When you partner with Summit Management Services and Radisson Blu Hotels, you’ll find that our business meetings are more than just a group of people listening to speeches in a hotel conference room. Far more.

We amplify the physical event by bringing the message to remote participants via webcasts, social media, such as Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and secure archives. Think of it as one meeting in three dimensions.

Our team is expert at “setting the stage” on location, online and on demand at any time, so that the key message comes through in a compelling manner and resonates well beyond the primary venue.

To find out more about Summit Management Services and Radisson Blu Hotel’s unique approach to meeting management, visit us online at ImpactfulMeetings.com or call us at 973/239-4005 ext 120.

1. Frequent flier miles are secure – the programs will be merged into a single entity as quickly as possible if the merger is approved.
2. The new “United” will concentrate its pricing power in its eight hub cities, dropping unprofitable routes and raising prices for smaller, underserved cities—meaning higher fares for markets with less competition.
3. Expect a higher concentration of smaller planes and fewer seats, although potentially higher frequency in some markets, as consolidation continues.
4. Some markets dominated by the two carriers (ie New York/Denver) may see an increase in lower cost carrier flights, which may be able to gain entry to new markets and pick up share as a result of the merger. Who knows? Maybe Southwest will get access to Washington National, Newark and take aim at hubs like Denver and Cleveland.

We should stress that this merger is far from a “done deal,” although historically the various arms of the government have done little to stop anti-competitive mergers, as long as there was a significant market presence by other carriers ready to step in and fill any void in the market.

While it may make sense economically, the political landscape has changed radically since the Delta Northwest merger was announced two years ago. As pointed out by Travel Weekly, an influential trade publication, the Obama administration regulators have typically given consumer interests top priority. Lawmakers may find that in an election year, they must answer to myriad constituencies that might have reasons to oppose this particular merger or airline consolidation in general. Several Congressional leaders have already announced their opposition to the merger.

We’ll be sure to keep an eye on this situation for you and keep you advised of any developments.

VOLCANO REDUX

Speaking of things to keep an eye on, European travelers have several things to watch carefully over the next month. Ash from Iceland’s Eyjafjallajokull volcano, which led to that huge aerial shutdown last month, has erupted again. This time, the cloud of fine particles closed airspace over the Central Atlantic, as well as airports in Portugal, Spain and for the first time, North Africa. There were also limited closings in Ireland and the UK. It’s apparent that shifting winds are making this natural phenomenon even more unpredictable.

If you’ve got a flight planned to Europe in the near future, you should check with your airline’s website for the latest news on delays and diversions. When booking, we recommend giving yourself at least TWO HOURS CONNECTING TIME in your arrival airport, instead of those one hour transfers the airlines like to promote. After all, once you get to Europe, it’s not like there’s a flight every two hours between any two capitals on the continent! Booking adequate time between connections increases the chances you will arrive on time, reduces your stress levels and gives you time to find your way through immigration in those often confusing European hubs.

BRITISH AIRWAYS STRIKE ACTION

As if we didn’t have enough to worry about, British Airways cabin staff has announced multiple walkout dates for the end of May and into June. Travelers through London are likely to encounter massive delays, especially at Heathrow.

If the proposed strike materializes as planned – it is likely to provoke the first major test of the new coalition government of Prime Minister David Cameron.

BA has said it will continue to operate most of its flights and has condemned the action of the cabin crew union as showing “callous disregard” for the traveling public. The four strikes, each of five days duration, are planned during spring break and school holidays.

The last series of strikes cost BA more than $70 million in lost revenues, on top of the damages caused by the Volcano. Only time will tell whether the sides will get back to the bargaining table.

If you manage air travel or meeting spend, you need to know what’s affecting air travel and meeting costs. To a great extent, we’ve focused attention on breaking airline industry news over the past month, simply because there have been major shifts in the playing field.

Next week, we’ll focus on recent developments in the hotel industry. Occupancy levels are up, and so are prices, signaling a willingness of company executives to spend more on travel. The uptick has been especially strong at the higher-priced end of the spectrum. What does this mean for corporate travel and meeting planning? Tune in next week!

Now, for something completely different. If you’ve got a meeting coming up, invest a few moments and schedule a consultation on our website at www.SummitMgt.com or call 1-800-835-9767 ext 120. You’ll be glad you did!

Till then, have a great meeting!

Rob and Joe Lipman

Added to the mix of improbable events of the last 30 days was another round of Airline Musical Chairs, euphemistically known as “Consolidation.” On Monday, the worst kept business rumor of the previous week was officially announced - United Airlines and Continental plan to merge and create the world’s largest airline, as well as the world’s largest airline alliance.

And then there were four.

Now that we’re down to four legacy carriers (American, Continental/United, Delta and US Air), there doesn’t seem to be much doubt that smaller markets are bound to suffer. The new concentration of United/Continental domination in eight major hubs around the country, (Los Angeles, Chicago, Cleveland, Houston, Denver, San Francisco, Washington and Newark), now covers more than half the major business markets in the USA.

Does anyone who flies regularly really believe there are still “too many seats” and excess capacity in the US Air Traffic System? If you paid $1150 to fly in a completely full “right-sized” sardine-can from Newark to Kansas City last week, your answer is probably a resounding “No!”

First things first: YOUR FREQUENT FLIER MILES ARE SECURE.

Every time one carrier takes over another, the first thing we hear is people panicked about losing their frequent flier miles. It hasn’t ever happened, and it’s unlikely that it ever will. In this marriage, there’s no way anyone will lose a single mile. Good luck using them, though!

We assumed this merger was imminent when Continental bolted from the Sky Team alliance last year. By joining the Star Alliance, where United reigns as the founding pillar, the path was clear. Evidence has been easy to find on the Continental website, where United flights immediately started showing up everywhere, even as US Air and other Star Alliance flights were ignored.

The cynical might say that rumors of the merger of United and USAir were just to bring Continental to the table. We speculate it was just to throw people off the scent. This plan has been carefully orchestrated since before Delta announced its acquisition of Northwest last year. The synergies of this deal are similar.

So what does the Merger to end all Mergers really mean to you? Get ready for more of airplane “right-sizing” (which translates to “smaller airplanes”), especially in second and third tier markets such as St. Louis, Pittsburgh, Memphis, and a few larger ones including Denver and Cleveland. You can bet that flight options in markets where Continental and United compete (think New York/Denver and New York/LA-SF) are going to shrink more than they already have. Fortunately for the travel manager, neither of these airlines was a market maker in terms of price, so base fares in competitive markets won’t rise much, but all bets are off where they are the dominant carrier.

In a transparent attempt to maintain the loyalty of United’s frequent fliers, the name of the new carrier will be “United.” We understand that a condition of the transaction was that the company’s headquarters will be located in Chicago. United’s reputation for poor service will be hard to overcome, and there are a lot of questions about just what other elements of the “United Way” will survive. International First Class? The extra leg room for the first eight rows of coach? Who knows?

The official announcement was a masterpiece of ambiguity and requisite corporate doublespeak. We will stay on the lookout for developments as they are announced.

Assuming the transaction passes the battery of obstacles to closing, they’re shooting to close at the end of the year in this “all stock” transaction. What are the odds they’ll make it? And what will the market for stocks look like in the light of today’s incredible volatility? Again, who knows?

There are lots of hurdles ahead. Labor relations at United are notoriously strained, and the sacrifices of Continental’s union employees are going to be hard to rationalize in this de-facto buyout of United. Multiple antitrust objections must pass through the Justice Department. Slots at key airports will probably have to be swapped. Thousands of employees are likely to be laid off.

And, of course, countless senior managers must receive their golden parachutes as they must walk the plank and leave the industry, at least for a while.

Next week, we can examine the effect on competition in greater detail, unless something else crazy happens!

Now, for something completely different. If you’ve got a meeting coming up, invest a few moments and schedule a consultation on our website at www.SummitMgt.com or call 1-800-835-9767 ext 120. You’ll be glad you did!

Safe travels,

Rob and Joe Lipman

What if you’d had a meeting scheduled this week in Europe? When the volcano erupted last week, closing British airspace, would you have been prepared to cancel the meeting? Would you have been inclined to “wait it out” and see what happened? Who, in your company, would make the final decision?

The Force Majeure clause contained in most contracts – the clause excusing performance by one or both parties in the event of acts or events beyond the control of either party – is of particular importance when negotiating hotel and meeting contracts. Actions of a “superior force” happen more frequently than one might expect. Not every event need be as traumatic as a volcanic eruption or a “9-11” emergency to trigger a Force Majeure clause, but clearly, last week’s disruptions to the global transportation system fit the bill.

The events of the week remind us to discuss the importance of a Force Majeure clause in every meeting contract and to be sure each client has a decision-making chain of command which can make the tough decision – one which could potentially inconvenience meeting participants (depending on the severity of the event), as well as cost a considerable amount of money.

Who Makes the Decision to Cancel?

Within hours of reports that UK’s airspace was closing last week, Summit’s planners were on the phone to advise our meeting and air travel clients of the potential for disruption to plans this week.

Our travelers in Europe were contacted whenever it was possible to do so, and advised of the need to monitor the situation carefully (and to return to the US as soon as practical). We also contacted clients who had meetings scheduled this week, to discuss the options before us, and by Friday morning, we’d also contacted the hotels where we had scheduled meetings, to see what their positions would be regarding cancellation and/or rebooking of these programs.

Finally, we had to take the mixed signals coming from the airline companies, who reportedly claimed they were losing in excess of $200 million per day, to try to determine what effect canceling meetings would have on our client’s budgets. Ultimately, the decision had to rest with the client, and whatever their decision, the meeting planner would then do everything possible to minimize the financial impact.

Ultimately, in keeping with our recommendation, Summit clients cancelled both meetings in Europe last week, as well as dozens of travel plans for individual travelers. While there was no assurance the eruptions and disruptions would continue, we believe our clients made the correct choice to err on the side of caution – even had the eruptions subsided temporarily, the potential for injury, and the potential for further disruptions in the coming days, was and remains great.

Immediately upon receiving our clients’ instructions to cancel the meetings, we immediately sent out blast emails to all participants advising them of the decision. Considering the worldwide news coverage of the event, there was little comment or surprise, but we tried to advise everyone to remove the doubt which was in every attendees’ mind. In both cases, senior management made a quick and well-informed decision, using the best information available.

Summit planners are in the process of working with our clients to reschedule these meetings with the smallest possible impact to the bottom line.

The Force Majeure

Not every adverse event constitutes a “Force Majeure.” A general strike by British Airways’ cabin crew, however paralyzing to those flying that carrier, would not trigger the Force Majeure clause for a meeting being held in Germany. It might excuse holding a meeting in London, but not necessarily, especially if booking attendees on other carriers was possible.

By the same token, a strike by European Air Traffic Controllers grounding 80% of the regional air traffic probably would trigger the Force Majeure contractual clause.

When protestors took control of Bangkok’s new airport last year, several Summit clients ended up cooling their heels at one of Bangkok’s most deluxe five-star hotels, as guests of the Thai government. This week’s travelers in Europe were not so fortunate, and reports of price gouging and travelers who had run out of money have started to filter in. Attacks on the Moscow metro, flooding emergencies in Peru, and the current political upheaval in Bangkok are all timely examples of local events which may have interrupted travel and meeting plans.

It’s worth becoming acquainted with the concept of Force Majeure – for meeting contracts as well as any type of agreement requiring performance by one or more parties.

If you have any questions, please schedule a consultation on our website at www.SummitMgt.com or call 1-800-835-9767.

Till next week,

Have a great meeting!

Joe and Rob Lipman

It is no secret that when in the meeting planning industry, there can be hidden charges everywhere— from the venue right down to the Coffee Breaks.

The saying is true; I felt like a “you-know-what” when I assumed I had a fully inclusive coffee break for $11.00 per person at a recent meeting.  On the hotel documents, it was refreshing to see a “Coffee Break” with a complimentary upgrade to fresh fruit, pastry and other “extras,” but who knew that when purchasing a “Coffee Break” for a meeting, one would have to read the fine print to find coffee and tea would not be included?

Instead, they were “extra” and sold by the gallon. When buying something called a “Coffee Break”, who would assume they would need to buy coffee and tea separately?  And by the gallon?  I can see it now: “Excuse me, sir, if you could please only drink three gallons of coffee today, we could save about one-hundred Euros.”  Lesson learned.  Since the break was checked in time, we still got the coffee out, but the price turned out to be more than $15.00 per person as opposed to $11.00.  A tip to fellow planners: Read the banquet order event specifications during your pre-conference meeting, and always check your events for accuracy.

In another situation, it may be hard not to see red flags when you feel coaxed or lured into an arrangement.  Just a few short weeks ago I was working with a hotel in Europe.  It was called to my attention that if I postponed the meeting one day, they would offer an incredible rate that would include breakfast.  Upon careful consideration however, I learned that had I taken the deal, I would have ended up with two-hundred and fifty people in a ballroom with 10-ft.-high ceilings.  Conveniently they had a backup offer for the meeting, knowing the ceiling height would be a problem (you mean they knew I wouldn’t go for that?!).  I could have used the hotel rooms and held the meeting in the adjacent convention center that was attached to the hotel for an additional cost of 17,000 Euros per day (arms and a legs accepted but not mandatory!).  Imagine that cost plus tables, chairs, stage and other rental costs.   Do you want to ask me what hotel?   Do you want a hint?

These incidences make me reflect on the importance of being realistic when considering your budget.  Sure, planners should always strive to find the lowest possible cost for their meetings.  But, when you pay too little, you may find your expectations have not been met.  We have all heard the old expression “If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.”  That couldn’t be truer than when talking about meeting planning.

If you have any questions, please schedule a consultation on our website at www.SummitMgt.com or call 1-800-835-9767.

Till next week,

Have a good meeting!

Joe and Rob Lipman

Many companies are capable of planning a successful face-to-face meeting. However, capable is no longer sufficient. More often than not, consumers come across situations where they could be getting more for their money without even knowing it. It’s like walking into an ice-cream shop and ordering a scoop of vanilla without the person at the counter informing you that all toppings are free of charge. Sure, you will still enjoy each bite of the treat but how much better could it have been?

The same mentality can be applied when referring to meeting planning. With Summit Management Services, when you order a vanilla cone, you get the works. It is not simply “a” meeting anymore. Now, instead of only getting the face-to-face or teleconference meeting, clients also receive an online and on-demand meeting. Summit has made the industry three-dimensional, taking it from the standard meeting, to three meetings in one. Our multi-dimensional events address the in-person audience, virtual attendees, and post-meeting archives. Our focus is on managing all of the event planning, meeting production and audio visual details so that the key reason for the event, the big idea comes to the surface in a compelling and powerful way.

Still, one may think, “But I like my vanilla cone just the way it is. Sure, I like chocolate syrup and sprinkles, but I don’t really need them.” However, as previously addressed, “good enough” is no longer sufficient. Say one hundred people are invited to a company meeting. Ninety of the invited guests accept the invitation and plan to attend. The ten remaining guests send their regrets. Should they be deprived of the knowledge their colleagues will gain at the conference?

With Summit, they do not have to be. The entire meeting, or portions of the meeting, are recorded and placed on a secure, online website for on-demand viewing. Also, imagine being on-site when one of the key speakers is unable to arrive due to bad weather or airport delays. Such a situation does not have to be a crisis. Summit Management has developed a live, online streaming capability where the speaker can present as if they were in the room. Any guest who cannot be in attendance can partake in important parts of the meeting with online participation. Participants can experience online polling options and live back and forth Q&A.

TALK ABOUT SAFETY AND GUARANTEED RETURN ON INVESTMENT!

When looking for a meeting planning company, remember, the above should be a requirement. Finding a company that can be the one-stop-shop is vital. Not only does it minimize cost, but also it minimizes stress. Summit Management Services is the leader in the design and logistical execution of world-class business meetings because it executes three successful and exceptional meetings in one, every time.

If you have any questions, please schedule a consultation on our website at www.SummitMgt.com or call 1-800-835-9767.

Till next week,

Have a good meeting!

Rob and Joe Lipman

Unless you’re doing the entire program yourself, the next most important thing you need to do is review the slides before the start of the meeting, and wherever possible to get your presenters together for a comprehensive Slide Review and Dress Rehearsal. These elements are your chance to ensure uniformity in both the visual style and intellectual integrity of your presentation.

Presumably, you provided all the presenters with a common template for slide presentations that lays out your expectations for their discussions. Specify conservative and easy to read background colors, fonts, bullet points and any other anticipated conventions so the presentations look uniform (or nearly so) when combined with those of other speakers. Whenever possible, suggest a due date, at least a week before the meeting, so you (and your colleagues) can review the materials for content and accuracy while there is still time to make edits.

Resist the temptation to assume everyone else did their slides as professionally as you might have. You can pretty much be assured that they are need in review, so don’t wait until the day before the event to open up the presentations. More often than not, you’ll find misspellings, grammatical errors, incomplete sentences and syntax errors which need correction.

Take this opportunity to standardize font sizes, colors, and general layout. Your template should have taken care of the biggest problems, but remember a slide that looks fine on the laptop screen may project very differently in the meeting room. Be sure you’ve gone through each presentation to make sure all slides can be read as projected.

You should also have trusted colleagues review your slides – it’s easy to overlook errors that would normally jump out at you when working in the unfamiliar format such as PowerPoint. There’s a good chance they’ll catch the same kind of errors your colleagues did in your own presentation.

No one likes their work to be questioned, so you can make small changes (fonts and obvious typos) without consulting the author. There’s no sense in irritating co-presenters by pointing out nit-picky items that clearly need to be corrected. But for items of substance, you should always discuss with the creator of the content. Changing a fundamental portion of a presentation without clearing it with the speaker is a recipe for disaster.

Prior to holding a Dress Rehearsal, we recommend getting all the speakers together in a room to discuss the flow of the program, as well as the content of individual presentations. While this is a slow and tedious process, it’s invaluable to ensuring that all parties are on board with the Message of the Meeting.

The Dress Rehearsal

Going hand in hand with slide review is the Dress Rehearsal, one final opportunity for all parties to review the content before the show.

If you can schedule a Dress Rehearsal for the day before the meeting, you’ll help the presenters relax since they will have a chance to see the room, understand the equipment set up, screen placement and perhaps even have a chance to advance through their slides using the remote advance device.

If necessary, you can have a dress rehearsal on the day of the show, but be forewarned time constraints will limit the value of getting together immediately before the show.

There can be nothing more damaging to the Message of your Meeting than a full-fledged fight between presenters over a key element in the program. The Slide Review is the best time to go over these differences, where the can be ironed out in a less rushed environment. It’s better to air differences in a Dress Rehearsal rather than at the main event.

These steps are not as easy as they sound. They are time consuming and require multiple parties to coordinate their schedules – which is sometimes difficult or almost impossible to accomplish. But the time investment in these steps is as important to the meeting as getting the presenters to do the slides in the first place.

If you have any questions, please schedule a consultation on our website at www.SummitMgt.com or call 1-800-835-9767.

Till next week,

Have a good meeting!

Rob and Joe Lipman

You’re in the meeting room for your important presentation and everything looks perfect. There’s a projector with enough lumens, a correctly sized screen so that everyone can see – maybe even a sound system – and the meeting is about to begin. You even remembered the auto-advance slide presenter and the laser pointer. The coffee break is set and lunch is scheduled for 12:30. Did you forget anything?

One sure way to invite “Death by PowerPoint,” is to let more than one person try to hook up their computer to your show projector or to change computers in the middle of your meeting.

In all but the smallest and most informal presentations, we strongly recommend your entire program for the day be contained on and run from a uniquely created directory on a single, dedicated laptop. If you’ve decided to go it alone at your meeting, having a dedicated “Show Computer” that you control, is truly mission critical.

Even if nothing else happens, there’s nothing more disruptive to a program than taking 3 to 5 minutes to switch the projector connection between multiple laptops. The inevitable delay, which results when presenters insist on using their own laptops, breaks the momentum of the meeting. An extended period between presentations encourages people to begin chatting about unrelated matters, take or make “urgent” phone calls, answer emails and generally disrupt the focus on your meeting’s topic. It’s hard to get everyone’s attention back on the screen and the speaker and the message of your meeting.

We all know you can’t stop individual bathroom visits but when more than one or two people slip out of a meeting for a bathroom break, if you wait for them, a five minute break can easily turn into 10 or 15 minutes.

Just a few unnecessary breaks can add 30 minutes to an hour to a morning’s program. The consequences? You may run over your allocated time for the meeting, lose your meeting space to another group which has reserved it, or even worse, people may end up departing before key agenda items are covered. Time is money and when you add up the true cost of unscheduled breaks, you can see how important it is to have rapid transitions between speakers.

What’s worse then this kind of interruption? When switching computers, even if you have an IT technician in the room, you may not be able to establish an immediate projection connection without having to toggle back and forth between output modes. Most computers of the same brand have standard settings but it’s not unusual for different brands of computers to behave differently, with different function keys, brightness and sound controls.

Even more distressing is the hassle of switching presenters’ positions, which can be even more complicated if you’re using an auto advance device (inexpensive and highly recommended but a disaster if you’re switching laptops between speakers!)

And finally, in the worst case scenario, you may even need to turn off the projector, allow it to cool and completely reboot the system to avoid burning out the bulb.

When it’s your meeting, your reputation is on the line if the logistics don’t go well. So don’t take a chance, even if you have to volunteer your own laptop as the Show Computer. Oh, and be sure to take that desktop photo of your toddlers or your new puppy off the screen and replace it with a welcome slide appropriate to your meeting, with today’s date and a color scheme that matches your slide presentations. (You can put the puppy back on after the meeting is over!)

Sure, if you use your own machine as the Show Computer, you won’t be able to answer emails and surf the net during the meeting, but isn’t that something you’d rather your audience not do anyway? What a perfect opportunity to “Lead by Example.”

Next Week’s Edition will focus the Importance of Slide Reviews and Dress Rehearsals for a Successful Event.

Till then,

Have a great meeting!

Rob and Joe Lipman

For all but the smallest meeting, using a hotel’s in-house audio-visual department can be a risky endeavor. It stands to reason that while the hotel’s technical team will do their best to follow your instructions, ultimately, they owe their allegiance to a company with conflicting loyalties. After all, you are only in their hotel for a few days; they will have another client next week, and the week after that.

Traveling a technical team which owes its allegiance to you is as important as finding the right speakers for your presentations.

The wisdom of this approach becomes even clearer when hosting meetings outside of the US, especially when your speakers are used to American standards and work ethics. If you’ve ever tried to get a technical staff together in Paris for a rehearsal at 5:00 PM on a Sunday afternoon, or even 7:00 AM on a Monday, you know the hurdle you face.

When you retain your own production company, they become familiar with your speakers, your standard formats, your expectations and above all, The Message of Your Meeting.® You can also be sure that you won’t show up on the morning of the meeting with 15-year old equipment, a video projector that isn’t bright enough for the audience to see, a screen that’s too small, or sound equipment that isn’t adequate for your room.

Are you confident you know enough about AV equipment to be sure your hotel will deliver the right equipment? And if it’s not right, are you comfortable enough conversing in foreign languages to make last minute changes to fix anything that’s not right?

While it’s tempting to save a few dollars by using in-house AV, when compared to the overall cost of your meeting, the cost of hiring a professional production company is not only a wise investment, it’s also the best insurance you can possibly buy to be sure your meeting is professionally run.

Design a Standard Template for ALL Presentations

It’s easy enough to design a standard template with PowerPoint. When multiple speakers develop their presentations independently, chances are slim your meeting will have a uniform look. Distribute the template to your speakers when assignments are handed out. Set a firm deadline for submission and review, and don’t forget to provide specifications for the color scheme and standard font sizes.

Audiences do not like being read to. This simple fact is often ignored, especially by inexperienced presenters. Review each section for content, cohesiveness, and technical accuracy. There’s nothing worse than a guest speaker who shows up at the last minute, with incomplete information, inadvertent disclosures or contradictory points. The first time you don’t check every slide might be your last.

Keep slides simple and presentations as brief as possible. Your slide deck should only contain the highlights of each speaker’s talk. It’s not necessary to have a bullet point for every point made. After all, if your audience could read the entire presentation, they really don’t need to hear the speaker, would they?

The following slide, from the Technical Source Archives at the University of North Carolina, shows much more than how to design effective slides. It’s good practice to specify dark backgrounds, select strong colors that don’t clash, use familiar and easily recognized symbols, and choose easy to read fonts.

By using ACTIVE VERBS, you can get your point across in fewer words, focusing attention on the speaker:

Reference: http://technologysource.org/article/399/

We’ll have more tips on Technical Aspects of Running a Meeting in a segment we call “Death by PowerPoint” in next week’s e-Blast, so please stay tuned.

If you have any questions, please schedule a consultation on our website at www.SummitMgt.com or call 1-800-835-9767.

Happy Travels,

Rob and Joe Lipman

According to the Airline’s website:

“Choose to purchase a seat with extra legroom when you require more room for work or relaxation. When checking-in during the normal check-in period 24 hours prior to your flight, you’ll have the choice to purchase a seat offering a minimum of seven additional inches of legroom. These seats will be available to purchase at continental.com or at an airport kiosk. OnePass Elite members will continue to have the same access to the seats without paying a fee.

The fee to purchase an extra legroom seat will vary based on a number of factors including the length of the flight and market. The actual amount of extra legroom will vary depending on the type of aircraft and row. Consider this choice when you’re looking for additional comfort on your next flight.”

Continental Giveth, but then Taketh Away

The Wall Street Journal has reported Continental will be discontinuing free domestic coach meal service on almost all domestic routes, except for coast-to-coast flights.

Continental had prided itself on being the only major US airline to offer complimentary food on most of its mealtime flights. Its executives used to say the cost of offering the service was a good investment for the goodwill and loyalty it engendered with customers, and by and large, that philosophy seems to have worked.

For those of us flying out of Newark – even though the food wasn’t great – the service will be missed. For now, meals will continue, but come late summer, they will be history. Like other carriers, Continental will offer “food for purchase” on flights over mealtimes, and promises a “healthy and fresh” cuisine.

Don’t forget to check your email tomorrow for our regular weekly e-blast on Travel and Meeting Management.

Regards,

Rob and Joe Lipman