Skift Business Traveler: Uber Signs Hilton as Second Hotel Partner
What to Know Now
As the world of business travel gets more comfortable with Uber as its private driver, more and more partnerships between the ride sharing app and the travel industry are starting to take form. The latest matchup was announced last week with some gentle co-marketing between Uber and Hilton.
As of later this month, Hilton guests will be able to "set reminders" to take an Uber on the day of their travels, while Uber, in turn, will give Hilton guests some unique access to favorite local hotspots.
It's worth pointing out that unlike the Starwood-Uber mashup there are no loyalty points changing hands at this point, but this small partnership is a step in the right direction. Hopefully soon, both companies will put more on the table.
Social Quote of the Day
Hilton hotel app lets you grab an Uber when you check out.
- Tech Crunch
@TechCrunch you know what else does. the uber app- @stammy, Designer @Twitter Video / Photos. Traveler • Photographer • Greek
Airlines
How Boeing Sales Flop Became World’s Hottest Secondhand Jetliner: Nine years after production ended for Boeing Co.’s 717 jetliner, the former sales dud is one of the most sought-after aircraft in the world. Read more at Skift
Turkish Airlines Hedge Against Gulf Carriers Would Be Closer Lufthansa Ties: Turkish Airlines said it may strengthen its relationship with Star Alliance partner Deutsche Lufthansa AG as the rapidly-expanding carrier from southern Europe advances a plan to create a counterweight to airlines in the Persian Gulf. Read more at Skift
Air France Says Long-Haul Jets Will Go If Pilots Resist Reforms: Air France said it will restructure long-haul operations and drop about 10 aircraft from the fleet if negotiations with unions fail to deliver productivity gains. Read more at Skift
Will Airlines Get Onboard With Easy-Boarding Side-Slip Seat? The slip-sliding, aisle-widening Side-Slip seat is back, and one step closer to launch. Read more at Skift
Airports
Delta plans to pamper its employees with private airport spas: Delta intends to make its staff happy by launching a new employees-only spa concept later this year. Read more at Road Warrior Voices
Ghost Airports: Unfinished, Abandoned or Forgotten: Scattered all over the world are the bones of airports that have been hilariously overbuilt, abandoned, left incomplete or forgotten altogether. These façades are both a testament to bygone industry and grandeur, as well as a reminder of the great, unseen cycles that shape human civilization. Read more at The Points Guy
Go Behind the Scenes at One of the World's Busiest Airports: Associated Press recently took a behind-the-scenes tour of the Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport—the ninth busiest in the world with 170,000 people making their way to and from flights every day. Read more at Travel + Leisure
Tech
Lyft Doesn’t Understand Its Local Markets and Is Trying To Fix It: Compared with Uber, Lyft looks scrappy, friendly, and a bit hapless. Read more at Skift
Bragi's Dash, the wireless earbuds of our dreams, aren't up and running yet: After my time playing around with the Dash I’m convinced that wireless earbuds are definitely a viable technology, but I’m skeptical that the device of people's dreams will be delivered any time soon. Read more at The Verge
Indonesia Scraps Bullet Train, Seeks New Bids From China, Japan: Indonesia is asking Japan and China for new bids for a major rail link as a $6 billion high-speed train is no longer seen as commercially viable, the minister coordinating transport policy said. Read more at Skift
Hotels
Japan’s Tourism Boom Leading to Fivefold Growth of Domestic Hotel Chain: Hoshino Resort Co. may expand its new chain of hotels in Japanese cities to as many as 20 after the luxury-resort operator first bought four such properties last month to meet rising demand for urban tourism. Read more at Skift
St. Regis Hotels Invests in Long-Form Editorial for Its Digital Travel Magazine: The very top end of the hospitality food chain has led the push toward respectable online travel content on hotel websites, but typically it’s mostly casual short form writing designed to be highly shareable with an emphasis on punchy photos. Read more at Skift
This Is How Marriott Aims to End Scam Bookings: Marriott International plans to migrate its web presence to a new top-level domain, in order to ensure its customers know they are using an official Marriott-branded site. Read more at Skift
Your Turn
Skift's weekly aggregate of Digital Travel Marketing, led by the magnificent Jeremy Kressmann, is finally up and running. Take a gander over here.
Tips and Comments
Can be sent to gm[at]skift[dot]com or to @grantkmartin
Subscribe to the Skift Business Traveler Newsletter