Why the Budapest Tourism Numbers are Shrinking

Last year, the hotels here in Budapest had an occupancy rate ranging from 30-60%. Many were moaning, crying the blues as I went from hotel to hotel when I was researching my latest book. While the book was going through the copy-editing phase, I found out one of the hotels I had reviewed, which had been open for four years, decided to close its doors due the economy.Fortunately, I had time to pull it from the book.

This brief from Caboodle.hu is a real indicator of why we went from twenty-two budget airlines at the peak to the six or so remaining now.

Ryanair is considering cancelling its flights in and out of Budapest if it cannot offset the rising airport fees, regional sales director of the low-cost airline László Tamás said. The problem is not with the landing and passenger fees but the fact that handling fees have gone up over 10%, Tamás explained. The Irish airline served 400,000 passengers in Budapest in 2008 but - after cancelling its Bremen and Liverpool services - transported only 177,000 passengers last year, and is aiming for 140,000 this year.

The airline's twice-weekly flights to Glasgow-Prestwick were recommenced yesterday.
"Pécs airport employees were not co-operative and the runway in Debrecen is too narrow," Tamás said in answer to a question as to why Ryanair does not operate from the provincial Hungarian cities. Ryanair does not fly to Fly Balaton airport due to bankrupt airport operator Cape Clear Aviation's outstanding debts to the airline.

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Freaky Human Psychology

This happened to be one of those flow of consciousness days via the Internet. Google Alerts is set to send me a list of articles on "Budget Airlines", "European Airlines", and "Budapest". Once a week, I receive a list of stories to check out on the desired topic.

Today, I started with an article describing the cat fight between the owners of RyanAir and easyJet. On that page was a link to the Times Book Review, so I wandered over there to find three books to add to my Amazon Wish List. While hitting the browser back button, I came across this article on free drinks in NYC, which I read, posted to Facebook, and moved on. 

Another tap on the back browser button brought me to a page where I spotted in the sidebar "An Airline Pricing Puzzle", which grabbed my attention, so CLICK and I am off into no person's land on the Internet highway once again. Interesting little post it was, but without a conclusion or resolution, there was no satiated feeling. That did not stop me from clicking on the other links there from "Discrimination Against the Thin" to "How Much Is Your IPhone App? What has not bypassed my attention is that all of these are posted under the NY Times, Opinion section entitled Freakanomics: The Hidden Side of Everything. I know the book named Freakanomics, but the authors of the book are not the author of these opinion pieces. There did not seem to be much about Daniel Hamermesh, the opinionated blogger of these freakishly short quips of financial puzzles. But I would place bets he is earning a tidy sum for these 30-minute observations, sit at the computer to type, and e-mail to the editor little rants. Am I jealous? You can bet on it! E-mail me an offer.

More on Freakanomics and SuperFreakanomics later. We are meeting friends for a coffee soon. With any luck there will be some crazy dismal economic freakish event when we are at the cafe so I can e-mail it to the NY Times Op-Ed editor and see if they want to hire me.

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A Year Past

Image via Wikipedia

Almost a year ago, on January 30, 2009, I posted an article regarding Malev Airlines having been taken over by Aeroflot.

Now, today, I received a comment on that posting. Better late than never? Does the speed of the comment say something about their attention to detail? When I went to the website and looked at the destinations that Malev is flying to, what is really telling is that they stopped their flights to both the US and Canada. The rest of the list is of interest also.

Malev Airlines has left a new comment on your post "Russian Bank, Aeroflot to take over Malév followin...":

Hi everybody, For more details on Malev Airlines like

1. Airlines Information

2. History

3. Malev Airlines Destinations

4. Fleets

5. Malev Airlines Phone Numbers

6. Baggage Allowance

7. Images

Visit "Altius Directory". This URL may be useful.

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Good-bye Frequent Flier Miles II

Another view of those frequent flier miles. http://www.nwcn.com/sharedcontent/northwest/travel/stories/NW_071309TRB-airline-bankruptcy-danger-TP.39d331d2.html

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Aging Miles

I am sharing here what I have been reading. We have been victims of this ourselves. Life happens and you just forget to check your statements online and lose out as time flies by.

"The trap, as one of my clients puts, is the expiring mileage game. Which is not unique to American Airlines. Don’t accrue or redeem miles in 18 months or so, and they all go away. But American also does not send mileage statements when there is no activity, and they don’t send warnings.

So, while all that is necessary to keep miles active is buying some small thing from a merchant on the AA.com site, or buying a few miles, or renting a car, or one of a number of simple things, if you aren’t alert, you lose."

The full article is here: http://www.tripso.com/today/american-airlines-to-travel-agents-and-passengers-pay-attention-or-pay-up/

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The Sky is Shrinking

More mergers + possibly more options = higher airfares? Well, perhaps not more options as these mergers may produce a tighter schedule. This is the latest news on airline consolidation wishes. Posted here are snippets of the full article on of all places China Daily athttp://www.chinadaily.com.cn/bizchina/2009-06/01/content_7958949.htm Lufthansa's next targets are Austrian Airlines and Brussels Airlines.

The German carrier made a public offer to purchase the stock held by all free-float shareholders of Austrian Airlines AG in February. More than 85 percent of the shareholders of Austrian Airlines had accepted the offer by last month.

Lufthansa also plans to take a 45 percent stake in Brussels Airlines, which may later be increased to 100 percent.

Lufthansa's major European rivals such as Air France-KLM and British Airways have also showed great interest in consolidation.

Air France-KLM, Europe's largest airline by revenue, finalized a deal on May 20 with Delta to operate as one airline over the North Atlantic. Air France and KLM merged in 2004 and Delta bought Northwest Airlines last year, which paved the way for a four-way partnership. The pact between the two largest airlines on each side of the ocean involved sharing revenues and costs on more than 200 trans-Atlantic flights.

Air France-KLM completed its purchase of a 25 percent stake in Alitalia earlier this year. It has also submitted a non-binding offer for Czech Airlines, while British Airways said last year that it planned to merge with Iberia, the Spanish flag carrier.

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Fly Air New Zealand

I am uncertain what the point is that they are trying to make with this, but it would certainly get my attention during the safety routine review. I just wonder how many flight attendant call buttons would need replacing after being used and abused if they pulled this off for real. Fun idea regardless.

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Russian Bank, Aeroflot to take over Malév following collapse of parent company: Realdeal.hu

Russian Bank, Aeroflot to take over Malév following collapse of parent company: Realdeal.hu: "January 26, 2009, 8:54 CET Russian Bank, Aeroflot to take over Malév following collapse of parent company By MTI Russia's state-owned Vnesheconombank will take over Hungarian national airline Malev and operate the airline in partnership with Russia's Aeroflot, Hungary's Finance Minister Janos Veres announced at a press conference held jointly with Russia's First Deputy Prime Minister Viktor Zubkov on Saturday. Veres said that the Russian owner had agreed to keep Malev a national airline as well as its rights in European Union air traffic. Malev is owned by AirBridge, a company in which two Hungarians own the majority stake and Russian tycoon Boris Abramovich holds 49 percent. The Russian Vnesheconombank had guaranteed the financing of Malev's operation since its privatisation in 2007. Zubkov said the ownership change occurred due to the previous Russian owner's 'not very assertive management style' as well as the effects of the financial crisis. He added that Malev had a 'promising future'."

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Lufthansa launches new Lufthansa Italia brand

Press releases: Lufthansa launches new Lufthansa Italia brand New Italian airline to be established - Lufthansa Italia to offer direct connections from northern Italy to European destinations - Flights already available for booking from 99 euros 26.11.08 Lufthansa is launching its new 'Lufthansa Italia' brand in Italy tomorrow. The new airline blends traditional Lufthansa values, notably reliability and high quality, with Italian flair. With an initial fleet of six aircraft, Lufthansa will be offering the best of connections from northern Italy to major European destinations from February 2009. Lufthansa is to found its own Italian airline under the new brand early next year and apply for an Italian Air Operator Certificate (AOC). 'Lufthansa Italia will position us in an important market characterised by strong demand, which also holds out opportunities for buoyant growth in the future. We will be offering our Italian customers an extensive route network from northern Italy to attractive destinations in Europe,' said Lufthansa CEO and Chairman Wolfgang Mayrhuber. 'Milan and Lombardy rank among Europe’s economically most important and strongest regions. A good route network connecting them with Europe’s principal cities is essential. Lufthansa Italia is making this a reality and at the same time is demonstrating a clear commitment to the region.' Flights to the first two destinations, Barcelona und Paris (Charles de Gaulle), will be operated from 2 February 2009. Flights to Brussels, Budapest, Bucharest and Madrid will be added to the timetable four weeks later. London (Heathrow) and Lisbon will be brought into the network with the start of the 2009 summer flight schedules at the end of March. The new services will provide Lufthansa customers with fast, non-stop connections. Flight bookings through the usual distribution channels with the new Lufthansa Italia airline began in mid-October. An Airbus A319, seating 138 passengers in Business and Economy Class, will be operating the flights under the Lufthansa Italia brand. The discreet cabin design betrays its Italian origins. The passengers will be served by Italian flight attendants with Italian delicacies adding a note of originality to the in-flight menu. In cooperation with the Milan Airport operator SEA, the infrastructure at Malpensa Airport will be successively upgraded to provide Lufthansa passengers with more service and comfort at the airport. Awaiting them from spring 2009 is an enhanced lounge product and fast-track passage through security. Deutsche Lufthansa AG Corporate Communications"

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The Curse

Long lay-overs are a travelers curse. I despise long waiting times; I want to be there regardless if it is the anticipation of discovery of visiting a new place or the redundancy of returning to familiar routines. Waiting has never been my forte. Days of waiting or what seemed like it, it occurred to us that we had booked our room in Adelaide one day earlier than needed. Time zones, date lines, horizontal lines, poetry lines, or any other lines that have clogged up our thinking, we realized we were supposed to be in the reserved bed at this very moment. Yet, it is only the next day and early morning when we will feel the comfort of a mattress. Fearful that the hotel would cancel our reservation, but only after charging us for one night's stay, we found the Internet kiosk in the airport lobby. All six computers were being used most likely by others who had time to kill and no airline lounge privileges to distract them. I chose to stand behind a little boy, thinking I could intimidate him into releasing the computer into my custody. This kid was tough. He held his ground searching his Hotmail account in Arabic, reading unread messages from March of 2008. I was not certain why he felt the sudden urgency to read them now, other than there were a line of people waiting to use the computers and he was now had power. After the Hotmail, he Googled for on- line games. At this point, impatience kicked in and I wanted him gone. I asked him if he were almost done with his 'work' as others needed the computer. It was at this point, I heard an authoritative voice coming from behind me, with this the kid briefly turned and responded to the voice. His little fingertips were still glued to the keyboard; he seemed to fear that lack of contact was an admission of lack of interest. The authoritative voice reverberated commands causing flickering actions from the kid like short volts of electricity vibrating his body. The voltage must have finally caused him to admit defeat relinquishing the computer to me. I whipped out an e-mail to the hotel after an expert Google search and within minutes, I graciously gave the computer back to the forlorn minor who must have had as much time on his hands as we did and no way to amuse himself. Malaysian Airlines carried us from Kuala Lumpur to Adelaide. Honestly, I was not prepared for the plane or service we received. The plane was a 777-200, with a 2-5-2 configuration. Each seat had its own television screen, so we had on demand movies. The space between seats was roomy, much more so than the 747-200 we had been on with KLM. Malaysian Airlines does not serve hard liquor. I really wanted a scotch to knock myself out, but the options were white or red wine. Dinner was actually cooked and reminiscent of the old meals they served on airlines. Those would be the meals we complained about before they started lowering their standards to save money. Now we have a new gastronomic incompetence targets to focus on. This flight was close to eight hours, but regardless of the personalized televisions, we slept most of the flight. There is just something about dry recycled air that does not provide much incentive for staying awake. It did not motivate us to watch Wall-E a second time or most of the others were just reruns also. Miracle upon miracle, we landed in Australia, Adelaide International Airport. Our luggage, though checked in in Vienna and routed around like we were, was riding on the conveyor belt by the time we made it through Passport Control. The inspector, a young woman, asked why we were there. She then defensively asked why Adelaide specifically? She was not amused with my blunt answer that these were the cheapest tickets we could find to Australia. It was my innate sense that told me she has a bit of inferiority complex regarding her home area. Cheaper airline seats was own motivation. I do hope she proves me wrong. So we were advised to take a taxi to the hotel for 10-15 Australian dollars. The taxi came to 19 dollars by the time we pull up to the door. After thirty hours of travel, I would have paid double just to be here. Yes, the hotel received our e-mail, but they thought we missed a connection, not realizing we had left Europe two days prior. They were impressed with the long lay-overs we had endured to come to their fine city, obviously they are not as uptight as the Customs Agent. Our room is extra large-so is the bed. There is a cabinet with an assortment of cups, glasses, and other stemware. The fridge is fine for food storage if you want to forage as a raw foodie. The shower is large enough to entertain in. Since we technically stayed here last night, we are technically allowed to have breakfast, so we ventured up for some cold cereal, instant coffee, and reconstituted juice. As was the plan, we had two nights here before being picked up for Kangaroo Island and two nights there. Well we will have our second night here tonight, but the first night was spent in absentia. Finding our pickup point for the shuttle tomorrow was our first priority. We no longer had slag time with a missing day, International date lines, and all of that playing with our heads. Our hotel is only three blocks from the beach; a pristine barely caramel colored sandy oasis that stretches for miles with frothy shafts of water gently slapping it. It turns out we are not in Adelaide, but rather in Glenelg, a palindrome named suburb. It is a lively little town with festive smallish houses that are reminders of the beach front properties of my New Jersey past. The main street and all of the arteries running from it boom with businesses or storefronts waiting to be filled. The number of coffee shops are only out-numbered by the abundance of banks. We had to have a coffee to recharge our batteries, so we lamely went to Gloria Jean's since they offered outdoor seating. Smoking indoors anywhere here is taboo, so outdoor seating is popular where space permits it. We are grateful it is summer time. Right, summer time and we are wearing our jackets with the liners inside. This is summer like South African summers. The locals don't seem to realize it is cold out. They are wearing shorts, sun dresses, and sandals. What was it Mark Twain said? “The coldest winter I ever spent was a summer in San Francisco.” I may have missed a word here or there, but the quote is appropriate for here. Yea, though it is summer here, the air is brisk and the winds are wild. No one seems to pay much attention to our strange ways or accent when we have an opportunity to converse with a local, but the coats are a dead giveaway we are not from here. The fact that Ron has yet to remove his Obama '08 pin could just be another clue to the observant. Vodafone exists here as well as in Europe and South Africa, so when I found a store, after giving my life history, show three forms of ID, and pledge allegiance to the Mobile Community, I was able to buy a Sim card for my phone. It pays to have an unlocked global phone. For $35.00 Australian, I am now topped up with $150.00 worth of calling time allowing me to call anywhere in the world. Technology can be wonderful. Of course, I could not test it out immediately since my battery had died from lack of use and each time I tried turning it on, it suspended itself. I needed to recharge it. I could have sworn I had done that before leaving home, but then again that was days, weeks ago? It seems like we have traveled in a time capsule. Glenelg has a tram that runs into the city center of Adelaide. After a nap, shower, and shave, we take this thirty minute ride by buying a day ticket from the on-board conductor. For $8.00, you can unlimited trips, whereas a one-way ticket would run $4.50. As the Customs Inspector suspected, we did not know much about Adelaide, so everything we saw was a pleasant surprise. It is charming with old English buildings nestled in between modern ones. The influence of Great Britain is not lost anywhere. The currency coins still has Elizabeth on it. Depending on the year of minting, her looks change. The more current coins have an unflattering image of her side view, but I must say, the bills are strikingly beautiful in color, design, and each has a transparent plastic window. Each denomination has a different design. Parker Brothers should pay more attention to these details if they ever redesign Monopoly money. This alone could increase sales. All of Adelaide is razzle-dazzle Christmas, which is difficult to wrap your head around when you were born and raised in the northern hemisphere, but two years in Southern Africa and one in Asia has preconditioned us for this phenomena. With all of the Christmas décor, it does make it more festive than any other non-seasonal Christmas destination we have been to over the years. Before returning to Glenelg, we double checked on our transport for tomorrow. Ron called the Youth Hostel people to confirm our pick-up to be taken to the boat for our Kangaroo Island adventure. They had it wrong, so it was a good thing we called, but then had to stop into the office to pick up transport vouchers. We finally had it all planned and was good to go Looking at restaurant menus and stores, prices here are high. Fortunately for us, the Australian dollar has done a nosedive. When we were first planning this trip, the Aussie dollar was almost 1 to 1 with the American dollar. Now, it is one $ American to $1.65 Australian. The Euro is even better at one of them to 1.95 Australian. Such as our exchanges go, it seems expensive for restaurants to be charging $23-35.00 for an entrée and side dishes extra. How do these people afford these prices? Albeit, there are many empty storefronts that must not have survived the economics of the times, those that are still going seem to be flourishing. Ron had a hankering for BBQ. He really wanted to be able to say, “Throw some shrimp on the barbie for me.” so he investigated the top spot to go. When we returned to Glenelg from Adelaide, we went to the BBQ restaurant for dinner. They only serve various steaks and steak with shrimp. With our Aussie beer, I ordered the 450 gram porterhouse steak; Ron ordered the beef and reef, steak with shrimp. Perhaps my expectations were too high, but what I received was a big slab of cooked meat. This beef had not seen a spice or herb before I rambunctiously attacked it with the salt shaker. Even then, it was just salty beef lacking a personality. In my imagination it would have been marinated, or prepared in some way to make it stand out from other meats, but it did not. Plentiful, yes, full of flavor, not exactly. Our bill came to $70. and I know I have repeatedly told myself, we will not pinch pennies on this trip, that seemed like an extravagant amount of money for a dinner that was not worth writing home about. Walking back to the hotel, the air had gotten noticeably cooler, reassuring us it was a good idea to bring out jackets along. We were in bed by 10:00 watching a comedy on television. What a thrill to have all channels in English.

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Sterling Falling From the Sky

Icelandic-owned Sterling Airlines to File for Bankruptcy Icelandic-owned low-cost carrier, said it will file for bankruptcy on Wednesday. The airline, which was trying to raise financial support for a restructuring program amid losses, collapsed following the Icelandic financial system meltdown that started last month. The bankruptcy announcement has resulted in the immediate grounding of all its planes, putting its customers in difficulties, especially those who have bought tickets from the company Web site. Sterling said it would not be able to refund such customers, or do anything for those who are availing its services. This is more bad news for Budapest as this was a budget airline from and to here.

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Airline Slowdown

European airlines: slowdown is reducing passengers

The Associated Press

Wednesday, October 22, 2008

BRUSSELS, Belgium: Europe's major airlines said Wednesday that the economic slowdown cut passenger numbers in September and they don't expect a turnaround in the near future.

Alitalia, Spanair and Icelandair were worst hit as the number of people flying on member airlines dropped 1.1 percent compared with the previous year, the Association of European Airlines said.

The group said this was the first time in 25 years that the economy caused traffic to fall and came after three months of slow growth over the summer.

With worse still to come as European economies slide close to recession, AEA's secretary general Ulrich Schulte-Strathaus said passenger numbers "cannot be expected to recover in the immediate future."

He blamed a "toxic combination" of a slowing economy, declining business and consumer confidence and high inflation driven by higher oil prices — even though they have come down from recent record levels.

Flights within European countries fell sharply, down 12 percent, while lucrative trans-Atlantic flights between Europe and North America did not grow at all. Only flights from Europe to the Middle East and to the South Atlantic grew — neither of them major markets.

Italy's flagship carrier Alitalia, which went bankrupt in August, saw the worst drop in passenger numbers, down 25 percent from a year ago.

Spanish airline Spanair was down 21 percent as the bursting of a housing bubble saw the country's economy slow sharply.

Another troubled nation's airline, Icelandair, flew 12.8 percent fewer people than it did in September 2007 as the banking crisis saw Iceland itself teeter on the brink of bankruptcy.

But Europe's biggest airlines fared better. Germany's Lufthansa — which flew nearly 5 million people last month — saw numbers grow 4.2 percent. Near rival Air France saw an 0.2 percent drop in traffic while British Airways saw a larger 5.1 percent decline.

The AEA represents 35 European airlines, mostly national flag carriers, that carry 380 million people every year. It does not count passenger numbers on budget airlines such as Ryanair or chartered vacation flights.

http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2008/10/22/business/EU-EU-Airlines.php

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Travel Alerts for 2009

Planning ahead, here are some changes in travel for 2009. Some only apply to US citizens, but some to others as well. Currently: ALL PERSONS traveling by air outside of the United States are required to present a passport or other valid travel document to enter or re-enter the United States. 2009: On June 1, 2009, the U.S. government will implement the full requirements of the land and sea phase of WHTI. The proposed rules require most U.S. citizens entering the United States at sea or land ports of entry to have a passport, passport card, or WHTI-compliant document. Note: The passport requirement does NOT apply to U.S. citizens traveling to or returning directly from a U.S. territory. EU Airlines: The European Parliament approved a “transparency” law mandating that airfares have to include all taxes, fees and charges added to the basic ticket price and known at the time of publication. It should take effect either later this year or at the beginning of 2009. This is meant to avoid unpleasant surprises when shopping around for a ticket within Europe or to Europe. Under the rule, airfare or air rate, taxes, airport charges and other charges, surcharges or fees, such as those related to security or fuel, have to be included in the price of the ticket. Visas going to the US: The Department of Homeland Security’s new Electronic System for Travel Authorization (ESTA) will become mandatory on January 12, 2009. It’s a fully-automated, electronic system for screening passengers before they begin travel to the United States under the Visa Waiver Program. Currently, 27 countries' citizens can travel to the US for 90 days without a Visa for tourism, but not business or work. If you need a passport, apply early. Due to the backlog, delays can be months long.

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The Candidates and Travel Concerns

This is reprinted from the Frommer's Newsletter http://www.frommers.com/articles/5526.html.

Obama and McCain Strike Out on Travelers' Issues

By Sascha Segan October 8, 2008

In this intense presidential campaign, Senators Barack Obama and John McCain have talked about many issues. But as air travel gets more crowded, delayed and expensive, roads and bridges crumble, and fewer foreign travelers decide to brave our strict security procedures to enter the U.S., the two candidates have said very little about issues affecting travelers and the travel industry.

In tough economic times, travel industry issues are very relevant to Americans' pocketbooks. According to the Travel Industry Association, travel and tourism is a $1.6 trillion industry generating $110 billion in tax revenue a year. The industry employed 7.5 million people in 2006, and that's not counting all of the folks who work at stores, restaurants and other venues patronized by both travelers and locals.

We emailed each campaign twice with a list of questions; both declined to respond. We won't take it personally. The Travel Industry Association has also tried to ask the candidates what they're going to do for travelers, and they seem to have been ignored, too.

We've marshaled the candidates' position statements, press and third-party reports to try to suss out what the candidates think about our struggling airlines, our broken-down railways, our crumbling roads and the inbound travel industry.

Air Travel

Airlines are merging. Flight delays are rampant. Airfares are going up, and people are getting stuck on the tarmac for hours at a time. What do Obama and McCain think?

Obama's transportation position paper blames "a record number of flight delays" on "an outdated air-traffic control system and overscheduling at airports already operating at full capacity ... Moreover, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has failed to work well with our nation's air traffic controllers, neglecting to treat them with the respect they deserve. Obama will work with Congress to modernize the nation's air traffic control system and he will direct the new FAA Administrator to work cooperatively with the frontline air traffic controllers to restore morale and improve working conditions and operations at the agency." According to Popular Mechanics Obama favors hiring more air traffic controllers.

If you read between the lines of a highly polemic AFL-CIO page on McCain's aviation policies you'll find that McCain is interested in privatizing or contracting out air traffic control. He's for allowing foreign airlines to compete on U.S. routes, and for more foreign investment in the U.S. airline industry. The AFL-CIO opposes these things, but needless to say, many other people support these ideas.

Neither candidate has stepped forward for travelers on "passenger rights" issues, including regulating whether airlines should provide comfort or compensation to passengers affected by delays and cancellations.

Rail Travel

Bring up the subject of Amtrak, and you'll find some of the starkest differences in the candidates' positions.

McCain has been one of Amtrak's greatest opponents for years. He has opposed increasing Amtrak funding and referred to Amtrak as a symbol of government waste, according to the Boston Globe. “Amtrak should be restructured to eliminate its reliance on the American taxpayers and to allow for its privatization," he said in 2002, according to a Brookings Institution report from August 25.

Obama says he is "a strong supporter of federal financial support for Amtrak. Obama believes we need to reform Amtrak to improve accountability. As president, Barack Obama will continue to fight for Amtrak funding and reform so that individuals, families and businesses throughout the country have safe and reliable transportation options. Barack Obama supports development of high-speed rail networks across the country. Providing passengers with safe high-speed rail will have significant environmental and metropolitan planning advantages and help diversify our nation's transportation infrastructure. Our domestic rail freight capacity must also be strengthened because our demand for rail transportation has never been greater, leaving many key transportation hubs stretched to capacity."

Obama's running mate, Joe Biden, is known as "Amtrak Joe" for his daily commute between Washington, D.C. and Delaware on Amtrak and his staunch support for increased funding for passenger rail.

Road Travel

For John McCain, energy policy and infrastructure policy are inseparable. "The nation cannot reduce its dependency on oil unless we change how we power our transportation sector," his Web site says.

McCain will offer a $5,000 tax credit for anyone who buys a zero-emission car; a $300 million prize for developing a viable electric car; a "rapid and complete" switch to "flex-fuel" ethanol-compatible vehicles; and enforcing mileage standards on carmakers.

McCain opposes a larger federal role in the transportation sector, according to the Brookings Institution.

Obama wants to increase those fuel-efficiency standards by 4 percent each year, provide a $7,000 tax credit for buying plug-in hybrid cars, and mandate that all new cars be "flex-fuel." In his transportation plan, he also discusses investing heavily in roads, highways and bridges with a "National Infrastructure Reinvestment Bank" that will finance projects to the tune of $60 billion over 10 years.

Inbound Tourism

Even as tourism to the US declines, the two candidates have been totally silent on issues affecting the huge inbound tourism industry. As Arthur Frommer recounts here on our site, "While other foreign countries are enjoying regular and substantial increases in their incoming tourism, the U.S.A. is welcoming fewer tourists in 2008 than visited our country in 2000. Recently, a Senior Vice President of the Travel Industry Association testified before a congressional committee that the shortfall in incoming foreign tourism had cost America "46 million visitors, $140 billion in lost visitor spending, $23 billion in lost tax revenueÂ… and 340,000 jobs."

The Travel Industry Association tried to get answers from the candidates, but got nothing.

"We have confidence that both could be leaders in striking the best balance between security and travel facilitation, but to date neither campaign has addressed travel issues in-depth," TIA senior vice president Geoff Freeman said diplomatically via e-mail.

In a blog post in the Orlando Sentinel, Obama criticized a potential government-sponsored tourism advertising campaign. "Because, look, money's tight right now. And there are a lot of potential uses for that money. And I think people know where South Beach is."

McCain has stayed mum on the issue of declining tourism to the U.S. On his Web site, he says he wants to "continue implementation of the US-VISIT comprehensive visitor security program." US-VISIT is an umbrella term for a bunch of controversial border security measures including fingerprinting visitors both as they enter and as they leave the country.

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Malev in Trouble

Budapest Airport worried about Malev Airline downsizing

Wednesday, 24 September 2008

Budapest, September 24 (MTI) - Budapest Airport, the company that runs the city's Ferihegy International Airport, is worried about the downsizing of Hungarian Airlines Malev, as it generates the lion's share of traffic at the facility, wrote Wednesday's nationwide daily Nepszabadsag. Malev is owned by a company called AirBridge, which is part of a Russian consortium called Air Union. Financier Boris Abramovich, who has a 49 percent stake in AirBridge, has lost his majority hold in Air Union, which is being bailed out of a financial hole by a Russian government-owned corporation called Rostechnology. Rostechnology plans to expand the union, now including five airlines, by adding another five. No one is quite sure how Malev fits into the picture, but one-third of the company's 300 pilots received layoff notices on Monday, wrote Nepszabadsag. The pilots' union, Hunalpa, has charged management with dilettantism, claiming that multiple mistakes have been made, including termination of several long-haul flights. Hunalpa officials say that the company needs a well-capitalised investor, and tell of an unnamed Middle Eastern airline that is interested in Malev. Moscow analysts, however, say that Malev will not change hands. The contract with AirBridge prohibits a resale without the permission of the Hungarian government, but that is not the case for stocks in the company. Analyst Oleg Panteleyev of Aviaport acknowledged that a review of Abramovich activity was a theoretical possibility. Should the Abramovich brothers be found responsible for the Air Union's financial hole and required to pay compensation, AirBridge might become part of a compensatory package, said Panteleyev, adding, however, that he saw little practical chance of this, wrote Nepszabadsag.

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easyJet adds Paris/Orly-Budapest route

Budget airline easyJet is adding a daily flight between Paris/Orly and Budapest on November 17.

Tickets are already available from the airline's website from Ft 6,600 including all taxes and fees.

easyJet aims to expand its 6% market share in Hungary, said Peter Voets, marketing director for the CEE region. The airline also connects Budapest to Geneva, Berlin, Dortmund, London/Luton, and London/Gatwick.

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SkyEurope Is No Longer a Budget Airline

Many blogs out there are still reporting the fabulous fares on budget airlines. Taking a closer look, these blogs are really retail sites that suck you in to exploring their site further and receiving money for clicks on their links like an AdSense account. Budget airlines are not the budget savings they once were. Just as the major airlines are experiencing crisis proportions, so are the budget airlines.

Case in point: I decided I needed a summer break before starting to teach again in September. I will be in charge of a new program, which is creating a minor in Journalism. Most of my summer was spent researching reading books to use for classes and developing a curriculum. This summer was hot and drawn out. Many days, I spent working with my fall semester thesis students to get a jump on the semester, since I have seven of them. My last get-away was our short rain-filled days in Istanbul in March, so I was itching to get out of the city, even if only for a breather of a different culture. Searching the SkyEurope site after getting the e-mail newsletter stating they were having a sale, I booked us two tickets to Trieste, Italy. We leave this Sunday. The fare price for the two of us round-trip was 6,000 Huf. At today's exchange rate, it would seem that it is an incredible bargain at $39.73. Two tickets, round-trip from Budapest to Italy for $40.00? Wow! Here is where the hook comes in. You immediately start fantasizing about being away, even if you have no clue about the destination, romantic scenes flit through your mind. Honestly, I had no idea what the attraction to Trieste is still. I will blog it later. So as you go from the fantasy price screen and click "Continue", here is where the idyllic daydreams start to show the cracks and crumble into reality. There is a payment charge for using your credit card to book online. This happens to be 4,000 Huf ($26.50). The fee is much higher if you have the audacity to call their phone center or use a travel agent. Silly of me, but I chose to have a confirmation sent to my mobile phone: cost 250 Huf ($1.65). Because we travel with saline solution for my contacts, shampoo, conditioner, sunscreen, toothpaste, and so on, we chose to check one bag to store all of these "liquids" rather than hassle with trying to find the 3 oz. bottles needed. Budapest does not have a readily accessible travel store or any other to run out a purchase these little nnecessities. The fee to check one bag is 3,600 Huf ($23.85). Had we done the calculations ahead of time, we could have bought the things we needed once in Trieste probably at a lower cost. Now the hefty hidden charge, the "Fees and Taxes": 22,026 Huf ($145.86). So all in all, our BUDGET airline fare of 6,000 Huf or $39.73 transforms magically into a grand total of 38,874 Huf ($257.44) or $128.72 for each of us. For the unseasoned, this may still seem like a bargain and yes, it is cheaper and more convenient than the train. Points taken. However, just a couple of years ago, when budget airlines were budget airlines and there were 20 of them flying in and out of Budapest, we really had bargains. We flew to Zurich for 35 Euros each, total with fare and taxes, one way. We trained to Milan and flew home from Milan for 30 Euros each total with fare and taxes. "Those were the days my friend, we thought they would never end..." Actually, we thought it would only get better with the competition. If we could have forseen the future, we would have traveled more while the getting was ripe for the picking. SkyEurope tried snaring me once again yesterday. Their newsletter announced a 2 for 1 sale good until January 2009. Buy one ticket and the second one is completely free of fares and taxes. Fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice, shame on me. Being a risk taker, I went forward for the potential shame moniker with thoughts of an autumn break get-away in mind. The problem is that SkyEurope only flies from Budapest to Trieste. Flying from Vienna or Bratislava had numerous choices. Each is only three hours away, but if it is an early morning flight, it would mean an overnighter in either city the night before. But, hey, 2 for 1? With that savings, why not? Here is the catch. We tried Vienna to city after city that interested us, but "No flights are avaiable for this time period". When you look at their calendar for October and November, you would think the airline had gone under. City after city only showed blank calendars. Trying from Bratislava, the same was true. Nice trick. We are offering you a sale, but we are not offering any flights. Ha, ha, jokes on you! Well, SkyEurope, you are now on my blacklist. We will take the train to Heidelberg visit one of my students there instead.

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The Problem With a Small B and B

One thing that I hate about running a small B and B is when guests have to cancel at the last minute or just do not show up at all. Our no show rate is remarkably good considering. I think we have had three no-show guests in the years we have been running the place. All strangely enough have come from one booking agency. It happens to be the first agency we contracted with, but their referrals have gone down considerably over the years. Perhaps people are not traveling to Budapest from Europe as much as in the past? Today, we had to guests due to arrive for an eight night stay. They called from the Amsterdam airport to say that their passports were missing when they arrived from the train they were on. Without the passports, the airline would not let them fly. The guy sounded like he was practically in tears. He had sent a few e-mails telling us how excited they were to visit and on the phone, he said they found a jar of Skippy peanut butter. Based on his e-mails, we were looking forward to meeting them. So now we have a room open for eight unexpected nights. The chances of getting a last minute person are poor, but it happens. We will see.

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Ryanair Cuts Budapest in November-December

Ryanair to suspend Budapest service in November-December

By: All Hungary News

2008-07-18 15:24

Ryanair has cancelled all of its 180 flights to and from Budapest during November and December, claiming that, due to the high fees charged at Ferhihegy Airport, it is more economical for the company to stay away from the Hungarian capital, writes index.hu.

According to the Irish budget airline, Ferihegy is one of the most expensive airports in Europe, a factor that gains in importance as turnover drops in the low season. The company says Hungary will lose 27,000 tourists and an income of €6 million during the two month "boycott" of the airport.

Domokos Szollár, a spokesman for Budapest Airport Zrt., which manages Ferihegy, denied Ryanair's claim of excessive costs, pointing out that the airline, which began serving Budapest less than a year ago, has enjoyed a break given to all carriers early in their presence at the airport.

He also said that Ryanair sent the same letter threatening a shutdown to every airport it flies to, demanding the right to use them for free - adding that the company probably called each of them "Europe's most expensive airport."

Szollár said that the fees at Ferihegy are 40% lower than those of the Vienna airport, 8% lower than those of the Warsaw airport and 1% lower than those in Prague.

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Airlines

I just read that some American airlines are now charging for water. Yes, you can still ask for 'tap' water, but the reports are that that water sits in tanks for hours on end. If you want a bottle of water, you will have to shell out some bucks. This video is humorous, but as Freud said, "There are many truths said in jest".

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