In Travel News for January 5th, 2023 we talk about a German tax on travel, Delta Air Lines Improving the travel experience, and Carnival Cruse Line increasing some of their pricing.
Carnival Cruise Line Increases Prices
Carnival Cruise Line will be increasing the cost of onboard wifi starting with sailings that embark on or after January 16 this year. The premium onboard wifi will increase to ($17.00) seventeen dollars per day, up from ($14.25) fourteen dollars and twenty five cents. The Social Package will increase to ($12.75) twelve dollars and seventy five cents up from ($10.20) ten dollars and twenty cents. Travelers that pre-pay for their internet service before January 16 will receive the current rate. Carnival is also increasing the daily gratuity cost starting April 1st, the standard room rate will increase to ($16) sixteen dollars per person per day, up from ($14.50) fourteen dollars and fifty cents, and suites will increase to ($18.00) eighteen dollars per person per day, up from ($16.60) sixteen dollars and sixty cents. Travelers that pre-pay gratuities before April 1st will be locked in to the current lower rate. This is the second time in less then a year that Carnival has increased the price for gratuities.
Delta Air Lines to Offer Free WiFi
Delta Air Lines has announced that starting February 1st of this year all customers with a Delta SkyMiles membership will receive Free WiFi on most domestic flights within the United States. This makes Delta the first of the U.S. big four to offer free onboard WiFi, beating United Airlines, American Airlines, and SouthWest Airlines. Of the top ten carriers in the U.S. only JetBlue currently offers free wifi and Hawiian Airlines has previously announced a partnership with SpaceX to offer StarLink internet onboard all of their transoceanic routes later this year. Delta has been working on bringing free WiFi since 2019, and last spring ran a pilot program using StarLink, in the end the carrier choose to partner with T-Mobile to provide the free service.
Germany Postpones Travel Tax
Starting January 1st a new German tax was to be applied to German vacations sold outside the European Union, however the country has postponed implementation for one year. There has been a lot of opposition to this new tax both from within germanys tourism market as well as from outside vendors and even from the European Tour Operator Association and the U.S. Tour Operators Association. Outside of the increase in cost many are concerned about the requirement that tour operators located outside of Germany be required to file tax returns in Germany which would add extra expense to the tour providers, that of course would be passed down to consumers. Groups within Germany are concerned that the increased cost, both from the tax as well as from the filings would discourage travelers to Germany who might look for a similar experience from neighboring countries.