Hipmunk Displaces Orbitz as Yahoo Travel Provider

Coming just a week after Hipmunk announced a partnership with Yelp, Hipmunk reached a second distribution partnership, displacing the Orbtiz Worldwide-owned Travelocity Partner Network as the exclusive flight and hotel provider for Yahoo Travel.

When Yahoo Travel users search for a hotel on the desktop or mobile Web, they will see a notice during the search that “Yahoo and Hipmunk have partnered to bring you the fastest and easiest way to plan travel,” and then they will be delivered to Hipmunk.com to continue searching and, in some cases, to complete the booking on Hipmunk.

The same is true for flights, where Yahoo Travel users are advised: “Yahoo and Hipmunk have partnered to take the agony out of travel.”

Travelocity had been Yahoo Travel’s main travel provider for more than a decade, but Orbitz picked up the business when it acquired the Travelocity Partner Network in February.

Yahoo Travel in the interim underwent a relaunch, and in the latest change Yahoo has brought on Hipmunk to provide flight and hotel search.

The Yahoo-Hipmunk partnership is the second such partnership reached for Hipmunk in the last week as the travel metasearch startup seeks to broaden its reach through these new relationships. Hipmunk became Yelp’s hotel provider starting Oct. 21.

Unlike Travelocity and Orbitz, which sought to be behind-the-scenes “white label” providers to third-party sites, Hipmunk views these new partnerships as a way to improve its brand awareness, and to increase its reach. The new strategy is an alternative to going with an overly expensive TV marketing campaign.

“After our recent funding round, forging alliances that introduce Hipmunk to new audiences is a key part of our growth strategy,” said Adam Goldstein, CEO and co-founder of Hipmunk. “We’re excited to offer our experience to a new set of users while enabling Yahoo Travel to provide its users a great metasearch experience.”