Mexican airlines grounded after safety violations and unpaid bills

by Scott Carmichael on

It’s one thing when the recession leads to higher prices and a general doom and gloom in the travel industry. But when the economic downturn actually starts jeopardizing aviation safety, it’s a pretty serious issue.

In Mexico, the aviation sector has been in a real double nightmare – the economy sucks and they had to deal with the swine flu outbreak.

The Mexican government recently grounded their fourth airline since 2007. The airlines had performed insufficient maintenance checks, resulting in fluid leaks and other technical deficiencies.

The airlines were also guilty of not repairing aircraft damage and poor pilot training.

In addition to this, three airlines have been grounded because they failed to pay the required government fees and taxes.

One of the airlines involved, Aviacsa, operates a daily Mexico City – Las Vegas flight and was grounded when inspectors discovered a whopping 280 problems with their fleet of 23 planes. When the suspension was overturned by a court, the airline was once again grounded when they failed to pay a $21 Million air-traffic control bill.

The airline called the 280 problems “cosmetic”, but the head of enforcement at the Mexican transportation department correctly states that even cosmetic problems could easily become big problems. In the end, it is reassuring to see that the Mexican aviation inspectors are doing a good job, and are doing everything they can to keep unsafe planes on the ground, where the belong. And remember, not all Mexican carriers can be as sexy as Viva Aerobus!
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The newest hidden cost in travel: taxes

by Tom Johansmeyer on

Cities and states are pumping up their coffers at the expense of visitors. Unemployment has led to a fall in income taxes, and with consumer spending off, sales taxes aren’t bring in what they did in the past. So, municipalities have had to look elsewhere.

And, travel is a great place to start!

How can a city or state raise money without incurring the wrath of its own voters? You guessed it – travel taxes. Hotels and rental cars are favorites, because the likelihood of nailing a resident with the tax is low. While you’d think that these additional fees would keep tourists away, it’s not likely. There are probably a handful of tax activists out there who’d rather dump tea in a harbor, but it’s unlikely to be the minority.

Last year, hotel room taxes brought in $14 billion, but the take is expected to fall this year, even with the higher rates proposed. After all, hotel occupancy rates are at their lowest levels since 1956 – a sluggish 55.5 percent – according to PKF Hospitality Research.

Who’s getting in on the action?

Hawaii: the hotel room tax hit 8.25 percent on July 1, 2009 (up from 7.25 percent) and will go up to 9.25% a year from now.

Nevada: Las Vegas is pushing the hotel room tax from 9 percent to an insanely high 12 percent! Why isn’t Reno‘s room tax being pushed to 12 percent? It can’t … because it already is 12 percent.

New Hampshire: the “Live Free or Die” state bumped its hotel room and restaurant tax to 9 percent (from 8 percent) and has stretched it to include recreational vehicles at campgrounds.

Massachusetts: look for the ol’ “Taxachusets” jokes to come back with a 50 percent increase in the hotel tax (from 4 percent to 6 percent) and an increase in the restaurant tax from 5 percent to 6.25 percent. Cities can add another 0.75 percent to the latter if they like.

New York City: as if the March 1, 2009 hotel tax increase to 14.25 percent wasn’t enough, the city will hit internet reservations for a bit more tax revenue.

Daily Travel Deal – Las Vegas MGM Grand getting close to paying you to stay

by Scott Carmichael on

This was bound to happen sooner or later – Hotels in Las Vegas are so desperate happy to have you come and stay with them, that the deals are better than ever.

Short of being comped, this deal at the MGM Grand is one of the hottest out there at the moment.

Starting at $48, you get a night at the hotel, $35 in dining and activity credits, a 2 for 1 spa pass, 2 VIP passes to Studio 54 or Tabú and $25 in free slot play.

If a standard room isn’t good enough, you can drop an extra $25 for a bungalow suite, or $30 for a celebrity spa suite (700 sq ft).

Seriously, this is indeed getting close to having the hotel pay you to come and stay with them. Of course, the hotel would prefer if you left them some extra cash on the gaming tables or at one of their other amenities

The fine print is simple – you can stay at this promotional rate between April 22nd 2009 and December 29th 2009, but you need to book before April 30th 2009. The $48 rate is only available on certain dates, but a quick peek at the availability calendar shows that most of the summer months have that rate. Some dates are very high, but on average, it won’t be hard to snag yourself a really good deal.

Still trying to plan your summer vacation? Check out these hot international travel deals!

Jaunted founders launch Vegaschatter.com

by Grant Martin on

Our friends over at Jaunted and Hotelchatter are up to no good again, this morning kicking off Vegaschatter.com, a sister blog that will cover all things Vegas.

Why Las Vegas? According to one Mr. Mark Johnson, the founder of SFO Media, “Las Vegas has always been one of the world’s most popular travel destinations, and for years the city was in dire need of a daily travel web publication that would cover Vegas the same way HotelChatter covers hotels and Jaunted covers travel — from a visitors perspective.”

This means you can expect the same witty delivery, quality content and high volume of posts as you get from the other sites, particularly since Juliana Shallcross , managing editor of [editor of?] Jaunted and Hotelchatter will be in charge.

And what of starting a Las Vegas blog in the midst of a deep recession that seems to be hitting the City of Sin the hardest? Will the investment now grow as the city rebuilds? Is Vegaschatter as doomed as the flailing Nevada economy? Tune into Vegaschatter.com for the details.

Juliana, Mark: best of luck.

Chattanooga, Portsmouth among top art destinations in the U.S.

by Tom Johansmeyer on

Who thought that Tennessee and New Hampshire would be some of the top towns in the country for art lovers. AmericanStyle magazine just issued the results of its twelfth annual arts destinations poll. Some spots are predictable. Others, like Chattanooga, will just blow your mind.

This is the first year Chattanooga made the list, shooting all the way up to second in the mid-sized city category. If you’ve been there, some of the surprise wears off. I hit Chattanooga back in 1999, and it was turning into a pretty cool small city. The past decade, obviously, has treated the city well. More shocking is the top mid-sized city: Buffalo, NY.

At the top of the small city list, Santa Fe is an utterly predictable #1 – like New York in the big city category. Portsmouth, NH, toward the bottom of the small city list, is a sentimental favorite. I had my first real job in Portsmouth and drank away many a Friday and Saturday (and Monday and Tuesday and Wednesday) night on its sidewalks.

See the full lists after the jump.Big Cities (population of 500,000 or more)

  1. New York, NY
  2. Chicago, IL
  3. Washington, DC
  4. San Francisco, CA
  5. Albuquerque, NM
  6. Boston, MA
  7. Seattle, WA
  8. Atlanta, GA
  9. Philadelphia, PA
  10. Los Angeles, CA
  11. Portland, OR
  12. Baltimore, MD
  13. Denver, CO
  14. Phoenix, AZ
  15. Austin, TX
  16. Charlotte, NC
  17. Columbus, OH
  18. Nashville, TN
  19. San Diego, CA
  20. Tucson, AZ
  21. San Antonio, TX
  22. Las Vegas, NV
  23. Milwaukee, WI
  24. Dallas, TX
  25. Houston, TX

Mid-Sized Cities (population of 100,000 to 499,000)

  1. Buffalo, NY
  2. Chattanooga, TN
  3. Pittsburgh, PA
  4. Scottsdale, AZ
  5. New Orleans, LA
  6. Charleston, SC
  7. Savannah, GA
  8. Cleveland, OH
  9. Ann Arbor, MI
  10. Minneapolis, MN
  11. Alexandria, VA
  12. Miami, FL
  13. Tacoma, WA
  14. St. Louis, MO
  15. Athens, GA
  16. Kansas City, MO
  17. Colorado Springs, MO
  18. Providence, RI
  19. Salt Lake City, UT
  20. Honolulu, HI
  21. Rochester, NY
  22. St. Petersburg, FL
  23. Cincinnati, OH
  24. Raleigh, NC
  25. Tampa, FL

Small Cities (population of below 100,000)

  1. Santa Fe, NM
  2. Asheville, NC
  3. Sedona, AZ
  4. Taos, NM
  5. Saugatuck, MI
  6. Key West, FL
  7. Berkeley Springs, WV
  8. Boulder, CO
  9. Carmel, CA
  10. Corning, NY
  11. Sarasota, FL
  12. Beaufort, SC
  13. Chapel Hill, NC
  14. Burlington, VT
  15. Annapolis, MD
  16. Aspen, CO
  17. Laguna Beach, CA
  18. Northampton, MA
  19. Eureka Springs, AR
  20. Brattleboro, VT
  21. New Hope, PA
  22. Naples, FL
  23. Cumberland, MD
  24. Berea, KY
  25. Portsmouth, NH