Sean O'Neill

Ukraine's flag carrier is the first airline to follow Lufthansa's bold September 2015 move to add a surcharge to bookings made via third-parties. Yet the industry may be overstating the threat to the revenue of the middlemen.

The group booking company is on an acquisition spree. Plus, other startups raise funding for booking platforms for serviced apartments, event spaces, and branded budget hotels, while one Indian booking site gets a new investor owner.

Microsoft thinks that voice-powered internet gives it a shot — via voice assistant Cortana — at upending today's travel search funnel, which is dominated by Google's search results. The theory's plausible, but Microsoft needs to move faster to win.

During the decade he ran Virgin America, David Cush couldn't always speak freely. But now Cush can discuss how airlines struggle with Google's mobile land grab.

Despite the recent attempts at corporate venture capital by JetBlue, Booking.com, and other big players, many travel companies prefer to invest in startups via traditional venture funds instead.

At this year's annual travel goods industry conference, it's obvious that the hot trend among manufacturers is to add USB ports, battery packs, and location-aware beacons to their luggage.

Car-sharing marketplaces are finding that partnerships with automotive leasing companies and insurers may be a more cost-effective way to get the word out about their services than using traditional digital marketing efforts.

Triptease has successfully faced down legal threats from Booking.com over its tactics to help hotels boost direct bookings. The startup says it has signed up 17,000 hotels as clients.

Starwood recently changed its approach to the translation of websites for its 1,500 properties. Its move is a case study in how many hotel groups are getting savvier about using data to boost bottom line results.

Google revealed Tuesday that it is doing an early experiment in how to sell bundled flights and hotels via its travel search results. Package travel is huge in Europe, and Google's trial will be watched closely.