Skift Take

Startups that give consumers the ability to customize their experience, either through convenience or greater control, will succeed as the public's expectations for personalization and immediacy increase.

This week’s roundup of travel startups provide specialty services to customers from on-demand valet services to private unlimited flight memberships.

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BidNBooking
is a hotel booking site that allows users to search a destination and then bid on the cost of a hotel room. The hotel has to respond within a certain time frame. If they accept, the user can then book the hotel.

SkiftTake: Bidding on travel services is a relatively new method made possible with the Internet. Although the novelty, and potential to save money, will attract users, it is unlikely to build a large customer base or hotel inventory.

>> Parche is an on-demand valet app that allows users to request their cars and pay and tip drivers from within a restaurant. Parche is currently being used by several restaurant groups within Chicago.

SkiftTake: Consumers are quickly coming to expect on-demand services for everything from food delivery to parking. Parche will likely soon expand its market reach beyond Chicago.

>> Team Runner is a website that connects sports organizations and teams with travel companies to streamline and simplify the travel planning and booking process. The website launched in March 2014 and has since worked and partnered with 150 hotel companies and 40 sports teams.

SkiftTake: By catering to a specific, and very large, market, Team Runner will be able to create a product and form partnerships that set its site apart from more general travel planning and booking options.

>> Take Air is an all-you-can fly membership airline. The service currently offers 6 daily flights between London and Paris and Antwerp and Zurich. Membership costs approximately $1,850 per month giving users the ability to book as many flights as they’d like up to 30 minutes before take-off.

SkiftTake: As business travel picks back up in Europe, several services are emerging to cater to the highest spending tier of customer who is willing to pay extra for convenience and privacy. However, margins are thin and companies need a steady stable of customers to stay alive.

>> Tripolette is a platform where users can find travel companions by posting travel plans, searching destinations for potential partners, or simply browsing the site for trip ideas. Users can filter results based on gender, destination and activity.

SkiftTake: Travelers have shown time and time again that they are more likely to reach out to their existing networks than new sites for travel connections.

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Tags: skiftseedlings, startups

Photo credit: Take Air is an all-you-can fly membership airline. Take Air

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