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Travel Technology

Airlines

Why getting Wi-Fi on flights is just not enough

Now that passengers have -- sometimes -- Wi-Fi on flights, airlines need to provide broader capabilities. Gogo and Row 44 are working on divergent solutions, and their projected timetables sound overly optimistic.

Online Travel

TechCrunch article about Triposo is wrong about everything

How can a story about a company successfully raising $3.5 million get so many things wrong? Quick answer: Users haven't favored social approach and there are no successful "friendsourced, social graph-based models" for Triposo or old-school guides to compete with -- the Trippys and Gogobots are pivoting.

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Online Travel

New iOS app integrates trusted services to help users pack

Integration of TripIt and its actionable information about the trips you take give this app an instant edge over competitors.

Airlines

Virgin America takes hit from its transition to Sabre

Welcome to the big time, Virgin America. All this growth "don't come easy." Meanwhile, it looks like it is straightening things out with its Sabre reservations system and things should be on track before long.

Airlines

Brand measurement service Heardable looks at airlines, should probably measure again

Heardable's $999 report on airlines points to Delta and United as having the best "digital experience," a ranking sure to raise eyebrows among consumers and rivals such as Virgin America.

Skift Originals

Delta SkyMiles voted worst in frequent flyer survey

There's nothing worse than an airline frequent flyer program when it's tough to book awards travel, and respondents to this Frequent Business Traveler and FlyerTalk survey expressed frustration with Delta in this regard. The airline, which has been all over Facebook with its booking widgets, prides itself on its technology so it must be especially disappointing that road warriors expressed their frustrations with the SkyMiles awards calendar.

Online Travel

Maps are getting seriously sexy: Amazon enters the game with an acquisition

The battle for local intelligence has broken into open warfare with the three biggest digital consumer brands stockpiling massive mapping weapons to. Use against one another.

Online Travel

Loyalty-card startups give merchants a reason to ignore Groupon

The startups make the difference between flash sale sites and loyalty programs clear: One's just about the deal, the other's about building a loyal clientele.

Airlines

Zagat airport restaurant ratings could be coming to Google

Expect a lot more airport, airline, airport restaurant and hotel coverage from Zagat as its content begins to permeate Google search.

Online Travel

The hotel total price fiasco and Kayak’s mobile experiment

Travelers need to see the total price of a hotel room instantly, but online travel agencies and comparison-shopping engines have bowed to competitive pressures.