Warning! Worldwide computer glitch may cause delays of up to one week –

The worldwide computer glitch that hit the travel industry last week is continuing to disrupt travelers around the world. Despite efforts to resolve the issue, its impact continues to affect travel plans, especially during this peak summer travel season. As you can imagine, many flights were already fully booked before the glitch, and with thousands of cancellations, airlines are struggling to find alternative seats for affected passengers. With this in mind we strongly recommend that if your travelers have plans for this week and have the flexibility to reschedule, it would be prudent to cancel and rebook for a later date. Most airlines are offering complimentary changes to accommodate these extraordinary circumstances. Please be aware that even once the computer glitch is fully resolved, it may take days or as much as one week to re-accommodate all affected travelers. We understand the frustration and inconvenience this situation may cause, and we are committed to providing you with the best support possible during this challenging time.

When the **** hits the fan with the airlines Executive Travel’s service shines – The worldwide computer glitch that started last week threw a monkey wrench into the airline flights. Millions of travelers are being affected by canceled and lost flights. When this happens, trying to reach an airline by phone is almost impossible. Sometimes takes up to 9 hours on hold to reach an airline service representative. I am proud to say that during this massive travel tsunami that the average hold time was an amazing 42 seconds. While that sounds amazing in light of the complete breakdown with flights, it is actually much longer than we find acceptable. Our goal at Executive Travel is to answer your phone call in 9 seconds or less with a live person. No press one, press 2. Just a friendly voice on the the other end of the phone trying to help you get to your destination. Here is a video that explains our Platinum Advisor Service (VIP service without the VIP cost). If you are frustrated with airline service and your travel management company is just as bad, maybe the time is right to explore using Executive Travel. Please email me steveg@executivetravel.com if you would like to learn more. 

Procrastinators Beware: United Airlines has quietly doubled the check-in time for travelers – United Airlines has recently doubled the time your must show up in advance to check-in at the airport from 30 minutes to 60 minutes for domestic flights and from 60 minutes to 75 minutes for international flights. This is regardless if you are checking in bags or not. Obviously, United is doing this to address the massive number of travelers this summer in the hopes this will prevent delays of loading baggage and clearing long security lines. CLICK HERE to read more. 

Hotels will no longer be able to provide small bottles of shampoo in NYC – Starting in January, 2025  New York City hotels with more than 50 rooms will no longer be able to provide small bottles containing ‘hospitality care’ products such as shampoo and conditioner. Over the last several years we have seen many hotels move aggressively away from small single serving bottles of hair care products in rooms. They have replaced those with wall dispensers which are much cheaper than individual bottles. The only pushback has been luxury and upper scale hotels who wanted to offer “boutique” luxury products which appear to be cheapened when contained in a jumbo wall dispenser. Now governments are getting into the act of mandating the transition away from single use bottles. CLICK HERE to read more. 

United Airlines adds cool weather tool to the United App for travelers – United Airlines has recently introduced a new tool in the United App that they hope can can help travelers visualize the possibility of  weather delays. The new tool is powered by GEN AI and features live radar maps to help passengers visualize potential delays and impacts on their flights. Many people don’t realize that just because it is sunny in their departure city of Omaha it can be snowing in Chicago where they connect to their next flight. I think this App will help the airline communicate to travelers why there are delays during their trip.

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