PE.com - Tourism Blog

(Example of a lithium battery not allowed in checked luggage or carry-on baggage starting Jan. 1)

(Example of a lithium ion battery you CAN bring in carry-on luggage)

The U.S. Department of Transportation's Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration -- didn't know there was such a thing eh? -- will bar travelers from bringing spare lithium batteries usually used to power digital cameras, laptops and audio equipment in their checked luggage starting Jan. 1.

Oddly, the decree isn't coming from the Transportation Security Administration which usually decides what is and isn't allowed in baggage like that dreaded 12 oz. bottle of lotion.

Nico Melendez, TSA's Western Regional Public Affairs Officer, said Monday that agents have been advised to keep an eye out for the batteries and would alert the airline if they find them in baggage.

The new rule only allows travelers to keep two spare rechargeable lithium batteries in carry-on baggage only.

Apparently the non-rechargeable kind are prone to overheating and igniting -- two not-so-pleasant happenings on an airplane.

Posted by Kimberly Pierceall at 12:32 PM, December 31
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Want to own a piece of the proposed condo-hotel of the Hard Rock Hotel in Palm Springs?

Sure the ground has hardly been broken, the city still owns one of the parcels the developers need and now there's a lawsuit pending that claims the city gave too many concessions when it approved the plan. Oh, and the city has passed a a tax-sharing ordinance that if the Hard Rock developers participate in it, the property won't be a condo-hotel at all anymore, just a regular ol' fashioned hotel. What a concept.

Nonetheless the developers still have a Web site where you can sign up for more info about how you can buy a Hard Rock condo starting at $400,000 by calling a toll free number or filling out your contact info online (including letting them know what your first rock concert was -- because that's important to reveal when buying real estate)

While condo-hotels seemed to be as popular as a Wii before Christmas for awhile, the trend of building a hotel on the backs of everyday real estate investors who own individual rooms for hundreds of thousands of dollars (they're usually allowed to use the rooms for no more than two weeks a year, after that it gets rented by everyday tourists), seems to have waned. At least one hotel insider thinks the trend has already died.

More about that next Wednesday. Same bat time, same blog address.

Posted by Kimberly Pierceall at 11:38 AM, December 28
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Admittedly, I didn't think much of the e-mail I got from a local Palm Springs tourist attraction excited that they landed in the top ten for attractions in the United States and in California on TripAdvisor.com.

I had gotten these e-mails before from hotels and attractions about various travel web site ranking and it usually turned out to be some sort of paid advertising. But then I checked TripAdvisor.com and discovered three of the top ten most popular U.S. hotels based on traveler reviews and rankings were from Palm Springs (the Desert Riviera Hotel, Old Ranch Inn, El Morocco Inn and Spa) and the city's travel company Elite Land Tours which takes tourist-filled Hummers through Joshua Tree National Park ranked number ten in the U.S. and number one in California.

Doing a quick review of the reviews didn't reveal any overly corporate sounding PR posts to puff up the properties or attractions. Most sounded like legitimately real people and real travelers, something TripAdvisor.com, a subsidiary of Expedia, espouses.

Posted by Kimberly Pierceall at 5:28 AM, December 28
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I've snowboarded once and managed one successful dismount from the bunny slope chair lift (the others involved crawling away as quickly as I could on hands and knees like a caterpillar before the next chair of skiers and snowers hopped off).

For those of you better than I, Bear Mountain in Big Bear Lake now offers advanced beginners and intermediate snowboarders classes in mastering their first jumps.

Classes for folks 13 years old and older cost $74 during the regular season and $84 on holidays or during peak weekends. Classes for 8 to 12 year old cost $54 during the regular season and $64 on holidays and peak weekends.

For more info call: 909-866-5766

Posted by Kimberly Pierceall at 2:37 PM, December 27
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Tags: big bear
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Woe is the patriarch of the Hilton hotel dynasty, Barron Hilton.

On the day he announces he plans to donate $2.3 billion to his father's Conrad N. Hilton Foundation, a whopping 97 percent of his net worth, he is still upstaged by his infamous granddaughter Paris Hilton.

That's gotta hurt.

Posted by Kimberly Pierceall at 4:43 PM, December 26
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MAXjet! The all business class airline that flies between New York City and London's Stansted Airport filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy today -- that's Christmas Eve for all of you trying to block the holiday out of your mind -- and immediately suspended all of its flights.

Granted, they may not have stranded too many passengers since the lack of travelers is partly why they had to file for bankruptcy in the first place. But really, couldn't they have waited two days? Sure fuel costs are high but that hasn't stopped other airlines from operating while going bankrupt.

Continental Airlines Inc. has come to the rescue, kinda, by allowing MAXjet travelers to fly with them on standby and for a fee of $50 for each segment of their trip (plus taxes and security fees). And it looks like anyone who planned on flying into Stansted will likely have to go into London's Gatwick Airport.

Posted by Kimberly Pierceall at 9:51 AM, December 24
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Tis the season for getting a 50% off discount on almost anything -- including car rentals through Enterprise Rent-A-Car. The company announced that its usual Friday through Monday 50% discount special has been extended to include 5-day, 7-day or 12-day trips in certain markets.

What deal did the Inland market get? 5-day special. So if you're traveling five days or less check online or at a rental car agency to see if you get the deal.

Dan Kimack, spokesman for Enterprise, said economy cars ($12.99 a day), compact ($14.99 a day), intermediate ($16.99 a day) and full-size ($20.99 a day) are all eligible for the discount that can also be taken the week of Christmas and New Years.

Enterprise locations that aren't offering the discount after doing a quick search on their Web site:

8868 Sierra Ave. in Fontana
1788 University Ave. #100 in Riverside
1385 Blaine St. # I-5 in Riverside
57250 29 Palms Hwy. in Yucca Valley
909 West 21st St. in San Bernardino
283 West Foothill Unit B in Rialto
location inside Palm Springs Airport

Posted by Kimberly Pierceall at 5:22 PM, December 20
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Katie is co-dependent, hyperactive and whiny but she's quite the little traveler.

My family's dachshund, the aforementioned Katie, took her first vacation with us for Thanksgiving to Yosemite and came out of the experience a better dog (she was categorically the "cutest dog on earth" to begin with so there wasn't a lot of room for improvement).

Our fears -- her fiesty reaction to tourists and wildlife, eating funny looking things on the ground, being outside the confines of her home and backyard -- were unfounded. Almost overnight, perhaps because she was thrown into the deep end of being around a lot of strangers and strange things when she led a largely sheltered existence prior, she became a dog in control even when she got home.

Our only fear during the trip -- our little dog (with little legs) leaping without a fear in the world off of the three-foot tall beds in the room. She's still a daredevil.

If you're traveling to Palm Springs anytime soon with your dog in tow, I found this interesting tid-bit mentioned in other media:

The Viceroy in Palm Springs takes pet travel to a whole new level ... a personalized dog bowl upon arrival, doggie pools and a dog sitter but traveling with your dog will add another $85 to your bill. Oddly, the website mentions generic "pets" a few times so I'm wondering if less traditional family pets are welcome. My family's tortoises are in desperate need of a spa treatment.

With that said, I've got to ding the official sounding officialpethotels.com site for failing to mention anything about how pet friendly the hotels are except that they accept pets.

Posted by Kimberly Pierceall at 5:56 AM, December 19
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(Copyright Cameron Bowman)

Virgin America is freakin' me out. Ok, so they're not reading my mind, but just yesterday I was commenting outloud how I'd like to visit Seattle again. And what do they do? Add a Seattle route!

Here's more info about the flight on Virgin's site.

Service from San Fran to Seattle starts March 18 and will start at $77 each way. Flights from LAX to Seattle start April 8 and will start at $99 each way.

Posted by Kimberly Pierceall at 9:38 AM, December 18
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Are you a Temecula tourist? See this logo, get 10%

Folks staying in 14 participating hotels in Temecula until Jan. 6 can get a discount card worth 10 percent off at shops and restaurants in Old Town Temecula.

Apparently the promotion has been happening since Nov. 23 but Monday was the first I had heard about it. I'll update this entry when I get a list of the 14 participating hotels. In the meantime, if you're planning a Temecula vacation soon, check out this site for Old Town Temecula and the Temecula Valley Convention and Visitors Bureau.

Posted by Kimberly Pierceall at 5:19 PM, December 17
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German uber-airline Lufthansa has agreed to buy 19 percent of JetBlue for $300 million. The low-cost carrier that recently won the race to offer Internet access on board, albeit with a few quirks, has been less financially successful with its shares hovering at all time lows before news of the deal broke even as it sits atop most customer service surveys.

Here's to hoping bratwurst and lederhosen become inflight staples.

Interestingly, in April, restrictions on trans-Atlantic flights between the U.S. and Europe will ease which will open up a whole heap of possibilities for airlines looking to expand beyond their domestic routes for pricier foreign trip fares.

In other JetBlue news -- the airline has a flier-friendly link on it's Web site for weather alerts that may affect travelers in the Northeast. With a click, fliers with a weather-related cancelled flight can rebook without a fee, get a credit card refund or request JetBlue credit for a future flight. Definetly a response to its travesty of a travel experience last Valentine's Day when the airline left travelers on board and on the tarmac for hours.

Posted by Kimberly Pierceall at 5:46 PM, December 13
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... down an entire liter of Vodka while waiting to pass through an airport security checkpoint just so officials can't confiscate it from you.

Full story here.

Posted by Kimberly Pierceall at 1:44 PM, December 12
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Tags: airport, travel
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Ever wonder what it'd be like to fly to each of the 48-contiguous states in 12 days? While ... wait for it ... wearing a santa suit or elf costume that your employer has forced you to don?

Wonder no more. Farecompare.com, a site where travelers can book flights, has sent two employees on the rapid-fire journey during the holiday season to get an upclose view of the current state of airline travel and, admittedly, to promote their own Web site.

So far Southwest flight attended have stuffed Santa's suit with airport pillows and mixed him a cocktail (really, they didn't really have much else to do since the plane was practically empty), and Santa learned that it's best to be disguised when flying into kid-haven Orlando Airport. Santa and his elf post daily videos and rants, usually entertaining, especially one about the wonders of the airport SmartCart.

His last stop will be LAX where he's scheduled to land at 8:53 p.m.

Posted by Kimberly Pierceall at 5:15 AM, December 12
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Courtesy of the California Travel and Tourism Commission

The California Travel and Tourism Commission has released its 2008 visitor guide for the state complete with happy people sipping wine on the cover -- you'd be happy too if you were the bearded gentleman who owns the featured winery in Napa Valley.

Alas, there's no indication that Temecula's own wine country will have a prominent place in the magazine but when officials from the commission were there a couple months ago, they touted the culinary focus of next year's tourism campaign. See more about that in the link below

Tourism board asks funding from businesses
Date: 10/08/07
THE PRESS -ENTERPRISE
KIMBERLY PIERCEALL

Officials with the California agency charged with getting would-be travelers to choose the state, need tourism -related businesses to keep contributing funds toward its support or its $50 million budget shrinks to $1 million.

Caroline Beteta, executive director of the California Travel and Tourism Commission, has toured the state to convince tourism business leaders they should keep funding the commission. She visited members of the Temecula Valley Convention and Visitors Bureau at Wilson Creek Winery Oct. 3.

The same industry-led agency that had just $7 million to market the state to would-be travelers in 2005 now has a $50 million annual budget thanks to fees paid by about 5,400 tourism -related businesses, largely the car-rental industry. Those businesses must decide by Nov. 15 if they still want to pay.

The California Travel and Tourism Commission will spend $18.5 million on advertising in the United States and another $20.6 million internationally to tout the state this year. Beteta showed the crowd a commercial set to premiere nationwide Oct. 8 that features California celebrities describing their idea of 9-to-5 work, where "board meetings" involve skateboards, surf
boards and snowboards.

"We're just a bunch of pencil pushers," says Phil Mickelson in the ad as he writes down his golf score.The group also plans to spend $5 million branding the state as a wine and culinary mecca with a 30-second advertisement highlighting wineries across the state. "We need to own it in California," she said.

The state had 5.1% more domestic travelers last year, 352.3 million total, compared with the prior year. However, fewer travelers from out of the state, 53.3 million, ventured into California this year.

In 2005, 55.5 million came from outside California. Of those who visited last year, 16% came from Arizona, 10% from Nevada and 9% from Oregon. The state spent just $700,000 to tout itself internationally in 2005 and 2006, but international outreach accounts for almost half,
$20.6 million, of this year's $50 million budget. International visitors account for only 4% of those visiting the state, but they typically stay longer, Beteta said.

"It's still challenging for us because we're a ways away from the airports," said Denis Ferguson, chairman of the Temecula Valley Convention and Visitors Bureau. A recent marketing effort with Southwest Airlines led to about 19,000 overnight bookings in the Temecula Valley, Fergusen said.

In the Temecula Valley, 119 tourism -related businesses pay into the commission's budget. The area relies largely on drive-in traffic and travelers staying the weekend. The bureau has focused on gaining weekday traffic from Sunday to Thursday. About 5,500 tourism -related businesses statewide now are being asked to pay about $450 for every $1 million of gross earnings.

Car-rental businesses were added in 2006 and now account for 79% of the state's tourism budget. Kimberly Adams, executive director of the Temecula Valley Convention and Visitors Bureau, said some Temecula members paying into the budget have not taken advantage of the state's programs. Businesses that pay can be featured on the commission's Web site and can join with the agency in advertising efforts that are less costly than going it alone. Tourism -related businesses in the Temecula Valley assess themselves a separate fee to fund their convention and visitors bureau.

Posted by Kimberly Pierceall at 5:06 AM, December 10
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(Agua Caliente Casino) Eight-foot tall gingerbread house. Really, eight feet.

(Kimberly Pierceall) The 14-story Agua Caliente Hotel under construction about a month ago. Not made of gingerbread.

No, it's not the model for the Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians' new Rancho Mirage hotel that will be adjacent to the tribe's Agua Caliente Casino, and alas, it's not inhabitable, but Chef Tim at the casino has constructed an eight-foot tall gingerbread castle emblazoned with the tribe's logo.

But where is candy-version of John O'Hurley?

Posted by Kimberly Pierceall at 5:15 AM, December 05
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(KSL Resorts) Splashtopia at the Rancho Las Palmas Resort and Spa in Rancho Mirage

I wasn't a big swimmer as a kid but I certainly couldn't pass up the chance to go to a water park (favorite ride then and now -- lazy river). If a hotel had a full blown tube waterslide it was like I had found utopia and never wanted to leave.

Water slides have become the go-to amenity for hotels again now that every resort has something they can call a spa.

The Rancho Las Palmas Resort and Spa in Rancho Mirage, now under new ownership by KSL Resorts, has begun heavily marketing itself as "Splashtopia." The timing strikes me as odd though -- it won't be tried and true triple-digit swimming weather until May.

Posted by Kimberly Pierceall at 5:02 AM, December 05
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Tags: hotels
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UPDATE -- Back in October, an ExpressJet customer had written to tell me that when he wanted to come home a day early, the airline said sure, but it would cost $50, a standard fee for changing flight plans (understandable). But then the airline also charged him for the difference in cost of the one way flight from Austin to Ontario on that day instead of the one he booked -- total not counting the fee? $101. Here's my earlier post about it with some spirited comments.

Just got an e-mail from the airline last week that they ended up giving Joe, the customer, a refund.

Posted by Kimberly Pierceall at 12:15 PM, December 03
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