Volume 5    Summer 2008

Welcome to the Summer edition of Yale Travel Services News:

Important information regarding your Orbitz for Business account

West Campus vicinity hotel discounts

Starwood Hotels offers systemwide discounts

You can now book private car service directly on Orbitz for Business!

Omni New Haven Hotel

Northwest Airlines suspends non-stop flight from Bradley to Amsterdam

New 'Checkpoint Friendly' laptop bag procedures

Car Mileage reimbursement rates increase

Latest in airline baggage fees

And the winner is…

 

Important information regarding your Orbitz for Business account

Yale University travelers and travel arrangers will enjoy an upgraded version of Orbitz for Business when logging in beginning September 20. The upgrade features a number of enhancements designed to make travel planning easier for both travelers and arrangers, while maintaining the ease of use that Orbitz members have come to expect. 

WHAT’S CHANGING FOR ORBITZ FOR BUSINESS MEMBERS?

WHAT’S NEW AND IMPROVED AT OFB?

SIGN UP FOR ADVANCED USER CLASS AND GET MORE OUT OF OFB

 JULY 2008 SURVEY RESULTS ….

West Campus Local Vicinity hotel discounts

With the opening of the new research facilities, and office space in West Haven, Travel Services has initiated new contracts to ensure visiting guests and colleagues will receive savings on hotels in the vicinity of West Campus.

Starwood Hotels offers systemwide discounts

Effective September 15, 2008, Yale travelers  will be entitled to reserve rooms at a twenty percent (20%) discount off the applicable hotel’s best available room rate with last room availability.  Starwood® Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, Inc. is one of the leading hotel companies in the world, with 9 brands (Sheraton, Four Points by Sheraton, St. Regis, Luxury Collection, Le Meridien, W Hotels, Westin, aloft, and element) and than 860 hotels in over 95 countries.

To be eligible you must be enrolled in Starwood’s loyalty program, the Starwood Preferred Guest (“SPG Program”). Enrollment is free, and easy. If you had enrolled in our previous program (SET #330555), you will automatically be upgraded to the new program, (SET# 52592)

New members click here to sign up.

Please remember to add your SPG membership number to your Orbitz for Business profile. All Yale negotiated discounts are available in the OFB tool.

You can now book private car service directly on Orbitz for Business!

Orbitz for Business has loaded the Yale discounted rates from our preferred private car vendors ( Eastcoast, Hy’s and Leros) onto the OFB booking tool, making it easy for you to compare rates, and book car service! From the car booking page, select “car service”, and type in your pick up/drop off points. You can save these locations for future bookings. For full details, click here.

Omni New Haven Hotel

The Orbitz for Business website allows users to book our $145 discounted rate for individual travelers. You can now search by the Omni chain to book.

Northwest discontinues non-stop flight from Hartford to Amsterdam

Citing High Fuel Costs and Decreased Demand, NWA Announces Suspension or Cancellation of Three International Flights

(June 26, 2008) – Northwest Airlines, with its trans-Atlantic joint venture partner KLM Royal Dutch Airlines, today announced a seasonal suspension of flights between Minneapolis/St. Paul-Paris and cancellation of flights between Detroit-Dusseldorf and Hartford-Amsterdam – effective October 1, 2008. Customers with advance bookings for these flights will be offered alternate NWA or SkyTeam alliance flight re-accommodations.  Please contact the OFB service desk at 1-877-672-4891 if your travel plans have been impacted by this change.

Hartford – Amsterdam

New 'Checkpoint Friendly' Laptop Bag Procedures

Starting Aug. 16, passengers who have what the Transportation Security Administration calls "checkpoint-friendly" laptop cases — so-called because X-ray machines can easily see through them — will be free to go through security without opening the case. The policy change by the TSA could speed up security lines for the 2 million people who take U.S. flights each day and reduce incidents in which laptops are damaged, lost or forgotten in airports.
The TSA is not certifying or approving laptop cases, brands or styles. Instead, the agency has published guidelines for the checkpoint-friendly cases, essentially requiring that they provide a clear and uncluttered view of the laptop through an X-ray machine.
If a TSA screener can't get a clear X-ray view of a laptop to verify that it's not concealing explosives, the screener can order it to be checked.
For a bag to be considered checkpoint friendly it should meet the following standards:

• A designated laptop-only section
• The laptop-only section completely unfolds to lie flat on the X-ray belt
• No metal snaps, zippers or buckles inside, underneath or on top of the laptop-only section
• No pockets on the inside or outside of the laptop-only section
• Nothing packed in the laptop-only section other than the computer itself.

For further information go to:   http://www.tsa.gov/press/releases/2008/0805.shtm

Standard Mileage rates increase effective July 1, 2008

The Internal Revenue Service announced an increase in the optional standard mileage rates for the final six months of 2008. The rate will increase to 58.5 cents a mile for all business miles driven from July 1, 2008, through Dec. 31, 2008. This is an increase of eight (8) cents from the 50.5 cent rate in effect for the first six months of 2008.

For further information please refer to: Mileage reimbursement rate for business travel (Controller's Office Fact Sheet

The latest in airline baggage fees.

Citing rising fuel costs, airlines have started charging fees for checked baggage. Baggage policy and fees are subject to change by the airlines at any time. Below is a recap from the Orbitz for Business website. Please see the airline's Web site for the most current information. For an overview of airline baggage fees, click here.

And the winner is……

Travel Services is pleased to announce the results of Yale's quarterly travel survey, and the winner of a $25 Gift Certificate to Thali Too.

Congratulations to Mike Wilson of Molecular Biophysics and Biochemistry whose name was drawn from all those who completed the survey!

Thank you to all who took the time to participate.