April 28, 2010

Apple iTravel

Tweet Apple has filed a patent for the complete travel process on the iPhone.The patent includes an application called iTravel for planning, searching, reviewing and booking flights, hotels, car rentals, trains and bus trips, as well as technology for identification at airports for baggage handling and boarding passes. The patent relies heavily on Near Field Communications (NFC) to enable the […]
April 27, 2010

Google and ITA Software

Tweet A lot has been written about the possible acquisition of of ITA Software by Google since it first appeared in the press last week.  The travel technology blogosphere has been active with all sorts of speculation.  Before I give you my take on the potential $1Billion buyout, I thought I would summarize some of the current themes that have […]
April 20, 2010

Ancillary Fees and Merchandizing

Tweet The media is filled with stories on airline ancillary fees especially with Spirit Airlines announcing a fee for carry-on baggage and Ryanair contemplating pay toilets.  These charges represent a much bigger change in travel distribution than simply paying for services that were previously free. From multiple industry sources it is clear to me that we are only at the […]