Dec 30th, 2010 at 2:00PM: Yesterday, American Airlines announced that it was thanking its customers for their continued loyalty to the airline. It was a fairly predictable move, following the airline's decision to pull out of Orbitz ... which was followed quickly by Expedia's making it more difficult to find American Airlines fares.
At the same time, the company engaged in a bit of chest-thumping – again, expected ...Click on a label to read posts from that part of the world.
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Lies, discrimination and combat: American Airlines claims sales increase post-Orbitz
Dec 30th, 2010 at 2:00PM: Yesterday, American Airlines announced that it was thanking its customers for their continued loyalty to the airline. It was a fairly predictable move, following the airline's decision to pull out of Orbitz ... which was followed quickly by Expedia's making it more difficult to find American Airlines fares.
At the same time, the company engaged in a bit of chest-thumping – again, expected ...Is American Airlines making a "reckless rodeo bet"?
Dec 24th, 2010 at 9:00AM: American Airlines' decision to pull out of Orbitz has triggered a war in the travel industry, as airlines and online travel agencies vie for ownership of the customer. The latest step was Expedia's decision to minimize the exposure of American Airline options in searches on its site, likely a play to reduce the risk of a move by American to pull out of Expedia, too.
According to a statement by ...Expedia demotes American Airlines, airline booking war gets HOT
Dec 23rd, 2010 at 3:30PM:
Could the battle between airlines and online travel agencies have gotten any more intense? This week, American Airlines got the green light in court to yank its fares from Orbitz, and Delta announced that it was pulling out of several smaller sites – CheapOair, OneTravel and BookIt. Travel industry experts are saying it's about time, but that doesn't lessen the shock to the business, ...Brand Wars: The Airline Booking Battle Will Be Televised
Dec 6th, 2010 at 2:00PM:
Online travel agencies have had a solid run over the past two years. They picked up some market share as would-be travelers were willing to poke around a little more to score cheap tickets. High rates of unemployment and under-employment and general economic uncertainty, of course, were enough to make consumers value every dollar a little more. This opened an opportunity for online travel ...Business travelers want mobile, Expedia picks up Mobiata
Nov 22nd, 2010 at 3:30PM: I guess Expedia is watching the market. The online travel agency just snapped up mobile travel application developer Mobiata. Mobiata's claim to fame is FlightTrack, and the other apps in its portfolio include TripDeck, HotelPal, FlightBoard and FareCompare. For Expedia, it was a no-brainer, as 4 percent of its traffic is coming from devices, a number the company would like to kick a bit higher, ...Taxes could make discounted hotels more expensive
Oct 22nd, 2010 at 1:00PM: If your next hotel stay is more expensive than you expected, blame the government. State and local governments, still reeling from the recession, are looking for any source of revenue they can grab. And, they're next target seems to be online travel agencies.
Online booking sites, such as Expedia and Orbitz, negotiate a rate with hotels for available inventory, market it up a bit and pass it ...Online travel research made simple on Wanderfly.com
Oct 20th, 2010 at 2:30PM: With so many travel review sites available, it's often overwhelming to sort through published material about a property or destination. We've recently discovered Wanderfly.com, launched out of beta earlier this week. The site promises to provide travel recommendations targeted to budget, date and interest in as few as five clicks.
"On average, travelers spend 7 weeks visiting 25 sites* before ...Wanderfly.com travel-planning site launches in beta
Aug 4th, 2010 at 10:00AM:
A new travel-planning website and booking engine is launching this month in beta, and I was excited to give it a test run, having first heard about the site this spring at a EuroCheapo travel happy hour. Wanderfly.com is a "personalized recommendation engine" that takes your interests, budget, and even social network connections to give you inspiration and help you plan your next vacation. ...Expedia announces 2010 Insiders' Select hotel rankings
May 5th, 2010 at 4:30PM: The 2010 Expedia Insiders' Select hotel rankings provides Expedia customers with an annual list of the world's best hotels rated for quality and value as determined mostly by traveler reviews. These are hotels that routinely exceed customer expectations – in their customer service, amenities, competitive pricing and more.
Now, I'll admit that when I first saw the list, I was a bit puzzled ...Travelocity announces the launch of Top Secret Hotels
Mar 23rd, 2010 at 7:00PM: The roaming Gnome has found a new way to book hotels: Travelocity announced it will offer unpublished - or 'opaque' - hotel deals as part of their hotel offerings.
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The concept is familiar: Find deeply discounted hotel rates based on preferred location, ...Expedia TripAssist puts your iPhone in touch with your reservations
Mar 5th, 2010 at 12:00PM: This week, Expedia released a renewed iPhone application designed to be a link between your phone and your Expedia reservations.
The app is called TripAssist, and it provides one-stop-shopping for anything Expedia related. Once you link the app to your Expedia account, you get instant access to current and past itineraries.
One of the cooler features inside TripAssist is the flight status ...Expedia launches new search tool for disabled travelers
Feb 17th, 2010 at 11:30AM: A new search tool from Expedia and Hotels.com makes it easier for consumers to find hotels that offer accommodations for disabled travelers. The search function will allow travelers to filter results to only show those hotels with accessibility equipment for the deaf, handicap-accessible bathrooms, Braille or raised signage, a roll-in shower and more. Once a hotel is located, a customer can ...AT&T, Expedia.com partner for easier hotel bookings on-the-go
Feb 10th, 2010 at 1:00PM: AT&T and Expedia are partnering to provide travelers with easier access to hotels and destination information. The new agreement allows travelers to check hotel rates, room availability and book rooms on AT&T Interactive's YELLOWPAGES.COM and YP.COM. The platform will be co-branded with Hotels.com, a subsidiary of Expedia.com.
HotelMarketing.com reported the new this morning, but no ...Read the fine print - Hotel tip
Jan 7th, 2010 at 3:59PM: When making reservations for a hotel stay, don't assume all booking companies (i.e., Expedia vs. Travelocity) are created equal.
If you book a hotel one month with one agency and then book the same hotel again the next month with a different agency, don't assume the terms and conditions for refunds or changes will be the same. Oftentimes, cancellation fees and refund policies differ from ...Five predictions for the European travel market
Dec 22nd, 2009 at 8:30AM: The end of the year is the time for all kinds of predictions for the next one. Usually, I treat such conjecture as the bullshit that it is, but when PhoCusWright puts out a list of what'll happen for the travel market, I tend to take it a little much more seriously.
The worldwide recession is still squeezing the European travel market, but the online sector is likely to be the star next year, ...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 ...
