Travel Technology News.(Company overview)

New York (AirGuide - Travel Technology News) May 31, 2009

AirClic

AirClic, the leading mobile solutions provider offering organizations real-time 360-degree visibility to manage mobile resources throughout their entire operation, today announced that it has been selected as a winner of the Red Herring 100 North America Award. AirClic was honored as one of the year's most promising private companies for its best-in-class technology, proven business strategy and expert management team. May 28, 2009

CheapOair.com

CheapOair.com has declared Shannon Madden of Hixson, Tennessee's video, "Lessons: Learned," the winner of the CheapOair "30 Seconds of Fame" Commercial Contest. The CheapOair "30 Seconds of Fame" Commercial Contest invited the public to create a 30 second commercial about "CheapOair- the Only Way to Go" and upload it to YouTube. A panel of judges selected the top 5 videos from the public entries. The public then voted on the top 5 videos, which were showcased on the CheapOair blog (http://cheapoair.wordpress.com). May 29, 2009

Crystal Cruises

Crystal Cruises has unveiled a dynamic new website. Crystalcruises.com features richer content and a broad layered structure for easy access to the most comprehensive information to plan a Crystal cruise. Rich photography, interactive slide shows and engaging research features create a powerful and personal online experience, while presenting CrystalOs award-winning brand of service, space, quality and choices. From the home page, users are invited to explore the interactive, photo-rich Crystal Experience, as well as the descriptive content about Destinations, Crystal Adventures shore excursions, featured special offers and the comprehensive Cruise Guidebook. From any page within the Destination section, users can contact their travel agent directly, or request that a Crystal Expert Travel Agency contact them. Crystal also plans to add a new Shore Excursion Finder, Pre-Cruise check-in area and expanded Travel Agent Center. www.crystalcruises.com. May 27, 2009

EgyptAir, OnAir

EgyptAir has become the latest carrier in the Middle East region to sign up for mobile phone connectivity services after picking the OnAir service for use on its Airbus A330-200s. The Star Alliance carrier will take OnAir's mobile phone service, together with its Internet connectivity service, for the A330-300s which start entering its fleet in August next year. EgyptAir has five A330-300s on order. The aircraft will operate on European and North American routes, as well as in the Middle East. May 26, 2009

Expedia

After a two-month promotion, Expedia Inc. has decided to dump booking fees on airline tickets purchased through the site. The Bellevue online travel agency said it also will eliminate cancellation fees on hotels, cars, cruises and nearly all flight reservations that are made through the online travel agency, a move that Expedia general manager Tim MacDonald said was a commitment Oto put the traveler first in everything we do.O May 28, 2009

IgoUgo.com

IgoUgo.com reports that as travelers are scrambling to get away this summer the cheapest way possible, home exchanges and house swapping have become more popular. Last year, the economy forced many to reconsider travel plans and opt for Ostay-cationsO to save. This year, while travelers continue to cut back, if they get a little creative with their accommodations they may be able to get away. IgoUgo.com editors decided to ask some of their savvy members about the growing trend of the home exchange and were excited to find that this is the year for house swapping. May 27, 2009

lastminute.com

Zagat Survey and lastminute.com, two of the worldOs leading providers of online travel and leisure information, has released nru for Android -- Zagat's first-ever free mobile application. Nru (Onear youO) from Zagat and lastminute.com is a GPS-based application for Android that offers free access to Zagat ratings and cost estimates for the nearest restaurants, nightspots and shops in over 75 cities around the world. Based on current location, nru shows the closest Zagat-rated establishments, visually plotted on a radar screen showing compass directions and distance from origin. Each establishment displays ZagatOs cost estimate and ratings for Food (restaurants), Appeal (nightspots) and Quality (shops) on Zagat's signature 30-point scale. The application utilizes Augmented Reality to display a 360-degree first-person view. After clicking on a location, users are directed to more details via ZAGAT.mobi where they will find addresses, phone numbers, photos, click to call options and more. For more information, visit www.ZAGAT.com or www.lastminute.com. May 28, 2009

Priceline.com

Priceline.com and LeisureLink, which offers distribution and revenue management platform for specialty lodging suppliers, have announced that priceline.comOs published-price service will offer its customers booking access to LeisureLinkOs listings of condos, timeshares, vacation properties and boutique resorts in the U.S., Canada and Mexico. Terms of the partnership were not announced. LeisureLink enables property management companies to market and distribute their vacation lodging products across thousands of travel Web sites, travel agents and other distribution channels. LeisureLink proprietary Demand Management System helps managers revenue across all channels. More than 1,400 vacation rentals, timeshares, condo hotels and independent resorts throughout North America and Europe build their bookings through LeisureLink. For more information, visit www.LeisureLink.com or www.priceline.com.

May 29, 2009

Princess Cruises

Princess Cruises is introducing an online tool to help agents track clients who have purchased future cruise deposits onboard. This new POLAR Online feature gives agents instant access to sales leads -- their own customers who are already planning to travel again. The new Onboard Sales Deposit List feature will show agents which clients have made a deposit for a future sailing so they know which customers have a strong interest in another Princess vacation. Agency owners and supervisors have exclusive access to this information about future cruise deposits made onboard by clients on sailings credited to their agency. Agents can even track when clientsO deposits are due to expire, a detail that can be used to close a sale. www.onesourcecruises.com. May 28, 2009

TripAdvisor

TripAdvisor announced today the launch of its innovative Business Travel Center, a full-service business trip planning resource covering more than 20,000 hotels in more than 750 cities worldwide. This dedicated home on TripAdvisor.com is a one-stop shop for business trip planning that features a Business Popularity Index that ranks hotels specifically for business travelers, and interactive maps that identify meeting locations and then finds nearby restaurants, attractions, transportation, and business services. May 28, 2009

Yapta.com

Yapta.com, an online travel shopping service that monitors airfare and hotel prices for travelers, today announced that it's now tracking prices and issuing airfare savings alerts on flights from nine additional international carriers, including Aeromexico, Air India, Air Jamaica, Air New Zealand, China Airlines, Emirates, El Al Airlines, Korean Air and Qantas Airways. In total, Yapta can now track airfare prices from 35 airlines, including 21 international carriers and 14 U.S.-based carriers. Yapta is a free service that helps travelers find domestic and international flights and hotels, and then tracks prices daily. Yapta also offers a Premium Service that -- for a fee of USD 15 -- will help travelers obtain an airline travel credit when prices drop after they've booked their ticket, including international flights on U.S.-based carriers. Travelers that do not choose to engage Yapta's Premium Service are provided with all the information they need to obtain a travel credit themselves. Currently, more than 30 percent of Yapta's users are tracking prices on international flights. May 27, 2009

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