Path: bloom-picayune.mit.edu!snorkelwacker.mit.edu!news.media.mit.edu!americast.com!usa-post Newsgroups: usa-today.travel From: usa-post@AmeriCast.Com Organization: American Cybercasting Approved: usa-post@AmeriCast.com Subject: travel Thu, Mar 26 1992 Date: Thu, 26 Mar 92 05:44:31 EST Message-ID: 03-26 0000 DECISIONLINE: Travel USA TODAY Update March 26, 1992 Source: USA TODAY:Gannett National Information Network RENTAL AGENCIES VIE FOR DRIVERS: Battling a weak economy and each other, car-rental companies are giving away more to keep customers coming back. "Car-rental companies are fighting for share, and this is one of the means we're using," says President F. Paul Silicato of General, one of the companies offering enticements. "We need to do something other than just have lower rates." (For more, see special Rent package below.) HISTORIC HOTELS OFFER GETAWAY: For a legendary getaway, consider one of the hotels newly added to the National Trust for Historic Preservation. Now 75 hotels are listed as Historic Hotels of America. To be selected, the hotels must be at least 50 years old, listed in or eligible for the National Register of Historic Places or recognized locally as having historic significance. Central phone number: 800-678-8946. MAJESTIC, RITZ PLAZA ON LIST: Sixteen hotels recently have been added to the National Trust for Historic Preservation. Among them: San Carlos Hotel, Phoenix; The Majestic, San Francisco; Ritz Plaza Hotel, Miami Beach and the Stouffer Vinoy, St. Petersburg, Fla; The Windsor Hotel, Americus, Ga.; The Delta Queen, New Orleans; Charlotte Inn, Edgartown, Mass.; The Dunhill, Charlotte, N.C.; and The Lafayette, Marietta, Ohio. AMTRAK TAKES OFF IN CALIF.: Amtrak has begun service connecting Sacramento with San Jose and Oakland, Calif. The rail service is called CAPITOLS and there are three daily trains in each direction. The fare between Sacramento and San Jose one way is $23; it's $16 for Sacramento-Oakland. There are three passenger coaches. WEATHER PUTS PRESSURE ON PILOTS: A crash this week at New York's LaGuardia Airport underscored pressure on pilots flying in bad weather. Pilots say the regulation is unrealistic that says planes should not try a takeoff if any snow or ice has accumulated. In Europe, pilots have guidelines for effectiveness of de-icers. One pilot says on-time pressure isn't a factor. "We've got a vested interest" in safety, says Rich LaVoy. NEW N.Y. SERVICE TO BEGIN: USAir Express will begin nostop service from Stewart International Airport, Newburgh, N.Y., to Washington National beginning April 5. Three new daily roundtrips will be offered. The flights from New York will leave at 7:45 and 9:50 a.m. and 2 p.m. The flights leaving Washington will depart at 8:15 a.m. and 12:30 and 7:02 p.m. FLORIDA SERVICE TO INCREASE: USAir and USAir Express affiliates will increase service at Orlando, Fla., and begin service at St. Petersburg, Fla., beginning May 1. At Orlando, service will increase to 72 daily departures including new nonstops to Hartford, Washington, Newark, and the Florida cities of West Palm Beach, Fort Myers, Melbourne and St. Petersburg. St. Petersburg service will have six daily flights. COMMUTER CRASHES CAUSE CONCERN: Government and industry leaders are struggling to maintain confidence in the USA's fastest-growing segment of air travel, commuter planes. They were hit with 77 deaths in eight accidents last year. The accidents had little in common. There's a growing demand to place commuters under the same regulations facing larger airlines. Sunday's USAir crash was not a commuter plane. NEVER GIVE FOUR IN JAPAN: Business travelers who must go overseas should be aware of foreign faux pax listed in the April issue of Working Woman. To wit: Never give a Japanese colleague a set of four of something; four is associated with death. In Germany, white and yellow chrysanthemums are taboo for the same reason. For appropriate gifts, call 800-955-5077 for The Registry Group. SPECIAL PACKAGE ON RENT: RENTAL COMPANIES COMPETE: Car-rental companies are giving things away to keep customers. General on Wednesday began offering a $50 Savings Bond after four rentals and a $1,000 bond after 50 rentals. Budget last week launched a program giving an upgrade after two rentals and a free day after four. And both companies give frequent-flier miles - like every other car-rental company - for each rental. INCENTIVES ARE NOTHING NEW: General and Budget are not the first to offer incentives for repeated rentals. National and Alamo have had frequent-renter programs for five years, though National's Emerald Club no longer gives new members points toward free travel awards. National, like Hertz and Avis, uses speedy rental services and frequent-flier miles as its chief tools for building customer loyalty. DRIVERS PREFER VARIOUS PERKS: The question of what the customer likes best brings varied answers. Some like Savings Bonds, others upgrades. One Massachusetts sales manager loves the frequent-flier miles. "(People) like to take their wives" on trips and combine business and vacations, he says. And the frequent-flier miles "are a good way to do it without companies getting mad" or spending too much. (End of package.) 24-HOUR TELEPHONE INFORMATION: USA TODAY Weather Hot Line. 95 cents a minute. 1-900-555-5555. Travel Editor: Beth Mann. (1-919-855-3491) Making copies of USA TODAY Update (Copyright, 1992) for further distribution violates federal law. This article is copyright 1992 Gannett News Service. Redistribution to other sites is not permitted except by arrangement with American Cybercasting Corporation. For more information, send-email to usa@AmeriCast.COM