seats and rooms Two airline Web sites have upgraded their hotel booking capabilities. Continental has signed a deal with Travelweb, making that site's 10,000 lodging locations available for booking through www.continental.com, with preferential rates. And US Airways (www.usairways.com) is taking on Travelocity as the exclusive supplier of hotels, rental cars and last-minute deals through its Web site.
driving deals Priceline (www.priceline.com) has expanded its online travel services with the addition of a name-your-own-price service for rental cars. You simply pick the type of car you want, your pickup and drop-off locations and travel dates, and enter a price per day you're willing to pay. Priceline will scan its available inventory and let you know in as little as 90 seconds whether you've got a deal. You can book as close-in as four hours before pickup.
charter costs AirCharter.com (www.aircharter.com), a site for booking private trips on a fleet of some 1,200 aircraft of various types and sizes, said it now offers customers instant, guaranteed price quotes—something it claims is a first in the charter industry. "Now corporations can compare the airline cost of four or five executives going to the same destination to the cost of a charter that offers far more convenience and luxury," said Richard Walsh, the site's vice president-business development.
site enhancements Orbitz (www.orbitz.com), the popular airline-owned mega-travel site, has made some improvements: Flight/fare search results are still in the site's trademark "Matrix Display," but now they also show aircraft types, time between flights, and identity of code-share airlines. Orbitz also now allows users to book up to nine tickets at a time, for small business groups; and makes it easier to search for flights not just from your selected airport but from alternate airports up to 70 miles away, in case you don't mind driving a bit to save some money.
cool hotels Tired of the same cookie-cutter lodging options? A new site called Tablet Hotels (www.tablethotels.com) serves up a gourmet selection of lodging options at independent, boutique, high-concept, trendy and classic hotels in the first class and luxury categories-places like Hotel Derek in Houston, the Gastwerk Hotel in Hamburg (a modernistic conversion of an old factory), Nine Zero in Boston and Hotel Josef in Prague. Click on "Great Deals" to find the site's special prices at selected properties, from 25 to 65 percent off rack rates.
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