Tag: Gulliver

IN A recent blog post, Gulliver expressed his exasperation at having to interact with other humans when he stayed at hotels. After all, in the age of mobile check-in and automated bartenders, it must be possible to swerve most of these pointless encounters (and avoid having to hand over tips for the most mundane services, such as pouring a beer or being shown to your room).

One solution that didn’t occur to him was robot butlers. The M Social Singapore hotel is introducing a droid that can deliver room service to guests. It navigates using 3D cameras and can negotiate lifts and manoeuvre around people wandering down the corridors. The M Social is far from the first establishment to employ such robots. The machine, called Relay (pictured), which is made by Savioke, a Californian firm, already does shifts at some Aloft and Residence Inn hotels.

Tom Breedon, the general manager of the Residence Inn at Los Angeles airport, says using the robot for deliveries increases revenue per available room, a key industry measure, by…Continue reading

WRITING a few weeks ago, Gulliver envisioned a close partnership between the then president-elect, Donald Trump, and the bosses of tech firms; one that could remove regulation and pave the way to a future of autonomous electric vehicles.

Since then politics has intervened. Specifically, Mr Trump signed an executive order barring citizens of seven Muslim-majority countries from travelling to America. Upon the announcement of the order, the transportation industry sprang into action. New York taxicab drivers staged a boycott of sorts, refusing to pick up passengers from John F Kennedy Airport to show solidarity with those affected by the ban. In response, Uber, a ride-hailing firm, sensed a business opportunity and dropped surge pricing for JFK pickups, effectively cutting the cost of hailing an Uber from the airport.

That proved to be a mistake. Progressives across America accused the firm of breaking the strike. Some noted that Travis Kalanick, Uber’s boss, had joined Mr Trump’s economic advisory council in December. A #DeleteUber campaign was launched. More than…Continue reading

JUST as Airbnb has started to take on hotels at their own game, the tables seem to be turning. The short-term lodging rental site was once known for its un-hotel-like offerings. Hosts lived alongside their guests, who were often put up in quirkily decorated spare rooms. Nowadays it offers “business travel ready” listings, for properties that have Wi-Fi, 24-hour check-in and other basic amenities. Entire houses can now be rented, not only box bedrooms. And as cities crack down on illegal Airbnb listings, it has even starting to play by the rules. As a result, the number of business bookings through the site has rocketed.

Unsurprising, then, that some hotels are returning the favour and becoming a bit more like Airbnb. At a recent conference in Los Angeles, Marriott International unveiled a concept for a hotel room that could take on short-term rental firms. Under a row of tents on a city street, the hotel chain…Continue reading

PLACEBOS are everywhere. Drugs firms sell red pills because customers are convinced that they are stronger than white ones. Pressing the button at some pedestrian crossings makes no difference to when the green man appears, but makes us feel proactive. And the “doors close” request in a lift serves no purpose other than to soothe the frustration of impatient riders.

Add another placebo to the list: thermostat controls in hotel rooms. An investigation by the Wall Street Journal has confirmed what many of us already knew deep down: “It’s not your imaginations. Hotel thermostats often aren’t under your control.”

The Journal reports:

The humble hotel wall thermostat, once just a mechanical temperature sensor and fan-speed switch,…Continue reading

FREQUENT travellers can become obsessed by loyalty schemes. Road warriors search out «points gurus», who pass on wisdom about how to wring out every last air mile and hotel upgrade from a programme, whether by signing up for a new credit card or booking a particular flight. The biggest airline scheme, American Airlines’ AAdvantage, has an estimated 100m elite members; the largest hotel programme, IHG’s Rewards Club, almost as many. But hotels and airlines have historically used such schemes in slightly different ways.

Air travel is often seen as a commodity. A flight is the miserable part of a trip that must be endured to reach somewhere exciting. True, there are degrees of torture. But carriers’ economy-class service is similar enough that it does not really matter whether a flyer boards a United or Delta plane. Hence the best way to ensure that a customer continues to patronise your airline, rather than an equally…Continue reading

BARELY a week into his presidency, Donald Trump has thrown global travel into tumult with his executive order barring travellers from seven majority-Muslim countries from entering the United States. A fellow Gulliver has posted about the potential long-term implications of the ban for the travel industry. But in the short run, one thing is already clear: President Trump’s action has sown chaos in American airports.

Clear to everyone but Mr Trump himself, that is. In a series of tweets, he denied that his action had caused any disruption at airports, instead blaming a Delta Air Lines computer glitch, protesters, and Democratic Senate leader Chuck Schumer, whom he accused of producing “fake tears” in support of people denied entry to the country.

Only 109 people out of 325,000 were detained and held for questioning. Big problems at airports were caused by Delta computer outage,…..

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 30,…Continue reading

THERE are many ways to look at Donald Trump’s decision to ban travellers from seven countries with predominantly Muslim populations. Whether Mr Trump’s order is legal, moral or self-defeating has been discussed at length elsewhere on this site. Here on Gulliver, however, we are mostly concerned with what the move means for the future of travel to America.

The executive order which the president signed on January 27th restricts immigration from Iran, Iraq, Sudan, Syria, Libya, Somalia and Yemen. Mr Trump says the aim of the edict is to thwart terrorism. It affects travellers on all types of visas (other than diplomatic and UN ones) and refugees and will be in force for 90 days (indefinitely in the case of Syrian refugees). It is still unclear exactly what it means for dual nationals or those with green cards, although Reince…Continue reading

FOR business travellers trying to work out what the Donald Trump era will mean for them, one of president’s central campaign promises seemed to bode well: investing up to $1trn in American infrastructure. But anyone hoping for smoother roads, faster rides and more efficient airports might be in for a rude awakening, in the form of long waits and extra expenses at the toll booth.

American infrastructure needs an upgrade. The American Society of Civil Engineers is already complaining that a 13-figure investment might fall short of the $3.6trn required to bring roads, airports, pipelines and the like up to par. But the crux of the issue is not the amount Mr Trump will spend; it is how that money will be allocated. The answer appears to be that it will be spent by private companies on projects where they can turn a profit.

On Tuesday, the Congressional Budget Office Continue reading

IT IS becoming a dilemma for any airline ordering a new batch of planes: should it ask for entertainment screens to be fitted into the back of every seat? Most aviation watchers expect that the technology will become obsolete at some point in the coming years, as more people fly with their own devices. But it is not passé yet. Anyone flying long-haul still expects to find a tiny, fuzzy monitor a few inches from their nose.

Nonetheless, over the lifetime of a new plane, entertainment built into headrests will come to look quaint. So American Airlines has decided to get ahead of the times. Its new order of 100 Boeing 737s, which should start to enter service by the end of the year, will not have seat-back entertainment. Instead passengers will be able to stream films on their phones, tablets and laptops using the plane’s Wi-Fi.

This seems like a sensible move. Ninety per cent of its passengers, reckons the airline, already carry a smart device onboard. In-flight entertainment systems cost around $3m to install on every jetliner. Shunning them not only saves on that initial outlay, but also on fuel costs. All that underfloor wiring and modified seating adds bulk to…Continue reading

DESPITE what doting parents claim, babies are mostly generic-looking. It sometimes takes Gulliver an embarrassing length of time to pick out his own child in old baby-group photos. He certainly wouldn’t recognise her from her passport picture aged four months. 

Now she is five, with recognisable facial features, she will shortly have to renew her passport. Snapping the new likeness should be easier than the first time around, when it involved a schlep to a photography shop, and several attempts to get her facing the right way, head up, with Mrs Gulliver’s supporting hands nowhere in shot. In fact she won’t even have to leave the house. The passport office has confirmed that it will now accept photos taken on mobile phones when Brits renew their passports online. (Those applying for their first passports still have to have physical photos countersigned by a professional acquaintance to vouch for their likeness.) 

The change should be welcomed. The whole process of renewing a British passport has become easier since the introduction of online applications last year. Two main objections have been raised, though. The…Continue reading