Week in Review

Following last week’s speculations of a potential acquisition, Reuters reports AccorHotels will buy Movenpick Hotels in a $567 million deal.

According to The Korea Times, Korea plans on putting an end to OTAs’ unfair refund policies, which prevent customers from changing reservations or claiming refunds in the case of cancellations. The Fair Trade Commission suggests that agencies can still sell the rooms to other customers if the reservations are cancelled early enough, meaning the current policies infringe upon customers’ rights.

Marriott, Accor, Southwest and Virgin Australia were all voted in as the top loyalty programs at the Freddie Awards last week, Skift notes.

Great news for travelers flying through Chicago: O’Hare and Midway international airports are now offering free unlimited Wi-Fi, USA TODAY shares.

According to USA TODAY, six new airlines have joined the TSA Precheck program: Air Serbia, Condor Airlines, Porter Airlines, Scandinavian Airlines (SAS), and the UK and Scandinavian units of Thomas Cook Airlines.

On this week’s episode of The Business of Travel, we chat about how improving the traveler experience can boost travel policy compliance. Jeanne Liu highlights research findings that show the connection between traveler satisfaction and policy compliance, while Jason Moskal of Hotel Indigo and Even Hotel Brands for IHG shares lessons learned in building a brand around creating the best possible travel experience.

The results are in: the world’s busiest air route is a one-hour connection from Kuala Lumpur to Singapore. According to Business Traveller, carriers operated 30,537 flights over the 12 months to February 2018.

TravelWeekly reports train companies are discussing the possibility of a high-speed rail link between London and Bordeaux.

According to The Independent, a new study suggests airline passengers are missing out on compensation due to a flawed complaints process.

American Airlines CEO Doug Parker warns that higher airfares are coming due to rising fuel costs, The Washington Post notes.

Heathrow’s CEO suggests the airport’s potential third runway is within “touching distance” of approval, Skift writes.

According to Fox News, Singapore Airlines is prepping to launch the world’s longest non-stop flight by the end of 2018. The Singapore-New York route would be 9,521 miles long and take 19 hours to complete.

TravelDailyNews International shares findings from a new study suggesting 89 percent of top travel websites fail to protect user security.