Jetsettersblog

PARK CITY, UT - Following up one of its most successful seasons in 25 years isn’t the easiest of milestones to beat. But the 2009 U.S. Cross Country Ski team is four competitions into its World Cup season and ready to hit its stride to compete for another page in the annals of history.

“We had our best winter in 25 years of U.S. cross country skiing, and this past summer was even better than the summer before for training. We had great camps, great head-to-head training sessions, and all of our athletes were obviously at a higher level than before,” said Cross Country Head Coach Pete Vordenberg. “So, we have higher expectations this season to have some podium results on the World Cup and a podium at World Championships.”

The Team, which experienced a good amount of World Cup podium success in the 2008 season, has focused on training throughout the summer months to prepare for what it feels can be another monumental season.

“Our World Cup skiers have had tremendous off season training, they are fit, healthy and fired up to test themselves against the rest of the World Cup athletes,” Nordic Program Director John Farra said. “While training can be perfect and testing results point to improved results, the only true measure is the weekly battles with the rest of the world’s best.”

According to Vordenberg, on the whole, the focus for the Team is to pace itself for success.

“This year we are looking at being in Europe, adjusting, training well, and hitting the World Cups with performance at the forefront of our minds. It’s the same for World Championships,” Vordenberg said. “Our preparation has been focused on achieving great results at specific events mostly because looking toward the Olympics, it’s one race on one day and we have to learn to peak for specific events.”

Among the athletes to watch are World Cup performers Kris Freeman (Andover, NH), Andy Newell (Shaftsbury, VT), Torin Koos (Leavenworth, WA), Chris Cook (Rhinelander, WI) and Kikkan Randall (Anchorage, AK).

Geared up and ready to put on a show for the women is Randall who, last season, became the first woman to win a modern day FIS World Cup in a sprint at Rybinsk, Russia December 2007. It also was the first U.S. victory in cross country since Bill Koch in 1983. American Allison Owen-Spencer last won in 1978, before the FIS established the permanent World Cup series.

“I’m looking forward to making sure I am prepared for all the sprints on the schedule this year. Last year there were three skate sprints and this year there are six and one at World Championships,” Randall said. “The fact that I did well in the skate sprints and won makes me feel strongly that I can win. I’m looking forward to winning some more World Cups this year.”

Randall began her World Cup season in Kuusamo, Finland, finishing 33rd in her first sprint and 23rd in a 10K. Her competition travels then took her to Davos, Switzerland, where, after an unlucky tangle with another athlete, she was 26th. She will be one of the favorites in this weekend’s Dusseldorf sprints.

Another athlete who has been preparing heavily after landing on the World Cup podium in Finland last March is Newell who aims for the top of the podium each weekend.

“Last year’s second place finish has motivated me a lot because I know I have what it takes, but this year I’m going for a win,” Newell said. “It’s hard to say how I will stack up in the overall, but I’m going to try to take it one World Cup at a time and see what I can do. If it’s classic or skate, I’m going to try to win each weekend.”

Newell kicked off the season with some good momentum, finishing 11th in a sprint in Kuusamo, but an unexpected slip as he was in the lead at the top of the race hill in Davos, Switzerland, pushed him back to 26th.

With World Championships coming over the horizon, Newell also says that part of his plan is to hit a stride that has him at his best for the title event - a competition he has spent his whole training period focusing on.

“My preparation for this season has been more focused than ever before. My coaches and I have tried to simplify our training a little bit to try and figure out what kind of intervals work best for me and how to peak best for World Champs,” Newell said. “That’s the main focus for the year - the sprint at World Champs.”

Backing up the World Cup Team in its pursuit of success is the Continental Cup Team, which features athletes Liz Stephen (East Montpelier, VT), who took the bronze medal at the U23 World Championships, marking her first international medal, and Garrott Kuzzy (Hayward, WI), who had back-to-back wins during the Madison, WI, SuperTour.

For now, however, the athletes plan to take it one day at a time as a Team.

“This is going to be an exciting year. I think our team has come a long way as a whole.” Randall said. “As well as my individual World Cup, I’m just excited for a year as a team because I think we’re going to have a lot of success on all levels. I’m just excited to be a part of it.”

Lake Placid Lodge is offering special rates for the first two months of 2009. Tucked into the Adirondacks, Lake Placid Lodge offers guests luxurious accommodations for $950 per night in one of the 19 cabins, each featuring a luxurious feather bed, piled high with down pillows, a deep soaking bathtub, and an impressive wood-burning stone fireplace.

Additionally, the lodge will provide all of the ingredients for guests to savor their own Norman Rockwell-esque moments, whether perched in front of the crackling wood fire, toasting marshmallows and making s’mores, or constructing that perfect snowman — corncob pipe and all.

The rate includes accommodations in a Lake View Cabin, full American breakfast, lunch, afternoon tea, four-course dinner, evening bonfire with made-to-order s’mores, complimentary onsite activities including cross country skiing, snow shoeing, hiking trails; and daily ski passes to Whiteface Mountain or Mt. Van Hovenberg. Rates are subject to availability.

For more information, visit www.lakeplacidlodge.com

Kalahari Resort, located in Wisconsin Dells, Wis., which is known for its concentration of 18 indoor waterparks, unveiled a 110,000-square-foot Indoor Theme Park, which features a wide array of indoor activities including: a six-story Ferris wheel, multi-level go-cart track, a carousel, laser tag, ropes course and much more.

The addition adds to Kalahari’s plethora of indoor attractions, which include one of America’s largest indoor waterparks. The new Indoor Theme Park, which was opened with live appearances from Justice and Siren from NBC’s hit show “American Gladiators,” connects Kalahari Resort and Convention Center — which currently features a 125,000-square-foot indoor waterpark, 742 guestrooms and suites, eight dining options, Spa Kalahari and Salon, three shopping outlets and a 100,000-square-foot convention center — to Damon’s Grill and the 15-screen Desert Cinema via an indoor walkway to continue to offer distinctive “under-one-roof” entertainment.

Kalahari Resort’s Indoor Theme Park includes a Ferris Wheel over six stories high; 24 lanes of state-of-the-art Brunswick bowling; hundreds of arcade games, simulators and redemption games; 18 holes of mini golf with a 25-foot waterfall; LaZer Runner Laser Tag and 3,500-square-foot Battle Arena; 28-foot African-themed carousel; climbing walls; five private party rooms; 1,000-square-foot interactive dry play structure; 430-foot, two-story elevated adult and kiddie go-cart track; 20-foot high Sky Trail ropes course Two Full Swing golf simulators with HD screens; sports bar including a dance floor;

Camp Kalahari Activity Center; and a wide array of food and beverage offerings. All day Indoor Theme Park admission is $19.95 for resort guests and $29.95 for non-resort guests. Day passes do not include bowling and golf simulators. Guests can also purchase individual attraction passes.

For more information, visit www.kalahariresorts.com/wi

For reservation and guest information, call 877-525-2427 or visit www.kalahariresorts.com

oneworld® has become the first in the travel industry to sell multiairline
round-the-world air tickets on-line with its new internet booking tool for its oneworld Explorer fare. This also makes oneworld the first global airline alliance to offer any of its public fares for sale through the worldwide web.

The new on-line booking tool is available now through oneworld.com The alliance’s member airlines will add it to their own websites too or provide links from their internet sites to the oneworld.com facility – at www.oneworld.com/ow/flight-info/plan-and-book-your-itinerary
oneworld Explorer is among the most popular multi-airline tickets worldwide, enabling passengers to travel right around the globe using the flights of any of oneworld’s ten member airline and 20 or so affiliates, who together serve some 700 destinations in approaching 150 countries.

With the launch this new oneworld internet tool, customers or their travel agents can for the first time both plan their round-the-world itinerary and now book and pay for their tickets on-line. The system has a number of special features to make it as simple as possible for customers to plan oneworld Explorer round-the-world trips.

As they build their itinerary - simply by clicking on destinations displayed on the alliance’s interactive map - the system automatically checks availability and displays only flights that have seats available for each route and date selected. It also validates that the itinerary meets all the fare’s rules and conditions - and then provides an instant price for the trip. Once customers have finalised their itinerary - which can be of up to 16 sectors - they can pay online using a credit card (see notes) and print out all the details. The e-tickets for the entire trip are then sent to the customer by email.

oneworld Vice-President Commercial Nicolas Ferri said: “The tremendous value and flexibility our oneworld Explorer fares offer now combined with the ease and simplicity of planning, booking and paying on-line extends oneworld and our member airlines’ leading position for worldwide travel. We are delighted to be the first and only alliance - and indeed the first in the travel industry - to offer this level of convenience to our customers and travel agency partners, building further on our record of
innovation.”

The booking engine project has been led on behalf of all the alliance’s carriers by Qantas. Its General Manager Sales and Distribution Rob Gurney said: “With so many possibilities of places to visit and routes to take, planning and booking a round-the-world trip can be time-consuming - both for our customers and sales representatives. Our new, easy-to-use on-line booking and payment facility simplifies the entire operation, saving customers a huge amount of time and providing them with far more flexibility in planning their trips. It will also reduce costs for our member airlines and free up time of airline and travel agency reservations agents to handle other tasks.” oneworld first to sell alliance fares on-line…

Unlike other round-the-world fares, oneworld Explorer’s price is based on the number of continents visited (three to six), not the mileage flown, making planning and pricing journeys much more simple and flexible. It covers flights worldwide by all oneworld member and affiliate airlines.

With oneworld the only airline alliance with members based in South America, Australia or Asia’s Middle East, it is just the ticket for anyone who truly wants to circumnavigate the globe. It offers great flexibility and value, generating the largest portion of the US$725 million revenues earned by oneworld for its member airlines through its alliance fares and sales activities last year.

Around 50,000 people bought a oneworld Explorer round-the-world ticket last year. oneworld Explorer can be booked for travel in Economy, Premium Economy (where available), Business or even First Class, and earn frequent flyer programme mileage awards and tier status points. Prices from the USA start at US$3,900, from the UK at GBP1,349, from Euro-zone countries at EUR1,999, and from Australia at A$3,499, all excluding any taxes, charges and surcharges. For lead-in prices from other countries and full details, see www.oneworld.com/ow/air-traveloptions/
round-the-world-fares/oneworld-explorer#fare-estimate

The on-line booking tool build on oneworld’s record for innovation. More than three years ago, it became the first of the global alliances to put in place interline e-ticketing (IET) links between all members of the grouping, enabling customers to travel with the convenience of just one electronic ticket for journeys involving any combination of alliance’s member airlines. Rival alliances have only recently completed links between their own member airlines.

Initially, oneworld Explorer itineraries ticketed through British Airways (generally when the first sector flown is on British Airways) will still need to have their payment processed through a British Airways sales outlet rather than on-line. The airline ticketing the itinerary will be displayed in the reservations’ confirmation page, before the booking is completed and payment requested. oneworld Explorer sectors in Premium Economy cabins cannot at this stage be booked on-line. oneworld developed the on-line booking engine in cooperation with Innovata, the global leader in travel related content management and content distribution, and Amadeus, the global distribution system, which also supports the majority of oneworld’s member airlines.

About oneworld oneworld brings together some of the best and biggest names in the airline business - American Airlines, British Airways, Cathay Pacific, Finnair, Iberia, Japan Airlines, LAN, Malév Hungarian Airlines, Qantas and Royal Jordanian, and around 20 affiliates including American Eagle, Dragonair, LAN Argentina, LAN Ecuador and LAN Peru. Mexicana and its affiliate Click Mexicana will join the alliance in 2009.

Between them, these airlines
:
• Serve almost 700 airports in nearly 150 countries, with more than 9,000 daily departures.
• Offer nearly 550 airport lounges for premium customers.
• Carry some 320 million passengers a year.
• Employ 250,000 people and operate almost 2,500 aircraft.
• Generate more than US$100 billion annual revenues.

oneworld is the only alliance with any member airlines based in Australia, South America or Asia’s Middle East. The alliance enables its members to offer their customers more services and benefits than any airline can provide on its own. These include a broader route network, opportunities to earn and redeem frequent flyer miles and points across the combined oneworld network and more airport lounges. oneworld was voted the World’s Leading Airline Alliance for the sixth year running in the 2008 World Travel Awards, retaining the title ever since it was first presented.

FROM SELECTED U.S. GATEWAYS TO THE CARIBBEAN

Offer Valid for Travel January 10 – February 28, 2009

Air Jamaica continues the spirit of giving this holiday season and starting tomorrow December 20 through December 23, travelers can take advantage of this special offer in order to beat the winter chill. In response to the escalating costs of air travel, Air Jamaica is providing an unbeatable offer by providing special non-refundable one-way sale fares from selected gateways in the U.S. to Kingston or Montego Bay, Barbados and Grenada. Air Jamaica passengers can take advantage of this last minute winter deal and escape the frigid temperatures to enjoy the warmth of the Caribbean.

Customers are encouraged to book now to benefit from these incredible one-way sale fares good for travel between Saturday, January 10 and Saturday, February 28, 2009 and combinable with any available fare for the return trip to the U.S.

“This holiday is a great time to fly Air Jamaica. As always, we want to make it affordable to travel the Caribbean,” says George deMercado, Air Jamaica’s Senior Director, Sales. “Especially at a time when travelers are seeking deals which offer great value for money, we want customers to experience our award winning lovebird hospitality at a great price. Air Jamaica continues to prove that the Caribbean is an affordable vacation option this winter.”

These special one-way fares are valid for travel originating from the U.S. between January 10 and February 28, 2009 and combinable with any available fare on the return. Government taxes and fees are additional. Conditions regarding cancellations and changes apply. Sample fares include:

• New York to Montego Bay/Kingston: $119

• Atlanta to Montego Bay/Kingston: $120

• Philadelphia to Montego Bay/Kingston: $139

• Baltimore to Montego Bay/Kingston: $175

• Chicago to Montego Bay/Kingston: $188

• Los Angeles to Montego Bay/Kingston $222

• New York to Barbados/Grenada $237

THE ULTIMATE HOLIDAY GIFT

Providing access to an unrivalled world of privileges, benefits, expert knowledge and a global network of insider information, a Quintessentially membership offers the perfect present this Christmas.

Quintessentially is a unique private members’ club and global luxury lifestyle group committed to delivering nothing but the best in high quality services. Available 24 hours a day and 365 days a year, by telephone or email, Quintessentially provides unlimited access to an unrivalled package of privileges, preferential rates and bespoke services, and acts as your very own PA – any time, anywhere.

With three tiers of membership available, starting from $1500 per year Quintessentially provides an affordable and long-lasting support to help guide you through to 2009. From securing last minute hotel reservations and travel deals, to restaurant bookings and access to events and galas around the world, Quintessentially is here to help. Offering an excellent benchmark of service and a unique network of insider information and benefits, Quintessentially aims to bring you nothing but the best, making it not only an invaluable resource but, more importantly, an easily accessible time and money saving solution.

Membership also includes access to the growing number of expert Quintessentially sister companies which can cater to all your needs including the dedicated personal shopping service Quintessentially Gifts, the bespoke experience company Quintessentially Escape, the bespoke wine service Quintessentially Wine and many more including Quintessentially Art, Quintessentially Events, Quintessentially Estates and Quintessentially Flowers. Members are also sent a weekly Quintessentially newsletter, packed full of the latest news, views, events and benefits, as well as the Quintessentially Magazine, published quarterly.

Quintessentially now encompasses a staggering 44 offices in a host of major cities worldwide, in destinations as diverse as Hong Kong, Cape Town, Istanbul, Mozambique, Cairo, Panama, Los Angeles and Sydney with a number of new office launches planned in the coming months, including those in Amsterdam, Auckland, Chicago, Luxemburg and Kuala Lumpur.

Goes Farther And Faster To Achieve Top Results

New travel search engine nowfly.co.uk launches today, looking set to overhaul the standards of speed and accuracy established by other well-known market leaders. At a time when finding the best value option is more important than ever to travellers, nowfly.co.uk delivers equal or better fares than its rivals. And it is seriously quick, too.

Cleanly designed and easy to use, nowfly.co.uk was started by a group of online and travel experts with a clear objective to provide an easy, fun, and best priced way of finding a flight, hotel or car rental. The business is headed by Dan Hart, who has extensive experience in the online and travel sectors.

There are a number of factors which set nowfly.co.uk apart from its competitors:

• The site has gone through extensive usability testing and the results have shown that the site is clearly presented and easy to navigate.

• The content is broad and wide, searching more than 340 airlines with routes, fares and availability and giving the user essential information about booking their flight, hotel or car rental.

• The team studied the way flight results are presented with other travel and airlines websites and recognised that the user wants maximum flexibility when booking their flight itinerary. nowfly.co.uk uses an airline-style search, presenting results for each sector rather than lumping outbound and inbound options together.

• nowfly.co.uk searches low-cost, charter and scheduled airlines, giving a well-informed choice to the traveller, along with the flexibility to choose the best departure and arrival times.

• The site has third-party integration with leading, well-known travel sites as well as airlines, hotels and car rental suppliers.

• The website has geo-coded results for all the leading hotel chains and major consolidators, using the Google Maps Application Programming Interface (API) to visually place hotel results.

• Car rental options are found by using the leading car rental suppliers and consolidators globally.

• nowfly.co.uk uses the Ajax web application, retrieving data from the server asynchronously in the background. This means it loads before the user’s very eyes, without the need for a separate wait page.

Utilising cutting-edge technology, nowfly.co.uk is the first site in the UK to employ the full suite of the TRAVELfusion API. Dan has worked closely with TRAVELfusion over the past year. “I knew they were a great, innovative travel technology company and felt that they were the right people to work with,” Dan comments. “I believe that the combination of good content from TRAVELfusion, matched with a great user-face, is a compelling proposition for travellers booking trips online.”

Comments Moshe Rafiah, TRAVELfusion CEO: “This is exactly the kind of partnership that we envisioned when we created our XML API programme. By combining the most advanced travel search technologies developed by TRAVELfusion with innovative applications such as nowfly.co.uk, we have created a winning formula for success.”

TRAVELfusion is a world leader in constructing powerful travel search and web fare booking tools which search, aggregate, compare and book travel content from the web. Based around the company’s patented TRIPplannerXML platform, TRAVELfusion has integrated hundreds of travel suppliers including air, hotel, car, rail and ferry as well as adding its unique content generated directly by travel suppliers.

Money-saving price comparison websites have grown in reach and reputation over the last few years. According to a 2008 study undertaken by e-consultancy.com, Comparison Shopping Engines (CSEs) contributed to around 10% of online sales for retailers. Approximately 43% of these retailers claimed that their sales had increased in the last 12 months.

The next phase for nowfly.co.uk is to introduce further useful travel tips as well as community-based content to help users make better informed decisions.

The company will also run a number of marketing campaigns to keep users abreast of great travel offers, including ancillary products such as travel insurance, car parking and foreign currency. Product innovation and enhancement is key and will be driven forward to keep nowfly.co.uk looking fresh, without losing sight of the founding principle – fast and highly competitive travel search results every time.

About www.nowfly.co.uk:

nowfly.co.uk was established at the beginning of 2008. The management team comprises a mix of travel and online experts with extensive experience within these fields. The business is headed by Dan Hart, who has worked within the travel and online sectors for over 15 years. Dan worked within the Virgin Group for 12 years, initially starting his career at Virgin Atlantic and most recently with thetrainline.com.

Following the success of the flagship Hotel Gansevoort in Manhattan and the opening of Gansevoort South Hotel, Spa and Residences in South Beach, Fla., Gansevoort Hotel Group continues to expand its brand with third party management ventures in Turks & Caicos Islands, Toronto and Chicago. Gansevoort Turks & Caicos, a Wymara Resort, will debut in March 2009, followed by Gansevoort Toronto and Gansevoort Chicago, both in 2011. Gansevoort Turks & Caicos, a Wymara Resort, is a 91-room luxury property developed by Apollo Development Company. Located on the western section of Grace Bay Beach, the property boasts expansive beachfront along reef-protected ocean waters. Grace Bay Beach is situated on Providenciales, the main island in a 40-island chain that collectively make up Turks & Caicos Islands. Providenciales airport, less than 15 minutes from the property, offers direct flights several times a day from Miami, New York, Atlanta, Charlotte, Philadelphia, London, Toronto and Montreal.

Gansevoort Hotel Group will feature Bagatelle Bistrot and Beach Club as well as a beachfront Exhale Spa at its new Turks & Caicos location. Bagatelle Bistrot by The One Group will serve as the property’s gourmet dining destination along with Bagatelle Beach Club, a day and night beach bar concept. Exhale Spa will bring unique spa treatments, its trademark Core Fusion classes and innovative training methods to the resort. Along with a fully-equipped fitness center, the spa will offer classes and treatments in its beachfront pavilion. Fusing Caribbean and contemporary styles, the resort will feature a 7,000 square foot infinity edge pool that includes “lounging islands” which appear to float on the water. By day, these islands can be used for sunning and relaxing and by night, will serve as intimate, candle-lit dining areas. Gansevoort Turks & Caicos will also provide beach and poolside catering, concierge services, water sports activities and complimentary wireless throughout the property. Rates begin at $450 per night.

For more information, visit www.gansevoorhotelgroup.com

The “Barack and Roll” package at Hard Rock Hotel Chicago is priced at $2,009 for a two-night stay and includes accommodations in an extreme suite with red, white and blue bedding; breakfast in bed; dignitary limo service for the length of stay; an optional appointment at President-elect Bacack Obama’s barber in Zariff in Hyde Park for a trim (cost of trim included);

Obama’s favorite films for view in-suite: “Lawrence of Arabia” and “Casablanca”; appointment for suite fitting and personal shopping experience at Hard Schaffner Marx (Obama’s favorite clothing store); “First Lady” treatment at Red 7 Salon; $20 off a blow dry for your night out on the town; “Ciroc Obama” cocktails at Hard Rock Hotel Chicago’s Base Bar while watching MSNBC; a tasting dinner for two at one of his favorite restaurants, Topolobampo; tickets to the Bulls home game the night of Jan. 20, 2009; and a gift box of some of his favorite books — all the “Harry Potter” series, “Moby Dick” and his book “Dreams from my Father” — and a gift box of his favorite CDs — Miles Davis, Bob Dylan and the Fugees. The package must be booked by March 31, 2009 for stays between Jan. 1 and Dec. 31, 2009.

 For bookings, call 312-345-1000 or visit www.hardrockhotelchicago.com

Hertz has launched Connect by Hertz car sharing club, the only global car share club offered by an international car rental company, with neighborhood parking in London, New York City and Paris. Dedicated to providing the flexibility of car sharing with a superior customer experience, further cities, as well as universities, for Connect by Hertz are planned for 2009 and beyond, and members will benefit from reciprocal membership at any Connect by Hertz city in the world in early 2009.

Connect by Hertz offers consumers an economical, convenient and socially conscious alternative to car ownership. Upon enrolling, the self-service, pay-as-you-go system provides members with 24/7 access to a centrally located fleet of environmentally friendly vehicles strategically distributed over a neighborhood or city, transferring the fixed costs of car ownership to per-trip costs.

Membership in Connect by Hertz includes insurance, fuel, roadside assistance, maintenance and cleaning. Connect by Hertz members enjoy a paperless program where they can reserve, drive and return vehicles all on their own, via the internet or phone. Connect by Hertz cars are chosen based on a set of aggressive standards established in the categories of manufacturing/maintenance quality, environmental sustainability, safety and a blend of fun and functionality.
For more information, visit www.connectbyhertz.com