Startups

Expect a lot more from Skift, as we add new services and accelerate our growth with this new funding.

The manual transfer of keys would be a major barrier to RelayRides’ growth while its competition like Zipcar and Getaround make it easy for users to independently unlock cars.

Airbnb isn't all grown up and in the clear yet, but it is making some changes to cope with some of its more stubborn challenges.

Mobile messaging apps such as WhatsApp are becoming a cost-effective and more personal way to communicate electronically for travelers on the go.

There are lots of ways to get from here to there, and new bus services such as Megabus, with free Wi-Fi (admittedly spotty), cheap fares, and a 50-pound luggage allowance, are providing convenience and real competition.

A shakeout has been looming among sites that track rewards miles and offers mileage-related flight services. MileWise's demise is the first among several other companies that will likely fade away.

Let the games begin.

To paraphrase a certain baseball philospher, it's getting late very early for flight-search startups. For any chance of success, they'd better offer something unique, have a lot of funding, and figure out how to attract substantial revenue elsewhere.

Many travel startups focus their attention on hotels as they’re more lucrative than flights and there is more room for innovation. It’s a lesson that Hipmunk appears to have learned and is now working through it without abandoning its original flights product.