Dennis Schaal

Apart from the ironies in Governor Chris Christie's indirect involvement in a traffic website, this Super Bowl traffic website sucks. The interactive map looks like Web 1.0, it is difficult to get directions, and the FAQ is about important and relevant things such as which government department oversees insurance companies. Lousy effort, New Jersey.

Moral of the story? People who are really coming to the area to attend the Super Bowl should stay in New Jersey, where hotel rates are much cheaper. But, then they won't be as conveniently positioned to attend all of the hoopla in New York City.

Tablets are trendy and we love them, but mobile phones are in consumers' pockets, pocketbooks, hands or just a few feet away, and travelers are using them to dream of their romantic getaway in Tahiti (or Namibia).

The American Express-American Airlines airport lounge deal was a victim of airline consolidation. There's little need to partner with an airline, though, if Amex can build its own lounges at the airports. It's a work in progress, and we'll see how the experiment works out.

You have to spend a little to make a little. These electric shuttles will be more expensive for Best Western at the outset, but the cost savings over time will make up for that initial, pricey expense.

Pay per booking is the next big thing, as far as HomeAway is concerned, and it is phasing it the new optional business model to its fiefdom around the world.

How can we say this nicely? RIDICULOUS. Sorry for that.

The price guarantee makes the option of booking through Carnival more attractive. In addition, it's nice to book a tour where passengers have the peace of mind that the ship is not going to depart without them.

Steve Hafner acknowledges that flight ticket purchasing on Kayak still "sucks." He candidly admits that Kayak is taking some design inspiration from the Airbnb website, which he says balances exploration and transactions without overwhelming the user.

Organic growth obviously wasn't sufficient for BookIt.com, which has long touted a technology advantage through its search tool and took in its first funding in a decade. BookIt.com faces the same mid-life crisis that many travel companies confront: How do you break out of the pack and get noticed.