Posts by Diane Clarkson (bio)

Diane Clarkson | May 09, 2008, 12:43 PM
Lamenting Air Canada's "new era"

It is a New Era in Travel, at least according to the subject line in an email I received yesterday from Air Canada. Air Canada has launched On My Way, which they advise is the “new name for peace of mind”.

This program gives access to 24/7 customer service to rebook on the first available flight and arrange complimentary hotel, car rental, ground transport or meals in the event of a flight delay.

As an added bonus, Air Canada offers “automatic flight information updates sent to you by SMS and email.”

The price of this “New Era” is not mentioned in the email, nor is it mentioned in first page of the website promotion. So three clicks in, I learn the “New Era” costs $25 for short haul (under 1000 miles) and $35 for long haul (over 1000 miles).

Air Canada, of course, understands travelers are frustrated by “unpredictable weather conditions, airport and air traffic delays”, a legitimate list for which they are blameless (though I find it somewhat incomplete since I’ve had flights delayed on the airline for reasons including needing to siphon off fuel when too much was mistakenly loaded, and waiting for a new flight crew due to union regulations)

I’ve been a big fan of Air Canada’s marketing, their well-branded flight classes and website features. I’ve defended their a’la carte pricing as one of the earlier carriers to introduce fees for second bags.

Entrepreneurial, perhaps. But this fee for service offends me on principle.

Flight delays top the list of travelers concerns, as is addressed in our recent report called “Airlines and Leisure Travelers: Understanding Issues and Opportunities”. Some airlines are trying strategies based on the premise that their customers deserve a level of customer service. According to the Boston Globe, American Airlines Inc. is testing out a gate-side customer service center and a phone bank at Logan intended to help passengers get rebooked on alternate flights faster while US Airways plans to have several agents dedicated to tracking flights that will arrive late and rebooking passengers who will miss their connections.

Regrettably, Air Canada now considers customer service to be an opt-in a’la carte revenue generator.

Yet I fear they are correct: this, sadly, could be a new era in travel.

Diane Clarkson | May 02, 2008, 05:09 PM
Airline crisis deepens

This is no doubt that the US airline industry is in crisis caused in large part to the current record-breaking fuel prices. This crisis isn’t something that $25 second bag fee and slowing flight speed a few km/hr will resolve. Airline execs know this.

Extreme fare increases and dramatic cutbacks in flights will be required. This will, as outlined very well in a USA Today article, reshape air travel across the USA. The fallout could be enormous: decreased flights will affect accommodation, attractions, car rentals.

The USA Today article quotes Tom Horton, American Airline’s chief financial officer, saying “Air travel has been one of the incredible bargains for U.S. consumers.” The challenge is that consumers have become accustomed – perhaps even feeling entitled – to lower airfares.

Airlines have raised fares ten times in the last six months, and more increases will follow. Extreme increases need to follow. The critical question is, after the initial shock causes a dip in demand, what price will the market bear?

Diane Clarkson | April 22, 2008, 05:30 PM
Going Green

Many providers within the travel industry are trying to facilitate travel decisions for environmentally concerned travelers. Check out Orbitz’s section on energy-efficient hotels and Expedia’s “Going Green” store.

Hybrid car rentals, volunteer vacations and carbon offset programs are all a part of the travel industry’s efforts to go green. There are varying levels of cynicism about the travel industry’s “green”; on one hand, it may be facilitating travel booking in ways that will be less harmful to our environment and, on the other hand, the number of people who will stay at an eco-lodge is pretty small and cynics would ask if this is all a marketing ploy.

We will have a report coming up soon looking at US online travelers’ attitudes and behaviours around “green” travel. We’ll address the pendulum of cynicism in that report. Until then, happy Earth Day.

Diane Clarkson | April 18, 2008, 02:35 PM
Do Travel Writers Go To Hell?

Do Travel Writers Go To Hell? This is the title of a new book by Thomas Kohnstamm, a former Lonely Planet travel writer who has admitted that he did not always visit the places he reviewed for Lonely Planet.

Mr. Kohnstamm blasts the venerable Lonely Planet for its unrealistic deadlines, lack of money and lack of support to authors while on the road.

The scandal is troubling for the Lonely Planet - a brand travelers around the world hold with high trust.

The explosion of user generated content has rattled the world of old fashioned travel publishing, where content is stale by the time it hits the shelves. Our upcoming “Travel Consumer Survey 2008” looks are the growing segments of travelers relying on UGC in their decision-making process.

I don’t know enough to comment on Lonely Planet’s culpability or the voracity of Mr Kohnstamm’s complaints. Nor have I read the book so I don’t know to what extent this is a cautionary tale versus an expose by a disgruntled employee. But it is shameful to misrepresent travel advice as coming from experience when in truth it is not. This controversy isn’t in the same scale as James Frey/Oprah Winfrey “Million Little Pieces”. But while Mr Frey may have bamboozled his readers with a partially fictitious memoir, travelers acted upon Mr. Kohnstamm’s advice in how they spent their precious money and travel time. And that is not something to take lightly.

Diane Clarkson | April 17, 2008, 02:14 PM
Delta and Northwest: Fasten your seatbelts, there will be turbulence

If you’ve picked up a newspaper in the past week, you’ve likely read that Delta and Northwest have agreed to merge in a $3.1 billion deal that would create the world’s largest airline.

Skepticism abounds within the industry and among travelers. We can’t be blamed – there isn’t a history of seamless airline mergers.

Delta and Northwest CEOs, Richard Anderson and Doug Steenland, have written an opinion piece in the Wall St Journal offering the perspective that this merger will save jobs and protect customers from cutbacks.

The merger is based on the proposition that significant cost reductions can be achieved and the benefits of non-overlapping routes.

Maybe I’m missing something. I don’t see how larger route maps will create more demand and can’t understand how they can achieve major cost reduction without the major changes they are assuring won’t happen. Further, the costs of the merger alone could negate any savings (see Scott McCartney’s article in the Wall St Journal looking at the history of several mergers and associated costs)

In these times where airlines need to do something more drastic than charge us for checking a second bag, I want to believe Mr. Anderson and Mr Steenland. I’m afraid I remain among the skeptics.

Diane Clarkson | April 08, 2008, 05:46 PM
Orbitz Live Destination Specialists

It has been my long held belief that the travel industry has been missing opportunities by approaching destination content from the wrong direction – assuming people have decided on a specific destination rather than mimicking traditional travel agents and offering counseling in destination decisions.

We published a report at the end of last year on this subject called “Online Destination Planning: Influencing Undecided Travel Researchers” that concluded travel Web sites’ destination- and date-based format is inappropriate for a significant proportion of online travel researchers.

Enter Orbitz and two new initiatives.

The first is myidealbeach.com - a stylish offering that gives guidance on beach destinations, personalized by lifestyle, interests, and hotel options.

And today Orbitz announced the introduction of Live Destination Specialists to assist travelers in travel planning. These travel specialists are intensively trained and have spent time in their locations.

Travelers will be introduced to the destination specialists with a message appearing during sessions browsing vacation packages in Hawaii and parts of Mexico. Travelers can enter their phone number and have a specialist call them right away to answer questions and offer advice.

They say everything old is new again. Live advice with robust online content and booking functionality… at the risk of sounding like a CPG label, sometimes it’s new and improved.

Diane Clarkson | March 28, 2008, 05:58 PM
Gun shots, nipple rings and falling wings

I read the travel news every day and some days’ headlines are more provocative than others.

Today is a banner day.

A US Airways pilot accidentally shot his cockpit when his gun discharged mid-flight, a Texas woman is calling for a civil rights investigation into the forced removal of her nipple ring prior to boarding a flight, and U.S. safety investigators are trying to find out why the panel from the wing of a US Airways jetliner fell off in flight over Maryland last week.

Honestly, I’m not making this up. Look at USA Today’s travel section .

Diane Clarkson | March 18, 2008, 04:59 PM
Southwest's corporate blog is missing the point

Southwest Airlines is facing its a significant scandal with the claims it violated Federal Aviation Administration regulations regarding airline inspections. The airline faces a $10.2-million fine for keeping 46 of its planes in the air last year after they had missed a required inspection for cracks on part of the fuselage. Six of the places were found later last year to have hairline cracks. There are now calls to overhaul the FAA, accusing it of being too cozy with the airlines it is meant to regulate. It is a complex and worrying story.

A story on ABC news describes Southwest’s CEO Gary Kelly as “a man so unflappably, understatedly self-confident and dedicated to Southwest's spirit of fun”, and quotes company president Colleen Barrett’s feelings for employees as “I sort of feel like the mother of the 34,000 kids.”

I looked to Southwest’s corporate blog to see how these unflappable and maternal leaders were addressing this issue.

While Southwest has posted corporate statements and linked to a CNN interview with Mr. Kelly regarding the maintenance issues, there seems to be a missed opportunity to put a face to the airline’s leadership and offer personalized reassurance.

Instead, passengers’ worries are personalized, as shown in this one of the many blog posts:
“Dear SW, I am 80 years old, and what few airtrips I take annually have been with you. I am at an age where I know that I must accept the “inevitable”. I have reserved a flight at the end of this month from Fort Lauderdale to Chicago Midway and return. Just assure me that my “inevitable” will not be due to traveling in one of your aircraft that has no business being up there. That’s all I ask. Can you do that much for me? Thank you.”

Southwest enters this situation with more customer goodwill than most airlines. I hope to see its corporate blog become a more active channel to communicate directly with their loyal travelers rather than posting stiffly worded statements and seemingly hoping blog readers can be distracted by a community project story.

Diane Clarkson | March 14, 2008, 02:21 PM
AA.com goes mobile

AAdvantage members have received an email from American Airlines offering a first glimpse of new tools available through Aacom via mobile devices. You can log on to AACom from your cell hone and check in for flights, view your itinerary, change flights, book flights, buy upgrades and other features.

We’re pretty excited about this at JupiterResearch, as we’ve been tracking traveler interest in these features. There will be new data and a report on traveler interest in mobile applications coming up later this year.

Until then, check out American Airline’s offering.

If you didn’t receive an email from AA, check out the content on their Web site here.

Diane Clarkson | March 07, 2008, 06:05 PM
Thoughts from the Social Media Strategies in Travel 2008 conference

This week I had the opportunity to attend the Eye For Travel “Social Media Strategies in Travel” Conference in San Francisco. There was palpable buzz of energy throughout the crowd of marketers who were eager to talk about social media strategy.

It was interesting how frequently the “F” word was spoken: Facebook. Travel marketers are intrigued, excited and perplexed about the potential to leverage the social network into their marketing mixes.

In January this year, there were 342 travel widgets on Facebook; today, there are 472. That is a 38 percent increase in a matter of weeks.

Certainly next year’s conference may hold much in the way of lessons learned as more travel marketers explore social networking.

There is, however, risk that these lessons learned will be anecdotal for many as there was little conversation around metrics. My colleague John Lovett has recently published a report called “Widgets: Measuring Value and Results” looking at tracking viral distribution and events within widgets. As the number of widgets increase, the subject of aligned objectives and measurements will become even more critical.

Diane Clarkson | February 26, 2008, 01:25 PM
Bloggers Insight to an In-flight Death

Carine Desir's recent death on a NY-bound American Airlines flight has sparked much controversy following her family’s claim that the flight crew initially refused her request for oxygen and both oxygen tanks and defibrillator did not work properly.

American Airlines disputes the family’s claim, saying treatment began within two to three minutes of the woman’s difficulty breathing being brought to the flight attendant’s attention.

I had a couple of conversations about this yesterday with colleagues, wondering if overall traveler’s frustration with airlines might supersede their benefit-of-the-doubt that the airline acted appropriately.

I wrote a report earlier this year called "Travel Blogs
Aligning Marketing Objectives with Blog Strategy" that looked at the market intelligence available in blog comments so, out of curiosity, I took a look today at USA Today to see the blog responsts to the story.

For American Airlines, these blogs comments provide some measure of public response to the story. The pervading sentiment is that reasonable questions exist but American Airlines deserves the benefit of the doubt.

What surprised me was the number of posts condemning Ms. Desir’s weight, eating habits, lifestyle, decision to fly: “It's a shame this woman died, but American Airlines didn't shove the Ring Dings down this woman’s throat”

Sometimes blog comments provide insightful market intelligence. Sometimes they merely provide insight into something more cold-hearted.

Diane Clarkson | February 12, 2008, 02:02 PM
The Evolution of Security

I spent a lot of time earlier this year reading all types of travel blogs in preparation for a report we just published called “Travel Blogs: Aligning Marketing Objectives with Blog Strategy”.

I read many corporate blogs that were really not more than thinly disguised press releases.

Enter the newly launched “Evolution of Security”, a blog site by the T.S.A. The Evolution of Security is a fantastic public relations effort. The site includes links to independent bloggers and news sites, and makes no effort to hide from negative comments. The Evolution of Security fosters dialogue, addresses customer complaints, and explains the T.S.A. perspective.

A T.S.A. blog a risky proposition because the site could easily degenerate into a complaint-fest. Instead, it offers a forum for complaint and response. Topics covered include why people with hip replacements need additional screening, why active members of the military are screened, and an explanation for rules about traveling with liquids.

Sure, people complain. But the blog gives a voice to the T.S.A.: a voice that reminds us that “no one wants to be the one to let someone through with a knife or explosive”.

Diane Clarkson | February 04, 2008, 03:37 PM
United Airline first legacy carrier to introduce second bag fee

United Airlines has announced that it will begin charging domestic passengers without status in a Mileage Plus or Star Alliance $25 to check a second piece of luggage.

The airline reports this new fee will generate $100 million and help offset fuel costs because each bag is additional weight and represents fuel expense.

In practical terms, this will only affect 25% of UA’s travelers, according to their research.

I doubt it will be long before we see the other legacy carriers follow suit.

I’m curious how this will work for code-shares. Right now, Air Canada still offers two “free” checked bags. This will be one more item for savvy air travelers to consider in price comparisons.

Diane Clarkson | February 01, 2008, 02:26 PM
Continental Wi-Fi

Starting in January 2009, Continental Airlines will become the first US legacy carrier to offer onboard satellite television. The airline will also provide free Wi-Fi access to first-class fliers and charge $6 fee to coach class.

They are ahead of American Airlines, but not caught up to JetBlue who introduced these services already and with no charges.

Regardless, it is good to see a more value being added to the travel experience – and a few less viewings of “The King of Queens” forced upon audiences tied to their seats.

Diane Clarkson | January 24, 2008, 07:38 PM
When did airline check-in get so difficult?

I don't ordinarily use my blog to groan about my travel experiences. But today is a special occasion. After flying back and forth between San Francisco and Toronto, I've wondered again why airports are a breeding ground for hostility.

There are now travelers coming who have printed online boarding passes at home, some who print boarding passes at the kiosks, and some who go directly to an agent.

On top of this, there are travelers with bags to check and those without.

There is no uniform way among airlines on how they check-in these various travelers. Many are still experimenting, directing travelers in different stages of check-in or baggage in different directions. I haven't seen too many airlines get it right yet.

Why are the signs directing travelers only legible to the first few travelers in the often very long queue. Shouldn't the directive signs (ie "if you are in this line up, you have not checked in") be at the entrance to the line? Why aren't the kiosks delivering more specific information directing travelers where to go next in the process? Why aren't there airline staff directing traffic?

There is a host of market intelligence right there in the airport - all the travelers like myself who are already frustrated and anxious before a baggage tag ever wraps around their suitcases. I don't care about the free pretzels. Just get me to security before my blood pressure pops.

We have a report coming up on travelers pain points with airline travel. I've now shared one of mine. And feel a bit better.

Diane Clarkson | January 17, 2008, 03:04 PM
To merge or not to merge, that is the question

Last year US Airways’ attempt to acquire Delta Air Lines spurred countless airline consolidation talks within the industry and on Wall Street.

We’re only days into 2008 and Delta mergers are again all over the news.

I won’t get into they-should-or-shouldn’t-they debate: that is a well-established discussion and one need only refer to US Airways and America West to see how the story unfolds. I will, however, refer you to a good article published today in the NY Times looking at the business case (or lack of) for an airline merger.

Diane Clarkson | January 09, 2008, 06:52 PM
British Airways launches new airline

British Airways announced plans to launch a new airline in June offering direct service between New York and Brussels or Paris.
Open Skies’ managing director describes the airline as "a very special point-to-point application."

Of course, Open Skies is not alone in this special point-to-point’ness. Eos Airlines, Silverjet, and l'Avion are in the business-class space with Virgin Airlines moving in too. (MaxJet, another business-class focused airline, filed Chapter 11 a couple of weeks ago, citing increasing fuel costs.)

Open Skies is not exclusively selling business class tickets. Of the 82 seats on the plane, 30 will be economy class and the rest will be split between business class and “premium economy”.

In the US, companies are implementing business travel cost containment policies. Sixty four percent of frequent business travelers (those traveling 10 times per year for business or more) report that their companies have implemented policies designed to contain costs such as encouraging advance bookings, encouraging teleconferencing, etc.

This data point doesn’t suggest that another business-class focused airline is a bad idea. It does, however, suggest the wisdom of Open Skies’ class variety and that business-class airlines have just gotten a bit more competitive.

Diane Clarkson | December 31, 2007, 05:23 PM
Kayak Raises $196 Million and Buys Rival SideStep

The two largest brands in travel search are now one. Last week, Kayak.com announced the completion of a $196 million financing round and a merger with SideStep.com.

SideStep.com will become a subsidiary of Kayak.com, while each site will remain a separate brand.

Kayak and SideStep have been the #1 and #2 in travel meta search. Up until now, the Kayak focusing more on search functionality and Sidestep adding travel planning functions such as UGC and city guides. They vary notably in several areas, including product mixes (Kayak is largely air while SideStep splits between air and hotel) and marketing (with Kayak generating visitors from other travel Web sites while SideStep has relied more heavily on search marketing)

In the analysts’ call, Kayak stated there was only a 9% overlap in users between the two sites with the main difference being a different psychology, suggesting little cannibalization and strong opportunity for growth.

In the coming weeks, Kayak's UI will be integrated on SideStep.com and Kayak will integrate the SideStep’s tool bar and add SideStep deals to the Kayak database. Eventually, travel content such as airport guides and hotel reviews will be added to Kayak.com results page.

International expansion will be among the first priorities in the upcoming year, along with a rumoured IPO. I’d guess other acquisition announcements may also lie ahead.

This story squeezed into the last days of 2007 but will surely be one of the most influential in 2008.

Diane Clarkson | December 19, 2007, 02:17 PM
Travel review aggregator Kango goes live

A few years ago, it was a pleasant surprise to find a couple of reviews from other travelers to help select a hotel or destination. Today, there are millions of reviews online and the result can be overwhelming.

Enter Kango.

Kango is a travel review aggregator, using natural language analysis to search 20 million traveler opinions from over 1000 Web sites to deliver recommendations based on your specific preferences.

What does this mean to travelers? If you look up “family” in Maui, Kango will deliver hotels and activities results based on other travelers who were on a family vacation. This means you don’t have to read dozens of reviews trying to find like-minded travelers. If you switch to “romantic”, the results change immediately to hotels and activities suitable for a romantic trip.

Initial beta users will be able to use Kango to search for romantic or family-friendly accommodation and activities in California and Hawaii. Results are based on tags with weightings extracted from aggregated travel opinions, and results are organized by relevancy (not advertisers or sponsored).

I’ve been talking for a long time about the need for online travel to better mimic the traditional travel agency experience of providing recommendations based on preferences. Kango is an exciting example of how this is possible, making travel planning easier and delivering qualified leads to travel providers.

Diane Clarkson | December 11, 2007, 02:59 PM
Travel's email customer service - the best of the worst

Every year we do a customer service web track where we email companies asking a very simple question and track how efficiently the email is answered. As my colleague, Zach McGeary, blogged about earlier today, the results have not always been stellar.

The travel industry is always a mixed lot with extremely efficient and helpful customer service meets with, well, let’s just say those who achieve less than best practises.

In previous years, the worst response I received was no response at all.

This year, ignoring me would have been a relatively positive customer service approach:

Hertz sent an auto-acknowledgement saying I’d receive a response within two or four business days, then asked me not to contact them again for five business days.

NWA followed a best practice of managing expectations by establishing a timeframe for a response – but the timeframe was 3 to 4 weeks.

Despite the very simple nature of our request, Marriot responded by volleying back asking for more information.

Expedia advised they were not authorized to provide the information (the information we requested would be known by all employees and has no confidentiality whatsoever, so I’m a bit confused about this one).

American Airlines responded to our email request with a quick and personalized answer. Kudos to American Airlines.

As Zach’s research has indicated, customers with unresolved email inquiries are most likely to pick up the phone – which means frustrated customers are reaching for the most expensive channel. Our results are preliminary and will be compiled into a report for early 2008. Which should be about the same time NWA answers my request.

Diane Clarkson | December 05, 2007, 11:03 AM
New Year Will Start With Fewer Seats In The Air

Last year I celebrated (?) Christmas Eve by myself at the TGIFriday in Newark Airport. Storms had cancelled flights and there was so little seat vacancy that even a teary pregnant newlywed in the travel industry had no influence.

This year, it could be worse for holiday travelers returning in January.

The six big network airlines to cut back on their U.S. schedules, with 4.4% fewer seats for January than last year. According to USA Today, the year-to-year seat reduction by the big carriers means 72,000 fewer seats a day in the continental USA at a time when the average domestic flight has been running about four-fifths full. This is primarily due to high fuel prices, though also the result of shifts to international routes and planes out of service for upgrades. Demand is higher than ever and there is little downward pressure on prices. And with fewer seats in the air, any delay could have a startling domino effect.

I wish I had words of wisdom for you if you're travelling. All I can think is: order fries with the Jack Daniels chicken.

Diane Clarkson | November 27, 2007, 03:17 PM
New Mexico's Controversial Aliens

New Mexico launched an advertising campaign a while ago that has, in turn, launched quite a bit of debate.

The ads and print campaigns feature alien office workers chatting about their personal lives and how New Mexico is the greatest place on earth.

Critics of the campaign fear it will frighten tourists away.

Campaign defenders say it is something different and engaging. In fact, the campaign has won an Adrian Award honoring excellence in advertising and marketing.

In my experience, the travel industry often struggles with advertising and brand position. It is a noisy and competitive marketplace, and the desire to do something different sometimes distracts from strategic advertising. Destination marketing is all about inspiration and awareness, evoking emotion that drives the desire to visit. It is best done when messages and images are integrated across tv, print and web channels. (I’ve always been a fan of the “100% Pure New Zealand” campaign)

The New Mexico campaign is unusual in its images and content, particularly in an environment where the internet offers rich media for cross channel integration that can use images, sound and video to inspire travelers.

Currently, at a recent meeting of the state's tourism commission, the agency was urged to "soften up" the aliens in the ad. While the New Mexico campaign is different and it caught my attention, it certainly does not inspire me to visit New Mexico. And that is what destination tourism is supposed to do.

Diane Clarkson | November 21, 2007, 05:10 PM
Talkin' Turkey

Thanksgiving is here and a huge proportion of Americans will be hitting the roads, rails and airways.

About 31 million Americans will be traveling by car, despite gas prices over $3.00 on average, well above the $2.20 average from this time last year.

Amtrak expected more than 115,000 riders on Wednesday, about a 70 percent increase over a usual Wednesday.

According to the Air Transport Association, airline passenger traffic around the Thanksgiving holiday is forecast to rise 4% from a year ago. This means roughly 27 million passengers to fly over 12 days beginning November 16, with planes around 90% full. This increase is despite the fact that domestic airfares in October were up 3.3% percent compared to October last year. The industry expects there will be 2.5 million air travelers today and again on Sunday and Monday next week.

Considering the air industry's on-time performance has been the worst since comparable data began being collected in 1995, it could be a tough few days.

Airlines acutely aware of the scrutiny they are under right now. Some have brought in seasonal workers to help managed traveler flow through the airport. President Bush announced steps to reduce air traffic congestion, saying the Pentagon would open two military air corridors to commercial airliners from Wednesday afternoon through Sunday, creating a "Thanksgiving express lane."

We can be sure Thanksgiving travel 2007 will be reviewed in the weeks to come as the airline industry and congress address the issue of delays.

In the meantime, whether you will be on the roads, rails, air or simply walking into your dining room, Happy Thanksgiving.

Diane Clarkson | November 20, 2007, 01:58 PM
Expedia's media model

Expedia announced late last week that it has entered into a multi-year agreement with IHG (InterContinental Hotels Group), with 3,700 hotels across IHG brands being included in the Expedia, Hotwire and Expedia Corporate Travel portfolios.

This is a described as a two-part economic model. The first part is transaction pricing. The second part is what is really interesting: media pricing based on clicks.

According to news reports, Expedia and IHG collaboratively developed this model which they describe as "a first in online travel", with IHG receiving benefits from value-added media placement throughout the Expedia network in addition to the bookings they receive from Expedia.

We know that online travel researchers are using online travel agencies as general search engines: 29 percent of travelers report they actively search flights in this way and that number grows higher within different segments, particularly the sophisticated online travel researchers.

Given the high competition within the online travel industry between agencies and suppliers, Expedia’s model appears to leverage its strength as a search tool.