Dennis Schaal

In the past, whenever new distribution initiatives came to the fore, airlines, distribution systems and travel agencies would go to war over the details. With IATA's New Distribution Capability, a dialogue has emerged, although the devil will be in the details, and the Global Business Travel Association remains highly suspicious of the plan.

Metasearch has plenty of potential and hard work to do in vacation rentals as the wide swath of owners and other hosts are really just beginning to come online. Tripping could be part of the next generation of such metasearch sites.

Travel industry digital ad spending is heavily skewed toward driving transactions because online travel agencies, which are primarily interested in converting lookers into bookers, are calling the shots.

Travelers can probably get bits and pieces of Berkshire Hathaway Travel Protection's flight delay and missed-connection coverage elsewhere, but the array of coverage for these flight hassles is unique in North America. However, don't be surprised if the $25 per domestic trip rate gets increased after awhile.

Will Millennials really be swayed by soft music and hotel lobby front desks that are more curvy than square? We'll reserve judgment until we see the changes in reality later this year.

Online travel agencies are taking market share when it comes to hotel bookings for leisure and business travelers, but hotels' own direct channels still dominate, and travel agencies are still well ahead, too, if the TravelClick numbers are to be believed.

Sabre layed off several hundred Travelocity employees last year, but the pain at Sabre is not over as the company intends to eliminate 350 positions in 2014. The spin is that the cuts will better enable the company to focus on product development. Yes, less is obviously more.

TripIt has paired down the information you'd be able to view in Google Glass to the essentials because developers are working with a "screen" that's even smaller than most smartphones. It's all that's practical when viewing itineraries at a glance.

It is too soon to tell how the Sabre-Expedia agreement on Travelocity is working out for Sabre. We have to get past the initial implementation to see if Sabre's profitability promises will be valid.

Marriott Rewards' PlusPoints program will muddy the social media waters even more than they already are today. Ah, we're getting nostalgic for the bad old days when a "like" was a heartfelt "like."