Uber, Lyft take off at Ontario
The airport gives the two ride-hailing services the green light to pick up and drop off passengers.
A year and a half after ride-hailing services began operating out of Los Angeles International Airport, Ontario International Airport gave the green light for Uber and Lyft to pick up and drop off passengers from that Inland Empire facility.
Uber and Lyft both began operating at the airport this week, shuttling passengers from the curb at Ontario’s USO Lounge, Terminals 2 and 4 and the International Terminal.
An extra $3 pickup and drop-off fee, which is included in the fare, will be collected by the airport from the ride-hailing services.
Ride-hailing services are already operating at LAX, John Wayne Airport and Hollywood Burbank Airport. A pilot program began in April to allow Uber, Lyft and other companies to serve Long Beach Airport.
Ontario has been slow to allow the popular ride-hailing services because airport officials wanted to study the impact on competing transportation services such as taxis and limousines. Airport officials also conducted a survey of the fees that Uber, Lyft and other ridehailing businesses are charged to operate at other airports.
“While many [airport visitors] use existing taxi, limousine and shuttle services, market demand for online, app-based services has increased in recent months,” said Curt Hagman, a San Bernardino County supervisor and member of the Ontario International Airport Authority. “I am confident the permitting of this popular mode of transportation will be well-received by airline passengers and enhance their travel experience.”
Trump effect on travel to the U.S.
Only a month after Donald Trump took over the presidency, travel executives predicted his call for a ban on travel from several largely Muslim countries and his promise to build a wall on the U.S.-Mexico border would make international travelers feel unwelcome in the United States.
But new data show that inbound international travel grew 5.2% in May, marking the 13th straight month of positive year-over-year growth, according to the U.S. Travel Assn., the trade group that represents the nation’s travel industry.
Still, the analysis suggests that the growth of international travel is slowing, possibly because of a strong U.S. dollar and Trump’s proposed policy changes, according to the group.
“The stronger U.S. dollar will likely continue to weigh on international travel, and President Trump’s rhetoric and policies, including travel restrictions and anti-immigration stance, pose additional risk to international traveler sentiment,” the report said.
Domestic travel is projected to continue to grow over the next five months by 2.2% on a year-over-year basis spurred by strong business investments and rising household income.
Still, the travel association took a swipe at Trump, saying a “turbulent start to the Trump presidency” and his failure to “deliver on campaign pledges of fiscal stimulus, tax reform and reduced regulations has the potential to undermine confidence from both businesses and consumers alike.”
In February, two studies suggested that Trump’s policies and rhetoric already had hurt the travel industry. An analysis of about 300 million online air travel searches in February found that flight searches from international origins to the U.S. dropped 17% after Trump took office and signed an executive order Jan. 27, banning travel from Syria, Iran, Iraq, Libya, Sudan, Yemen and Somalia. The Supreme Court ruled in June to allow much of the ban to take effect, but also applied significant restrictions. Iraq was removed from the later ban.
Around the same time, the Global Business Travel Assn., the trade group for the world’s travel managers, said business travel bookings in the U.S. dropped 3.4% in the week after Trump signed the order compared with the previous week.
United program prices will vary
Making sense of airline loyalty reward programs is about to get even more difficult.
United Airlines has announced a change to its Mileageplus program that will keep travelers guessing about the number of miles they will need to book a free flight.
Starting Nov. 1, United will replace its Standard Awards with a new category called the Everyday Awards, which take more miles to book a flight than the cheaper Saver Awards but will have greater availability for booking.
Also, the number of miles needed to book an Everyday Award flight will vary based on demand for the flight and other variables.
United has produced a chart that shows a maximum number of miles needed to book a flight, but the actual number of miles needed could be lower. Fliers won’t know until they book the flight.
Southwest Airlines made a similar change in 2015. Delta Air Lines and American Airlines have also added a category of flight awards that vary based on demand and other factors. American posts a chart that shows a range of miles, depending on demand on the day of the flight. Delta does not post the range of miles needed to book a flight, leaving it up to fliers to learn the number when they book a flight.
Brian Karimzad, a loyalty reward analyst at Milecards.com, noted that airline tickets sold to fliers who are not on the rewards program vary in cost based on holidays, days of the week, demand and other factors. Airlines have added a range to the price of some rewards program flights to more closely match the fluctuating cost paid by non-reward program members.
“If they had their way, airlines would love to just tie the price of an award directly to the price of a ticket,” he said. “But a lot of members over the years find value in having a specific award price they can set as a goal, and are loyal in saving up for that.”