Deal of the Day

Last week I told you about JetBlue’s All-You-Can-Jet pass, basically a ticket for unlimited travel wherever the airline flies for $599 (not including taxes and fees for international flights, which means about $57 for a roundtrip flight to Bermuda). Today’s deal is from Fairmont Hotels & Resorts, more specifically, the Fairmont Southampton on Bermuda’s beautiful south shore (see above). For a limited time the hotel is booking rooms for $99 a night for travel good until March 31, 2010 (some blackout dates apply). The catch? You’ve gotta book by August 22. That means you’ve got about four days to decide when you’d like to visit Bermuda’s powdery pink sand. The $99 rate will buy you a moderate room (meaning no view); $139 will get you a Fairmont room (partial views of the golf course and/or harbor); and $169 will put you in a Deluxe room (with full views of the golf course and/or harbor), all of which don't include taxes and fees. It’s a Cinderella deal but don’t delay. On Saturday at around 11:50pm EST that chariot will surely turn into a pumpkin. For booking information go here or call (888) 920-7077 and ask about the $99 for 99 hours promotion. Happy travels!

From the Links

“Y.E. Yang Beats Tiger Woods at PGA.” That’s the unfortunate headline you’ll read on most sports pages today. Why so unfortunate? This was Tiger’s last chance to win a major, a win that would’ve meant an invitation to the Grand Slam of Golf held this October at the newly renovated Port Royal Golf Course here in Bermuda. So instead of watching Tiger compete against a field including British Open champion Stewark Cink, Masters champion Angel Cabrera, and U.S. Open champion Lucas Glover, we’ll be watching Y.E. Yang, a virtually unknown golfer from South Korea. Nothing against Yang of course—he certainly earned his spot in the tournament by beating the number one golfer in the world—I just really wanted to see Tiger swinging his clubs on Bermuda’s biggest stage. And what a beautiful stage it is. After investing more than $14 million regrassing fairways, rebuilding cart paths, and creating sweeping water views on the back nine, the government has turned Port Royal into one of the finest public courses in the world. Not to mention Tiger would've looked great in the tournament's famed pink jacket. Ah well, I guess there’s always next year.

From the Tarmac

Frequent flyers rejoice! JetBlue just announced its brand new All-You-Can-Jet Pass, a ticket available for purchase now through August 21 good for unlimited travel between September 8 and October 8. Yes, you read right—unlimited travel to and from anywhere JetBlue flies. For all you Bermudaphiles out there, that means you can fly from New York City and Boston as much as you’d like for an entire month for the price of two roundtrip tickets. The catch? International flights don’t include taxes and fees, but after a little checking around I’ve learned that Pass holders would pay $57.77 on a roundtrip flight to Bermuda from Logan or JFK airports. Not bad considering the mid-Atlantic island is only a ninety-minute flight from the east coast. Interested? Get the details here. 

Money Matters

According to this report in yesterday’s BusinessWeek, Bermuda’s economy is looking bleaker than ever: Visitors are down 12%, tourism spending is off by half, and worst of all, the country’s financial service industry—the bread and butter of long-term economic health—is being threatened by proposed anti-tax-haven legislation in Washington. I’m not worried about tourism numbers, after all, what leisure travel destination hasn’t been effected by the global economic downturn? But it’s that last part that really has corporations concerned (and others, like Tyco and Accenture packing its bags altogether). The biggest stink is over the Neal Bill—introduced by Representative Richard Neal (D-Mass.) in July, the proposed bill would limit the ability of U.S. companies incorporated in Bermuda to shelter overseas profits. This includes limiting tax deductions by major reinsurance affiliates, which would no doubt cause major damage to the local finance-dependent economy. I’ve never been one to publicly go to bat for the corporate dollar, but these companies are a big reason why Bermuda is such a special place to live. Tax deductions mean profit and profit means incentives—basically huge reinvestments in island infrastructure, education, and community outreach. Without these local tax loopholes the flow of cash would largely be cut off and that’s no good for Bermuda. For the island’s sake, here’s hoping President Obama and the other folks in Washington agree.

Men at Work

There’s been much ado about four suspected terrorists who were recently transferred from the federal prison in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, to their new homes here in Bermuda. I’ll spare you the details of their arrival and tales of the parliamentary protests that followed, but by all accounts it looks like the island’s newest ex pats have settled in quite nicely. Last week the New York Times reported the four men now have jobs as groundskeepers at Port Royal Golf Course—not a bad gig considering they’ll be clocking in on one of the most beautiful public courses in the world. Check out the sixteenth hole for example (see above). It just doesn’t get much prettier than that. Whether the community at large accepts these men into daily life has yet to be seen, but I for one applaud the decision to give them jobs at this public gem of a course. Nothing builds pride and self-confidence quite like a good day’s work and it seems the Uighurs will be getting just that, one ocean view hole at a time.