Articles tagged “litigation”

Barry Diller's alleged right to retake control of Expedia Group, after wielding such power for 14 years, is under attack. At the least, the court-ordered delay in allowing him to exercise such rights could cost the Expedia chairman a ton of money.

Bulletproof legal immunity for "platforms" like TripAdvisor seems to have softened in recent years. What's certain is that as tours and activities go more mainstream as an option on booking sites, intermediaries will have to put more effort into vetting the tour operators.

Screen-scraping lawsuits are as old as the internet. We don't know if any money changed hands when Ryanair and Expedia settled lawsuits in the United States and Ireland, but what seems apparent is that Ryanair flights have gone missing on Expedia websites. Case(s) closed.

A federal appeals court has asked for a partial do-over in antitrust litigation between US Airways and travel tech firm Sabre. After more than eight years and millions of dollars in expenses, the case has partly been reset to square one. Remarkable.

Is the Boston-Airbnb settlement, which calls for short-term regulatory platforms to comply with a city ordinance, a model for future agreements? Too soon to tell but what's clear is that the alternative accommodations industry will one day transition from outliers to regulated entities.

Sabre had tried the unorthodox legal tactic of pursuing its $360 million acquisition of Farelogix, an airline tech vendor, without waiting for approval from U.S. antitrust watchdogs. But it apparently didn't count on federal attorneys claiming they have text messages between Sabre executives acknowledging the anti-competitive nature of the deal.

Resort fees are embedded into many hotels' business models, so it would take a lot to upend them. But the prospect is picking up a lot of momentum.

United has leverage in its contract dispute with Expedia as each side maneuvers for position in the run-up to their contract expiration on September 30.

It is relatively rare that contract disputes between online travel agencies and airlines reach the public domain unless they are at a breaking point. We'll undoubtedly hear more about this soon.

It isn't clear precisely by what terms American Airlines and Expedia settled their trademark infringement lawsuit. What is known is that Expedia's Add-On Advantage program, the subject of the dispute, remains operational.