Re: You're Favorites and Why
American
Why....
-Routes suit my needs.
-Great access from NYC Airports.
-Easy to navigate website with many useful features.
-Most of the fleet has new cabins and extra large overheads.
-Domestic F class
-Powerports on all planes.(depnds on seat)
-AAdvantage Program and One World Alliance.
Re: You're Favorites and Why
Airlines:
Southwest:
- Leather seats are comfy
- Beer
- I don't feel guilty sitting in the front row in t-shirt and jeans with my foot on the bulkhead 5 feet up.
- ATA Codeshare
ATA:
- Gorgeous planes
- Comfy leather seats
- Fair-priced Business upgrades with decent service
- WN Codeshare
Midwest:
- Great Business class service
- 717s are SO quiet
- Cookies
US Airways:
- Has BOS shuttle service/agreeable schedule
- Nice Business Class service
- Ryan Spellman
- Matt Celmer
- Ron Peel
Hotels:
Sheraton:
- Great beds
- Consistently modern and clean looking
Doubletree:
- Dark wood decorations
- Friendly employees
- Cookies
Re: You're Favorites and Why
Oh I forgot Midwest! I only fly them to MKE but they are great! Oh Phil, Double Tree is a Hilton owned hotel...glad you like ;) I think I know what to get you for X-mas this year..."cookies." LOLOL
Re: You're Favorites and Why
Airlines:
NORTHWEST:
-Best route network out of DTW (duh, DTW=largest hub)
-Always good, conistant service
-Brand new awesome McNamara terminal
-no lost luggage yet
-Friendly Flight attendants
-fairly cheap fares out of DTW
-WorldPerks a good program
-Skyteam
-The good ol' DC-9!
Southwest:
-Cheap fares
- Friendly service
- (used to have) best boarding policy
- open seating
- fairly generous on snacks
Rental cars:
Hertz:
-Good prices
-little waiting for a car
-able to choose the specific car you want online
-good discounts
-"quick drop off" just pull into one of the lanes and leave the car w/ the keys and leave
Re: You're Favorites and Why
Airline:
Royal Jet
- comfy leather couches
- pre-flight lamb shawarma appetizer
- flight attendants sometimes show a little ankle
Hotel:
Ritz Carlton
- many locations across the globe
- suits seem very spacious, particularly when you are the only guest occupying the top floor
- spAAAAA
Car:
chauffeur
- Mercedes S series gold plated limousine
- never really have to wait
- stylish hat accompanies driver's uniform!
- jMay
Re: You're Favorites and Why
Quote:
Originally Posted by SoPictureThis
Airline:
Royal Jet
- comfy leather seats
- pre-flight lamb shwarama appetizer
- flight attendants sometimes show a little ankle
Hotel:
Ritz Carlton
- many locations across the globe
- suits seem very spacious, particularly when you are the only guest occupying the top floor
- spAAAAA
Car:
chauffeur
- Mercedes S series gold plated limousine
- never really have to wait
- stylish hat accompanies driver's uniform!
- jMay
Josh You forgot to list why you luv WN =P
Southwest Airlines
Just look at my signature and my avatar and my user name and that says it all!!!!
I AM THE SPIRIT OF SOUTHWEST AIRLINES!!!! :D
Re: You're Favorites and Why
Airlines:
American Airlines
-One of the largest network out of STL
-2nd easiest to redeem using miles
-MD80's!!!
-DFW Hub is one of my favorites to connect through
-intl, a nice alliance, domestically, could be a bit stronger
-The Credit Card makes it so easy to gain miles on pretty much everything
-Fairly easy to upgrade with
Southwest Airlines-
-Best customer service I have experienced
-Great in flight service in coach
-efficient and very informative
-best airline and easiest to redeem your award for
-free alcohol with every free flight (award tickets)
-Boeing 737-700!
-Excellent Interior
Hotel-
Hyatt
-EXCELLENT BEDS
-great room service
-clean pool
-excellent meal choices
Alex
Re: You're Favorites and Why
Airlines:
Alitalia:
Mamma AZ has brought me back and forth to Italy for 32 years and has NEVER failed me.
Flying Magnifica Class
Speaking Italian brings me extra care and attention.
Skyteam
The rush of honor and Italian pride I feel knowing I am on an Alitalia aircraft.
Delta:
Expanding Route Network Serves My Domestic and Certain International Needs
Skymiles (47K and counting!)
New AVOD being rolled out on a increasingly younger fleet
They will be king at JFK soon with a great new home ;)
Skyteam
Chris Weyer
Re: You're Favorites and Why
Josh that is hilarious, esp. the shawerma, are you sure you aren't one of my old friends from Abu Dhabi because you pretty much summed up their tastes right there....
Re: You're Favorites and Why
Quote:
Originally Posted by Nonstop2AUH
Josh that is hilarious, esp. the shawerma, are you sure you aren't one of my old friends from Abu Dhabi because you pretty much summed up their tastes right there....
If you want good shwarma, boy do I know a place...it's not too far from LGA...it's kosher though, so it isn't open on Saturday...
Re: You're Favorites and Why
Hotel:
The W Hotel and Sheraton Hotels of SPG.
-Comfy beds and great rooms
-Beautiful decor esp. with the W hotels.
Car:
Just about any will do.
Re: You're Favorites and Why
This is a really interesting thread Tommy! It's great to read other people's opinions, especially fellow business travellers.
Airlines:
Delta
- Good routes out of JFK and can get anywhere with one connection in ATL, CVG, SLC, or LAX
- Comfortable aircraft with one of the best PTV IFE systems (in my opinion)
- They have always taken care of me in bad situations (i.e. delayed flights, cancelled flights, screwed up itineraries)
- I have a buddy in reservations who fixes my skymiles account whenever it is broken
- I have elite status with them and +50K miles
- Skyteam has a great bunch of carriers, meaning if Delta can't taken me where I want to go, someone else can and I can still earn miles (unlike BA/AA now to London...)
jetBlue
- No RJ's to upstate NY (come to think of it, no RJ's at all!)
- Extremely friendly crews (not had a bad one yet)
- Very comfortable aircraft and PTV's are a plus
- Reliable service - I can count on their commitment to safety and customer service
- David Neeleman is one of my few business idols
- David Neeleman was extremely kind to my grandmother and I several years ago
Hotels
Marriott
- Consistent product across their different brands & locations
- Friendly, customer-focused service
- Concierge lounge
- Marriott rewards program earns a lot of points when you're an elite, and you can use them for a lot of reward stays
- Platinum status
Hilton
- Excellent bedding
- Very friendly service
- Rewards program lets you "double-dip" hotel points and airline miles
- You can earn status based on number of nights, number of stays, OR number of points (any of the three categories that meet their minimum for elite status will qualify you, which means it's easier to earn status than in other programs)
Cars
Hertz
- Good selection of different vehicle models
- Good customer service (a "how can I help you?" attitude)
- Good points program
Re: You're Favorites and Why
I don't travel as much as I used to, but I find that it's extremely difficult to generalize about airlines and hotel chains because in both cases, they are not 'standardized' in the way that, say, retail chains or fast food restaurants are. This is why brand loyalty has to be fostered largely through the mechanics of the mileage/points programs. In my experience, I've found there are just too many different factors and variables to say that in terms of quality, any one brand is definitively the 'best' or 'worst.' In fact, I've had good and bad experiences with every single airline and hotel chain I've ever dealt with, so I've concluded that my favorites (at any given time) are the ones where my good experiences have outweighed the bad. I am quite sure, however, that more people have at some point in their travels muttered "this is the worst airline ever" than they have thought "this is the best!"
Re: You're Favorites and Why
Quote:
Originally Posted by mirrodie
Hotel:
The W Hotel and Sheraton Hotels of SPG.
-Comfy beds and great rooms
-Beautiful decor esp. with the W hotels.
I recently had the occasion to stay at the W in Chicago (the one near the Sears Tower, not Lakefront), and that was an awesome hotel. You're right about the decor...it was unlike anywhere I've stayed before. Their "Whatever, Whenever" service was also really good.
I also really enjoy the Four Seasons and the Ritz Carlton on business travel. The service at those hotels, particularly the Four Seasons, is truly second to none.