2013 › October

By launching this new luxury site, HomeAway is leveraging existing assets and tweaking them a bit with a dose of curation. Given the rise of vacation clubs and the supposed boom in luxury travel, this move makes a lot of sense.

Besides the seasonal factors, the macro picture is that U.S. airlines are cutting flights to improve efficiency, and that also means lower number of full time employees.

This might be one the first times ever that a country DMO (destination marketing organization) is spending so much money to sponsor a sports team, all in the name of promoting tourism.

While Asia and the Middle East's low-cost carriers are seeing rocket ship growth, in Europe and North America these carriers will have to think about diversifying beyond budget base. JetBlue in the U.S., and EasyJet in the UK are now trying to attract business travelers.

The presence of established players such as HomeAway and TripAdvisor, plus a market that isn't as addressable as it might appear, will make the vacation rental startup sector the next bubble.

Oneworld now has the most meaningful presence of its peers in the Middle East's fast growing travel market. This is a position it won't want to give up.

JetBlue still allows a first bag for free, but other fees for seats with more legroom and Wi-Fi are a key part of its plan to increase profit margins.

Southwest passengers like free stuff, including the use of DISH-furnished iPad 2s and free programming. For Dish, it is a smart way to push their DVR service.

You will dance, and you may need a bit of oxygen.