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October 28, 2011 In Business Travel, Land, travel trending

How Much to Tip, by Country

This Tipping Etiquette Around the World infographic compares tipping customs for many countries around the world. In addition to the tip rates, the informative visual includes helpful notes about national tipping customs and goes into more detail for common US tipping scenarios.

This graphic is an interesting way to see how customs differ by location, and it may come in handy next time you’re jet-setting internationally.

October 4, 2011 In Business Travel, Land, travel news, travel trending

Hotel Hell

Hotel Hells wed

Hotel Hell follows Gordon Ramsay and his team of hospitality experts as they travel across America to fix failing hotels, mediocre motels and bed & breakfasts where you’d rather not sleep and definitely won’t want to eat breakfast.

After over a decade of running restaurants in some of the top hotels around the world, traveling extensively as a guest himself and running an award winning hotel in London, Gordon knows first-hand the crucial importance of surpassing guests’ expectations. To get to grips with the problems, Ramsay will endure hotels at their worst so you don’t have to. From dirty bedrooms and mold-ridden bathrooms to incompetent staff or customer service that’s not up to par, Ramsay and his team will work with the hotel owners and employees to turn these hapless establishments around.

Gordon is determined to give each location the competitive edge they need to survive in the cut-throat hospitality industry, so he’ll turn these struggling establishments upside down, from the bar staff to the bedrooms, the receptionists to the room service. As he tries to turn these “No”-tels into successful hotels, Ramsay – in his own inimitable style – will go head-to-head with the owners and staff, raising the tension to maximum capacity.

With reputations on the line, one thing is certain: if they can’t meet Gordon’s high standards, they will never check out of HOTEL HELL.

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September 23, 2011 In Business Travel, news

Continental Travel Group affiliates with American Express Travel Representative Network

The Continental Travel Group is proud to announce their affiliation with the American Express Travel Representative Network – Miami, Florida. (Press Release) Sep 30 , 2011

The Continental Travel Group today announced their affiliation with the American Express Travel Representative Network, in order to offer customers increased value, exclusive availability, and world-class customer service

The Continental Travel Group is one of the top-producing independent corporate travel management companies and a leading provider of corporate travel management services.

“Our decision to affiliate with America’s Express as an authorized independent contractor will significantly benefit our travel clientele worldwide,” said Pablo Cruz Director of Operations “Our experience in the travel industry and dedication to customer service backed by the American Express network of more than 2,200 Travel Service locations worldwide will provide additional global coverage, and enhance our commitment to service to clients.”

As one of the world’s largest and most established travel agencies, American Express is able to leverage The Continental Travel Groups longstanding relationships with travel suppliers, resulting in an exceptional portfolio of products and services provided to our customers worldwide.

Our standards are extraordinary as is our travel experience.

About The Continental Travel Group:

The Continental Travel Group established in 1988 represents a team of travel professionals providing a total corporate travel management solution and is dedicated to providing the highest level of customer service.

See the reason corporations trust the Continental Travel Group with their travel spend here.

For information on traveling to this locale and or additional information on this or any other article please contact us here. Or call tel: +1. 305.445.7791
September 13, 2011 In Air, Airlines, airports, Business Travel, Land, travel news

Self-service kiosks simplify the airport experience

Not only can travelers access concourse maps on self-service kiosks, but they can scan a two-dimensional barcode and get the map in the palm of their hands.

By Joe Myxter, travel editor

Reporting from Future Travel Experience 2011 in Vancouver, B.C.

Welcome to the airport. Now, go stand in line at the ticket counter to get your boarding pass. Once you’re through security, you’ll want to stop and check the departure board to make sure your flight is on schedule. Then, go find a map of the concourse so you can navigate your way to the gate, hunt for a café where you can score a decent cup of coffee, and try to find free Wi-Fi so you can double check the weather at your destination.

Or you can use a kiosk that can help you with all of those tasks.

IBM Multichannel Self Service Solutions’ kiosk allows air travelers to check in, determine wait times for security and customs, check the time and weather forecasts, get a layout of the airport – including detailed directions – and find nearby restrooms, restaurants, lounges and coffee shops.

Smartphone users can scan a barcode and get the airport’s layout and directions on their mobile device.

And while it has not yet taken off in the U.S. – primarily due to TSA regulations – the kiosk is capable of printing out baggage tags for self-tagging.

IBM is displaying its latest kiosk at the Future Travel Experience 2011, but the company already operates nearly 6,000 airline kiosks and about 2,000 airport kiosks around the world. Many of the kiosks are capable of offering the aforementioned services.

IBM is also showcasing a “Q card” reader that Qantas Airways has unveiled as part of its next-generation check-in program.

The carrier’s system has found success among domestic flights in Australia. Qantas frequent fliers swipe their chip-embedded cards. The readers use near-field communication (NFC) technology, and the system takes as little as five seconds to check-in travelers without bags, and about 55 seconds for travelers with bags, according to Gabriella D’Alessandro, head of IT for Qantas Airways Operations.

Qantas launched its “faster, smarter check-in” initiative in June 2011. No other airlines have yet followed the airline’s lead.

But Simon Rucker, solution manager for IBM Global Business Services, anticipates travelers will continue to embrace high-tech options that make trips through the airport more efficient. “Adoption has been tremendous.”

Joe Myxter has been running msnbc.com’s Travel section since 2006. Follow him on Twitter.

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