Random Thoughts: Put Your Money Where Your Mouth Is

After all of the press that United, AA, US Airways, Silverjet, etc. have received in the last few months, plus all of the talk of 'staycations' (author's note, just for fun see how many times you can say the word 'staycations' in your next meeting...I'll bet 3), what does a company like Southwest do? Take out the Super Bowl-equivalent of online ads on the Yahoo! homepage and start calling people out.

While American continues to dig it's own PR grave...see this recent article about AA trying to recover from it...Southwest continues to fly along fee-free. The campaign, 'Fees Don't Fly' features a page within the southwest.com site that explains everything that Southwest doesn't charge for. The campaign and ad are refreshing, especially in the airline industry where each carrier seems to copy the next as fees are raised. Plus, who doesn't like calling out that jerk who always skips out on the bill.

Travel Trends - Paperless Boarding, Bankrupt Design, Bloggers

Paperless Boarding - It's about time! Last month the TSA and Continental Airlines announced they would continue rolling out the Paperless Boarding Pass pilot program (it started last December) to Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, Newark (N.J.) International Airport and Logan International Airport in Boston during the month of May. Finally, we can stop carrying around those super-secure boarding passes...not to mention save a fee more trees.

And, see that little square bar code on that gentleman's phone? That would be your standard 2-D Barcode...get ready for your phone to take over simplify your life.
http://www.tsa.gov/

Bankrupt Design - Personally, I always find it fascinating how defunct companies 'soften' their websites to explain why they left you stranded in Chicago.
http://www.maxjet.com/
http://www.ata.com/
http://www.eosairlines.com/
http://skybus.com/

What (or who) is a blogger? - Interesting stats from the Center for Media Research. Beyond simply promoting ourselves, you should know that these are the people who are increasingly holding high influence over your consumers. (here's a secret, most of your consumers trust bloggers more than you!)

According to the BIGresearch Simultaneous Media Survey, 26% of all adults say they regularly or occasionally blog. Of those:

- 53.7% are male
- 44.7% are married
- 28.4% hold a professional or managerial position
- 10.4% are students.

Bloggers tend to be younger, averaging 37.6 years old, compared to 44.8 for adults 18+ (the "general population"). Ethnically:

- 69.7% of Bloggers are White/Caucasian (vs. 76.1%)
- 12.2% are African American/Black (vs. 11.4%)
- 3.7% are Asian (vs. 2.0%)
- 20% of Bloggers are Hispanic, compared to 14.8% of adults 18+

In addition, Bloggers report a lower income ($55,819 vs. $56,811) and are better educated (14.3 years of education vs. 14.2).

Although Bloggers are more likely to use new media, the analysis finds that more conventional forms of media trigger their Internet searches. Magazines, at 51.6%, rank highest, followed by:

- 48.8% reading an article
- 46.1% broadcast TV
- 44.5% cable TV
- 42.5% face-to-face communication
- 39.7% newspaper

Gary Drenik, President of BIGresearch, concludes "Bloggers are a diverse group and not who you would expect..."

http://blogs.mediapost.com/

Airlines Looking For New Revenue Streams

More airline commentary from the team at The Onion.

Travel Trends - Luggage, UGC, Twitter, More JetBlue, Bad Photoshop

Checking 2 bags? That will be $40, thanks! - Wow. American Airlines will start charging $15 for the first checked bag, cut domestic flights and lay off workers as it grapples with record-high fuel prices. That's right, $15 for the first bag. So, if you are a family of 4 flying from Chicago to Phoenix for a week vacation, each carrying 2 bags each, that means you will have to pay $160 just to get your bags to Sky Harbor. Now, I am the first to admit I do not know the intricate economic factors that affect the airline industry, but rather than charging for the first bag, just lie to us. Stick that $15 in another fee...environmental conservation fee, new tire fee, landing taxes, whatever...but telling us (and yes, this is completely opposite all of the transparency we push on the blog) it is for the first bag feels like a slap in the face.

My two 'trends' from this announcement...(1) carry-on bags will get even bigger and will hurt even more when they hit you in the head...(2) companies such as baggagequest.com and luggageconcierge.com will become much more popular.
http://news.yahoo.com/

Big Media Is Dead...Again...Really - Interesting stats from eMarketer on the attitudes of our fellow marketing professionals. Bye-bye TV!
http://www.emarketer.com/



JetBlue 'Following' Consumer Trends Via Twitter - A very interesting post from Joel at the socialized blog. Basically jetBlue was or is following conversations on Twitter (confused about Twitter, here is the explanation) to improve customer service, look for trends, etc, etc. Twitter is a great way to communicate quickly with your friends and peers, so if you are stuck at JFK because the ground crew is late and decide to rant about it via Twitter, (in theory) the JetBlue communications team will have a head start on resolving the issue. A fascinating read and an interesting us of new technology by a large company. Now, how do you feel about JetBlue 'following' your conversations?
http://www.socializedpr.com/

More JetBlue - JetBlue has recently launched a new 'Happy Jetting' campaign, complete with a new Happy Jetting website. The site 'aims to bring back humanity to flying' not to mention push the companies new Green initiative (who doesn't have one?), show off some of the new creative, allow users to play games and generally feel warm and fussy about flying JetBlue. Which, I will admit, TV in-seat is nice! If nothing else check out the 'almost totally real pilot name' generator, an old trick that interactive folks love to add to sites like these, but still fun.

This is your captain, Troy 'Romance' Thompson, speaking, enjoy your flight.
http://www.happyjetting.com/

My New Favorite Blog - Photoshop is a dangerous program in the wrong hands. Having been a photoshop 'guru' in a previous life (sorry, the new versions confuse me), I love the Photoshop Disasters blog. It just goes to show that we all make mistakes (some larger than others) and that not everyone should be using Photoshop!
http://photoshopdisasters.blogspot.com/

Travel Trends - Deltalina, YouTube, Michigan, Wealthy Consumers

Deltalina - From now on, all Delta flights are smokin'. (Zing!)

That oh so cute line from the Atlanta Journal Constitution is in reference to the increasing publicity that Delta and more specifically, Katherine Lee (Delta + Angelina (Jolie) = Deltalina...which was thankfully not coined by yours truly) is receiving from the mainstream media and YouTube. Our friends over at Under the Wing premiered the new in-flight video on the blog February 20th via YouTube. The new in-flight video was probably not the most interesting video on paper, but communicating this new video (or any new or 'exclusive' content) to a loyal group of users via a blog is an ideal way to build consumer trust and loyalty (and having Katherine in the video does not hurt). Plus, posting the video on YouTube extends the reach of the spot beyond the blog...7 comments on the Delta blog, 624 on YouTube. Not to mention over 400,000 views and national media coverage.

Which brings us to an interesting point, how does Delta measure all of that coverage?

There are several ways to address that question...number of comments, views, time spent, traditional media coverage, etc. But I would be interested to know if Delta is looking at this viral campaign as a way to sell seats or as another piece in building the new Delta brand.
http://blog.delta.com/

YouTube Launches Insight - Google has introduced a free YouTube tool that will provide those who post clips -- whether they are semiprofessionals or media conglomerates -- with deeper insights into when, where and how often their videos are viewed. Using YouTube Insight, publishers can analyze the viewing patterns of individual videos far more thoroughly than in the past, when only total views and users ratings were available. For example, with the new tool, any content producer who posts videos on YouTube can examine which days of the week or hours of the day traffic spikes; which U.S. states account for the most viewing streams; and how long particular clips remain popular.
http://www.adweek.com/

Michigan Rolls Out New Design - The team up in Michigan has launched a new design for Michigan.org. The new look is clean and uncluttered, plus easy to read. The large image in the background is a nice touch, and one that we have seen in a couple other state-level sites. However, the biggest change is breaking away from the Michigan Economic Development Corp's website. No need to tell travelers about the great tax breaks for opening a diner in Lansing...just get them to the state first.
http://www.michigan.org/

Wealthy Consumers - Some good stats from the Center for Media Research on Wealthy Consumers and social networking sites:

According to The Luxury Institute's latest WealthSurvey, the participation of wealthy online consumers in social networks dramatically increased to 60% in 2008, from 27% in 2007. Participation levels of online wealthy consumers in leading social networks are 16% for MySpace, 13% for LinkedIn, and 11% for Facebook.

A national sample of 805 wealthy American consumers, with an average income of $287K and average net worth of $2.1 million, was surveyed online. According to the report:

- The wealthy average membership in 2.8 social networks, with an average of 110 connections.

- They are intolerant of opt-out techniques, with 65% saying that having their personal data given out without permission would cause them to disconnect; 63% have an interest in "do not track" lists.

http://blogs.mediapost.com/

Responding to Negative News Via Your Blog

...Southwest Airlines discovered that this month when its 2-year-old Nuts About Southwest blog fielded some 300 public comments about a proposed $10.2 million fine by the Federal Aviation Administration and accusations that the airline flew at least 46 planes without required fuselage inspections. >>Full Story

Thoughts// As many of you know, Southwest Airlines has been facing some tough scrutiny over the past several weeks due to reports of fines and missed inspections. These are very serious allegations that pose a huge challenge for any corporation and it's public relations staff. On top of that, the airline, in it's fun loving way, also promotes a popular blog about all things Southwest.

What has been extremely interesting over the past few weeks is to observe how Southwest has used the blog during this story and what the user / reader reaction been.

For example, take a look at the post titled 'Southwest Airlines Continues Internal Audit' and the 88 comments that follow.

I would expect Southwest to respond with the tone (via posts) that they have used so far. This is a serious issue and for numerous reasons (let alone legal ones) you cannot have just anyone writing about the incidents on the blog. However, that 'corporate' tone just does not fit on a blog, so the posts do stand out a bit...and to some readers seem like 'spin' or a 'cover-up.'

As far as the comments, about what you would expect...half of the readers are irate, half would still rather fly Southwest than any other airline (count me in the latter half, seriously $25 for a second bag?).

Fortunately for Southwest, they have built up a sizable amount of consumer trust and goodwill which should see them through this negative news cycle.

And keep posting away to start rebuilding that lost consumer confidence.

How To Kill A Friday: AirlineMeals.net

Ah, Fridays. Need to kill some time between now and 4:30? Who are you kidding, we both know you are leaving early. Then click on over to airlinemeals.net. That's right, an entire site dedicated to reviewing, showing and discussing the best and worst of in-flight food.

Personally, I am fascinated by sites like this, but clearly there is a passion for it. There are thousands (if not hundreds of thousands) of photos detailing both the sumptuous (Lobster medallions from Emirates, above) and scarce (cranapple juice / peanuts from U.S. Airways, below) offerings from our friends in the skies.

Out of sheer curiosity, you should take a minute and relive those in-flight meals. Just be warned that you probably will loose track of time.

Travel Trends - Mexico, Internet by State, Virgin Charter, Bloggers

Viva Mexico! And Pacifico! - A good map-based creative execution from Pacifico Beer. The site allows visitors to click on the little yellow bottle caps to explore the site, which consists of videos, photos and plenty of good-looking people having fun with a Pacifico! In all seriousness, even though this is a beer-related site, the use of the map, video and design elements could translate very well into a tourism site. Giving away beer to tourists...a sure fire way to increase visitation!
http://mexicoviapacifico.com/

U.S. Internet Usage by State - Some good stats courtesy of eMarketer. Turns out that the most internet users, at least in terms of total households per state, are in some of the smaller states such as New Hampshire and Alaska.
http://www.emarketer.com/

Virgin Charter - Virgin Charter, the online charter jet booking service from do-everything Sir Richard Branson, has recently launched for public use. The site allows you to book charter jet service online and fill those 'empty legs' that most private jets fly.
https://www.virgincharter.com/

Bloggers Are Better Than You - We just could not resist this story from TechCrunch. A new study has found Bloggers are better adjusted and live healthier, happier social lives. The research, from Swinburne University of Technology found that “people felt they had better social support and friendship networks than those who did not blog” after a two month blogging period when compared to people who do not blog. The good news also extends to users of social networking sites, with the study finding than any online interaction makes users “feel less anxious, depressed and stressed.” I feel better already. How about you Mo?
http://www.techcrunch.com/

Travel Trends - Oregon #1, Luv From Southwest

Oregon Is #1 - In honor of the great American road trip, our friends at the IgoUgo blog have selected, in an unscientific way (honestly, we are not sure how they picked them), the top ten 'most dynamic tourism websites'...and look who claimed the top spot, Travel Oregon. Congrats to Mo and the team at Travel Oregon. I am currently placing a request for a recount as we speak.

The top ten are:

1. Travel Oregon
2. Visit Florida
3. South Dakota Tourism
4. Utah Travel Council
   (IgoUgo reviewed the '.com' version, not the 'official,' official '.travel' version.
   
5. Wyoming Tourism
6. Arkansas Tourism
7. New York State Tourism
8. Minnesota Office of Tourism
9. New Hampshire Division of Travel and Tourism
10. North Carolina Tourism Services

Certainly a singular look at the sites, but still an interesting commentary on what some users are looking for in a travel site.
http://www.igougo.com/

Luv From Southwest - Well known for there 'Luv' campaigns, Southwest sent along a little Valentine's Day card last week to it's Rapid Rewards customers. Honestly, what other airline could get away with such a thing and not look like hypocrites? The email was pretty simple, but included a fun little, brand-hypnotizing, fly your jet through the clouds of love game. Silly, sure, but I still played it.
http://www.southwest.com/

If The TSA Can Start a Blog, Why Not You?

The Transportation Security Administration, perhaps best known for blue-gloved screeners who don't tolerate jokes, launched a blog Wednesday called Evolution of Security, which promises to be written by a collection of TSA employees including a frontline screener, technology developer and a TSA analyst. >>Full Story

Thoughts// For those of you who did not hear about this a few days ago, the TSA has launched a public-facing blog to promote an open conversation with the traveling public. Insert your own 'take off your shoes joke' here. As you might expect, the blog contains updates written by a handful of TSA staffers and contains hundreds of comments...if not thousands by this point.

As odd as this idea sounds, I give the TSA some major credit on this one. They opened this line of communication, and are promoting it, knowing full well the blog would receive hundreds of moronic comments from anonymous users who are upset at everything. Plus, once you start something like this, there is no going back or shutting it off...that would just further the negative image that most Americans have of the agency.

That takes some dedication...or craziness.

It will be interesting to see how this blog affects the view of the TSA in the mind of the traveling public. For all of those 'I don't want to take my shoes off' comments, there are already some constructive posts on the blog.

So, if you want to be part of the solution, step up and post a useful comment...instead of just complaining every time you are in the security line.

Travel Trends - Google Tracking Flights, TripAdvisor

Google Including Flights In Search Results - Google gave the flying public an early Christmas present today by including flight status results within the search results. The service allows consumers to simply type in the airline and flight number into the normal Google search box and then returns the latest flight info, courtesy of flightstats.com (see example above). On a side note, how reassuring are those search results? Looking for an example for this post I searched for 'Southwest 75' at random and that video was the top result. Luckily, the video in question is just from a flight simulation game. Whew.
http://googleblog.blogspot.com

TripAdvisor Officially Launches New Design - As we reported a couple of months ago on the Interactive Trend Report, TripAdvisor has been beta-testing a new design for the popular travel review site. Over the last few days TripAdvisor made the switch-over complete and now the new design is coming up as the standard homepage for most users. While I heard a few rumblings of the site looking too similar to other OTA sites (Expedia, Travelocity, etc.), it is really just a new skin on the same content (which is a good thing). Granted, a few pieces have changed, but if you compare this new version to the previous version, a majority of the content is in the same spot. Plus, the new site includes a very addictive travel game from recent TripAdvisor acquisition TravelPod. Of course, I am a geography nerd and love anything with maps and capitals.
http://www.tripadvisor.com/

Travel Trends - .travel, JetBlue, Privacy

.travel To Open Up Registration (Read, we need money) - Like a few of you, I received an email this week from EnCirca or the company one of the companies behind the .travel domain extension. The email basically stated that as of December 21st anybody with a travel related business can apply for a .travel domain name. The email itself was pretty comical, with lines such as 'anticipated December 21 Land Rush for .travel' or '.travel domain names are ideal for search engine marketing.' Good stuff.

While the .travel domain idea looked good on paper and in theory, it has not worked as designed in the real world. People have not caught onto the idea that a domain extension such as .biz, .travel or .jobs is the same as .com. Seriously, most people cannot even grasp the concept of .net, let alone .travel or .asia. With search engines becoming more than just a simple website, but an embedded action in our thought process for locating information, the need for a certain domain name and domain extension is dwindling.

Now, if you are like the Arizona Office of Tourism, you might own a few of these key domain names...such as arizona.travel...just to prevent someone from squatting or worse, using that domain in an undesirable manner. But you can call off the plans to switch over your whole advertising campaign and interactive strategy to yourdestinationhere.travel. It's already over...before it really got started.
http://encirca.com/

JetBlue Goes Wireless - As we have discussed previously on the Interactive Trend Report, the next big frontier for in-flight entertainment, or annoyance depending on your point-of-view, is in-flight wireless access. Earlier this month, JetBlue announced a basic pilot program (no pun intended) to test wireless access aboard one of there Airbus A320 jets, dubbed BetaBlue (how clever). While this service will be a reality for airline passengers in the near-future, it appears that JetBlue's wi-fi still has a few bugs to be worked out. But, with American Airlines, Virgin America, and Alaska Airlines all preparing to launch wireless access during the next year, you are not too far away from checking your email from 40,000ft. Or at least checking your favorite blog...this one!
http://blogs.zdnet.com/

People Don't Truly Care About Privacy - A very good post from Seth Godin, discusses the some of the latest news surrounding the idea of internet privacy and privacy in general, and why people don't really care about it. To quote from the post:

There's been a lot of noise about privacy over the last decade, but what most pundits miss is that most people don't care about privacy, not at all.

If they did, they wouldn't have credit cards. Your credit card company knows an insane amount about you.

What people care about is being surprised.

Exactly. Facebook's attempt at targeted ads encountered vocal opposition because the private information being collected was being used in an irresponsible manner...i.e., they surprised people. We all know we are being watched, just don't remind us of it.
http://sethgodin.typepad.com/

Travel Trends - JetBlue, Wayback Machine, Online Video Ads

The Wayback Machine - An established (possibly old) site for some people, however the Internet Archives' Wayback Machine still proves to be a great resource...especially for those who missed the initial launch and have not heard of it (I forget that not everyone knows about this site). The concept is pretty simple, type in a domain name and browse through the previous versions of the site...for example, Travelocity.com a la 1996 (pictured...and yes, it really did look like that). A great way to understand the evolution of web site design.
http://www.archive.org/

JetBlue Point of View Photo Contest - As mentioned in a previous post, JetBlue has been holding a photo contest to promote the collaboration of the airline and Google. To host the images from the contest, JetBlue is using Google's Picasa photo sharing service (naturally). Although it appears that the entire contest was not completed via Picasa, the use of a photo sharing site (Picasa or Flickr) to promote and run a photo contest is an interesting approach...if the consumers are already using Flickr or Picasa, take the photo contest to them, rather than making them come to you (your site). Take a look at the finalists and vote for your favorite.
http://jetblue.com/google/

Online Video Advertising - A recent TNS study in partnership with AOL and Google presents some key findings for online video advertising. While these results are specifically speaking about advertising on other online videos (such as advertising before a YouTube video), they do provide good insight into some general online video factors.
http://adage.com/

Avoiding 'the Slog' with Horizon Air

Some people call it the "road of regret" or the "heartache highway," but I-5 covering the Seattle-Portland trail has its share of disgruntled road warriors according to Horizon Air. Therefore, with the help of agency Wongdoody, the airline is aiming to placate Northwestern business travelers with not just a $99 shuttle offer, but a website capturing video that canvasses infamous landmarks along the dreaded trail.

Locales with names such as Filthy John's Holler, Molasses Pass, Longblink Gulch and the Bridge of Heavy Sighs comprise the three-hour sojourn, with grey-black, well-edited footage, morose music and amusing narration giving site visitors a vivid feel of each destination on the pathway--conclusively making air travel seem that much more convenient.
http://www.i-5slog.com/

Thoughts// A clever creative execution from Horizon Air to promote there 'Horizon Route' for travelers from Portland to Seattle. Speaking from a purely creative / aesthetic perspective, the I-5 slog website (micro-site) is easy-to-read and navigate, well composed and incorporates a good use of online video. The rustic feel of the site is not only a nod to the expeditions that discovered this section of the country, but a reason to keep clicking around the site. It would be interesting to know how this piece was integrated into the overall campaign...via email, online banners or other placements.

So, Mo, is the I-5 really that bad? And do you call it 'the Slog'?

Travel Trends - Yahoo! MapMixer, PayPal

Yahoo! MapMixer - An interesting addition to the Yahoo! Local / Map offering, MapMixer allows users to combine existing maps with the Yahoo! Maps program. In the example above, a user has taken a detailed map of Grand Canyon National Park and created a new map containing both maps. The site lets users zoom, pan and explore the map in the same fashion as the normal Yahoo! Maps site. Microsoft Research has a similar product called MSR MapCruncher.
http://maps.yahoo.com/mapmixer

PayPal Your Airline Tickets - Following the lead from Northwest Airlines, several carriers including Southwest, Midwest and US Airways now accept payment via the online e-commerce firm PayPal. JetBlue began allowing customers to pay via Bill Me Later, a similar product earlier this year.

Orbitz Debuts Traveler Update Feature

OrbitzTLC Traveler Update combines up-to-the-minute information from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), OrbitzTLC air traffic alerts and data from the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) with the contributions and reports of everyday travelers to create a powerful new information resource. Content includes real-time data and information on security line wait times, traffic delays, parking updates, taxi lines, flight delays, weather information and more. >>Full Story

Thoughts// A new offering from Orbitz, the 'OrbitzTLC Traveler Update' allows users to post messages and alerts for other Orbitz flyers. What is intriguing about this offering is how Orbitz has centralized a good deal of airport related information on one page...for example, the Phoenix Sky Harbor International page contains traffic updates (from Google), weather (from weather.com, more than likely), parking advice (from PHX), average security line wait times (again, from PHX) and tips from other travelers.

Additionally, it would appear that the bulk of the tips are coming from either repeat travelers or users who work at or for the airport. Interesting that someone at the airport (might have) realized what a great option this could be for communicating with consumers. If only they would have thought of it first.

Farecast Adds Prediction Tools For Hotels

Farecast, the airfare price prediction site, has expanded its coverage and price prediction tools to a new beta service for hotels. For the launch the new hotel price predictions work in the top 30 U.S. destinations and pull in data from partner sites like Orbitz, Cheaptickets, and ReserveTravel, as well as Farecast's own information.

The results for a hotel search are displayed on a color-coded map with price and other details. Red pins indicate good deals, while blue ones stand for over-priced results. Clicking on a hotel will display a graph of prices over time — particularly the fluctuation on either end of your intended stay. >>Full Story

Thoughts// Ah, give the people what they want. "I just want to know if this $259 hotel room is a good deal?" A simple solution to a question that (I would safely assume) many travelers ask. As I think more about this new prediction tool, I wonder why major hotel chains (or other travel-related companies) have not been providing this type of service for travelers. True, there would be times when prices at the hotel would be high and 'over-priced', but I wonder if consumers would simply look for weeks or weekends that show as 'deals.' Perhaps structure the rating system in a more favorable way for the hotel...'Great Deal, Deal, Normal, High Occupancy (read, expensive). Or, could some of the larger hotel chains direct travelers to other hotels within the brand that may offer a better deal.

We are already seeing some of this thinking within the airline industry. Many carriers, including Delta, display easy-to-read search results on which flights are the best bargains for that day. Bargain flights may be at inopportune times, but they at least give the consumer more options and a greater sense of what they are paying for.

Instead of thinking how you are going to 'hide' high prices or unfavorable aspects, start thinking about how your company, and the related businesses within it, can help consumers find a better solution and a better bargain...so they still choose to fly, stay or dine with you.

Travel Trends - In-Flight Entertainment Upgrade

Virgin America's In-flight Entertainment - A great review from Artur Bergman at O'Reilly on the launch of Virgin America, specifically detailing their new in-flight entertainment device (IFE) called RED. RED will offer live satellite tv, movies, mp3s, games and plane-wide chatting. So, passengers could 'instant message' each other while in-flight (use your own imagination for what to talk about) or chat with other passengers who are watching the same program on the satellite TV. In addition, RED takes customization to a new level...passengers can build a custom playlist from the 3,000 songs on RED, then the system can save the profile and load it again when you take your next flight. If that was not enough, you can also order food and drinks from RED. Virgin America took to the skies on August 8th.
http://www.radar.oreilly.com | Learn more about Virgin America

American Airlines To Add Wi-Fi - American Airlines has announced that it will be the first domestic airline to begin testing in-flight Wi-Fi service via AirCell. One of the last places in the U.S. where you cannot, or are not allowed, to access the internet, the airline industry is quickly adopting the Wi-Fi idea, partially to satisfy consumer demand. If the test flights are successful, look for more domestic airlines to begin offering the same service.
http://www.denverpost.com

JetBlue Airways Partners With Google Maps On Real-Time Flight Tracking

JetBlue Airways Corporation has partnered with Google Maps to provide customers with a real-time flight tracking channel on its signature seatback televisions to map the aircraft's route. To celebrate, the low-fare, high-frills airline is launching a "JetBlue Point of View" photo contest(a), inviting customers to share their own summer travel routes on a Google Maps mash-up on www.jetblue.com/google. >> Full Story

Thoughts// A new use and partnership for Google Maps. Using the Google Maps technology JetBlue will offer real-time flight tracking both online and in-flight. Another good example of a company (JetBlue) using another companies (Google) strengths and assests to it's avantage.

Northwest Airlines Offers PayPal Option To Customers

Northwest Airlines said Thursday it will offer customers the option of paying for tickets purchased on its Web site using the online payment service PayPal.

Customers will be able to use credit and debit cards as well as bank accounts to purchase tickets via PayPal. The move makes Northwest the first airline to accept PayPal for bookings, PayPal said.

Shares of Northwest Airlines Corp. -- which exited bankruptcy protection in May -- rose 29 cents to $22.47 in afternoon trading. Shares of eBay, which owns PayPal, shed 5 cents to $32.03 in afternoon trading.

Thoughts// By offering the PayPal option to its customers, Northwest becomes the first airline in the industry to offer an alternate, e-commerce method of payment. Initially only available to WorldPerks frequent flyer members, the PayPal option will allow customers to pay for original tickets with the digital e-commerce provider. This is PayPal's first venture into the lucrative online travel marketplace.