Orbitz to use Facebook Send button … will you? [POLL]

by Tom Johansmeyer on

Is traveling about to get more social? Orbitz has just announced that it’s using the new “Facebook Send” button on its hotel pages, which should make it easier to brainstorm travel ideas. To me, it seems like a natural fit for family vacations and trips with friends. Using the button, you can pop a link off to a limited group of people – instead of sharing it with the world – and make plans more easily.

I’ve been watching travel and social media for a while, and to be honest, I haven’t been blown away. For all the talk of travel being a natural space for social media sharing, the marketing execution hasn’t knocked my socks off. The new move from Orbitz, however, strikes me as a step in the right direction. By taking advantage of a new Facebook feature early in the process and allowing users to self-target, the online travel agency has put itself ahead of the curve.

“Orbitz is continuing its tradition of innovation by integrating with Facebook to make the search and book experience for travel more like the actual experience of travel – social, interactive and fun,” notes Sam Fulton, Senior Vice President, Retail, Orbitz Worldwide. “With the new Facebook Send button, travelers can easily share and solicit feedback on hotels from relevant friends or groups, which ultimately leads to making a more confident and informed choice.”The Facebook Send button, of course, is applicable to more than just travel, but the Orbitz announcement indicates an early lead for the company … in a space that’s becoming increasingly competitive. With the ability to send messages and links – for specific hotels, especially – to individual friends, several friends, Facebook message inboxes and email, collaborative travel is set to become much easier.

Unsurprisingly, Orbitz already has a user dynamic in mind:

Here is an example of how the Facebook Send button works on Orbitz: Travelers planning a summer getaway to Las Vegas with a group of friends can look at individual properties, hit the Facebook Send button to message or post those options to an individual or group via Facebook or send to their friend’s email. Friends can then view a full description of the hotel property on Orbitz – including room rates, photos, maps and reviews — and discuss as a group on Facebook before selecting a hotel.

So, do you plan to use this tool to plan your next trip? Or, is it more your style to pick up the phone? Take the poll below to let us know your thoughts on this!

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New website aggregates the best “crap souvenirs”

by McLean Robbins on

Travel writers would like to think we’re above the average traveler when it comes to souvenirs – we don’t sport I <3 New York tee shirts or buy a shot glass from every city we visit … unless it’s a really, really good one. But there’s a good chance we might make fun of the average fanny pack-wearing traveler for doing so. Hey, a good dose of kitsch never hurt anyone, right?

That’s why we’re practically peeing our pants with laughter over writer Doug Lansky’s new website, CrapSouvenirs.com, originally covered over on The Huffington Post, where Lansky is a writer.

The user generated blog encourages people to submit the crappiest, tackiest and funniest souvenirs and momentos they encounter in their travels. From bottle openers engraved with images of the Pope (above) to pirate heads and rasta bananas (both from Tennessee, no less), we are starting to feel like our collection of Starbucks mugs from various cities isn’t that bad. At least those are useful.

Have a favorite? Submit it in the comments below so we can all get a good laugh.

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[Image courtesy of CrapSouvenirs.com and submitted by Julie Mangin]

Travelocity’s “roaming gnome” hosts Earth Day scavenger hunt in NYC

by McLean Robbins on



Celebrate Earth Day with one of Gadling’s favorite trip booking sites, Travelocity. Their mascot, the Roaming Gnome, is hosting a virtual and real week-long scavenger hunt, where Facebook fans and Twitter followers have a chance to win prizes, while finding the “greenest” hotspots from uptown to downtown Manhattan.

Starting April 18, the mascot (@roaminggnome) will host four scavenger hunts in NYC, hiding out in eco-friendly hotels and attractions. He’ll Tweet clues about where he’s hiding via his Twitter feed using #greengnome.

Prizes will include: two-nights stays at green hotels, show tickets to popular Broadway shows – gift certificates toward a new, eco-friendly clothing line and sustainable treats from Sweetery gourmet food truck.

On the actual Earth Day, April 22, the Gnome will be in Times Square starting at 11 AM EST. Those who stop by his booth and take a picture with him can enter for a chance to win a sustainable vacation package. Those playing along at home via Twitter can also enter to win.

Sounds like a fun and creative way to explore the city’s finest green hotels and win prizes. Why didn’t we think of this first??

Psst- want to stay at a green hotel? Check out Hotels Editor Melanie Nayer’s post.

Jetsetter launches iPad app

by McLean Robbins on

The media darling of the travel flash sale industry, Jetsetter, has jumped on the iPad bandwagon and announced the launch of their new free App, available today in the App Store. We’ve long loved this site for its stunning visual array of images and editorial-like features about each sale destination, and are sure that the brand’s debut in the iPad world will be a hit.

{See other great Travel Tech information here.}

Jetsetter’s engineering team custom-designed a camera to shoot dozens of high resolution photos which are stitched together to form immersive 360-degree images.

Like a futuristic magazine cover, the app’s title screen features 360-degree panoramic images that responds to a tap The homepage prominently features a rotating slide show of hotels on sale as well as vacation “collections” that span themes like Vacation Like Royalty, Top New York Hotels, Caribbean Sunsets, and Weekend Getaways.

A news ticker at the bottom of the homepage that displays what other Jetsetter members are purchasing. The app also uses iPad 2’s gyroscope to map the orientation of the iPad to Jetsetter’s 360 degree photos. For instance, when the user moves iPad to the left, it senses the change of direction and the photo pans left.

Pretty cool! We’re all for websites creating added-value apps for their current array of offerings. Plus, anything that makes us feel like we’re actually at the property will likely aid in booking.

Not yet a member? Join Jetsetter via this link.

Google to dominate online travel selling, we hope

by Chris Owen on

Late last week, Google won government clearance on its $700 million bid for ITA Software in a deal that opens the door for the innovative Internet search powerhouse to dominate online travel selling.

ITA Software, who’s latest innovations include include ITA PSS, a next-generation passenger services system, Needle, a smarter way to organize and publish data on the web, and OnTheFly, an airfare shopping mobile application will make a nice addition to Googles stable of brands. ITA already powers the reservation systems of most US airlines and several online fare-comparison brands like Kayak, TripAdvisor and Hotwire. It looks like a match made in heaven as tech-savvy Google gets an infusion of travel sense from a leader in that game.

But there is a catch. Make that possible bump in the road that we hope they get over smoothly.

While Google is buying and hiring to solidify the top position in all it does, it’s competitors and the government are looking very closely at what they are up to. They fear Google could use it’s substantial Internet search engine clout to monopolize the online travel business.

Would that be the same fear Yahoo might have had about Google’s search engine capability? Perhaps a natural order of things will play out here too.

To win approval, Google agreed to ongoing federal monitoring of its behavior. Google also agreed that ITA will continue to provide service to existing customers for five years in a “reasonable and nondiscriminatory way”. That should satisfy the Federal Trade Commission and Justice Department for a while but they both have Google in their sights, ready to pull the trigger on a full-scale investigation, given the chance.

In his blog, Google’s Senior Vice President Jeff Huber writes:

“How cool would it be if you could type “flights to somewhere sunny for under $500 in May” into Google and get not just a set of links but also flight times, fares and a link to sites where you can actually buy tickets quickly and easily? Well that’s exactly why we announced our intention to buy ITA Software, a Cambridge, Mass.-based company that specializes in organizing airline data last July-and we’re excited that the U.S. Department of Justice today approved our acquisition.”


Last July, Gadling’s Darren Murph called the ITA buy “a huge win for consumers who are tired of crawling three different airline search engines to get a somewhat comprehensive look at their options.” adding “we personally can’t wait for this marriage to officially bear fruit.”

Now that the sale has been approved and Google has agreed play nice, we should start seeing something pretty quickly. Until then, there’s always Google maps:


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Flickr photo by brionv