2013 Archives

The best way to watch: full screen, preferably through your big screen TV, with the soundtrack coming through the best sound system you have. Then you can decide.

There has been a lot of skepticism about whether Virgin America could turn itself into a profitable airline. It still faces tremendous competition and big-time challenges, but today's earnings announcement was a hopeful sign for an airline that a lot of people feel very good about.

We're not betting that selling half-seats will happen any time soon, but the idea is something worth sitting back and wishing for the next time you can smell what your seatmate had for dinner.

Marriott and JetBlue have admitted that there were hack attempts; Expedia is reporting more credit card fraud, and HomeAway has been coping with an epidemic of phishing incidents. The state of online security and privacy is getting very dicey.

Plenty has been written about the e-hail companies' battles with regulators and new economy versus old. But their biggest challenge will be running what's basically a Ticketmaster for rides when the barrier for entry -- and costs, too -- are lower for existing players.

Marriott is killing two birds with one product: It appears conscious and eco-friendly to customers while offering a creative attractive amenity to attract new guests.

When it comes to serving food on board, airlines can't seem to win: whatever they serve is criticized for its quality, but if they cut back, they hear about that, too. The life of the airline peanut - after decades, barely hanging on to its role as the prototypical on-board snack - is representative of airline food's career, both triumphs and struggles.

The U.S. visitor is falling out of love with Western Europe, barring Italy.

Several airlines have a separate charter venture, but the Emirate's new Executive product is unique in that it goes beyond a charter business to offers its best assets in one personalized service.