Delta Air Lines and United Airlines were ordered by a federal judge to face a consumer antitrust class action accusing major U.S. carriers of conspiring to drive up domestic airfares by reducing the number of available seats.
25.08.2023 - 14:08 / skift.com / United Airlines / Dennis Schaal / Matthew Parsons / Tom Lowry
Good morning from Skift. It’s Tuesday, February 21. Here’s what you need to know about the business of travel today.
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While the pandemic battered the travel industry, it also raised the profile of the hotel boutique sector. More travelers now seek out smaller and more authentic places to stay. “The pandemic lit a big old fire under it,” said Frances Kiradjian, who started the Boutique Lifestyle Leaders Association 14 years ago. “People thought before 2009 that the boutique lifestyle was dead. Even some of the brands that big guys had eaten up decided they wouldn’t use the word ‘boutique’ anymore.”
Flash forward to today, and the industry is thriving — leading the way in hotel experience and design. And those big chains? They’re trying to claw back into the space with launches like Accor’s Handwritten Collection last month and Marriott’s expansion of Design Hotels, writes Contributor Leslie Barrie.
Frances and her daughter, Ariela Kiradjian, today run the boutique lodging association’s events and awards together. They’ve talked to all the major leaders and innovators in the segment. And they’ve pinpointed a handful of key trends for boutique hotel owners to note, including how Instagram has peaked, and design functionality replacing design for cool sake.
Next, travel metasearch sites such as Trivago and Tripadvisor fell considerably short of pre-pandemic 2019 revenue levels in 2022 while travel companies in other sectors, such as Airbnb in short-term rentals, and tours and activities provider Viator greatly exceeded their marks from three years ago.
Executive Editor Dennis Schaal writes that Trivago reached only 64 percent of 2019 revenue last year while Tripadvisor’s hotel metasearch feature climbed to just 85 percent of pre-pandemic revenue numbers in 2022. In the hotel sector, Marriott came up just short of the mark, having achieved 99 percent of 2019 revenue last year.
Airbnb; Viator, which is part of Tripadvisor; United, and Expedia Group all surpassed their 2019 revenue numbers last year. In 2022, Airbnb and Viator exceeded their prepandemic top lines by 75 percent and 71 percent, respectively. United (up 4 percent) and Expedia (2 percent) inched ahead. Expedia might have been a tad further ahead of 2019 if it hadn’t sold its corporate travel unit, Egencia, which generated $620 million in revenue that year, to American Express Global Business Travel in November 2021.
We finish today with United Airlines, which has launched a new seat map feature that dynamically finds available adjacent seats at the time of booking, while a new policy will allow passengers to switch flights for free if none are available.
Corporate Travel Editor Matthew Parsons
Delta Air Lines and United Airlines were ordered by a federal judge to face a consumer antitrust class action accusing major U.S. carriers of conspiring to drive up domestic airfares by reducing the number of available seats.
Affirm, the buy now, pay later vendor, now has both sides of what used to be called the online travel “duopoly” with its latest partner, Booking.com. The former duopoly, at least according to hotel industry critics, was Expedia Group and Booking Holdings. With the Thursday announcement that Booking.com customers would see Affirm’s buy now, pay later options at checkout when they are purchasing trips, Affirm now counts several Booking Holdings brands as partners, also including Agoda, Priceline and Kayak.
Good morning from Skift. It’s Wednesday, September 6. Here’s what you need to know about the business of travel today.
Jack Ieronimo was one of the people on a United Airlines flight from Newark, New Jersey, to Rome, Italy, that made headlines after passengers said they were stuck onboard for seven hours without taking off.
Do you remember a few years ago how there was so much talk in online travel about the Booking Holdings–Expedia Group duopoly? How Expedia Group, which owned Expedia, Travelocity, Orbitz and Hotels.com, and Booking, with brands including Booking.com, Kayak, Priceline and Agoda, controlled the hotel market and a whole lot more in travel?
Mesa Airlines said late Saturday it is finalizing an agreement to operate regional flights for United Airlines after an announcement it will wind down flights for American Airlines early next year.
It’s not often that travelers have something to look forward to at Newark Liberty International Airport. The new $2.7 billion Terminal A will open in December, the latest in a series of major airport projects opening around the U.S. this year.
United Airlines, Alcohol Wipes and Finding New Customer Touch Points: Some passengers want to talk to people. Some do not. United Airlines wants make sure they all have a choice.
U.S. airline profits are set to come under pressure in 2023 as they look to shell out more cash to retain pilots amid worries about the impact of a potential recession on travel demand.
Big ticket sporting events will go hand-in-hand with -style tourist experiences next year, as the International Olympic Committee and U.S. event specialist On Location team up to launch a new e-commerce website to sell tickets with hospitality packages.
Good morning from Skift. It’s Wednesday, January 11, and here’s what you need to know about the business of travel today.
Good morning from Skift. It’s Wednesday, January 18. Here’s what you need to know about the business of travel today.