Access Over 600 Airport Lounges With Priority Pass

I must admit, when I first heard of this lounge access program, I was a bit skeptical. The idea of a company selling day-use access to airport lounges at a discounted price brings unwelcoming visions: families with kids running around as if the lounge was some sort of playground; a single tray of refreshments only to be swooped up by the vultures; herds of people jockeying their way through the masses for access to the bar. In fact, Priority Pass isn’t that – at least usually.

This past year I had the pleasure of trying out a standard membership to the Priority Pass network. The plan normally costs $99 a year plus a pay-per-visit fee of $27, which enables access to over 600 airport lounges throughout the world, including select airline-branded ones such as United's Red Carpet Club, Singapore's Kris Flyer and Delta's Sky Club Lounge – to name a few.

The amenities vary at each lounge. Soft drinks, light refreshments, Internet, and a wide variety of magazines are pretty standard. Some lounges even provide hot food, cocktails, resting rooms, and shower facilities. Best of all, lounges are often a quiet (though not always) break away from the hustle and bustle of the main thoroughfare and boarding area of airport terminals. And with Priority Pass, you need not fly that particular airline to access their lounge – often a restriction with airline-branded memberships. For example, if you are flying United Airlines through Tampa, Florida, you have access to the Delta Sky Club Lounge with your Priority Pass membership.

Families who travel infrequently may find the $99 annual fee plus day use fees a bit to steep to justify the purchase. This probably goes a long way in preventing the lounges from overflowing with guests, allowing for a more relaxing visit.

If you travel frequently, consider a membership with Priority Pass. Different levels of membership are available depending on the frequency of your travels and how often you wish to have guests accompany you (for a fee) into the lounges. Click here for more information on the Priority Pass Airport VIP lounge access

inFLIGHTout Travel Tip: That Empty Water Bottle

By Mike Grasso

OK, I admit this travel tip rests somewhere between a wonderfully smart and miserably cheap traveler. You know those bottles of water they sell at the airport for $3 or $4 a piece? What a ripoff! Bring your own water bottle from home (can’t you buy a CASE of water for $4?). Be sure the bottle is empty as you enter the security checkpoint, but fill it up once you are post-security. Where do you fill up the bottle you ask? I use water fountains, but in-airport restaurants and fast food chains are often willing to refill them for the asking.

Armed with a full water bottle, you are now ready to board your plane. Even though beverage service is often limited in coach class, you will at least have a full (and free) bottle of water with you as you breeze through the skies.

Continental Airlines 'Take Away' Commercial

This Continental Airlines ad, posted two years ago on YouTube, pokes fun at other airlines for taking away some of the basic amenities passengers are accustomed to - ones still offered at Continental.

Oakland Airport Event Today Celebrates Free Wi-Fi

As we announced late last month, Oakland International has been busy testing the newly installed - and free to passengers, Wi-Fi service throughout the airport. With this new service, Oakland passengers will no longer need to whip out a credit card to pay for wireless Internet access. Instead, users will notice non-intrusive advertisements from companies such as Microsoft, American Express and Holiday Inn as they connect to the web.

To celebrate the new service, airport officials will hold a small wire cutting event later this morning, demonstrating the new service and its associated benefit to travelers.

More information on the new service:

Los Angeles-based FreeFi Networks is the company providing the installation at Oakland Airport. "Air travelers like Wi-Fi, but don't like paying for it," said Lawrence laffer, FreeFi's director of sales and marketing, in a press release.

Oakland Airport is the second major airport installation for FreeFi. A successful launch at Denver International Airport earlier this year has been cheered by business and leisure travelers alike, commenting on the overall quality of service and limited advertisements while connected.

Oakland Airport Rolling Out Free WiFi

FreeFi Networks, Inc., the new WiFi service provider at Oakland International Airport, is in the process of rolling out free WiFi service throughout the airport.

Oakland Airport spokesperson Joanne Holloway said the wireless technology is being rolled out in phases. By the end of this week, Gates 20-24 and 29-32 in Terminal 2 should be up and running.

The FreeFi Network is known for their ad-based model of WiFi, allowing users free Internet usage provided they can sit through a brief series of advertisements. Although Oakland Airport officials have not said what, if any, type of advertising will we bundled into the free service, there is a general consensus it will be unobtrusive and fairly-low key, based on feedback from other FreeFi clients.

Even As Your Cash Flows, Luxury Hotel's Shower Might Not

By Mike Grasso

Travelers accustomed to being pampered at four and five star properties are familiar with the luxurious amenities and impeccable customer service often absent from two or three star hotels. But too many high-tech and high-cost ammenities are bound to leave some guests a little unhappy.

This past Sunday in the SF Chronicle, Executive editor John Flinn wrote about how the higher end hotels often confuse needless complexity with sophistication. In his article, "Even as your cash flows, luxury hotel's shower might not," He uses several in-room examples such as lighting and the shower head to explain how overengineered room technology can lead to an irritating and tiresome experience for the guest. He concludes the article by describing the back-to-the-basics, uncomplicated amenities budget hotels offer, such as free Internet and free local calls, as a sort of reality check for the big name hotels.

I personally believe that while luxury hotels are constantly finding ways to improve the guest experience, they risk alienating a segment of the population with the means to choose between budget and luxury hotels. The race to offer the latest and greatest in technological advancements, and their associated cost to the hotel, means elaborate restaurants - but no free breakfast, WiFi throughout the property, for a steep fee, and, my personal favorite, sensored "honor bars" where as soon as you remove a beverage from the small in-room refrigerator, you are automatically charged - regardless if you put the drink back.

So while the four and five star hotels overall offer a wonderful experience to guests, sometimes the quest to deliver that perfect experience can go a little overboard. Adding steep price tags to advanced and sometimes complicated technology are bound to turn away some guests who seek a property offering good amenities at fair prices. Even luxury travelers don't want to be ripped off.

Virgin America Introduces 'Main Cabin Select' Service

San Francisco-based Virgin America announced today an option called, "Main Cabin Select,"whereby coach-class passengers can buy up to receive an enhanced in-flight experience. MCS, which will be available on flights beginning on October, includes coach-class seats configured with 38" seat pitch (6 inches more than a typical seat), dedicated overhead bin space, complimentary food and cocktails, and an all-access pass to the Red In-inflight entertainment system.

From a service standpoint, Main Cabin Select is situated between First and Coach class, although MCS amenities sound closer to a first class product. MCS will be available for purchase starting September 15, 2008, for flights beginning from mid-October 2008 on. No word yet on the price tag for passengers seeking MCS.