January 2018
 
Delta introduces enhanced requirements for service or support animals

Effective March 1st, Delta Air Lines is taking steps to further protect its customers, employees and service and support animals by implementing advance documentation requirements for those animals. 

This comes as a result of a lack of regulation that has led to serious safety risks involving untrained animals in flight. The new requirements support Delta's top priority of ensuring safety for its customers, employees and trained service and support animals, while supporting the rights of customers with legitimate needs, such as disabled veterans, to travel with trained animals.

In compliance with the Air Carrier Access Act, Delta provides in-cabin travel for service and support animals without charge. The guidelines, effective March 1, require that all customers traveling with a service or support animal show proof of health or vaccinations 48 hours in advance. 

In addition to the current requirement of a letter prepared and signed by a doctor or licensed mental health professional, those with psychiatric service animals and emotional support animals will also need to provide a signed document confirming that their animal can behave to prevent untrained, sometimes aggressive household pets from traveling without a kennel in the cabin. 
 
Real ID Act Update


For more specific information about your state:

 
American Airlines to offer on-the-spot compensation for inflight inconveniences

Even as American Airlines flight attendants prepare to take 12.5 hours of de-escalation training that some have quietly dubbed "apology training," American is preparing to roll out new software to help flight attendants deal with inconvenienced passengers on flights.  Called iSolve, the new software is expected to be loaded later this month on tablets American flight attendants carry with them on flights.

The new software will allow flight attendants to offer on-the-spot compensation in the form of AAdvantage miles when specific inconveniences happen inflight - that is if the passenger in question is enrolled in AA's frequent traveler program.  Those inflight inconveniences might include such things as inflight entertainment issues, broken seats or meal shortages.

 
Blue Ribbon Business Travel has partnered with automated online expense reporting tools!

Simplify expense reporting for your business travelers.
It's never been easier for business travelers to complete and submit an expense report and quickly 
get reimbursed - all online. 

These expense tools create expense reports automatically, pulling travel and expenses from airline, car and hotel itineraries, personal and corporate credit card transactions, checking accounts, and scanned receipts.  Streamline the expense reporting process and improve the review and approval flow between departments.

They turn lengthy, tedious paper-based approval processes into one-click, online approvals. Managers can easily review and approve expense reports from anywhere, at any time - no paperwork involved. 

In fact, most expenses are pre-approved based on policy rules set in the system, and scanned receipts are included online making review and approvals faster and easier. Expense policy violations are clearly highlighted so managers can request corrections or simply remove questionable line-items and submit the expense report for reimbursement.  

The expense systems convert transactions for international travelers into the appropriate currency based on the date of travel.

To learn more, email us at info@blueribbontravel.com
 
Blue Ribbon Business Travel International Inc. is committed to providing you with useful information on the latest developments in the travel industry. The following information has been compiled from a variety of sources and is updated monthly.
 
 
 
Let Hilton Honors Upgrade You in 2018

The hotel company announced a series of enhancements scheduled to begin rolling out in April, including easier points earning as well as the options to rollover nights and gift elite status.

Beginning this spring, Hilton
Honors members can take advantage of new elite tier bonus rates for Silver (20 percent), Gold (80 percent) and Diamond (100 percent) status. Once members have stayed at least 40 nights in a calendar year, they'll also earn 10,000 bonus points on every 10th night.

Diamond members will earn an additional 30,000-point bonus at 60 nights in one calendar year.  No registration is required and there is no cap on the exclusive bonus offer.
 
Wyndham, La Quinta Announce Acquisition Agreement

Wyndham Worldwide Corporation and La Quinta Holdings Inc. announced they have entered into a definitive agreement under which Wyndham Worldwide will acquire La Quinta's hotel franchise and hotel management businesses for $1.95 billion in cash.
The acquisition is expected to close during the second quarter of 2018.

Under the terms of the agreement, stockholde
rs of La Quinta will receive $8.40 per share in cash (approximately $1.0 billion in aggregate) and Wyndham Worldwide will repay approximately $715 million of La Quinta debt net of cash while setting aside a reserve of $240 million for estimated taxes expected to be incurred in connection with the ta xable spin-off of La Quinta's owned real estate assets into CorePoint Lodging Inc.

Immediately prior to the sale of La Quinta to Wyndham Worldwide, La Quinta will spin off its owned real estate assets into a publicly-traded real estate investment trust, CorePoint Lodging.
Wyndham's Hotel Group is the world's largest and most diverse hotel business based on number of properties. With the acquisition of La Quinta's asset-light, fee-for-service business consisting of nearly 900 managed and franchised hotels, Wyndham Hotel Group will span 21 brands and over 9,000 hotels across more than 75 countries.
 
New OAG Survey Showcases the 2017 Most Punctual Airlines & Airports

OAG unveiled its annual Punctuality League for 2017, showcasing global on-time performance results for airlines and airports. On-time performance among U.S. carriers remains strong, according to OAG, with five U.S. airlines finishing in the top 10 globally in new mega-airlines rankings. The report examines aviation data from Jan. 1, 2017 through Dec. 31, 2017.

Among the biggest winners for 2017 was Delta Air Lines, which surpassed Alaska Airlines for second place in on-time performance (OTP) among North American carriers. Delta also finished number three overall among the global mega-airlines, a new category that compares the world's top 20 carriers.

Hawaiian Airlines continued to dominate the OTP rankings in the U.S., finishing first among North American carriers for the fourth straight year. Overall, U.S. airlines had a strong showing in the mega-airlines category, finishing with five carriers in the top 10: Delta (3), Alaska Airlines (5), United (7), American  (9) and Southwest (10).

U.S. airports continued to lead the way globally on OTP, with at least one airport finishing in the top five of the large, major and mega-airport categories. Minneapolis International Airport (MSP), despite all that snow and ice in the winter, finished in first place in the major airports category globally with an OTP of 85.7 percent. The new mega-airport category featured many U.S. airports including Atlanta Hartsfield-Jackson (third with an OTP of 82.3 percent), Denver (fourth with an OTP of 82.2 percent), Dallas/Fort Worth (fifth with an OTP of 81.3 percent) and Chicago O'Hare (seventh with an OTP of 79.8 percent). The U.S. finished with seven airports in the top 20 mega-airport category.