There is no denying that TripAdvisor has become one of the go-to sources of hotel, restaurant and attraction reviews. So, if you have an iPhone (or iPod), check out the newest TripAdvisor app and get your reviews on the go.
The app is very easy to use, and makes finding reviews a beeze – based upon your location, or a manually entered location.
Best of all – you can write your own reviews right on your device, which means you no longer have to wait till you get home so post some praise (or a complaint).
Another handy feature inside the new app is a flight finder – obviously not the first on the iPhone, but I am always happy to see an app go beyond its main purpose. Flight information comes from a variety of sources – including Travelocity, Expedia and Vayama, best of all, the booking process stays right inside the TripAdvisor app.
You’ll find the new (free) app in the App store. A similar version is also available for the Palm Pre, and an Android version is “coming soon”.
The roaming Gnome has found a new way to book hotels: Travelocity announced it will offer unpublished – or ‘opaque’ – hotel deals as part of their hotel offerings.
The concept is familiar: Find deeply discounted hotel rates based on preferred location, star-rating and amenities, but you won’t know the name of the hotel until you book. Here’s the twist: there’s no bidding, and you can see both the available hotels by name and the opaque hotels in one window.
The Top Secret Hotels tab above the general hotel listings will show users unpublished rates at participating hotels, if available. As of now, these opaque hotels include major U.S. cities, and popular cities in Canada (Montreal, Toronto, Mississauga), Mexico (Cancun, Cozumel, Puerto Vallarta, Riveria Maya, San Jose Cabo), the Caribbean (Dominican Republic, Jamaica) and South America (Buenos Aires, San Jose, Sao Paolo).
Unlike Priceline and Hotwire, where users bid on a specific hotel, Travelocity’s opaque hotels are a set price but in some cases up to 45% off the regularly published hotel room rate. Choose the opaque option and you’ll be able to filter based on the hotel’s star rating and general location, and hotel amenities and user ratings, but you won’t know the name of the hotel until you book.
Of the big four OTA’s – Expedia, Travelocity, Orbitz and Priceline – Travelocity is the first to offer one search that pulls up general hotel results and opaque results in the same window. Why the change? It’s a new way to put the power of purchase in the consumers hands. I took the new site for a spin and here’s what I found:
My search included 3- to 5-star hotels in Boston for this weekend, March 27-28, between $50 and $200 night.
Travelocity returned six hotels – three in the downtown Boston area; three in neighboring suburbs. I choose the 4-star hotel located in Boston’s downtown/waterfront district, with a pool and free Internet access, a user rating of 4/5 and a lowest price per night of $105. My total came to $121.39 (nightly room rate plus taxes).On the next pages I can confirm the room, location and rate, and after putting in a credit card and securing the transaction, you’ll find out the name of the hotel.
As a comparison, I used the same specifications on Priceline and was returned one hotel that matched my needs for $189/night. Travelocity wouldn’t divulge the hotels they’re working with, but Lesley Harris, Vice President of Hotels at Travelocity, told me:
“Travelocity is responding to the needs of our customers, as well as our hotel partners. In today’s economy customers are searching for deals and hotels are looking for a way to drive bookings – Top Secret Hotels is able to accomplish both. We also know that a number of people who currently shop on our site end up going elsewhere simply to buy an opaque product, we now can save customers the hassle of going between sites by providing every type of shopper with what they need all in one place.”
The Travelocity star ratings are based on research from the Travelocity team which may include on-site inspections, post-trip customer feedback, and quality of amenities and staff, in accordance with industry standards. Travelocity sent me a copy of their rating system descriptions and it’s pretty standard:
5-star: Luxury properties that exhibit an exceptionally high degree of service and hospitality. 4-star: Superior properties with a high level of service and hospitality, as well as a wide variety of amenities and upscale facilities. 3-star: A high level of service with additional amenities, features, and facilities. 2-star: These properties meet a traveler’s basic needs for comfort and convenience while offering moderate aesthetic enhancements in the property grounds, room decor, and quality of furnishings. 1-star:These properties meet a budget-traveler’s basic needs for comfort and convenience. They tend to be located near major attractions or thoroughfares and provide clean guest rooms.
Overall, an interesting concept from Travelocity. As someone who books hotels frequently, it’s nice to have the option to choose from the exact hotel property, or just press your luck with the hotel price without having to bid. Just remember: Top Secret Hotel reservations are non-changeable, non-refundable and non-transferable. Your credit card will be charged in full at the time of booking. If you’re headed to a new city or destination, I highly recommend you book with a hotel you know, or a brand you’re comfortable with. For those frequent visitors to a repeat destination, it’s worth pressing your luck for a discounted rate.
For spring breakers, the news this year is mixed. According to data from Bing Travel and Travelocity, USA Today reports, airfares are up, but hotel rates are down. The result, of course, is a variation on the adage that there’s no free lunch. You may get a deal on one part of your trip, but you’ll inevitably pay elsewhere.
Airfares, on average, are up 9 percent relative to last year, Travelocity found, with the average domestic ticket costing around $351. Hotel prices, on the other hand, are off 3 percent year-over-year, down to $156 a night. According to Bing Travel, the most expensive travel day this spring break season is March 22 – it’s also the costliest travel day between early winter and the end of April. To pick up a deal, go with Tuesday-to-Tuesday or Wednesday-to-Wednesday plans.
Despite the averages, of course, destination does make a difference. Cancun fares are up 23 percent from last year, from $346 to $427. Hotels are cheaper down there, however, falling from $220 a night to $198. The average cost of a trip for two to Cancun for seven nights ticked up slightly from last year, from $2,231 to $2,243.
When making reservations for a hotel stay, don’t assume all booking companies (i.e., Expedia vs. Travelocity) are created equal.
If you book a hotel one month with one agency and then book the same hotel again the next month with a different agency, don’t assume the terms and conditions for refunds or changes will be the same. Oftentimes, cancellation fees and refund policies differ from company to company.
Always verify any important conditions such as deposits, refunds, service fees, and fees for changing a reservation. This will ensure that when you do travel, your hotel stay will be smooth and you will limit the unexpected surprises that could possibly ruin your stay.
The end of the year is the time for all kinds of predictions for the next one. Usually, I treat such conjecture as the bullshit that it is, but when PhoCusWright puts out a list of what’ll happen for the travel market, I tend to take it a little much more seriously.
1. Up a third: PhoCusWright forecasts that the online segment of the travel market will hit 34 percent of the entire industry in Europe in 2010. Customers will turn to the internet to find better bargains, accelerating the shift from offline to online. At the end of 2008, online accounted for only 28% of European travel sales.
2. Priceline’s the one to beat:Priceline has lagged the three largest online travel agencies – Expedia, Orbitz and Travelocity – for years, but Priceline has seized some serious market share through the travel recession, due in large part to its acquisition of European company Booking.com. Priceline could take the #2 spot next year and will be well-positioned for the future.3. Metasearch arrival: Finally, there will be a solution to the fragmented online travel market! PhoCusWright forecasts the growth of sites that search across sites, which makes sense given that financial concerns are driving travel buyers to the web instead of traditional venues. There’s demand already, and economic conditions will feed the trend.
4. Big in Germany: Germany’s been gaining ground in the European travel market. In 2008, the country was responsible for only 17 percent of the space. Look for it to hit 20 percent by 2011, PhoCusWright says.
5. Look south for sunshine: Online penetration has topped 40 percent in the United Kingdom, and France and Germany are making progress. The easy wins are in the past. So, the travel business is looking toward the emerging travel markets of Europe: in the south and east.
There’s plenty on the agenda for the European travel market next year. Even in what will continue to be a tight economic environment, there’s plenty of room for growth. No doubt, the most important factor will be the recession, which will shape travel company behavior by driving buyers to seek better deals. The perception that online is the place to save will accelerate the push to electrons.