Airline Sites, Travel Sites Compete
 

Visitor traffic grew faster in the past year at the Web sites of major airlines than it did at online travel sites, a new study found, and Terry Trippler, a columnist at OneTravel.com, said people like his brother are to blame.

``I want to slap him because he browses on our site and then goes and buys his tickets on United so he can get his (frequent flyer) miles,'' Trippler said of his brother, who also receives a 5 percent discount on United's already-discounted online ticket prices. ``That is a real carrot on a stick.''

While the two most popular online travel sites, Travelocity and Expedia Inc., still grab more unique visitors each month than the top six airline Web sites combined, analysts and executives believe their dominance will be seriously challenged in the coming years by the airlines, which are offering exclusive incentives over the Internet to redirect this traffic.

Airline Web sites are the ``sleeping giants'' of the online travel sector, says Heidi Kim, an analyst at Jupiter Media Metrix. The research firm released data last week showing that unique visitors to airline Web sites increased by 26.1 percent year-on-year in February, compared with 7 percent growth for online travel agencies.
http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/busi...rchpv=aponline

This is precisely what Biztravel.com discovered last year. Many people browse generic travel sites, but buy from the airlines' sites for miles and discounts. Why would you do it any other way?

Unless Orbitz offers miles or steep discounts compared to the airlines' sites, I don't see why anyone would buy from Orbitz either.

Good point! http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif

Travelocity and Microsoft's Expedia-related sites drew the most visitors among travel sites in February, attracting 6.9 million and 6.8 million people, respectively. But Travelocity's traffic declined 3 percent from the same month a year ago, while Expedia's grew 10 percent, according to the survey. Traffic to Priceline declined 21.9 percent, to 3 million, according to the survey.
http://washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/art...2001Apr18.html

Expedia.com Wins Top Awards and Recognition From PC World
http://news.cnet.com/investor/news/n...0.html?tag=ats

Sabre Snags Eighth Consecutive Award for World's Best Global Distribution System
Travelocity.com Takes Home World Travel Award Gold in Online Travel Reservation Category
http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/010514/dam057.html

Travelocity.com Sells 9.4% Stake in Hotel Reservations Network


Travelocity.Com Inc., the No. 1 Internet travel service, sold its entire 9.4 percent stake in Hotel Reservations Network Inc., the largest online broker of discounted hotel rooms and a Travelocity.com business partner.



http://news.cnet.com/investor/news/n...0.html?tag=ats

New Expedia.com Ads Debut in Advance of Orbitz Launch
http://www.internetnews.com/IAR/arti...776641,00.html

Orbitz Stokes Web Airfare Wars, Critics Say

http://www.thestandard.com/article/0...oo_finance_ext

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"Site unavailable" http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/frown.gif


[This message has been edited by doc (edited 06-06-2001).]

I think the airline sites are also gearing up to compete more with the generic sites. Last time I logged onto aa.com I got a survey asking me about my usage of on-line travel sites (generic, other airlines and aa.com) and what it would take to get me to buy my tickets through aa.com. I obviously said lots lots more bonus miles.

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I wish I were 1,000 miles away

Consumer watchdog groups and more than 20 state attorneys general have raised concerns about the airline-backed site, but in April the U.S. Department of Transportation gave Orbitz the green light. However, DOT and the Justice Department say they'll watch Orbitz closely for signs of anticompetitive behavior. Expedia, the second-leading travel site after Travelocity, believes Orbitz's arrangement with its charter members is unfair. "Imagine if the car companies got together to create a single 'separately managed' company," said Suzi LeVine, Expedia's marketing manager.

For consumers, Orbitz's best feature may be the way it presents domestic fares. Using advanced search technology that can scan more than a billion fare options, the site displays airlines, prices and number of stops on a matrix, making it easy to compare the lowest Orbitz-generated nonstop fare with the lowest one-stop, or to see how much more it will cost to fly one airline vs. another (useful for travelers enrolled in various frequent-flier programs).

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn...-2001Jun7.html


Visits to the Web travel site from Net users at home nearly quadrupled for the week ended June 10, Nielsen/NetRatings said. Launched by a consortium of airline carriers, including American, Continental, Delta, Northwest and United, Orbitz provides travelers with access to low-cost airfares, rental cars, lodging, cruises, vacation packages and other travel deals over the Web.

http://news.cnet.com/news/0-1007-200...html?tag=mn_hd

[This message has been edited by doc (edited 06-15-2001).]

Shares of Travelocity.com Inc. (TVLY.O), on Tuesday regained nearly a third of recent steep losses caused by weak airline bookings when it announced a new last-minute discounted travel section of its Web site in cooperation with Site59.com.

http://www.zdnet.com/ecommerce/stori...777096,00.html

AND:

However, Compete said that less than 1 percent of the visitors to Orbitz made a reservation in its first week. By comparison, Travelocity converted 4.3 percent and Expedia.com converted 1.9 percent of their respective visitors.

Orbitz itself said that traffic was huge, exceeding expectations, and even overwhelming the servers and call centers. A spokeswoman told InternetNews.com today that overall, Orbitz has been booking as many as 10,000 travel transactions per day with an approximate value of $2 million.

http://boston.internet.com/news/arti...789041,00.html


AND:

Travel sites to be blown out the water by airline venture

http://www.silicon.com/public/door?R...EQSTR1=newsnow

[This message has been edited by doc (edited 06-22-2001).]

FamilyFlyer, Redhead: are you still reading this thread? Is there anything here that is still of interest to you?

How many of you folks don't see the general interest travel information news?

Is anybody out there informed by this kind of post? I'm really interested to know.

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"Service" should be a noun, not a verb.

Orbitz — owned by American, Continental, Delta, Northwest and United — charges a $10 mailing fee for second-day delivery and $15 for overnight delivery, according to Ken Hooper, a spokesman. Travelocity, 70 percent owned by the Sabre reservations system, provides only overnight delivery and charges $10 for it, according to Jim Marsicano, a spokesman. Expedia, whose majority ownership is held by Microsoft, charges $10.99 for overnight delivery of a paper ticket, according to Christina Kozloff, the company's product manager.

http://www.nytimes.com/2001/06/24/travel/24PRAC.html


AND:

``The US carriers, as a result of the use of the Internet, have lost all control of pricing of their product,'' said Julius Maldutis, an analyst with CIBC World Markets.

http://biz.yahoo.com/rf/010625/n25244803_2.html

[This message has been edited by doc (edited 06-25-2001).]

Rich Media from Travelocity and Yahoo!

http://www.eyefortravel.com/index.asp?news=17721

While most of the Internet-stock sector has been grounded of late, a few stocks are actually flying high -- and some investors wonder if they are flying too high.

So far this year, shares of online travel site Travelocity.com have nearly tripled, while those of its rival, Expedia , have quadrupled. The stocks have been fueled by a belief that online travel services have a profitable, long-term future, even as faith has diminished that e-commerce in general will change the world.

More than 15 million people went online in May to book flights, hotels or car rentals on either Travelocity or Expedia, two of the Web's most popular destinations, according to Jupiter Media Metrix. And while last year's dot-com meltdown showed that heavy traffic doesn't equal success, these two companies have achieved something seldom seen in the Web world: profitability, at least as measured by Wall Street these days. Each made money on a "cash" basis, which excludes certain noncash expenses, during this year's first quarter.

http://public.wsj.com/sn/y/SB994121811363735320.html