the hotel industry, which can’t just park its buildings in the desert.

Interestingly, the article says that rates are not declining at budget hotels. At least not yet. If rates drop enough at more luxurious hotels, budget hotels may start to see occupancy fall, which will challenge their rate discipline, too.

Northwest Cancels Bradley To Amsterdam Flight

A few days ago my friend John said he was worried that Northwest would not resume its flight from Bradley to Amsterdam in June, as planned. Clearly, John should be writing this blog.

Today Northwest, which is slowly being digested by Delta, announced that, indeed, the flights will not resume. The phrase in Eric Gershon’s story in The Courant was “not financially viable at this time.” Oh, well.

It’s not a surprise but it’s a disappointment. I took that flight a year ago on my way to Istanbul and I thought it was great. Northwest did it on a 757 modified for transatlantic service, and the extra leg room made up for the inconvenience of having only a single aisle.

In any event, Bradley will remain without a transatlantic or a transcontinental flight for now. I suspect that won’t change until the economy improves substantially.

Amtrak Quiet Car Raises Etiquette Questions

So here’s a new travel etiquette issue for me, and I could use some advice from readers.

I got on Amtrak’s Northeast Regional train in Hartford yesterday and realized, after I sat down,that I was in the quiet car. (The signs were the tipoff: “Quiet Car. Please refrain from loud talking or using cell phones in this car.”)

Great! I was traveling alone and had a lot of work to do. Quiet would be excellent.

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A Frugal Cell Phone Strategy For Travel Abroad

The New York Times’ Frugal Traveler columnist, Matt Gross, had a very interesting piece Tuesday about a cheap way to keep in touch via cell phone while traveling abroad.

It involves Skype and forwarding and it’s all fairly complicated, but it sure seems worth the effort if you travel enough and talk enough. I have an unlocked cell phone and I’ve used local country chips, so I’m part of the way there. But I haven’t yet used the Skype-to-cellphone gateway that Gross employs.

I might first have a look first at Google Voice, which he believes may simplify things.

Either way, I’d like to give it a try although I admit I’m much better at computers than at phones. I often find myself unable to locate my phone when it rings, unable to keep it adequately charged and unable to remember the number.

Maybe that’s why I prefer email. I spent 18 days in Costa Rica without talking to my husband or daughter by phone, but we exchanged emails almost every day and used Gchat several times. Still, a cheap way to use the cell phone would have been nice …

Electric Chair As Tourist Attraction?

A town in Nebraska is “abuzz” over the idea of obtaining the state’s decomissioned electric chair as a tourist attraction, reports the Associated Press.

Well, not exactly abuzz, reports the McCook Gazette. It all started with a casual remark at a Chamber of Commerce meeting to a state senator, just suggesting that the chair would go nicely with a proposed rural electrification museum. It didn’t get much farther than that, and the state seems disinclined to hand over Old Sparky to the town of McCook.

I’m not sure I’d go to a museum to see an electric chair, anyway. But I sure wouldn’t speed when driving through a town that had one.

Good News From Airline Passengers

After being overwhelmed by responses when he asked for airline horror stories George Hobica at the Airfarewatchblog asked if anyone had positive stories to tell about their airline experiences. He got 50 responses, many of them quite heartwarming and a reminder that even in a very troubled industry, individual acts of kindness are both possible and very much appreciated.