Category: Industry News

Residents of Connecticut, New York and New Jersey have been feeling the heat over the last few weeks as construction at LaGuardia Airport has ramped up. The current stage of construction is aimed at completing an expanded parking garage on the west side of the airport and redeveloping concourse B. While the companies managing the construction planned ahead for detours, the reality of those traffic delays has been significantly worse than anticipated.

Here’s what you need to know before you plan your next trip out of LaGuardia Airport: Read More

If you’re from New York you have surely heard all about the construction at LaGuardia and the problems it is causing for unsuspecting travelers. When construction is complete, there will be two parking garages offering 3900 secure parking spots at the airport. Until then things are a little more complicated with only one lot available on site.

Here’s what you need to know before you leave home for the airport:

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App-based transportation company Uber recently found themselves in the hot seat following the NYC taxi strike at JFK airport in response to President Trump’s travel ban executive order. Uber has been under fire several times as their CEO, Travis Kalanick, has met with Trump several times, and has tried to defend his partnership with Trump amid political strife. The NYC incident was just one misstep along the way that has many users deleting the app altogether.

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Are you one of those people who loves to travel but hates to fly? For many travelers, this sentiment begins with the dreaded airport security check. In a perfect world, travelers would spend less time in line, avoid personal searches, and feel more relaxed in general. Fortunately, there are several ways that you can speed up the airport security process, especially if you’re willing to do a bit of planning and preparation. If you’re expecting to travel on business or pleasure anytime soon, you might want to consider the following tips. Read More

Passenger rights and service provider responsibilities

In recent years, there’s been growing public concern about ground transportation safety, especially in light of safety-related news stories related to the new breed of ride-sharing services such as Lyft and Uber that rely on smartphone ride-hailing apps. Many riders have been wondering: What are my rights as a passenger? And what exactly should I expect from my driver and from ground transportation companies? A recent online survey found that 91% of U.S. adults over the age of 17 believed there should be mandatory rules and regulations for ride-hailing drivers. Read More

Concur-Outlook Beta Version Expected This Summer

A lot of our corporate clients use the Concur travel and expense management tool for business flights, hotels and car service. And ever since Concur was bought in 2014 by the multinational software giant SAP, there have been rumblings about expected technology improvements.

On May 18th Concur and Microsoft announced a significant improvement – one that could affect all of the Concur business users who use Microsoft Outlook as part of Microsoft’s cloud-based Office 365 product. Soon, clients who use both Concur and Office 365 Outlook will be able to book travel and organize their expense receipts within Outlook. Users will be able to simply opt into the service. No formal release date was given, but a beta version release is expected this summer.

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A Ride from uber: Know What You’re Getting Into

There’s no doubt that a ride from Uber is catching on as a way to get around. According to the company, Uber drivers make more than 2 million rides per day around the world. But Uber has come under some close scrutiny lately, and the service has a few drawbacks. In many cases, a more private transportation service company may be a better choice compared to Uber or Lyft. Here are a few reasons why.

A Professional, Safer Transportation Experience

Uber drivers undergo a basic background check, with additional requirements for UberX, UberTaxi and UberBlack drivers. However, these checks are all are third-party background checks, not government-executed nor anchored by fingerprints like the checks required for taxicab and livery drivers. Third-party checks are 43 times more likely to miss criminality. These precautions disqualify thousands of potential Uber drivers a year, which makes you wonder how many unsafe drivers slip in under the radar, or how many Uber drivers have legal or driving records that are older than the three- to seven-year windows for Uber’s background checks.

A driver with a criminal background can simply submit his cousin’s Social Security and driver’s license numbers to Uber. And a “safe” Uber cabbie, once he learns he’ll have to drive 65 hours a week to make ends meet, may let his criminally negligent cousin take the Uber phone and car to go drive some fares.

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Each year we take a look at the forecasts for the coming year to see what the experts are predicting with respect to business travel.

For this forecast we reviewed the American Express Global Business Travel Forecast 2016, which makes predictions regarding air travel, hotel and ground transportation prices. Read More

A recent Ground Transportation study released this summer by the GBTA Foundation identified the most important factors business travelers consider when choosing ground transportation.

As you can imagine the 3 most important factors were:

1. vehicle safety
2. availability for a timely pickup
3. convenience of payment methods

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Do you remember the old Volkswagen commercials that used the term “Fahrvergnügen?”

Yes, it really is a word and means “driving enjoyment” when translated from German into English. Well, Google — and now Uber — are spending millions of dollars investing in self-driving cars.

Where’s the enjoyment in that?

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