fare deals Two major airlines are upgrading the fare-searching capability of their Web sites by incorporating powerful programming from ITA Software. America West (www.americawest.com) has already added the new feature, which it calls its Low Fare Finder. Meanwhile, Continental said it has also contracted ITA to provide the heavy-duty software for its Web site (www.continental.com). The software even gives customers more information than they request—for instance, letting them know if lower fares are available the day before or after the dates they enter.
scorecard How do travel Web sites measure up against each other? The Customer Respect Group, a research firm, studied 25 various attributes of major airline and travel sites, from responsiveness to privacy policies to usability. Among airlines, Alaska (www.alaskaair.com) rated highest with a score of 9.2 out of 10, followed by American at 8.8 (www.aa.com) and Delta at 8.6 (www.delta.com); lowest was—surprise—Southwest (www.southwest.com) at 5.7. Among hotel and travel booking sites, the study gave the highest grade to Travelocity (www.travelocity.com), at 9.2, followed by Marriott at 8.8 (www.marriott.com) and Hotwire (www.hotwire.com), Expedia (www.expedia.com) and Harrah's (www.harrahs.com), all at 8.7.
just business Online super-site Travelocity claims that small and medium-sized businesses will be able to save an average of about $100 per trip by booking through its new Travelocity Business service. Located at www.travelocity.com/business, it's an enhancement of the site's existing business travel service, using new technology from partner company GetThere, an electronic booking supplier for major companies. Users can choose how tightly or loosely they want their trip parameters to be managed.
nyc rooms NYC & Company, New York City's tourism marketing arm, now offers travelers the opportunity to check out and make reservations for some 160 properties on the Internet. Go to www.nycvisit.com and click into the Accommodations section to see background information, prices and packages. "Individual hotel properties update their information directly, so consumers will have access to the most current deals available on hotel accommodations," a spokesman said.
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