Sean O'Neill

Executives from Expedia and other travel companies acknowledged at an Amadeus tech conference that cloud computing can lead to hidden waste. Mistakes include not monitoring costs and allowing internal strife to delay cross-department projects.

Americans and Europeans who used to scoff at QR-style bar codes are going to need to learn how to use them to pay for meals, attractions, and tickets whenever they visit Japan. The reason? Swelling Chinese tourism is prompting the country to adopt China’s preferred mobile payment method.

United is the first U.S. airline to let its passengers pick a gender option other than male or female when booking tickets. Delta and other carriers said last month that they plan to make similar moves shortly. We’re with they/them.

This week travel startups Guesty, The Plum Guide, Zeus, Zuzu, Welcome Pickups, Vntrip, and Hostfully revealed more than $76 million in funding collectively.

Automated bag-drop technology may be widespread at major airports, but the rest of the world still has to add the equipment needed for passengers to scan their own bags. Amadeus aims to help sell those machines now that it has bought ICM. Amadeus is positioning itself to compete assertively with airline-owned SITA for airport tech sales.

Ebix has made a generous takeover bid for Yatra, a corporate travel services provider and online travel agency, to create one of India’s largest end-to-end travel services businesses. Ebix's shrewd CEO Robin Raina is cornering the rare travel segments in India that aren't facing fierce price wars, namely, corporate travel services and currency exchange.

Hotel-style accommodations brand Sonder has hit on a plausible business that uses technology to wring out inefficiencies from key processes. But several questions still hover around its model, as investment money gushes into the segment.

Datalex, which provides tech to help power ticket booking on airline websites, is desperate for good news, which is why the company's words in the next few months should be treated with skepticism. That said, a lowered share price may make the vendor a takeover target.

CEO Greg Mount persuasively says many independent hotel operators are overpaying for operational software that's inadequate. Red Lion is savvy to try to woo independent hoteliers by promising preferential commission rates with online travel agencies. Still, execution will be difficult.

Investor 777 Partners has bought tech company Air Black Box, while online agency Kiwi has taken a stake in reservation system AeroCRS. These deals hint at a growing interest among airlines to use tech to build marketing alliances that differ from traditional codeshares. The true winner may be smaller airports, which stand to gain traffic.