Travel Technology News.

New York (AirGuide - Travel Technology News) Jul 12, 2009

Air Valid

Air Valid, which operates airline review and information websites in Europe and Asia with 750,000 unique visitors per month, has built ONOW reviewsO on it social networks to ease access to customers and flyers using mobile technology. To ensure that reviews, comments, photos and tweets are certified as coming from real travelers on board, before or after a flight, users must create an account on www.eezeer.com or use their usual social network (Twitter, Flickr or Facebook) account. Every post is reviewed before being published on airline or flight number pages. Twitter and eezeer members also get featured on the eezeer home page each time they post something to an eezeer twitter account. Eezeer also gives users a unique flight search engine based on Mobissimo and Air Valid data. Search a flight on Mobissimo and discover a simple, sorted, airline best-price list with an airline mentioned just once on its best price. The result page offers detailed information which includes the airlineOs global rating (the number of ratings), flight rating (and the number of ratings), average seat pitch on economy class, airline alliance and reward program. The eezeer engine is in beta, but includes new design and features from EtonDIGITAL. www.air-valid.us. Jul 7, 2009

AirBerlin, Travelport

Air Berlin has signed a full content deal with Travelport GDS. Under the agreement, Travelport's two GDSs, Galileo and Worldspan will have full access to all fares and inventory of Air Berlin as well as its two associated carriers TUI and NIKI. Travelport said that as part of the deal, all published and online fares will be available to Travelport-connected agents. Jul 6, 2009

Amsterdam

The city of canals has launched one of the largest outdoor Wi-Fi networks in continental Europe. (The UK has a number of outdoor networks that may be as large.) The network is free for residents, and in September will be opened at no cost to people who work or study in the city. Also in September, visitors can pay EUR5 per day for access, although advance-purchase discounted passes are also available as part of a visitors' program. Jul 7, 2009

Avis Rent A Car

Avis Rent A Car and RaySat Broadcasting (RBC) today announced that Avis renters at select locations can now enjoy the ride with AT&T CruiseCast service, a new satellite TV technology that delivers 22 video satellite channels as well as 20 audio channels to a mobile unit in automobiles. Beginning today, Avis renters at airport locations in Ft. Lauderdale, Miami, Orlando, Tampa and West Palm Beach can rent AT&T CruiseCast for USD 8.95 per day or USD 62.65 per week. Jul 6, 2009

Concur, Sixt

Expense management specialist Concur has signed a deal with Sixt, the German-based car rental company. Under the agreement, Concur's company clients will have access to the rental firm's inventory through its corporate booking services. Concur said the access would be to all Sixt's prices and benefits at more than 3,500 outlets in 90 countries. The American-owned IT company said the deal would also provide corporate clients with detailed folio data delivered into travellers' expense reports so they could compare what was booked and what was charged. It said the agreement would deliver "improved, comprehensive reporting, including full expense details for travellers and agents serving Concur customers." Jul 8, 2009

Continental Airlines

Continental Airlines has announced that it has completed installation of DirecTV on 15 aircraft that operate within the continental United States, giving customers the choice of 77 channels of live television programming -- more channels than any other carrier -- including live sports, news, weather and childrenOs shows. The new service is being installed on ContinentalOs entire fleet of more than 200 Boeing 737 Next-Generation aircraft, including the 737-700, 737-800, 737-900, 737-900ER and the Boeing 757-300. ContinentalOs new system includes in-seat power ports that do not require the use of an adapter. The company expects to complete installation by the end of 2010. For more information, visit www.continental.com. Jul 9, 2009

Expedia.com

Expedia.com launched a new interactive ODrive GetawayO ideas tool, developed in partnership with TripAdvisor, the worldOs largest travel community. The Drive Getaway tool provides users with ideas for driving-distance trips accessible from their starting city on a single tank of gas or less. Using the tool, people can access lists of TripAdvisorOs top-rated destinations and area attractions, as well as Expedia.comOs highest-ranked hotels that are a specified driving distance from thousands of origination cities worldwide. The tool marks the first time TripAdvisor destination content is available on Expedia.com. In order to narrow destination options, the Drive Getaway tool allows users to filter results for each starting city by offering three Otrip lengthO choices: full tank (151 to 300 miles), half tank (76 to 150 miles) or quarter tank (up to 75 miles). In addition to the recommendations, the tool also provides TripAdvisor user-generated photos of destinations and attractions. For more information, visit www.expedia.com/drivegetaway. Jul 10, 2009

Expedia.com

Expedia.com released the summer issue of the Expedia Travel Trendwatch. This issue of the Trendwatch illustrates how industry dynamics have produced an abundance of values for travelers this summer in destinations around the globe -- and how some consumer behaviors are shifting in order to take advantage of these opportunities. The report also highlights the affordability of several European destinations this summer, as well as the best value U.S. destinations and tips for saving money on car rentals. Jul 6, 2009

Hertz

Hertz has expanded its Prestige Collection to include Sirius XM Radio as a complimentary, standard feature in every vehicle in the collectionOs line up. Sirius and XM are now available as a standard feature across the entire Hertz Prestige and Hertz Fun Collections, collections of vehicles that can be reserved by specific make and model, as well as more than 20 Hertz standard vehicles including those from Ford, Mercury, Chrysler, Kia, Volvo, Infiniti, Audi and more than 10 GM models. The company now offers more than 55,000 cars equipped with Sirius XM and customers are able select Sirius XM as an option at time of reservation on www.hertz.com. With this expanded relationship, Hertz is now the only car rental company to offer satellite radio -- including the OBest of BothO Sirius and XM -- and NeverLost as a standard part of the Prestige Collection. Sirius XM broadcasts more than 130 channels of exclusive sports, news, talk, entertainment, commercial-free music, plus traffic, weather and data. For more information, visit www.hertz.com. Jul 6, 2009

Marriott Hotels, Pegasus Solutions

Marriott International has committed to Pegasus Solutions until 2014 to provide hotel reservation payments for travel agents through PegasusO Global Commission Processing service. Marriott has long been recognized for its dedication to building business for agents, not only through prompt payment and reconciliation, but also through its Hotel Excellence! training program, which marked its 10th anniversary in January. Marriott International, Inc. offers more than 3,000 hotels worldwide to agents under 13 brands, including JW Marriott Hotels & Resorts, Marriott Hotels & Resorts, Renaissance Hotels & Resorts, and Courtyard by Marriott Hotels. For more information, visit www.pegs.com. Jul 6, 2009

Pinnacle Airlines, Sprint

Sprint and Pinnacle Airlines announced an agreement for Sprint to provide a comprehensive suite of integrated wireline and wireless solutions to Pinnacle, one of the airline industryOs largest regional carriers. Jul 8, 2009

Priceline

Ticketmaster and Priceline have announced a partnership that establishes priceline.com as the Official Partner of Ticketmaster.com. Under the terms of the new alliance, consumers using Ticketmaster.com will gain access to priceline.comOs travel services, including specially tailored hotel, airline, and rental car offers to accompany their live event ticket purchases. ORoughly 20 to 30 percent of tickets purchased on Ticketmaster.com attend events outside of the fanOs home market,O said Eric Korman, president of Ticketmaster. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. For more information, visit www.priceline.com. Jul 10, 2009

Taj Hotels

Taj Holidays, IndiaOs leading holiday brand and the in-house tour operator for Taj Hotels Resorts and Palaces, has partnered with Travelocity to introduce www.tajholidaysflynstay.com, a one-stop shop for all holiday-related requirements. It is the first time that a holiday brand in India has embarked upon a bundled platform where customers can plan their travel through various permutations and combinations of flight selection, fare classes, package options, hotel rates and room categories. Aimed at simplifying the holiday planning process, creating a user-friendly platform and bridging the information gap, Taj Holidays Fly-N-Stay endeavors to create a hassle-free holiday package for the user. The entire domestic flight inventory of Travelocity with some of the lowest fares is available to those booking on www.tajholidaysflynstay.com. Jul 9, 2009

TravBuddy

TravBuddy, a social networking website for travelers, today announced that its members have contributed over 2 million travel photos from around the world. The number of travel photos viewable on the website is growing at the rate of 1 million photos per year, which makes TravBuddy one of the largest and fastest-growing sources of travel photos on the web. All photos are organized by location, and cover over 20,000 unique travel destinations from around the world. Photos are ranked according to votes by other travelers. The most popular travel photos can be seen at www.travbuddy.com/browse/photos/popular . Jul 10, 2009

Print Get the Mag Weekly Updates