United States tips

This article originally appeared in the March issue of AGENTatHOME magazine.  Subscribe here to receive your free copy each month.

Your next hotel room stay may not be as secure as you hope it is.A group of security researchers who were invited to a Las Vegas hotel to identify digital security vulnerabilities discovered a technique that would enable intruders to open “millions of hotel rooms worldwide in seconds, with just two taps,” according to a new report from Wired.The team of security researchers, who spoke with Wired, have dubbed the hotel room keycard hacking technique “Unsaflok.”It is based on what Wired describes as “a collection of security vulnerabilities that would allow a hacker to almost instantly open several models of Saflok-brand RFID-based keycard locks sold by the Swiss lock maker Dormakaba.”More than 3 million hotel room doors around the globe, throughout 13,000 properties in 131 countries, use these types of Saflok systems, per Wired.Hackers are able to exploit weaknesses in keycard's encryption and underlying RFID system, the article goes on to explain.

A rep shows off tech device accessories. (Photo Credit: Lark Gould)

This article originally appeared in the March issue of AGENTatHOME magazine.  Subscribe here to receive your free copy each month.

WHY IT RATES: The fresh faces should only help in the foundation's efforts to improve the hospitality industry.—Patrick Clarke, TravelPulse Senior Editor

The W New Orleans - French Quarter debuts its 97 newly renovated guest rooms and carriage houses as it finishes its multi-million dollar renovation, led by Canadian design firm Chapi Chapo Design. 

With measles making a global comeback - cases increased 79 percent in 2023 - the CDC is issuing new guidelines for those planning to travel abroad.“Many international destinations are reporting increased numbers of cases of measles,” says the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) website, adding: “The majority of measles cases imported into the United States occur in unvaccinated U.S. residents who become infected during international travel.”In particular, the CDC website says Americans who intend to visit other countries should consult with a doctor six weeks prior if there’s any question about whether they’ve had the measles vaccine. Travelers are at risk of contracting measles if they've not been fully vaccinated two weeks ahead of traveling abroad, says the agency's travel advisory.“All international travelers should be fully vaccinated against measles with the measles-mumps-rubella (MMR) vaccine, including an early dose for infants 6–11 months, according to CDC’s measles vaccination recommendations for international travel.In another notable update, Russia and Malaysia have been added to the CDC’s map of 46 countries that are experiencing a significant uptick in measles cases. Some of the additional countries where health officials have reported large measles outbreaks include Afghanistan, Armenia, India, Indonesia, Nepal, Qatar, Saudia Arabia, Turkey, and the United Arab Emirates. To view the full list of countries experiencing a significant measles outbreak, visit the CDC website.And if you do travel abroad and develop any of the following symptoms, the CDC recommends seeking medical care:

Wyndham Hotels & Resorts’ Women Own the Room initiative, which helps current and prospective women hotel owners break down historic barriers to hotel ownership, has celebrated fifteen hotel openings and over 50 signings in a little over two years. 

As part of its Nonstop to Net Zero effort, Southwest Airlines is signing on to a project that's been dubbed the Hawaii Seaglider Initiative.A new mode of transportation designed to combine the speed of an aircraft with the “relatively lower cost of a boat to reduce the time and cost” of transporting travelers, seagliders are all-electric, zero-emission vessels. They operate exclusively over water and can move at up to 180 miles-per-hour, which dramatically reduces travel time. Seagliders function by floating on their hull before transitioning to “wave-tolerant underwater hydrofoils” and then take flight at ultra-low altitudes about 30- to 60-feet above the surface of the water. The vessels are being designed by Rhode Island based manufacturer REGENT.The Hawaii Seaglider Initiative (HSI) was first announced in January and includes a broad coalition of partners. Some of the high-profile corporate and community partners supporting the effort include AES Hawaiʻi, Alaska Airlines, Hawaiian Airlines, Hawaii Building & Constructions Trades Council, Hawaiʻi Lodging and Tourism Association, Japan Airlines, Maui Hotel & Lodging Association, Mokulele Airlines, Molokaʻi Chamber of Commerce, Polynesian Adventure, and United Airlines.

After a spate of high-profile airline industry incidents, United Airlines CEO Scott Kirby has issued a memo addressing safety concerns.In the memo Kirby said safety is the airline’s top priority, according to a report from The Points Guy.The airline CEO also discussed United’s own safety incidents, including acknowledging the airline has had “a number” of such incidents."While they are all unrelated, I want you to know that these incidents have our attention and have sharpened our focus," Kirby wrote, per The Points Guy. "Our team is reviewing the details of each case to understand what happened and using those insights to inform our safety training and procedures across all employee groups.”The memo from the CEO also indicates that United is working on rolling out a variety of new safety measures. Though Kirby also explained that the new safety upgrades were in the works before United’s recent spate of safety episodes. Some of the new measures the airline will be implementing include an extra day of training for pilots and new curriculum for maintenance technicians."I'm confident that we'll learn the right lessons from these recent incidents and continue to run an operation that puts safety first and makes our employees and customers proud," Kirby added.Kirby’s memo comes on the heels of a rocky few months for the airline industry as a whole. The most significant of which was the January 5 incident involving a Alaska Airlines’ Boeing 737 Max flight during which a door plug blew off after take-off and the plane was required to make an emergency landing.A handful of passengers who were on that Alaska Airlines flight have since filed a $1 billion lawsuit against Boeing, alleging negligence on the part of the plane manufacturer.As for United Airlines, one of its flights involving a 737 Max rolled off the runway at George W. Bush Intercontinental Airport in Houston recently. Part of the plane’s landing gear collapsed as a result. That United incident followed a tire falling from a Boeing 777-200 plane (also flown by United) one day earlier.

Good morning from Skift. It’s Tuesday, March 19. Here’s what you need to know about the business of travel today.

Boeing has been under increased scrutiny ever since a door panel blew off an Alaska Airlines plane in mid-flight.

Insight Vacations is now offering small-group, women-only tours for travel in 2025. The eleven different tours span destinations in Europe, the Americas, Africa, and India. 

Choice Hotels International announced on Monday morning that the company has terminated its hostile takeover efforts of rival Wyndham Hotels & Resorts.

There is no better city to start and end a cruise with than New Orleans! Visitors may be headed to sandy beaches in foreign lands or neighboring cities along the Mississippi River, but they can get a head start on vacation time with cool jazz, celebrated cuisine, historic architecture, and much more in this port city.

Travel advisors weighed in on the ramifications of Gogo Vacations and American Queen Voyages shuttering their doors, along with the termination of the JetBlue-Spirit merger, noting that nothing is off the table in the post-pandemic era.

Flying cars are getting closer to reality every day.

Is Spirit Airlines on the brink of insolvency?

The travel insurance sector is experiencing a meteoric rise, according to the U.S. Travel Insurance Association’s (UStiA) latest market report, which paints a picture of remarkable growth in the sector. According to its analysis, U.S. Total Consumer Spend on Travel Protection surged to $4.27 billion in 2022, marking a staggering 143.9 percent increase from the UStiA’s findings in 2020.

Alaska Air Group announced its quarterly financial results would not be as bad as initially expected following a January incident that saw one of its planes lose a door midflight and the subsequent grounding of several aircraft in the carrier’s fleet.

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