New York Politicians Give Airbnb a Last-Minute Surprise — Skift Business Traveler

What to Know Now

Though the use of short-term or vacation rentals is still in its infancy for business travel, the entire industry suffered a setback late last week as New York passed legislation that will make much of its business (or advertisement of the practice online) very difficult in that state. The law is yet another skirmish in a protracted battle among Airbnb, New York, often-shifty short term landlords and the thousands of visitors looking for alternative accommodations in the Big Apple each year.

There’s no doubt that the short-term rental industry will bounce back, but in the meantime, business travelers looking for a bit more of a creative lodging arrangement in New York City may be out of luck. Hey, there’s always the Jazz Hostel.

Social Quote of the Day

.@solarimpulse will depart JFK at around 2am tomorrow morning for an attempt to reach Seville, Spain. The flight is expected to take 4 days.

– @NYCAviation

Airlines

Big U.S. Airlines Realize They Missed a Shot at Cheapest Jet Fuel Prices in 12 Years: The biggest U.S. airlines missed their chance to lock in the cheapest energy costs in more than 12 years after jet fuel surged as much as 80 percent since January. Read more at Skift

Airline fees make comparison shopping a nightmare: We’re used to airline fees by now, but that doesn’t mean we like paying $50 round-trip for a checked bag. The cost isn’t the worst of it, though; it’s the sheer, unadulterated confusion. Read more at USA Today

Why U.S. Airlines Should Ignore Shareholders Now for Long-Term Innovation: Now that they are reliably profitable, U.S. airlines should spend on passenger experience, while improving reliability, reducing costs, investing in technology, and implementing tax-avoidance strategies, professional services firm PwC said in a report released Thursday. Read more at Skift

Airports

Workers at Miami International Airport Call Out Unsafe Working Conditions: Workers at Miami International Airport are claiming unsafe working conditions in the terminal that services most international flights. Read more at Skift

If You Fly in the Oneworld Alliance, Things Just Got a Lot More Complicated: Passengers may now have to re-check their bags and obtain new boarding passes, even when connecting between Oneworld Alliance member airlines. Read more at Conde Nast Traveler

Biden praises plan to revamp ‘Third World’ LaGuardia Airport: Two years after likening LaGuardia Airport to a “Third World country,” Vice President Joe Biden commended a $4 billion redevelopment project for it at a groundbreaking ceremony on Tuesday. Read more at USA Today

Tech

Airbnb Loses a Fight in New York as Legislature Passes Strict Advertising Law: New York State legislators passed a bill today that will heavily fine hosts on Airbnb and other short-term rental site for allowing listings by hosts of rentals that violate the state’s short-term rental laws. Read more at Skift

Visa Says We’re About to See a Huge Jump in International Travel: More than 280 million households globally will make at least one international trip per year by 2025, which represents a 35% increase over 2015 figures. Read more at Skift

Why Uber Continues to Burn Through All Its Cash: Ride-sharing services like Uber trumpet that they provide a cheap, easy way to zip around cities anywhere in the world. That may be true, but that’s because someone else is silently picking up part of the cost, and that can’t last forever. Read more at Skift

Airbnb Secures $1 Billion From U.S. Banks to Fund Growth: Airbnb Inc. secured a $1 billion debt facility from some of the largest U.S. banks to help the home-sharing company develop new services and fund growth initiatives, people familiar with the matter said. Read more at Skift

Hotels

The Man Who’s Taking on Disney Parks Will Soon Open a ‘7-Star’ Hotel in Shanghai: Not content to open theme parks that directly challenge on Walt Disney World Resorts in both Paris and Shanghai, Wang Jianlin is now taking on the hubris of Dubai hotels with a new property in Shanghai. Read more at Skift

The Business of Hotels Vs. Short-Term Rentals in 4 Charts: Some hoteliers still brush off the threat of Airbnb and suggest that the short-term rental company hasn’t had any impact on their own businesses. But if new projections pan out from Euromonitor International, a London-based global market research firm, Airbnb will be the world’s second largest hospitality company in 2020 in terms of total room sales. Read more at Skift

Hilton’s Extended Stay Brands Want to Teach Men How to Be Better Travel Planners: Instead of focusing on moms or Millennials for its latest marketing campaign, Hilton’s extended stay brands are looking to another traveler demographic: that of men, especially fathers. Read more at Skift

Your Turn

The list of things that David Sedaris can’t travel without, which curiously includes a wooden hangar, is now live at the New York Times. See the full list here.

Tips and Comments

Can be sent to gm[at]skift[dot]com or to @grantkmartin

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