Dennis Schaal Blog: What They're Saying

OK, my marketing budget is ($43) -- the parenthesis depicts negative numbers -- and while everyone else is doing something worthwhile (as opposed to blogging) on this 91-degree day in the New York area, I thought I would share what some travel industry executives, luminaries and lowlifes (just kidding) are saying about the Dennis Schaal Blog.

Henry Harteveldt, Forrester Research, principal analyst, travel, on Twitter April 25 about the post, Mr. Sandman: Orbitz and Expedia Play Gotcha on Fees: "RT @denschaal: Mr. Sandman: Orbitz & Expedia Play Gotcha on Fees http://bit.ly/12clI5 This is goooood. #travel #hotel"

TommyDavid , director of CheapHotelsGroup.com, on Twitter April 25: "enjoying @denschaal on Orbitz, Expedia price wars: http://bit.ly/12clI5"

Wendy Perrin, Conde Nast Traveler's consumer news editor, included me in her April 17 Concierge.com post, "What You're Missing if You're Not on Twitter,", thanks to a recommendation from WeJustGotBack.

Susan Black, a founder of TravelCom and owner of social-media consulting firm Susan Black Associates, on Twitter April 22: "Recommended @denschaal to @MrTweet 'his travel industry tweets are timely and provocative, and his blog is compelling.' http://cli.gs/jEWhpm"

WeJustGotBack, a family trip-planning site, on Twitter April 20: "I think @rickseaney and @denschaal each impart a valuable insider view of the industry. They know their stuff, so there's no hype."

Hugo Burge, vice chairman of CheapFlights, on my post, The Future of Metasearch and Flight Shopping, on Twitter April 20: "@denschaal - nice piece - enjoying your blogging. Sorry to miss out & look forward to grabbing a beer. Will let you know when I'm in town."

Martin Collings, an airline sales specialist for the Amadeus IT Group, on his Shearwater Blog April 3: "I only came across Dennis Schaal’s blog recently, but it is currently sitting near the top of my RSS feeds. In a recent post [Will Airline Fees Pinch Business Travelers?] he references a New York Times article titled "Some Elite Customers May Start to Feel Ordinary." I’ve lifted a couple of interesting quotes from the article."

Sam Shank, the founder of TravelPost and the current CEO of DealBase.com, on the DealBase Blog March 26: "With new flight metasearch engines from TripAdvisor and Travelzoo, and some great discussions about travel metasearch on UpTake and Dennis Schaal’s blog, there’s a consensus emerging that future of travel metasearch is providing a user experience that simplifies a la carte pricing (baggage fees, drink fees, etc)."

Jeff Pecor, Yapta.com PR director, on the Yapta Blog March 19: "The series of consumer friendly announcements from the online travel agencies has made Dennis Schaal, Travel Weekly's Technology Editor, say "Yapta-Yapta-Doo!" He also offers some great insight on "the likelihood" of receiving a reimbursement from these price guarantee programs. (Finally, somebody recognizes the slim odds behind what appears to be a pure marketing play.)"

Shamelessly yours,

Dennis Schaal

Yapta-Yapta-Doo

With apologies to Fred Flinstone and Yapta, too, I have to say, "Yabba-Yabba-Doo," about some of the pro-consumer developments taking place in the flight-booking arena.
And, thankfully for all concerned, I don't say, "Yabba-Dabba-Doo," very often. (Incidentally, for those young folks playing on Twitter, as I do, Fred Flinstone was a cartoon character "back then," as my kids like to put it.
Anyway, in the old days of online-travel booking, before the days of metasearch and the developments I'm about to describe, you did some comparison-shopping, booked a flight and hoped you got a decent price.
But, today, you not only have Kayak, Fly.com, Mobissimo and a cast of thousands (I exaggerate) to help you mix and match fares, but Farecast will dive deep into its data mine to predict if the fare will go up, down or sideways in the next week, month or holiday weekend, for that matter.
Then, this week, we have a flurry of new activity by Travelocity, with its PriceGuardian program, and Priceline with its Pricedrop Protection scheme, both of which refund money to Joe Consumer if Betty Consumer (no relation) later booked a flight or vacation package for the same itinerary at a cheaper price. Priceline's Pricedrop (it does have a nice ring to it) even refunds the difference to Ralph Consumer, who successfully made a flight bid using Name-Your-Own Price, if Nancy Consumer reserved a no-bid published fare at a lower price.
The likelihood of that happening is so remote that the data-crunchers at Farecast would have to give you the odds.
So, if Travelocity and Priceline are silently, behind the scenes, monitoring fares on your behalf (and they promise they will) to see if later bookers got lower deals on the same itineraries, Yapta instructs consumers how to get credits from the airlines if travelers booked directly on an airline website and subsequently the fare dropped. And for $15, Yapta even will phone the airline for you.
What happened to the days of pressing the enter key on your PC and booking a flight -- and just winging it, hoping you got a deal?
It's all about empowering consumers, and making the travel industry more transparent.
That's why I say: "Yapta-Yapta-Doo!"