Freddie Awards Pick the Year’s Best Traveler Loyalty Programs
Can 4.2 million flyers be wrong?
Sean O’Neill is Skift’s Senior Hospitality Editor. Sean’s forte is reporting, and he’s broken multiple hotel industry scoops. He has also conducted 1:1 interviews on stage with the CEOs of Marriott, Hilton, IHG, Hyatt, and Wyndham.
Amadeus Tests Virtual Reality as a Travel Booking Option
Travel suppliers and agencies will only get serious about virtual reality when it's more than a marketing stunt and actually grows revenue. So Amadeus is testing how flight comparison and booking could work in virtual reality.
Screening Company Clear Raises $15 Million: Travel Startup Funding This Week
Long-promised improvements to airport security screening and rebooking in the event of flight disruption may finally be in the offing, thanks to follow-on rounds of fundings to the startups Clear and Freebird.
Travel Habits of Americans: 87 Percent Haven’t Yet Messaged With a Travel Brand
Given all the hype about messaging, it's eye-opening that only one out of eight American travelers say they have electronically chatted with a travel brand.
Flight Disruption Startup Freebird Snares Funding from General Catalyst and Accomplice
It's nice when folks smarter than us land on the same dime. General Catalyst and Accomplice, the famed venture capital firms, join us in seeing promise in Freebird, which gives corporate travel agencies superpowers when it comes to rebooking travelers.
Peek Acquires Zozi’s Assets in Further Consolidation of Tours and Activities Tech Sector
The market for software to tour merchants is fragmented without a single clear leader. Yet Peek now has an advantageous position, thanks to the acquisition of the assets of one of its chief rivals.
Lufthansa Is No Longer Alone in Its Battle Against Airfare Middlemen
Ukraine's flag carrier is the first airline to follow Lufthansa's bold September 2015 move to add a surcharge to bookings made via third-parties. Yet the industry may be overstating the threat to the revenue of the middlemen.
HotelPlanner Picks up TravelTicker: Travel Startup Funding This Week
The group booking company is on an acquisition spree. Plus, other startups raise funding for booking platforms for serviced apartments, event spaces, and branded budget hotels, while one Indian booking site gets a new investor owner.
Microsoft Bets on Artificial Intelligence to Help It Succeed Again in Travel
Microsoft thinks that voice-powered internet gives it a shot — via voice assistant Cortana — at upending today's travel search funnel, which is dominated by Google's search results. The theory's plausible, but Microsoft needs to move faster to win.
Virgin America’s Ex-CEO Talks Candidly About Google’s Pushy Strategy
During the decade he ran Virgin America, David Cush couldn't always speak freely. But now Cush can discuss how airlines struggle with Google's mobile land grab.