Online travel agencies still making money in today’s travel market

by Tom Johansmeyer on

There’s still money in the travel business; you just have to look in the right places. In the United States, the online leisure and unmanaged business travel sector is where you’ll find the cash — this sector is outperforming every other travel sales channel, according to a recent study by research firm PhoCusWright. In a report that the company will release soon, U.S. Online Travel Overview Ninth Edition, PhoCusWright will reveal the details behind the online leisure/unmanaged business travel’s 7% decline relative to a nationwide general fall of 16%.

“For the first time since PhoCusWright began tracking the remarkable trajectory of the internet in travel distribution, online travel will decline in 2009,” says Doublas Quinby, senior director, research at PhoCusWright. “But,” he continues, “the 7% drop in online travel vs. far steeper double-digit declines for the total travel market and offline channels indicates that travelers are increasingly turning to the Web to shop and purchase travel amid the recession.”

The contraction of the travel market in 2009 has brought the travel industry back to pre-2005 levels. The effects haven’t been as brutal in the online space, though, which has outperformed all the other channel’s this year. When the year is over, PhoCusWright expects online travel agencies to own 39% of the total travel market in the Untied States, up from 35% last year.

[Photo by borman818 via Flickr]

“By honing in squarely on consumer concerns in 2009, heavily promoting deals and last-minute special offers and eliminating many booking and customer service fees, online travel agencies have deftly outflanked recessionary pressures and are outperforming every other distribution channel,” Quinby reports. He adds, “OTAs are taking back some share from travel supplier Web sites this year.”

Mom and kid booted from plane, demand apology and compensation

by Tom Johansmeyer on

It’s easy for passengers to grow annoyed with kids on planes. There’s nothing worse than hearing a scream and knowing you’re about to be part of a captive audience for several hours. Yet, flight crews usually show a lot more tolerance. Hey, they’re on the plane to earn a paycheck. Every job has trials to be endured. Pamela Root’s son, however, was too much for them.

Kid and mom were kicked from the Southwest flight from Amarillo, Texas to San Jose, California, because the former was screaming, “Go! Plane! Go!” and “I want Daddy!” Root believes the kid would have piped down once the wheels were up, but the plane’s staffers didn’t want to roll the dice. Root and child were escorted off the plane.

Of course, the 38-year-old stay-at-home mom has her list of demands. In addition to an apology, she’s looking for compensation for a portable crib and diapers that she needed to buy for the unplanned extra night away from home. I’m curious as to why. She’d need the diapers anyway: the kids bowels, I suspect, work just as well in Amarillo as they did in San Jose — no more, no less. And, where did the kid sleep the nights before she bought the portable crib? Were they unable to stay where they had been for the trip? Did she not feel like it?

Hmmmmm …

As to the apology, I’m sure she apologized repeatedly and profusely to the flight crew and other passengers, right?

If anyone was on the flight and can shed some light, please leave a comment, thanks!

Free Wi-Fi tomorrow on Delta Airlines – for a good cause!

by Scott Carmichael on

Tomorrow, October 31st, Delta Airlines and Gogo are offering free Wi-Fi on all their flights.During the sign-in procedure, simply use promotion code GOPINK.

As if that were not cool enough, Aircell (the company behind Gogo) will donate $1 for every free session that day (up to $10,000) to the Breast Cancer Research Foundation.

This is the fifth year Delta has supported breast cancer research with their Pink Plane. Last year, Delta raised half a million Dollars for the foundation through donations and pink product sales.

During the month of October, all Gogo proceeds from Wi-Fi sales on the Delta Pink plane will go to the Breast Cancer Research Foundation.

So, if you are flying a Wi-Fi equipped plane on Delta tomorrow, you’ll get free Internet access, and you’ll help support a great cause.

United just can’t win with Canadian singer

by Tom Johansmeyer on

Canadian singer-songwriter Dave Carroll flew United again, and it just didn’t work out. Carroll made the headlines when he released a YouTube video explaining his experience with United, which broke his guitar when he changed planes at Chicago’s O’Hare airport.

In his first song, Carroll said he wouldn’t rule out flying United again, specifically, “To save the world, I probably would … but that won’t likely happen.” Well, he did fly United again, simply because he needed a direct flight from Nova Scotia to Denver, and United had the only one available. This time, United didn’t break his guitar, but it did lose his luggage.

When he arrived at Denver International Airport, Carroll learned that his luggage was delayed, and the United employees on hand told him to wait for it. Meanwhile, an airport official told him to leave the baggage claim area. Eventually he yielded — a smart move, since his luggage didn’t arrive until Wednesday. And, yet again, United is in the position of having to investigate a problem associated with quite possibly the nicest wronged customer in the history of the travel business.

Following his original debacle with United, Carroll said he’d create three videos for YouTube. He’s created two so far, in addition to a statement explaining the situation with United and urging people not to be so hard on Ms. Irlweg. All three have been viewed a total of nearly 7 million times.

United has promised to take steps to improve customer service, but this seems to be slow-moving, as evidenced by Carroll’s recent situation. To make matters worse, the word from United’s vice president of customer contact centers, Barbara Higgins, said in an interview with Christopher Elliott, “Our agents are empowered to escalate serious concerns that they hear from our guests. We have since provided them with a better way to do that to ensure we can be more responsive to special situations that arise, while also protecting us from the fraud that we see.”

“Empowered to escalate” — that doesn’t strike me as terribly empowered.

The lack of movement on the issue seems clear in Carroll’s Denver debacle. He had finished the lyrics for the third song before taking this trip. “They lyrics that I used sort of encompass what happened here this week so I might not have to rewrite it after all,” he told CBC. That’s a sad statement, when you think about it. He was writing about a problem that happened over a year ago, and recent events don’t call for revision.

So much for progress …

Ironically, Carroll was flying to Denver to give a speech at RightNow Technologies, a company that develops customer service software. Maybe United will schedule a demo soon.

%Gallery-76818%

%Gallery-73517%

[Photo by cliff1066 via Flickr]

Free Gogo inflight Internet for first timers on Airtran

by Scott Carmichael on

AirTran is one of two airlines in the world with fleet-wide Internet access. The service is provided by the Gogo inflight service, and normally sells for as low as $5.95 (on flights up to an hour and a half).

If you have never used the service, you can get your first session for free by using promotion code airtrantrygogo.

This promotion runs until the end of the year, and is a great way to experience how convenient (and entertaining) it can be to spend your time in the air by doing the same useless stuff you do on the ground (unless of course you plan to get some real work done).

While you are online you’ll even be able to listen to XM satellite radio, another perk of flying AirTran. When you are up in the air, don’t forget to follow us on Twitter!