- Air travel is really bad this summer, and Kimpton Hotels & Restaurants knows it.
- The boutique hotel chain says it’ll give guests free wine as an “Emotional Support Beverage” if their flights are delayed or canceled.
- Factors like staffing shortages and airlines’ leaner flight schedules are causing a summer of air travel chaos.
If your flight is delayed or canceled, you’ll probably try to get a rebooking or a voucher for a future flight credit.
One hotel chain is giving frustrated flyers something else: free wine.
Boutique hotel group Kimpton Hotels & Restaurants says it’s started pouring a drink for guests experiencing flight disruptions.
In a tweet last week, the Kimpton wrote: “Important announcement: Flight delayed? Cancelled? Wine about it with us! Starting this weekend, we’ll pour you a glass of well-deserved wine (we call it an Emotional Support Beverage) at check-in if your flight was delayed or cancelled! We know it’s rough out there!”
Kimpton has 80 hotels, including its Hotel Monaco, Hotel Palomar and namesake brands, and 86 restaurants in 56 cities around the globe, according to its website.
Air travel woes are usually exacerbated in the summer, when more people are typically traveling, but this summer has been unlike any other. Travel demand has rebounded to pre-pandemic levels, but airlines aren't yet back to full capacity after cutting routes during the pandemic travel slump. Combined with staffing shortages of everyone from pilots to maintenance workers, it's been a recipe for mass delays and cancelations, lost luggage, and a dangerous lack of service for passengers with disabilities.