U.S. airlines Monday said their flights and schedules were unaffected by the U.S. State Department alert issued Sunday to warn American tourists of the potential for attacks by al-Qaeda and other groups in Europe. Get the full story »
Filed under: Tourism
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Oct. 4, 2010 at 11:22 a.m.
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Filed under: Airlines, Government, International, Tourism, Travel Business as usual at U.S. airlines after travel alert
Madigan warns about timeshare scam
From WBBM-Ch. 2 | Illinois residents being warned of scam artists preying on owners of vacation timeshares, posing as timeshare resellers to deceive consumers out of thousands of dollars. The Attorney General’s office has received dozens of complaints since January from timeshare owners targeted by the scam, according to a release. Get the full story >>
Sep. 15, 2010 at 10:26 a.m.
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Filed under: Defense, Manufacturing, Tourism, Transportation, Travel Boeing spaceship seats up for sale
Boeing has lined up a space tourism company to sell seats on the spaceship it wants to build to fly to the International Space Station.
Boeing says it has a deal with Space Adventures to market seats on the flights. Space Adventures currently sells seats on trips to the space station aboard the Russian-built Soyuz spaceship.
New airline ‘cheap seats’ inspired by saddle
New airline seats inspired by a saddle. (Aviointeriors)
An Italian company is about to take the wraps off a space-saving seat for commercial aircraft that promises a flying experience similar to riding a horse.
Aviointeriors’ SkyRider seats are more like a saddles with armrests than like the traditional flat-cushion seating that fliers are accustomed to. The SkyRider seats are smaller and sit a little higher, which would allow airlines to narrow the distance between seat rows.
On a short-haul flight, the space between rows in economy seating now is at a minimum 28 inches, according to data provided by SeatGuru.com. The SkyRider could cut that down to 23 inches. Get the full story »
Dollar Thrifty accepts $1.4B bid from Hertz
Dollar Thrifty has accepted a new bid of about $1.43 billion from Hertz, which is battling Avis for the rental car company.
Hancock Center to open ice rink on 94th floor
Ice skating in Chicago in January is nothing new. Doing it on the 94th floor of the John Hancock Center is a little different. Officials at the 100-story Chicago skyscraper say they’re putting in a 1,000-square foot ice-skating rink in the tower. It’ll be open to the public from January through March. Get the full story »
Gas prices expected to fall even more
Gasoline prices have been falling for weeks, and they could go even lower as autumn’s leaves begin to drop.
The national average for a gallon of unleaded regular was $2.681 on Friday, according to AAA, Wright Express and Oil Price Information Service. That’s 6.6 cents lower than a month ago and 8.5 cents higher than a year ago.
Aug. 31, 2010 at 5:29 p.m.
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Filed under: China, International, Policy, Politics, Tourism, Trade, Travel Daley, business leaders going to China, South Korea
Mayor Richard Daley will travel to China and South Korea next month to promote Chicago as a destination for businesses and tourists.
The Sept. 18-24 trip will be sponsored by the Chicagoland Chamber of Commerce and World Business Chicago. The mayor will make stops in Shanghai, China, and in the cities of Busan and Seoul in South Korea.
Gas prices drop ahead of Labor Day
Prices at gasoline stations across the country should keep dropping as travelers hit the road for late-summer trips.
The national average pump price has declined for 17 days in a row, reaching $2.682 for a gallon of unleaded regular gasoline on Friday, according to AAA, Wright Express and Oil Price Information Service. The price is 6.3 cents lower than a month ago and about 6.2 cents higher than it was last year at this time.
U.S. air fares poised to climb this fall
Travelers on U.S. airlines can look forward to higher fares and higher fees this fall as demand recovers from the 2009 economic recession, a top fare expert said Monday.
Fares for domestic flights are 16 percent to 20 percent higher than they were a year ago, said Rick Seaney, chief executive of Farecompare.com. Get the full story »
Hilton workers OK strike at 4 Chicago hotels
Hilton Hotels workers in Chicago voted Thursday night to authorize a strike at the Chicago Hilton, Hilton O’Hare, the Palmer House Hilton and the Drake, according to Unite Here Local 1 and Local 450.
The union said 96 percent of its members voted in favor of a strike, which authorizes the bargaining committee to call a strike, if necessary. They are the third group of hotel workers in nine months to hold such a vote in the wake of unsettled contract negotiations between Chicago hotels and the union. Get the full story »
Film paints Pritzkers as obstacle to recovery
Workers at the Union Tank Car plant. (Show Us The Tax Breaks)
A short film produced by the hotel workers’ union and screened Wednesday evening in Chicago holds up the city’s wealthy Pritzker family as poster children for corporate decision-making that they say has contributed to the downfall of the economy.
“Show Us the Tax Breaks” attacks the family, and Penny Pritzker in particular, for the decision to close East Chicago’s Union Tank Car plant in 2008. The plant was one of the largest employers in East Chicago, Ind., and when it closed, hundreds of workers were left unemployed. Get the full story »
Chicago gains in global cities ranking
Chicago moved up two slots, to No. 6, in an updated ranking of global cities, coming in behind New York, London, Tokyo, Paris and Hong Kong.
The ranking aims to show how much influence a city has beyond its own borders. It was conducted by Foreign Policy magazine, management consulting firm A.T. Kearney and the Chicago Council on Global Affairs, and comes two years after the inaugural ranking by these same parties.
The top four cities retained their hold over the two-year period, though the ranking also showed growing momentum in Asia and the Pacific, with five of the 10 cities deemed most global. In addition to Tokyo and Hong Kong, those cities included Singapore, Sydney and Seoul. Get the full story »
New McCormick work rules attracting shows
Mayor Richard Daley says the International Manufacturing Technology Show, which has held its trade shows at McCormick Place since 1947, has decided to recommit for three more shows through 2016.
The group is one of six current trade shows that have recommitted to the city and three new shows that have signed on. Get the full story »
