Dennis Schaal Archives

Dennis Schaal is Skift’s Founding Editor and Executive Editor. Dennis has been a reporter focusing on online travel and short-term rentals for more than two decades at Skift, Tnooz, USA Today, and Travel Weekly. He is well-known for tough one-on-one interviews on stage at Skift events, including with the CEOs and top execs of Expedia, Uber, Booking Holdings, Priceline, Kayak, Hopper, and more.

Business Travel

Lufthansa Shows No Sign of Caving on New Booking Fee

Lufthansa-type surcharges usually turn out to be a negotiating tactic in a bid to get a better deal from the all-powerful global distribution systems. Smart money says this battle will turn out in a similar way. Meanwhile, airlines around the world are watching this keenly to see who beats up on whom.

Dennis Schaal | 11 years ago

Online Travel

Expedia Cozies Up to Google While Boycotting TripAdvisor Hotel Bookings

Expedia is content to work with Google on hotel bookings while stiff-arming TripAdvisor. There is likely more to the warming and cooling relationships than just the relative economics.

Dennis Schaal | 11 years ago

Airlines

Interview: Etihad CEO on Disrupting Alliances and the Passenger Experience

And at this juncture, Etihad CEO James Hogan says it's all "good." He's giving airline alliances grief, making strides in honing the passenger experience and obviously enjoying the gig despite the hassles of facing off against the bullying of some of the largest airlines in the world.

Dennis Schaal | 11 years ago

Online Travel

Amazon Travel Doubles Hotel Coverage and Appoints Former Expedia Exec as GM

Officials at Booking.com and Expedia know their hotel businesses are so far ahead of Amazon's nascent moves that they aren't cowering in fear at the might of Amazon. But you can bet they will be taking a hard look at the expanded Amazon Destinations today, as will the folks at Google and TripAdvisor.

Dennis Schaal | 11 years ago

Online Travel

Google Adding 21 AccorHotels Brands to Its Instant Booking Product

TripAdvisor has scaled up Instant Booking fairly rapidly. Google's addition of AccorHotels' brands shows that Google can do likewise.

Dennis Schaal | 11 years ago

Business Travel

Top Business Travel Concerns: Sharing Economy Growth, New Airline Surcharges

The rise of the sharing economy is a trend in business travel that won't get put easily back in the bottle, although it isn't for everyone. On the other hand, it is possible that Lufthansa's battle with the business travel community could get recorked and disposed with.

Dennis Schaal | 11 years ago

Media and PR

Trivago Spent $3.7 Million in July to Tweak TripAdvisor Over Reviews

An Expedia-owned company, Trivago, is blasting TripAdvisor, which Expedia formerly owned, over "unfair" hotel reviews. I love the travel industry.

Dennis Schaal | 11 years ago

Online Travel

Google Ventures Leads $60 Million Round for Secret Escapes

Flash sales or not, travelers will find value in Secret Escapes if it can indeed negotiate exclusive deals.

Dennis Schaal | 11 years ago

Online Travel

Online Travel Agencies Must Pay $60 Million in Sales Tax to District of Columbia

Chalk up a victory for one big city and the hotel industry, which likes to see the online travel agencies' get squeezed. The case dealt with sales taxes on hotel sales and a not the more common occupancy taxes. It was harder for online travel agencies to argue they aren't "vendors" than it is for them to convince courts that they are not "hotel operators."

Dennis Schaal | 11 years ago

Online Travel

The Numbers Behind TripAdvisor’s Evolution Into the Next Booking Giant

The emergence of TripAdvisor as a viable booking site is a wake-up call to Expedia and the Priceline Group, who have been TripAdvisor's largest advertisers in recent years. It wouldn't be surprising to see them cut the spending spigot a bit.

Dennis Schaal | 11 years ago