Sean O'Neill

Sabre argues that it would be self-harming for U.S.-based airlines to copy the surcharges that European airlines like Lufthansa and British Airways are adding on bookings processed outside of their own networks. Perhaps. But airlines often have views widely different than Sabre's.

Apple's annual gathering of mobile app makers revealed that the company is enhancing its voice-activated translation tools. That perked up our ears. But Siri's still not as fast as many travelers would like.

Points is trying to diversify beyond being the world's largest reseller of airlines and hotels points. But this loyalty tech company needs a little more mojo if it wants to produce truly game-changing products.

About 32 million people attend at least one festival in the U.S. each year, traveling an average of 900 miles to attend one. Everfest has a promising model to profit off this trade by offering exclusive discounts and creating a festival recommendation engine.

For years, Airbnb, Booking.com, Expedia's HomeAway, and TripAdvisor have been scrambling for market share in vacation rentals to drive consolidation. But TripAdvisor says it is now focused on "quality" listings, rather than quantity.

Mondee, a travel technology company in California, paid $2.89 million for the Fly.com domain name, according to our sources. But the story behind this secretive company is also a broader tale about private equity, ethnic travel, and how airlines distribute their lowest-priced tickets.

It won't surprise anyone that Asian travel is a big theme. But this presentation covers a few changes in consumer behaviors that travel brands ignore at their peril.

Skift anticipated that British Airways and Iberia would copy Lufthansa's pioneering move to push middlemen further out of the distribution chain. But the move is still eyebrow-raising because it defies two years of predictions by the distribution systems that Lufthansa's effort would fizzle out.

The co-founders of luggage maker Away are seeing surprisingly good early results by applying the direct-to-consumer model that Warby Parker championed in eyewear. Also this week: Short-term rental platform Favstay attracted more than $2 million in funding.

Executive pay at Amadeus, Sabre, and Travelport is about the same, even though company performance has recently varied. It's unclear how much of that discrepancy can be chalked up to differing norms and taxes in the countries where the firms are based.