Analyst: HomeAway’s new revenue model may be too hyped-up
HomeAway's transition to offering a pay-per-booking model, with some parallels to but not a carbon copy of Airbnb's, may be more difficult than HomeAway and investors expect.
Dennis Schaal is Skift’s Founding Editor and Executive Editor. Dennis has been a reporter focusing on online travel and short-term rentals for more than two decades at Skift, Tnooz, USA Today, and Travel Weekly. He is well-known for tough one-on-one interviews on stage at Skift events, including with the CEOs and top execs of Expedia, Uber, Booking Holdings, Priceline, Kayak, Hopper, and more.
Travelers don’t stick to one device when researching and booking travel
The study shows that there are no easy answers for travel research and transaction sites and apps: With travelers willing to change devices by whim, location or activity, travel websites have to accommodate the devices within reach, and will have to be flexible enough to handle new devices to come.
Southwest enables businesses to buy loyalty points for employees
Loyalty points are increasingly becoming a new and broader currency with businesses rewarding them to employees, and even some travel startups awarding consumers airline points for hotel stays.
TripAdvisor gives independent hotels a new way to compete for bookings
There's been so much talk about hotel rate parity, and the sameness when searching for a hotel room. TripAdvisor's invitation to often-overlooked independent hotels and B&Bs may provide some real choice.
U.S. airlines lose bag-fee monopoly as extra costs spread to Europe and India
At some juncture, there will be a tipping point when passengers rebel against bag fees. There is no sign that this is imminent, however.
The real 15 largest travel companies of 2013
Suppliers, namely airlines, hotels, a cruise line and a car rental company, clearly dominate the top 15. Priceline and Amadeus are the only middlemen represented.
What’s behind Hopper’s $22 million gamble on big data travel planning?
Hopper is doing heavy lifting in amassing data to spur travel inspiration. Five years in the making already, it needs to deliver out of the gate, or become an expensive road kill.
Can Foursquare, Quora, and LinkedIn make users care about Bing?
Bing has reorganized its search results pages to incorporate the social element, but it really has a long way to go before the service evolves into something really useful for travelers.
Kayak downplays threat from Google Travel in IPO materials
Expect Kayak to increase its leave of absence from the classic metasearch approach and to expand into new travel verticals with its Kayak booking path. Others, including Room 77, already are following Kayak's lead.
Kayak hits the road with $100 million IPO try
Start your engines. Kayak is beginning its road show in a bid to raise more than $100 million in an IPO. The company will face tough questions about Google's acquisition of ITA Software and whether it can paint a big enough growth story to satisfy would-be investors.