Executive Travel : Business Travel Notes

New Twist in Tipping: The Inn at Union Square says its “no-tipping” policy, started last summer, is a success. It’s a genuine policy: The gratuity is not somehow added to the guest’s bill as a service charge and the hotel rates have not changed--at least so far. Meanwhile, the hotel is paying its employees more to make up for lost tips.

Despite happy guests at the San Francisco hotel and a longer track record at a few others, such as the upscale Alexis in Seattle, there is no rush to adopt the policy, according to the American Hotel and Motel Assn., which notes that the innkeeping industry still relies on the generosity of strangers to supplement wages.

But guests at the Inn at Union Square are impressed, according to General Manager Brooks Bayly. “Some of them love it flat-out,” he said. “Others are nervous--they really don’t believe they’re not going to offend anyone.” While few things are free and the hotel presumably will make up the added costs somewhere, its policy points out the uncertainty that surrounds tipping. A survey in the October issue of Consumer Reports Travel Letter found wide differences in tipping habits.

Almost 90% of those in the survey tipped hotel porters either $1 or $2 a bag, but barely half routinely tipped the housekeeper. More than half the respondents in the United States said they’d tip a hotel shuttle bus driver, often less than a dollar, but in Europe only 35% would tip.

When it comes to restaurants, a tip of 13% to 17% of the bill was the norm--though customers were about evenly divided on whether the tax should be counted in the bill.

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Delta, European Carriers Seek Immunity: Delta Air Lines, Swissair and two other European carriers will move toward operating as a single carrier on North Atlantic flights as soon as the United States grants the four antitrust immunity, a Delta executive said.

The only carriers that have won antitrust immunity, which allows airlines to coordinate their pricing, have been KLM Royal Dutch Airlines and Northwest Airlines. The move would be a landmark for the global airline industry, pushing carriers to come together more quickly in vast networks.

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KLM Smoking Ban Starts Sunday: The Netherlands’ flag carrier shrugged off a tobacco lobbying group’s poll that said it could lose a quarter of its Dutch passengers if the airline goes ahead with plans Sunday to ban smoking on most of its flights. The airline said the move will be popular with travelers.

The Dutch pride themselves on a tradition of tolerance, and smoking has not acquired the taint of social unacceptability it has in the United States.

While smoking is prohibited on Dutch buses and streetcars, trains have a high proportion of smoking cars, and restaurants and cafes welcome smokers almost without exception. An estimated 41.5% of Dutch men and women ages 15 to 65 smoke.