What matters most in a hotel?

Name: Budget Travel LLC
Price range: $

By Sean O'Neill

October 3, 2012

Poll Creator Progreat free widgetsWidgetboxMore info

A national survey conducted on behalf of the insurance company Chubb finds that 44 percent of travelers consider cleanliness their biggest worry in picking a hotel. Other factors mattered relatively little: 23 percent said price was most important, and 19 percent ranked location as the top worry, according to the phone survey of 1,000 Americans in June reported recently in the LA Times.

The problem with the survey is that it includes nontravelers as well as travelers. Only about 50 million Americans hold passports, but anyone could have been invited to give opinions in the survey.

So Budget Travel would like to ask the travel

pros think, namely, you.

What is the most important factor for you in choosing a hotel? Vote in our poll, or sound off by posting a comment. Thanks!

World's best airlines announced at Paris Air Show

North American airlines didn't get much love at the 2011 World Airline Awards during last week's Paris Air Show. Held at the French Air and Space Museum, the awards were decided by over 18.8 million airline passengers from 100 different nationalities, who chose winners in 38 categories, from best airline to best meals in economy class. In three of the big categories—Airline of the Year, Best Regional Airline, and Best Low-Cost Airline—us Yanks came up short. Asia-based airlines dominated, however, with Qatar Airways pulling in Airline of the Year, Dragonair winning Best Regional Airline, and Air Asia topping Best Low-Cast Carrier. The Best International Airline in North America went to Air Canada, with Continental Airlines and Delta Airlines filling out the top three. Domestically, the Best Airline in North America went to jetBlue, followed by Virgin America, and WestJet. The top 10 World's Best Airlines: 1. Qatar Airways 2. Singapore Airlines 3. Asiana Airlines 4. Cathay Pacific Airways 5. Thai Airways International 6. Etihad Airways 7. Air New Zealand 8. Qantas Airways 9. Turkish Airlines 10. Emirates What do you think? Do you agree with the award winners? MORE FROM BUDGET TRAVEL Airport survival guide—we want your tips! Should airlines allow U.S. soldiers to board planes first? Should the TSA's airport pat-downs be outlawed?

Road killers: Rating buses for safety

Earlier this month, U.S. Senator Chuck Schumer (D-NY) raised the ire of interstate bus companies by asking the government to rate their safety with letter-grades, from A to F. He wants the report-card-style grades posted on bus company websites and on the windows of individual buses. Schumer is responding to a string of deadly bus crashes in several states this year. Case in point: In May, a Sky Express Bus headed for New York City's Chinatown crashed in Virginia, killing four. The company was operating despite 46 violations and four previous crashes, reports the NY Daily News. Congress has already given the Department of Transportation the responsibility to evaluate and publicly report on bus safety records. The problem is that the agency buries the safety information deep inside its website and presents the information in a hard-to-read way. It took me nearly an hour to find the government's full list of interstate bus companies and their safety records, which you can see for yourself here, on the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration site. Click on any bus company's name, and key details will pop up. A yellow triangle with an exclamation mark inside is a bad sign. It means the company has been cited with too many serious road safety violations during the past year or it had too many "interventions" by government officials. Under Schumer's plan, such a bus would have to flash a poor grade, like a "D", in places where potential riders could see it without having to spend an hour on a government website. Except for the yellow triangles, the government's safety information for buses is baffling. An especially cryptic set of numbers are the "percentages" given in five categories for on-road performance: unsafe driving, fatigued driving, driver fitness, substance abuse, and vehicle maintenance. The higher the score, the worse the company's record, which I find counterintuitive. For example, Greyhound has a 7 percent rating for unsafe driving, which sounds bad. But the statistic means that its drivers have a better safety record than 93 percent of companies of a comparable size. Bus safety isn't a glamorous issue, but it is important. In a recent online poll, 37 percent of Budget Travel readers said they thought buses weren't safe enough. So let's hope a report card rating system is put into place soon. Budget Travel usually avoids politics, but we're pleased that Schumer has taken up this cause, just as we saluted him in our Extra Mile Awards last year for "working to pass the Block Airlines' Gratuitous (BAG) Fees Act, which aims to close a complicated tax loophole that allows the airline industry to profit from fees on 'nonessential' items, which include carry-ons." Critics of the senator will point out that the bill never went anywhere in Congress and that his interest in bus safety may only be for grandstanding purposes of getting his name in the headlines. I suppose whether the government ever starts issuing bus safety report cards depends on whether voters reach out to his office and voice their support the cause. As for bus safety, the next step for officials would be to agree on what to do with companies who receive poor ratings, because heaven forbid we shut any of them down. MORE FROM BUDGET TRAVEL Is it time for major bus companies to send drivers to charm school? Federal prisoners are transported via public bus lines The long-haul bus trip from hell

Theme Parks

Is a single day of theme park fun worth $120?

Walt Disney World and Universal Orlando both raised their single-day multi-park passes to a whopping $120 a day. Disney World made the move first earlier this month, Universal followed suit, and the result is that a one-day adult pass (meaning 10 and up) at either of central Florida's largest theme park resorts is $85 to visit one park, or $120 for a pass allowing entrance to multiple parks. Will people pay up? Well, some people certainly will. But more than anything, the goal of raising single-day passes to such exorbitant levels seems to be to make the discounts granted with multi-day passes look more enticing. The move especially makes sense for Disney, where the per-day admission price plummets the longer travelers hang around to hit the parks. As Theme Park Insider noted: Once you've bought three days of theme park tickets at Disney, it costs just $9 to add a fourth day. Then it's just $8 to add each additional day beyond that, up to 10 days total. The discounts obviously save money on admission, but travelers need to understand that the longer they're visiting Disney parks, the more they're likely to spend (and spend and spend) on Disney restaurants, lodging, character breakfasts, souvenirs, and the like. In case you're wondering, SeaWorld Orlando admission is currently $72 for adults purchasing in advance online, and that includes entrance for a second day within a week of the first visit. (Granted, many people feel that one day at SeaWorld is enough.) Tickets for Legoland Florida, which opens in mid-October, are expected to be $65 for adults -- and unlike the other three parks, which charge adult rates for ages 10 and up, the "adult" cutoff at Legoland is 13. Visitors 12 and under pay $55. MORE FROM BUDGET TRAVEL: The Completely Obsessive Absolutely Indispensable Guide to Disney World Confessions Of... A Disney Cast Member 12 Things You Didn't Know About Orlando

Cruises

Puerto Vallarta says it's safe, despite Princess canceling calls

Following the news this week that Princess Cruises has canceled calls in Puerto Vallarta, the Mexican beach destination assured it remains safe for tourists. "Puerto Vallarta is a leading cruise destination in Mexico and continues to offer a wide range of shore excursions and a safe experience for all cruise passengers visiting its port from around the world," the Puerto Vallarta tourism board said in a statement this week. Princess Cruises canceled its calls in Puerto Vallarta on three Sapphire Princess sailings: Nov. 19, Dec. 10 and Dec. 31. "Our security department continues to monitor the actions taking place in specific areas of Mexico. As the safety and security of our passengers and crew is our highest priority and based on the continued violence in these areas, we've made the decision to cancel our calls to Puerto Vallarta and Mazatlan," the cruise line said in a statement. Those departures will instead include a two-day call in Cabo San Lucas and Ensenada, Mexico. In April, the U.S. State Department issued a travel warning that outlined areas throughout Mexico where there have been reports of crime and violence. For the state of Jalisco (Puerto Vallarta is located in Jalisco), the State Department said that official U.S. government employees are prohibited from traveling to the cities of Colotlan and Yahualica in Jalisco, "because of an increasingly volatile security situation." It also stated that "border areas between Jalisco state and the states of Zacatecas and Michoacan, as well as in or near the cities of Tepic and Xalisco, Nayarit have been sites of violence and crime involving TCOs. You should exercise extreme caution when traveling in these areas." (TCOs stand for transnational criminal organizations.) However, there was no mention of Puerto Vallarta in the State Department's travel warning. The Puerto Vallarta tourism board said in a statement that it was "sorry to learn of Princess Cruises' recent decision," but referred to a recent security assessment study conducted by security consulting firm Thomas Dale & Associates, which found that the number of negative events involving foreigners or non-foreigners in Puerto Vallarta is fractional compared to the millions of visitors that vacation in Puerto Vallarta annually. The study also found that visitors to the destination feel safe and continue to visit Puerto Vallarta repeatedly. The Puerto Vallarta tourism board said that despite Princess' decision it "looks forward to welcoming Princess Cruises and its passengers to Puerto Vallarta again in 2012." More from Budget Travel: One incredibly delicious reason to be grateful to Mexico The ideal vacation: Indulge or detox? What's your worst "lost luggage" story?

Real Deals