Last May we told you that Google was getting into the travel business, with the Mountain View search giant having just acquired travel software company ITA. ITA provides the algorithms that power sites like Orbitz, Kayak, and CheapTickets - to say nothing of handling schedules for a bunch of airlines - and that's pretty much all it does. So Google's intentions weren't exactly inscrutable, even if the exact details of what they wanted with ITA weren't totally clear.
Then a few months later flight schedules started showing up in Google results. That wasn't particularly exciting in and of itself, but it banished any remaining doubts about whether Google was getting into the flight search game. And so no one was really surprised when, earlier this week, Google finally launched their new Google Flight Search. It's exactly what you think it is, and you can check it out here.]]>
In case you're still using up Fourth of July fireworks and BBQ charcoal, let us remind you that Labor Day is right around the corner, so time to start planning for either a long weekend getaway or some relaxing on the home turf. As usual, Orbitz has been playing close attention to the cities being searched for Labor Day vacays, and though it coulda been a cool infographic, the site has released a list of the Top 10 Labor Day destinations in the USA: ]]>
If you’ve already arrived at your holiday destination we’d like to congratulate you. However, if that means a couple extra nights on the sleeper sofa, we might just end up sending our condolences. For most the Thanksgiving airport shuffle begins today and tomorrow, and although all airports are going to be busy, Orbitz has released their picks for the country’s craziest concourses.
Topping this year’s list is going to be Chicago-O’Hare. No surprise to us, as it’s a pretty convenient spot to connect for travelers on both coasts of the country. It also doesn’t help that American Airlines and United like to send a whole bunch of jets to and from the airport on a daily basis. ]]>
Expedia just announced they're waiving their $20 fee for the 7% of Americans who book their itineraries over the phone, establishing themselves in a niche and sticking a finger in the eyes of competitors. Airline centers mostly charge $5-$35 for telephone bookings—Southwest is the only exception—while Orbitz and Travelocity charge $25 per ticket. Priceline doesn't even offer that option.
This won't be much use to us, since our calls to booking agents are limited to rants about the impossibility of reserving rewards travel these days. But Expedia had already eliminated flight booking fees online, and it's nice to see anyone cutting any fee for any reason, no matter how marginal or symbolic the gesture:]]>
Memo to booking and airline companies: despite how it sometimes might appear, we're on your side. Really we are. We want you to only do smart things. When you do not smart things you incur costs without producing revenue, creating shortfalls that you pass on to us. That means we travel less, which causes us to get just a wee bit claustrophobic, and without getting into too many details - everybody loses.
Shifting gears, the last few years have seen something of a trend among the 30 year old former frat boys who inhabit the classrooms of our nation's fine MBA programs. Specifically, if a project has a Facebook application or somehow involves Twitter, it's gold. Conversely, projects without Web 2.0 tie-ins are preemptively deemed failures. Proposals don't have to make sense. They just has to have lots of phrases like "viral advertising" and "user generated content."
Fast forward a few years and these supple minds are now consultants, randomly going from business to business telling middle managers to invest in Facebook apps. To which we can only respond the same way fashion blogs react when starlets show up to awards shows wearing formal shorts. Oh honey, no:]]>
You’re a savvy traveler, and you know that when trying to book the best deal on a flight, you should check all the aggregator search engines (Orbitz, Travelocity, Expedia, Kayak, etc.) before deciding which airline and fare to go with.
The discount you get may be worth it, but we’re here to warn you about one of the perils of booking on a discount sites based on a recent experience we had with Orbitz. We were looking for a flight from Los Angeles to Paris, and we found a great deal on Northwest Airlines. Great route, quick stopovers, and plenty of empty seats to choose from. Or so we thought as we booked the seat through Orbitz and entered our seat selections.
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Travel booking website Orbitz is not about to waste any time getting their foot on the door with travelers drooling over the possibility of making landfall in Cuba soon. On March 10, President Obama signed a bill to ease travel restrictions for Cuban Americans heading home to visit family, amongst other changes. On March 11, Orbitz had launched their website petition to open the floodgates to all tourism.
The "Open Cuba" campaign is simple enough: enter your name, state, postal code and email address, and choose if you'd like to receive further news about the campaign or emails from Orbitz about travel deals.
Aha! The entering the email part; that's where they get you! Their mailing list gets padded, they get free publicity, and you feel as though you have participated in history. That is, until you begin receiving Orbitz deal emails when you have no intention of booking a 3-star all-inclusive resort in Puerto Vallarta. You just want some Cuba time, damnit.
Until JFK to Havana direct flights look more feasible, we're going to hold back on the online signature. After all, the only thing we're in the mood to sign after checking out their website is the receipt for a box of Cohibas.
Related Stories:
· Open Cuba [Orbitz]
· Travel firm to Obama: Open up Cuba [Guardian UK]
· Cuba Travel Internet Campaign Begins [Havana Times]
· Cuba Travel Coverage [Jaunted]
[Photo: JohnnyPinball]]]>