Eye on Travel

Going Green With Conan and Airline News

Locations in this article:  Miami, FL

Daffodils Green

On “Late Night with Conan O’Brien” last week we had a lot of fun talking about “Green Week.

That’s right, they booked people whose last name started with Green. The actor Seth Green, Peter Greenberg … you get it.

Well, we had a lot of fun talking about hotels saying they’re being eco-friendly when in fact, they have a whole lot more work to do.

For example, when you check into the hotel you may see that little tent card on the bed that says “Please help us save the environment by not washing your towels.” Now I don’t know about you, but my cynical response is that is not saving the environment, that is saving the hotel on money that they would otherwise spend on soap.

And then, I told the story about checking into a hotel in Washington D.C. They set up a lovely fruit display served on a beautiful plate that they wanted me to have as a present.

It was a beautiful gold-and-white plate with the seal of the President of the United States, with gold etching of the White House and Washington D.C. At first you think, “Oh gee what a nice, thoughtful present at this hotel that wants to be environmentally conscious.”

Well, I turn the plate over, not only does it say “Made in China,” but there is a warning label that says “Not for food use, plate may poison the food.”

Welcome to Washington D.C., where the White House plates are made in China and they are poisonous. Yikes!

Restored Hotels

Hotel MiamiI did a story on the Today show on restored—not renovated—hotels. We are talking about historic hotels that conversions from building that never used to be hotels: office buildings, warehouses, lighthouses, prisons.

These buildings have been turned into really great hotels with high ceilings, wide hallways and great natural light. That ranges from the Hotel Fauchère in Milford, Pennsylvania, to the Plaza Hotel in New York, which is over 100 years old and recently re-opened after a $400 million restoration.

Other interesting places include the Liberty Hotel in Boston which is actually a former prison—it was the old Charles Street Prison. The coolest thing about that hotel is their bar, called the Alibi bar, which used to be the prison drunk tank!

Airline News

Plane LandingThe airlines are now charged a $25 fee for checking in a second bag. You know, it is bad enough that they lose it when I pay nothing … now they are going to charge me $25 to lose it?

This is not right, they should charge me like $100 and at least let the bag get mileage (which I can’t redeem anyway). It’s going to get crazy at the airport now, with people showing up and saying “I have to pay what?” The lines will be even longer with all the confusion out there.

It’s absolutely nuts. But even crazier is what is going to happen in the wake of the proposed Northwest-Delta merger …

You know that mergers don’t really mean anything unless you can’t get to where you want to go or you can’t get to where you want to go for a reasonable amount of money. Things are going to get a little nasty this summer with fuel prices and the power of the dollar against the euro and the pound. But my concern isn’t the summer at all. My concern is what is going to happen in the fall. Because that third quarter is a tough quarter and the fourth quarter is even a worse quarter. And that is when almost all the airline bankruptcies happen.

Are we are going from six airlines down to three? And, if those mergers happen, your miles just become divided by the power of 10.

So run, don’t walk, to redeem your miles. You had better prepare for what is coming down the road and it is going to happen a whole lot faster than you think it is.

For more of Peter’s views on the latest in travel news, don’t miss his blog, the Travel Detective Files blog.

From Peter Greenberg Worldwide Radio