Nov 5th, 2009 at 3:30PM: There is a bit of a war going on between the various large online travel sites. They are battling each other to see who can provide the best service, with the lowest fees. Of course, this war really only has one winner - consumers.
This morning, Expedia announced the removal of all telephone booking fees for trips booked through their service. This may not sound like a very important change, ...Click on a label to read posts from that part of the world.
Expedia posts
Expedia drops telephone booking fees
Nov 5th, 2009 at 3:30PM: There is a bit of a war going on between the various large online travel sites. They are battling each other to see who can provide the best service, with the lowest fees. Of course, this war really only has one winner - consumers.
This morning, Expedia announced the removal of all telephone booking fees for trips booked through their service. This may not sound like a very important change, ...Choosing the right company for your carbon offsets
Oct 15th, 2009 at 3:30PM:
According to Carbonfund, with the amount of flying I do annually, I "produce" about 21,000 pounds of CO2 per year. If I want to make up for the environmental damage I've done, I can pay $125 to offset my carbon contribution.
But what does that really mean? How can paying $125 make the air cleaner or the ozone layer stronger? Where does that $125 go? Am I just paying to make myself feel ...Airlines roll out last-minute sales for Labor Day
Aug 24th, 2009 at 2:30PM: There are just two weeks left until Labor Day, but it's not too late to plan a getaway for the holiday weekend. In fact, waiting until now to book your trip might even save you money with some of the great last-minute deals that are available.
American Airlines Flights American Airlines has several destinations on sale for Labor Day. Buy your tickets to Belize by August 28th and travel Monday ...Biggest Hotel Sale Ever to combat swine flu travel fears
Jun 23rd, 2009 at 5:30PM: If you are after a bargain, Mexico is where it's at. We've posted about how a group of hotels have a deal for those who do get swine flu from their trip to Mexico. But since that probably isn't going to happen, there are deals for those who don't get sick.
There's a "Biggest Hotel Sale Ever" campaign in Mexico through Expedia. In general prices are 26% cheaper than this time last year. Resorts ...Online bookings just got cheaper!
Jun 2nd, 2009 at 4:00PM: Online travel deals just got better. Even though airlines are tacking on extra fees, fares have been plunging for a while now, so it still cuts in favor of travelers. Travel websites have started to get in on the savings, too. Several sites are ditching their booking fees - at least temporarily.
Orbitz, Travelocity and Expedia announced yesterday that they are waiving their booking fees. For ...UpTake takes the pain out of finding the best travel reviews
May 8th, 2009 at 3:30PM: The travel world is "blessed" with quite a few review sites. In recent years, millions of reviews have been added to sites like Yelp, Tripadvisor, Fodors and more. Of course, this means that it can be hard to find the best place for an honest review, or a site with enough reviews to help you make the right choice. Enter UpTake - this service takes reviews from all those sources, and displays them ...PhoCusWright releases moronic report
Apr 19th, 2009 at 4:00PM: Travel research firm PhoCusWright is trying to get people to buy its latest report by making some (supposedly) bold predictions about travel industry technology trends. Realistically, most of this stuff falls into the "No Shit" category, but alas, Gadling will not make that one of the official labels from which I can choose. These are some real gems. In fact, I'd be willing to bet my MBA that a ...Expedia's Profits Don't Live up to Expectations
Oct 31st, 2008 at 11:30AM: Expedia, a giant among giants in the online travel booking game, is struggling. Sort of. The Washington-based company was riding high at this time last year. Their profits for the third quarter of '07 were just shy of $100 million ($99.6 million to be exact). This year's third quarter brought $94.8 million. Still respectable considering the hits the travel industry has taken during the summer and ...Microsoft and Travelport Make Travel Services Dream Team
Oct 24th, 2008 at 9:00AM: Microsoft has collaborated with the travel technology company Travelport before. The two giants of their respective industries teamed up to create the pricing system that was first used on Expedia and is now used by all of Travelport's clients. Think Microsoft's profit power has been impressive for the past couple of decades? What about Travelport? The company flies below the radar in terms of ...Lonely Planet Joins The Hotel Booking Game
Jul 20th, 2008 at 3:30PM: Since it was sold to the BBC, everybody's favorite guidebook company has had uncertainty looming in its future. The brand took a step away from its paper-and-binding roots recently by signing a deal with Expedia and Hostelworld. The trio will join forces to provide an online hotel booking service. Lonely Planet will put all those hotel reviews it has in its vaults to good use, while Expedia and ...Adventure vacations inspired by Indiana Jones
Apr 27th, 2008 at 4:40PM: In the world of travel, it is impossible to keep up with the Joneses. No matter where you go and what you experience there, "they" have always been someplace more remote, did something more adventurous, and saw something far better than you. Now, try to keep up with the Indiana Joneses! On Friday, Expedia launched 10 Indiana Jones adventure vacations. Travelers can take a custom tour to 10 ...Holiday Travel Hell Part 3: If you book with Payless Car Rental, make sure your flight is on time
Jan 9th, 2008 at 9:30AM: As I've written over the past few days, my and my sister Ali's trip to Tampa started about fairly rocky. There was the disinterested and blatantly untruthful American Airlines customer service agent, and then the lost car rental reservation with Expedia and Payless Car Rental (we still don't know who to blame, but Exepedia eventually worked it out for us).
But while I sat around the Payless Car ...Holiday Travel Hell Part 2: If you need anything from Expedia, scream at them for an hour
Jan 8th, 2008 at 9:00AM: After Ali and I finally made it to Tampa, a good 18 hours later than we should have, we took a shuttle to Payless Car Rental to pick up a car Ali had booked through Expedia. The night before, when we knew we were stuck in Dallas for the night, she immediately called Expedia to let them know we wouldn't be able to pick the car up until the next day. The Expedia representative put her on hold for ...Now I understand why travelers get angry
Jan 6th, 2008 at 5:30PM:
I've always been a patient traveler -- or so I like to think. Missed trains and delayed planes don't normally phase me beyond a general annoyance. I've always regarded the stressed-out angry traveler as someone who needs to take a chill pill and enjoy the journey. I plan to get sick, get robbed, and/or see big insects in my guesthouse; so I don't take valuable items with me, and usually sleep ...JetBlue turns to travel websites for booking
Nov 26th, 2007 at 6:30PM: In the past, JetBlue sold most of its tickets through its website. But last year, the budget airline listed its fares on "global" distribution systems, which mainly serve travel agents. Now, JetBlue has gone all the way online; it started selling tickets on travel websites like Orbitz, Expedia, and Priceline. The company explains that with rising fuel costs and a slower economy, it needs to ...TVTRIP.com
Aug 12th, 2007 at 9:24AM:
Any first-time visit to a city brings a host of potential problems. Among them, especially for the more budget-oriented, is finding a decent hotel to stay in, one that promises a measure of comfort and convenience, as well as cleanliness. Face it, if you look around on the Web for hotels, many of them appear quite different online than they are in person. This has happened to me before, for ...Booking a Flight from New York to San Francisco Online. But Where Online?
Aug 9th, 2007 at 2:03PM: I used to be a big fan of buying tickets on travel websites such as Expedia.com, Travelocity.com, Orbitz.com but lately, I found that it is often cheaper to buy them directly through the airlines's websites. Have we come a full circle?
I picked a random date--a long weekend Sept.13-17 from New York to San Francisco--to see what rates would come back.
A sample of a few direct flights:
...2007 Webby Award Winners Announced
May 1st, 2007 at 1:00PM: The winners of the 2007 Webby Awards have been announced, and while Gadling didn't take home a trophy this year (though we were named an "Official Honoree"), several other great travel-related websites did. Here are the nominees and winners in the travel category of the 2007 Webby Awards:
Winner: WikiTravel
People's Voice Winner: TripAdvisor
Nominees: Expedia, Gods of Chinatown, Kayak.com
...
