Week In Review

The Week In Review post is back this week to keep you up-to-date on the latest news stories on business travel.

A special business travel insert appeared last Friday in the Toronto Star. GBTA’s Director of Operations for Canada shared her thoughts on the latest trends in business travel as well as business travel’s role in driving the Canadian economy. Members of the GBTA Canada Advisory Board also shared their tips to make your business trip more efficient.

On Monday, GBTA filed comments with the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) calling for transparency and consistency when it comes to baggage fees and other ancillary fees. GBTA told Successful Meetings that business travelers and their companies must be presented with an accurate and trackable view of fares and fees. The Washington Post’s Dr. Gridlock blog also reported that several consumer and trade organizations including GBTA asked the DOT to require that airlines give a more complete accounting of baggage fees, change charges and other costs faced by air passengers.

Fast Company provides an innovative look into the future with eight ways rail travel could evolve by 2050.

Continued struggles and flight delays in Chicago put travel mishaps front and center in the news. USA Today’s Charisse Jones wrote about how the snarl in Chicago could cost the airlines millions and also addressed the impact on the travelers. On Tuesday morning the Today Show talked about the continued chaos created from grounded and delayed flights in Chicago.

Earlier this week, the GBTA Foundation released a study focused on dynamic hotel pricing. Business Travel News reporter Michael Baker wrote most travel buyers who have adopted dynamic-pricing agreements in their hotel programs are satisfied with the results, according to the study. A Successful Meetings article called dynamic pricing: the next trend in business travel.

Ebola has been all over the news with the first ebola diagnosis in the United States. One article asks if airports should screen passengers for ebola and discusses the risks for ebola transmission and air travel. Hugo Martin of the LA Times writes about the ebola case focusing attention on the procedures airlines use to keep cabins clean and safe for passengers.

Finally, CNN reports about a new airport scanner that could make going through security a breeze. Now that sounds like something business travelers could get behind.