Monday, August 3, 2009

Monday's Travel InsideOut

American Airlines is becoming so hip. If you are tired of Facebook applications like online Scrabble or Mafia wars, users of the social-networking site can now conduct flight searches using American’s beta fare finder.

Chicago Tribune: Search for airfares on Facebook? Yes, you can: American Airlines has added a fare-finding feature to its Travel Bag application within Facebook. The Travel Bag application lets Facebook fans share travel experiences, photos, reviews and comments with friends and other Travel Bag users. The new feature – American is holding a contest to name it – lets customers search for the lowest fares on American without leaving Facebook, and allows them to share their searches with friends in their network. Read more

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Google already may be the most comprehensive “hotel website,” and now Kayak CEO Steve Hafner believes Bing-struck Google may introduce hotel pricing as its entry-point to an enhanced travel offering.

Dennis Schaal Blog: Kayak's Hafner Awaits Google Hotels: Kayak CEO Steve Hafner thinks "it's only a question of time" before Google begins displaying hotel pricing, a move that could change the online-travel ecosystem. Read more

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There’s nothing like a few new ancillary services and fees to increase cash levels and cheer airline execs’ summer blues.

Travel Weekly: For airlines, ancillary fees help ease summertime blues: It’s summertime, and airlines are trying, as they always do, to build up their cash reserves to survive the winter. This year, though, they’re also trying to survive a recession.

As the airlines cut capacity, their revenue streams have dwindled, so they are relying more on ancillary fees to make up the balance. Airline executives also said the economic stress and recovery uncertainty were pushing them to consider consolidation or some other type of union to survive over the long term. Read more

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Through an acquisition in Europe, Concur is said to have improved its services on the Continent.

Business Travel News: Concur Buys European Expense Competitor Etap-On-Line: Expense management technology supplier Concur today announced it has acquired European competitor Etap-On-Line, doubling its European operations. Read more

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If you are looking for the movers and shakers in hotel blogdom, this list would be a great place to start.

UpTake Travel Industry Blog: Top 15 Hotel Blogs & Bloggers: Like every other sector, the hotel industry too has its own set of A-list bloggers who lead the conversation. These 15 hotel blogs and their bloggers listed here offer their readers the best hospitality experience, so to speak. Read more

Travel InsideOut is a Dennis Schaal Blog daily feature. Get a thorough-going look at the day's travel industry top and tangentially interesting stories. Feel free to comment on them below.

Travel InsideOut is Copyright (c) 2009 by Dennis Schaal. All rights reserved.

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