Five ways you can screw with travel companies via social media

by Tom Johansmeyer on

The travel industry is interested in what you have to say. Everything. I know this seems crazy. I mean, when was the last time you felt an airline employee was actually listening to you? Well, that sector is among the travel businesses paying close attention to you.

I saw on PRNewser yesterday that travel and hospitality companies are using online monitoring tools to keep track of what you tweet and post while you’re on vacation. This should come as no surprise, of course: it’s standard practice in any business to monitor online customer behavior (how do think Amazon generates such awesome product recommendations for you?). What you may not realize is that this is an opportunity with endless potential for mischief.

So, you have the travel industry’s ear … what are you going to do with it? Here are five ideas for you:1. Take it seriously: you could always start from the belief that you should tweet and share responsibly. After all, the folks monitoring you will do a better job of meeting your needs if you tell them what exactly they are.

Of course, there’s no fun in this …

2. Livetweet the most boring details you can find: imagine being the public relations jockey stuck monitoring a hotel’s @ reply stream as it fills with such observations as “the carpet is still beige” and “yep, that’s a mighty fine shower curtain”.

3. Say a thousand words the easy way: pictures, pictures, pictures! I suggest taking snapshots of every piece of silverware at every meal and asking for the travel company’s social media slave guru to comment on each.

4. Ask mundane questions: imagine the person on the other side of the computer growing red with frustration as you ask how to get from the pool to the bar … and you gleefully offer thanks packed with emoticons.

5. Complain: it’s the American way!

Airlines and Twitter: An infographic

by McLean Robbins on


Which airline wins the tweet wars for June 2011? Travel tech site Tnooz gives us a stellar infographic on the use of Twitter for major airlines in the month of June 2011. As you can see, Southwest drops to second place this month as industry giant Delta (21,000) mentions, leaps into first place. It’s interesting to note that this data is based on tweets and opinions in a category of interest, not number of followers. @SouthwestAir still wins that battle, with 1,142,579 followers vs. 206,201 for the main @Delta Twitter.

Virgin America names new plane after Twitter hashtag

by Libby Zay on

Virgin America increased its fleet to 39 planes last week, and the social media savvy company has decided to brand the newest plane after a Twitter hashtag: #nerdbird.

“For all our social media fans and followers, this bird’s for you!” announced the airline on their Facebook page. After three days in the air, the social media buzz is still soaring: travelers continue to tweet about the plane upon boarding and many are still announcing their hopes to take to the skies in the plane using the hashtag.

Virgin America tells Mashable that “nerdbird” is what the company’s regulars call flights between San Francisco and Boston, a commute often traveled by tech industry guests that the plane will fly. Other Virgin America plane names include Jefferson Airplane, the first plane christened in the fleet, and Air Colbert, named after comedian Stephen Colbert.

[Photo courtesy Virgin America]

Name My (Sweet) Ride for a Chance to Win a HP Veer phone

by Paul Brady on


One of my colleagues once nicknamed his father’s 2000 Miata “The Penis Extension”. In hindsight, “Extension” could have been changed to “Reduction,” but I give him credit for trying. And the guy had a point, anyone with an emotional engagement with their vehicle needs to name it — it’s a way of connecting and making the journey personal, or, if you’re lucky a way to win a phone (details below.)

As Americans, we tend to grow attached to our cars, which isn’t surprising considering its easy to put a couple hundred thousand miles behind the wheel of one auto. Emotional bonds are bound to be made, identities defined, and nicknames assigned.

Which is all to say I need to name my ride.

The problem? I have no experience in naming cars. Not the Volkswagen Fox, not the Ford Contour, not the 1969 Dodge Swinger (Heyo!) not the many rentals I’ve used to escape the surly bonds of Manhattan, where I live.

So I’ve enlisted the help of colleagues to provide a little inspiration for this exercise.

Gadling’s fearless leader Grant Martin once had a 1989 Honda Hatchback he affectionately named Jeco Speeder. So very…Grant.

A colleague to remain unnamed calls her Mazda 3 Crackerjack for reasons only known to her. AOL Travel Assistant Editor Rebecca Dolan named her 2011 Ford Escape Hybrid Knight Rider. When asked why she called it Knight Rider she replied, “I don’t know.”

Knight Rider (Minus David Hasselhoff)

Rebecca’s father called their 1970 “brown” (that’s all she can remember about the name) pickup The Sled.

The Bee is what Senior Editor Chris Anderson not-so-affectionately nicknamed his first car, a yellow 1977 Toyota Celica that sounded like a bee with a hyperextended wing.

Finally, an editor-not-to-be-named-ever was once the proud owner of a 1994 Ford Taurus which he named Boris. Yes, Boris the Ford Taurus.

Boris?

There’s too much awesome contained in the name for Boris the Ford Taurus. I need some of that awesome applied to naming my Ford.

Inspired yet?

When you’ve got a suggestion, drop it in the comments here or message me on Twitter. The best name will live in glory, at least for the summer, and to help you come up with good submissions we’re giving the winner ONE FREE HP VEER PHONE (valued at $99.99) . Just go easy on the phallic references.

[flickr image via Kim Scarborough]

This giveaway is open to legal residents of the 50 United States, the District of Columbia and Canada (excluding Quebec) who are 18 and older. To enter, comment below and name the Traveling the American Road car. You must comment before 11:59pm on Tuesday, June 21st and may enter only once. 1 winner will be chosen at random to receive one HP Veer phone valued at $99.99. Click here for the official rules.

Tweet your way to New Zealand

by McLean Robbins on

We at Gadling are all about the freebies, and even more so when they involve travel. Brancott Estate, a New Zealand winemaker, is helping our wanderlust take flight with their new Twitter-based promotion dubbed the #WhatIf challenge. The winner will get two round trip airline tickets to New Zealand and a tour and tasting at the winery.

(Wait, we have to drink, tweet, and we could win a free trip? Sounds like an average Friday night with a potential prize …)

“Social media, and Twitter in particular, has changed the way we share our thoughts and feelings with the world, and has democratized subjects once dominated by a select few,” said Patrick Materman, Chief Winemaker for Brancott Estate.

To enter, write a creative tweet on the traditional tasting note using the #WhatIf hashtag. The winemaker has a range of varietals ranging from Sauvingon Blanc to Pinot Noir and Pinot Grigio. The winner will be chosen based on creativity, length of tweet (get as close to 140 as you can) as well as interpretation of a tasting note form. The contest ends June 13, and complete rules are on their Facebook page.