August 2008 Archives

It's back. Wyndham Worldwide has relaunched its ground-breaking WOMEN ON THEIR WAY® program. An integral part of that program, www.womenontheirway.com, serves up travel and safety tips, articles on destinations, a booking widget, and social networking features such as blogs and message boards. There is also a section dedicated to special deals.

Jane is proud to have been one of the founding mothers of www.womenontheirway.com. Okay, Jane wasn't there birthing the website design and dreaming up its wide-ranging content back in the day. But the fact is, when the program was launched in 1995, Jane was WOTW's first on-line columnist, providing pithy commentary and witty words of wisdom for women.

In 1954, the Supreme Court ruled, in Brown V. Board of Education, that separate educational facilities are inherently unequal. In studying her history, Jane of course concurs. So a recent announcement by a Michigan hotel (NOT a Wyndham property) hailing its women's only floor left Jane pondering. Is separating the sexes at a hotel discrimination or good business?

The handful of hotels that host female-friendly floors make the claim that women feel more comfortable and safer on such floors. Regarding the latter argument, Jane wonders, shouldn't a hotel be safe for all guests, not just for women? Furthermore, in spite of all security issues, wouldn't an all-female floor potentially be a greater target for ne'er-do-wells? For guests wanting an extra sense of security--well, let them all pay extra and get restricted access to the co-ed club floor. Let all guests be able to ask for an escort to their rooms, or their parking spaces, regardless of gender. After all, men want to be safe, too.

A new study by a major on-line travel agency concludes that corporate travelers really don't want their cell phones or access to Wi-Fi while in the air. The survey found that, when asked if they would take less convenient or more costly flights in order to have on-board Wi-Fi service, 56 percent of business travelers said, "nope." Another 36 percent said they would try to get a flight with Wi-Fi, but wouldn't get their dander up if they couldn't book it.

Jane says, come on. Yes, no one enjoys the Chatty Charlie seatmate who gabs on his cell until the moment of departure, and then has to attach phone to ear immediately upon landing. And who doesn't cringe at the thought of having Chatty Charlie on the horn non-stop during a long flight? Still, who amongst us wouldn't want the opportunity to place a spontaneous phone call while flying over the Atlantic Ocean or Kansas? Wouldn't it be nice if planes had a cell phone lounge, where people could conduct their personal or professional business while not impinging on the peace and quiet of fellow passengers? (Amtrak, by the way, does offer a quiet car on many of its Northeast routes. Jane highly recommends it. On a recent ride between DC and NYC, Jane happily found herself sitting in a business class car for the price of a coach class ticket, merely because said car had been designated the one and only quiet car. Considering one merely had to step into another car to make a call, Jane considered this quite a deal).

Jane has recently been on a whirlwind tour of television stations across the United States. Normally a mild-mannered sort, all of this traveling has caused Jane to get a bit cranky. So, a column about one of her pet peeves seems justifiable, even during this happy holiday season.

Jane has already flushed out her thoughts on airport bathrooms in another entry. So, let's move on to the concept of the in-room coffeemaker. It's a beautiful thing...for coffee drinkers. But hey, hotel companies, what about the tea drinkers? Where are our teabags? Not only do millions of us drink tea, but even non-tea drinkers like teabags for their ability to reduce travel-induced bags under the eyes.