Luxury in Business Travel Rebounding

Sadly, for many fliers, flying in real style is a thing of the past. For these travelers, the ever tighter profit margins in coach class have progressively bit into the quality of the experience. At the top end there does, however, seem to be a trend for bring back some of the luxury that we used to see in air travel.

We’re not talking about lie-flat beds and four-course meals, these are things pretty much standard in transcontinental business and first class flights these days. What we’re seeing is an expanding demand for this type of travel and airlines are responding in two ways. Firstly, more space on aircraft is being devoted to luxurious travel. And, more interestingly, they’re trying to get ever more luxurious, particular for international travel.

Emerging trend, or back to the past?

The facts speak for themselves:  According to the Global Business Travel Association, while business travel in the United States is forecast to grow by 7.1 percent to $293 billion in 2014, international travel is expected to increase almost twice as fast, at 13 percent, to reach $37 billion. “The gap between what’s going on at the front of the plane and in the back has never been wider,” said Tim Winship, publisher of the FrequentFlyer.com website.

What’s going on

Layouts have changed in business class, with all seats having direct axis to the aisle. This means no one has to climb over a sleeping neighbor if they need to leave their seat. The seats are getting better too – Air France new business class seats cost at least $68,000.

The range of things you can now do on some airlines has also increased. Emirates’ new A380s have two showers in first class and some airlines have bars and lounges on board.

A good nights’ sleep

Almost all long haul flights now offer lie-flat seats, or airlines will soon introduce them. This is the result of a number of factors; passengers are willing to pay more for them and aircraft can fly longer without stopping to refuel. This has resulted in actually less service – people are now sleeping and don’t want to b disturbed.

There is one more aspect of travel that we’d like to help with: getting you there and about. As one of the leading limousine and corporate transportation services in the Philadelphia, New Jersey and New York, Philadelphia Limousine can get you to the right place, at the right time and in the right style. We are highly experienced at serving the needs of businesses and individuals in the multiple industries and we’d love to be your next transportation provider. Contact us today to see what we can offer.

Downfalls of the “Virtual” Business Trip: Why Business Travel Remains Essential

Many companies are trying to reduce their business travel expenses by putting an emphasis on virtual communications. Skype calls, video conferencing and screen casting have all taken the place of many in-person business meetings. While technology can be a viable substitute for some minor business travel needs it cannot replace the benefits of business travel completely.

The Inability to Connect and Network on a Deeper Level

The business meeting itself isn’t the only component to a successful business trip. Something as simple as going out to lunch or dinner with business partners and prospective clients can be extraordinarily valuable: you want to know who you are working with and whether your personalities mesh up. Virtual business conferences are usually on a time limit and need to be straight to the point. This does not give you enough time to develop a relationship.

Limiting Meetings to Only a Few Key Speakers

Due to the limitations of the technology, most video conferences are limited to a few key speakers. A few people at a time will need to address a group and this makes it harder for other people to have their voices heard. While this can be ideal for certain types of meetings, such as updates to a company’s structure or employee announcements, it’s very difficult for more complex meetings such as business deals and shareholder meetings. It’s also virtually impossible to connect a large amount of separate locations to a single meeting.

Continued Technical Issues and Glitches

Though virtual communication solutions have come quite far in the last few years, there are still some significant technical issues and glitches involved in the process. Notably, both parties need to have extremely stable Internet connections and connections can usually only be maintained by two or three parties at a time. Companies may find themselves spending a significant amount of time simply struggling to set up a meeting that could be used for something more productive.

Virtual business communications are best used as a more feature complete substitute for conference calling and for day-to-day operational meetings. They cannot be considered a replacement for business travel because they do not foster business relationships nor business efficiency in the same way.

Philadelphia limousine service has everything to meet and exceed them. We offer a wide selection of the newest models of luxury sedans, SUVs and mini coach bus rentals, for you to choose from.

No matter if you’re a party of one or twenty; Philadelphia Limousine Service offers the ultimate luxurious travel experience available. Our quality service and exclusive vehicles aside, what makes Philadelphia Limousine distinctive is the care and attention we give each and every customer. From the moment that we answer your call all the way through reaching your final destination, Philly Limo (http://www.philly-limo.com) Service is luxury travel done right.

Philadelphia Taxi September 2014 Fuel Surcharge

On April 23, 2012 the Board of the Philadelphia Parking Authority, at its scheduled April meeting approved a measure implementing a fuel surcharge system for all Philadelphia Taxicabs and Airport Transfer Services, (a category of limousine service largely provided in vans).
The surcharge system allows for the fuel surcharge to change monthly based on fluctuating gas prices as described in the chart posted with the Board Resolution of April 23, 2012.

As required in the April 23, 2012 Resolution, the average price per gallon of regular, unleaded gasoline must be evaluated each month, the corresponding surcharge determined and then posted on the Taxicab and Limousine page of the Authority’s website on the third Friday of that month for the following month.
The fuel surcharge for September 1, 2014 through September 30, 2014 is as follows:

For Taxicabs – $1.00 per trip.
For Airport Transfer Services (as described above) – $2.25 per passenger.

How To Deliver What Attendees Want

If you could predict what attendees really want, wouldn’t your job be easier? Recently released hospitality research might make this a little easier. A new report called “Creating ‘Moments of Trust’: The Key to Building Successful Brand Relationships in the Kinship Economy” by Inter Continental Hotels Group (IHG) asked more than 7,000 travelers to find out exactly what they want in the future. This post brings you a summary of the latest research to ensure your events move with the trends.

CEO Richard Solomons said: “We have found that future success lies in brands simultaneously managing three macro trends: globalization, localization, and personalization. These are not trends that come today and are gone tomorrow; they are big trends that have been developing over past decades,”…“What we are seeing now, however, is their collision, accelerated by the rapid rise of technology-enabled personalization. This collision is shaping the experience our guests want when they travel.”

 

 Globalization

IHG’s research found that global brands should remain consistent and innovative. They believe brands with a perceived higher quality should provide a coherent experience, irrelevant of where and that they should offer the most innovative features and services. We can extrapolate that attendees will expect the same. They will want the same standard; regardless of where they are they will also need the same level of service and innovation.

Localization

The research demonstrated that travelers “now expect global brands to be relevant in terms of local tastes, customs, and cultures.” How to do this is perhaps more interesting: brands should “encourage greater freedom within the global brand framework”. This means getting the local and regional team to reconcile the difference between the demands of globalization and local idiosyncrasies.

Personalization

IHG’s also found that, in the hospitality sector, increasingly travelers expect hotels to tailor experience to their own personal needs. This resulted in respondents feeling more valued and respected. Your attendees will most likely want the same. This means their own schedule and suggested networking opportunities, all on their own smart phone. For event managers, it follows that data capture will be key to providing this.

We hope that you find these three insights useful, if you need ground transportation we can be of further assistance – Philadelphia Limousine operates in Greater Philadelphia, New Jersey and New York and can provide transport for your nest event that will exceed all expectations. Call us today to get the process rolling, you’ll not be disappointed!