Dennis Schaal

Who asked who out? OpenTable kicked off the sale process and approached the Priceline Group about an acquisition via email in mid-April in a process that ultimately involved six other companies. The usual suspects likely expressed interest, and Priceline's initial non-binding bid was first and substantially higher than that of the other bidder.

This acquisition makes total sense for China, which now has a home-grown company to build its China footprint.

Vacation rentals and alternative types of accommodations is such a hot space that it is fairly clear that HomeAway is likely to be joining forces with a major player sooner rather than later. With a $3.2 billion market cap, HomeAway is relatively affordable.

The Today show investigation was small in scope and didn't identify airlines, but the findings about dangerous bacteria on airline tray tables and TSA security bins are alarming, to say the least.

If hoteliers needed a wakeup call about the necessity to providing free Wi-Fi to leisure travelers, then this Choice Hotels survey should be loud and clear.

TripAdvisor has grand ambitions that it can grab the segment of the hotel industry that doesn't play with the major online travel agencies. In the process, TripAdvisor would become more comprehensive, improve its mobile apps, and attract a lucrative new revenue stream.

Marriages between major, global hotel groups would indeed be tremendously complex, but they are certainly not out of the question. Wyndham reportedly thought that a tie-up with InterContinental Hotels would be very practical.

As the Boston Consulting Group-Facebook study points out, companies such as Delta and Hipmunk, which lag their peers in desktop traffic, can make up a lot of ground in mobile. Hey, it's a whole new ballgame.

Delta wants to control its customers' online and mobile experiences and to drive more traffic to Delta.com so it has parted ways with third-party websites that the airline can afford to cut ties with.

Travelers certainly get a charge out of finding an available charging station and BWI is making that relief more of a possibility. Note to Millennials: Payphones were public telephones that could be used for a fee, usually a dime or a quarter, before the birth of smartphones.