Social media addicts get hotel points when they jones for recognition

by Tom Johansmeyer on

Does check-in mean more to you than a pretty girl at the front desk, fumbling with your credit card and a humble request for an upgrade? If this expression instead reminds you that you’ve been the uncontested mayor of your tiny cubicle for the past seven and a half months – and you like to travel – Topguest.com has you in mind. This new social media service seeks to score hotel points for you based on foursquare, Gowalla, Loopt and a handful of other networks.

So far, Standard Hotels is previewing Topguest. According to CNET:

Right now, there are two rewards in place: check in to all four Standard hotels in the course of a week (which involves being in New York, Los Angeles, and Miami) and earn a complimentary week’s stay at any one of them), or check in to Standard establishments ten times and receive a 25 percent reservation discount.

Okay, so the perks are a little thin right now. But, if Standard can wrangle the addicts, look for the other hotels to get on board.

Westin hotel to layoff employees after protests over pay cuts

by Melanie Nayer on

The Westin Hotel announced it would cut the jobs of almost 50 employees at its Providence, Rhode Island hotel. The layoffs come after several months of demonstrations at the hotel.

According to the Providence Journal, the hotel workers were notified Friday that their jobs would be farmed out to a subcontracting firm at the end of the month.

Demonstrations began in March when the 200-member hotel workers union called for a boycott of the hotel after learning that Westin management wanted to impose wage cuts, health-care cost increases and increased work loads.

The union, whose contract expired in October, says it will continue to call for a boycott.

[via The Providence Journal]

Frequent flier classes help you learn (and game?) the system

by Tom Johansmeyer on

Who knew a seminar could turn you into Gadling top dog Grant Martin? That isn’t the explicit promise of Grant-caliber savvy – nobody would be so bold – but two courses developed by Nicholas Kraley can bring you a little closer to maximizing your miles and taking that all important mileage run in December.

Kraley is something of an expert, having picked up more than 1.5 million miles in the past decade as a diplomatic correspondent and business travel columnist over at the Washington Times. The curricula he has developed for his “On the Fly” seminars – “Saving on airfare and redeeming frequent-flier miles” and the advanced course, “Securing top elite status and flying in luxury” – reflect his experience.

According to USA Today:

“No one has ever done this before, as far as I know,” Kralev says. “It took me years to learn all that stuff, since there are no books or classes about this, and I thought there must be enough people out there who want to fly cheaply but in luxury.”

Interested in checking this out? The program kicks off June 25 and 26, 2010.

Cruise art seller, Park West, accused of fraud

by Tom Johansmeyer on

It looks like Royal Caribbean just dodged a bullet. The cruise line announced last month that it wasn’t going to renew its contract with art auction provider Park West – and the timing couldn’t be better. Passengers who have purchased pieces from Park West are coming out of the woodwork with accusations that Park West was peddling “fake, forged and overpriced work and using phony appraisals and certificates of authenticity,” according to USA Today.

One passenger, Marti Szosta, picked up 21 pieces from Park West while on Royal Caribbean cruises from 2005 to 2007 – some of the art market‘s hottest years – and dropped $48,000 in the process. “I was sick, I could hardly breathe” she was quoted as saying when she learned of the value of her art investment.

Says USA Today:

Szostak tells the news outlet she worked three jobs to pay for the art and then decided to sell, only to be told by art dealers that the art was largely worthless. She says experts told her signatures on limited-edition prints by Dalí she had bought at the auctions were forged.

Several buyers are now suing Park West, which faces charges of racketeering, fraud and violating consumer protection laws. Albert Scaglione, Park West’s founder, denies the allegations and says, “We have never done anything wrong.”

Gulf Coast Oil Spill Watch: June 11th

by Leigh Caldwell on

It’s Day 53 of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. Here’s a roundup of links to the latest news affecting travelers:

  • The glow of a controlled burn on the oil slick could be seen off Pensacola-area beaches today, the Pensacola News-Journal says. The Coast Guard is considering burning off some of the oil in a new plume discovered late Thursday 12 miles off the Perdido Pass.
  • The Miami Herald reports that Coast Guard skimmers were working Thursday in the Pensacola Pass, as oil makes its way into the Western Panhandle waterway.
  • BP has agreed to give Florida $25 million to support the state’s contigency plan in dealing with the oil spill disaster. The company signed the agreement with Florida Gov. Charlie Crist on Thursday, according to WTVT.
  • Will Florida have to start closing beaches? That’s the question Bloomberg asked a number of state and local officials, who described that move as a last resort.

For now, the contrast of workers and tourists on the beaches makes for an unusual scene. “Why are there people in hazmat suits and we are in our bikinis?” said Pensacola Beach visitor Emily Boswell.

[Image credit: NASA Goddard Space Flight Center]