AAA OPENED
ITS WEB SITES to nonmembers and made it easier for members
to access the clubs' sites because members no longer have to sign
in to view Web site content. Nonmembers can book on the Web sites,
but can't take advantage of member discounts without joining their
local club. Officials expect the revamped Web sites, which they
label the first "online agency for motorists," will spur increased
bookings, primarily from AAA members. The club Web sites,
accessible by entering a zip code on AAA.com, will be the only Web sites to display
AAA Diamond Ratings, except for hotel sites that license the right
to do. In addition to enhancing the user interface, the relaunched
Web sites include a new feature on AAA's TripTik travel planner
tool that includes location and fuel prices for more than 100,000
U.S. gas stations, and mapping functionality that has been
upgraded.
MEANWHILE,
AAA, which champions its Diamond Ratings, plans to
introduce user reviews of hotels, restaurants, attractions and
destinations written by AAA members and nonmembers on its Web sites
by the end of the year. Jeffrey Zimmerman, AAA's director of travel
information and publishing operations noted that while AAA is "late
getting into the business, online consumers expect it." Zimmerman
added that AAA had previously introduced member-written cruise
reviews, requiring that reviewers booked the cruise through AAA to
ensure their legitimacy, but the number of reviews was inadequate.
In attempting to increase the number of reviews, AAA is shedding
that requirement and opening up review writing to members and
nonmembers, he said. The automobile club opted to build up its
review content on its own without entering into a partnership to do
so.
KAYAKHAS LAUNCHEDKayak.co.uk after
a few weeks in beta, and became Amadeus' first customer for the
recently rolled out Amadeus Meta Pricer. The new solution conducts
pricing and availability within the Amadeus GDS without burdening
airline Web sites with voluminous and costly searches. Kayak
spokeswoman Kellie Pelletier noted that airlines post almost all
their fares in the GDSs, but restrict viewership. However, Kayak's
use of Amadeus Meta Pricer makes the Kayak searches more thorough
than agencies can generally perform because the airlines have given
Kayak permission to view Airline Tariff
Publishing Co. Category 15 (private
fares) and Category 35 (Fare by Rule). Both categories contain some
fares that would be considered Web fares. Kayak states that its
U.K. site now conducts pricing and availability searches of 404
suppliers through Amadeus, ITA Software and Kayak-operated
searches. The travel search engine claims to be the largest search
site in the U.K., having attracted more than 2 million visits since
the beta site went live in December.
ORBITZ,
MEANWHILE, has launched a microsite, at http://roadwarrior.orbitz.com, geared to attract
incremental bookings from unmanaged business travelers who may have
already been using the online agency site. The new Orbitz site,
which is integrated into Orbitz.com, is designed to emphasize
business hotels and services for business travelers whose companies
do not have managed travel programs.
SABRE NOW PROCESSES
the majority of Expedia's bookings in the U.S.," according to Sabre
Travel Network spokeswoman Kathryn Hayden. That's a milestone in
Expedia.com's relationship with Worldspan, which for years had the
sole franchise on Expedia.com's GDS bookings. In fact, with Sabre
now processing bookings for Expedia.com and another Worldspan partner, Priceline.com,
Sabre Travel Network's consumer online transactions grew 81.3% to
19.1 million in fourth-quarter 2006.
Technology
Editor: Dennis Schaal
Phone: (201) 902-1904
[email protected]
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