Travel Blog
The latest news and notes from the Travel team
ITA by Google and MileWise let you search flights in cash, miles and points on your mobile phone
Thursday, December 20, 2012
Recently, we
introduced
MileWise as one of our newest QPX™ customers. MileWise presents users with real-time flight prices shown in cash, airline miles, and hotel and credit-card points -- on one screen. MileWise also tracks traveler reward program balances, status and expirations, combining that data with travel and redemption preferences, to recommend the best way to pay.
Now, MileWise users can search with our QPX pricing and shopping technology on
milewise.com
and
their iPhones (Android will be available in Q1 2013). This means MileWise users have improved speed and range of search options whether they’re using their desktop, laptop, tablet or mobile device.
Here’s a snapshot of some of the features MileWise users have access to with MileWise for iPhone:
Innovative search features enabled by QPX
Combo Fares: combine two one-way tickets for big potential savings
Recent Searches: quickly re-try searches to see if that mileage seat has opened up
Search Filters: full set of filters so users can find exactly what they’re looking for
More innovative features for MileWise users
Track 500+ programs (including airlines, hotels, credit cards and many others)
Explore great places to go using individual points and rewards
Expiration Alerts: never lose hard-earned miles and points again
Receive Price Alerts
Activity notifications when status level or balance changes
Sanjay Kothari, Co-founder, MileWise, said “To become the best one-stop travel search engine, we needed an amazing mobile offering. With ITA's help, we believe we were able to deliver that. And, our Android mobile and tablet versions will be released in the first quarter 2013.”
Congrats to MileWise for their successful launch. MileWise for iPhone is available for download at
https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/milewise/id548797388?mt=8
.
To learn more about ITA by Google, visit
www.itasoftware.com
.
Posted by Asif Khan, Sales and Business Development Manager
A better, faster travel planning experience: 2012 updates
Wednesday, December 19, 2012
(Cross-posted on the
Google Inside Search blog
)
Google aims to help people turn their intents into actions, lightning fast. For travelers, this means we’re helping to take the complexity out of planning a trip by making it fast and easy for users to find the information they need to plan their next journey. Whether you’re looking for information about flights, hotels, activities or destinations, we have tools to help you -- and they are easily accessible for people on the go. Some of our favorite new functionality is outlined below.
More information, better presentation
This year, we’ve made some changes to the user interface of Flight Search, and added features that offer more information about amenities and fees; we did this to help users feel well-informed, and to help them quickly choose the best itinerary.
For instance, you can now quickly compare multiple destinations and multiple days simultaneously, using live prices, with our recently introduced experimental feature called Flight Explorer. Try it at
www.google.com/flights/explorer
.
Flight Explorer experiment search results page
You can also use a number of new features to tailor your flight shopping:
More easily calculate the total cost of your trip by taking a look at the baggage fees displayed next to each flight option
Choose a flight offering in-air connectivity by viewing a new indicator noting flights that offer Wi-Fi
Consider a little more luxury in the sky by comparing the cost of flying business or first class instead of coach
Easily plan complex itineraries -- such as those including multiple stops, or trips that involve a flight into one city and a return trip from another -- without confusion, using our new, user-friendly interface
Multi-city trip, Wi-Fi availability indicator, upgrade cost and checked baggage fees
Going global
In March, we made it possible for users to find flights to more than 500 destinations outside the US. Soon after, we enabled this capability for
any
international destination airport, for flights originating from the US or Canada. Globetrotters can try these features at
www.google.com/flights
, or just type your departure city and destination in the search box.
Results for international destination flight
And late this year, we rolled out localized versions of Hotel Finder in France, Italy, Germany, Spain, Switzerland, Austria, Portugal, UK and Ireland. Now, people in those areas can search for and view hotel options in their own language and currency.
Helping people make informed hotel choices
In 2012, we made it even easier to find and book the right hotel for you using Hotel Finder. We also added more content including Zagat reviews and amenities. Hotel Finder now shows the price and availability for a choice of room types.
Pricing information, reviews, hotel details on Hotel Finder
Varying room types on Hotel Finder
You can try these features, and others, at
www.google.com/hotels
.
Empowering road warriors, delivering better destination data
In September, we made it easier for you to find the information needed to plan a trip, whether you’re searching via desktop,
smartphone
or
tablet
.
Soon after, updates to
Google Now
offered a number of ways for you to stay informed while on the go:
Automatic flight status notifications
Updates on weather at your destination
Showcase of events happening nearby
Website suggestions to help you explore as you research things to do
Electronic boarding pass cards for ease of travel
Google now travel cards
Finally, you can easily tap into the collective intelligence of the web to uncover a list of information relevant to your destination, using the Knowledge Graph carousel -- and hopefully, find inspiration.
Knowledge Graph carousel list of activities in Rome
Stay tuned for more. We think you’ll love what we have coming your way in 2013.
Posted by Jeremy Wertheimer, Vice President, Travel
New Google Now: the perfect travel companion for the holidays
Thursday, December 06, 2012
(Cross-posted on the
Android Official blog
)
Now Dasher! Now Dancer! Now, Prancer and Vixen! On, Comet! On, Cupid! On, Donner and Blitzen! For Santa’s holiday travel this season,
Google Now
is just the prescription.
As you head off this holiday season, the latest update to Google Now makes it even more useful for traveling. Before you even leave your house, Google Now will tell you what the weather will be like at your destination (just in time to make sure you remember to pack those mittens). At the airport, your boarding pass is automatically pulled up, helping you breeze through to the gate (launching shortly for United Airlines, with more to come). And once you've arrived at your destination, Google Now can help you uncover some great activities, by showing you events happening around you, suggesting websites for you to explore as you research things to do, or allowing you to learn more about specific pieces while you’re at a museum (using Google Goggles).
All of this builds on top of some of the other cards designed for travel, like the currency conversion, translation, and flight status cards -- hopefully taking a little bit of the stress out of holiday travel so you can focus on family and fun.
We're also making Voice Search even more powerful: you can find out the name of the song that’s playing (“What’s this song?”), quickly find product info (“Scan this barcode”) and post updates to Google+ simply by using just your voice.
These goodies are waiting for you in the updated
Google Search
app, available on
Google Play
for devices running Android 4.1, Jelly Bean, or higher.
Posted by Baris Gultekin, Product Management Director
ANA renews QPX™ agreement with ITA Software
Wednesday, December 05, 2012
We’re happy to announce that All Nippon Airways (ANA), Japan’s largest airline and one of our first QPX™ customers in Asia, has signed a new multi-year agreement for continued use of ITA’s pricing and shopping engine.
ANA launched QPX in 2008, utilizing our advanced airfare shopping tools to provide international airfare search on
www.ana.co.jp
. ANA has since expanded their international search capabilities to incorporate calendar, flexible date shopping and multi-city. Most recently, ANA added slice-by-slice search capabilities which allows travelers to customize their itinerary by selecting departure and return options separately.
Headquartered in the Shiodome area in Minato, Tokyo, ANA operates service to 49 destinations in Japan and 31 international routes. They’ve been a great partner and we’re excited to continue supporting their growth and expansion into other international markets over the next several years.
To learn more about ITA Software, visit
www.itasoftware.com
.
Posted by Lewis Chang, Sr. Technical Account Manager
ITA by Google and MileWise let you search flights in cash, miles and points
Monday, October 08, 2012
As one of our newest customers, MileWise recently launched our QPX™ pricing and shopping technology on
milewise.com
. MileWise presents users with real-time flight prices shown in cash, airline miles, and hotel and credit-card points -- on one screen. MileWise also tracks traveler reward program balances, status and expirations, combining that data with travel and redemption preferences, to recommend the best way to pay.
Using QPX improves the speed and range of options for their users -- and limits results to only those that are available. QPX also enables MileWise to better deliver innovative features for their customers such as Price Alerts, Combo Prices and Explore.
Price Alerts notify travelers when a “Saver” award or cheap cash fare becomes available for a desired trip.
Combo Prices let travelers easily mix and match different ways to pay for a flight. These prices can be cheaper and let travelers with less rewards still use them for travel.
Explore inspires travelers by showcasing awesome award prices and fantastic fares for dream destinations and popular places.
Another feature popular with MileWise users is the WisePrice index that ranks flights based on total price, miles earned (including bonuses) and personalized reward values.
Sanjay Kothari, Co-founder, MileWise, said “The choice for us became clear. To be a one-stop travel search engine, we need the best cash fare inventory, fast response times and powerful search capabilities. That meant partnering with ITA. We’re now able to provide more personalized and flexible searching capabilities and return the lowest prices for vastly more routes.”
We’re looking forward to working with MileWise as they continue to expand their offerings.
To learn more about ITA by Google, visit
www.itasoftware.com
.
Posted by Asif Khan, Sales and Business Development Manager
Travelers can now access Flight Search from their tablets
Friday, September 28, 2012
(Cross-posted on the
Google Inside Search blog
)
More and more travelers are using tablets to search for and book travel. In fact,
46% of all US tablet owners
who search for travel, actually purchase via their tablet. We also know that people use their tablets differently than they use their desktop. That’s why we’ve optimized our
Flight Search
experience for those who prefer to search with a tablet, such as a Nexus 7 or an iPad.
Starting today, travelers can search for and book flights on any tablet device by going to
http://www.google.com/flights/
. With the touch of your finger, you can easily explore places to visit on the map and see prices updated in real-time for each destination.
If you’re flexible with your dates you can also use our lowest fares tool and scroll across days, weeks and months to find the cheapest dates to take your trip. Your results will be updated super-fast, even when you switch dates or destinations.
We hope this makes planning your next trip easier and more enjoyable -- whether you’re using your desktop, laptop,
mobile device
or tablet. We look forward to your continued feedback on
Flight Search
.
Posted by Rani Manoharan, User Interface Designer, Travel
Oktoberfest anyone?
Friday, September 21, 2012
(Cross-posted on the
Google Inside Search blog
)
If you’re thinking about attending
the 179th Oktoberfest
, there’s still time. It runs September 22 -October 7 in Munich, Germany. Just in case you’re planning a trip, we’ve assembled some tips for how you can use Google tools like Flight Search, Hotel Finder, Maps and Transit to help you plan an amazing trip -- whether you’re using your desktop, laptop or on your Android device.
If you want to figure out the best beer tents to visit, this
Google Map
will be a great place to turn during the event (will be live 09/22/12). When the pin over the tent is green, the tent still has seating and is open. When the pin is red, the tent is closed because of overfilling.
My favorite tent is the Hippodrom, a smaller tent frequented by a younger crowd -- and recently discovered by celebrities. It offers beer -- of course -- but also has a sekt (sparkling wine) bar that is pretty stylish. You should plan on arriving early if you want to visit.
You can also see live pics from Oktoberfest by clicking on various webcams on the
map
. This capability is very useful in providing information to help you choose the tents you’re most interested in visiting.
You might also want to plan ahead and consider the crowds and traffic. With Google Maps for Android, you can take a look at live traffic to see if you want to drive -- or choose to just walk, bike or take transit.
If you want to see more of Germany, you can use
Google Transit
to reach other cities such as Hamburg or Frankfurt. This navigation tool includes information about Deutsche Bahn (DB) trains and recommends the best transit options, taking into account various factors such as duration and number of Umstiege (transfers/stops). The options are then shown on the map, along with time, train type and duration of the trip. This is especially handy because it’s possible to click through from the transit options page, to purchase your tickets on
bahn.de
without needing to reenter the dates!
And if you’re a non-Bavarian who doesn’t speak German, don’t worry. You can use Google Translate or the official
Oktoberfest dictionary
to communicate with the locals.
So now that your interest is piqued, you’ll probably want to plan a trip right away. You can do so by going to
www.google.com
and searching for [flights to Munich]. Your departure city will be automatically recognized; mine was New York City. As you change your dates, prices will instantly update.
I prefer nonstop flights, so I clicked on “Nonstop” to get a list of flight times available at the $1,073 USD price and then evaluated various attributes of the flights -- including the cost of checked bags for this ticket. Once I picked the flights that worked for me, I clicked the red “Book” button to make my booking via the airline’s website.
Finally, you can use Hotel Finder to find hotels near Oktoberfest in Munich. You can do this by going to
www.google.com/hotelfinder
and entering [Oktoberfest Munich, Germany], along with the dates you plan to be in town. You can use the reviews, images, ratings and pricing information to create a shortlist. Once I selected the hotel I was interested in, I used the red booking button which took me to
www.booking.com
to complete my reservation.
We hope you found these tips helpful. Whether you end up hitting the Wiesn tents this October, or visiting Germany at some point in the future, we hope to help you plan your trip and connect with travel suppliers with ease.
Posted by Noam Ben Haim, Senior Product Manager, Travel
Club Premier achieves rapid results in only six months
Friday, August 10, 2012
Six short months ago, Club Premier
announced
it would be using QPX™ to power online award shopping on
www.clubpremier.com
. They’ve accomplished quite a bit since then, and we wanted to share a quick glimpse:
Grew online flight award redemption nearly 30% by making it easier for members to shop for and redeem Aeroméxico flight awards on their new website.
Introduced calendar shopping for Aeroméxico flights, allowing members to view all available flights within the week or the month they’re interested in traveling.
Improved look to book ratios by more than 2x, a statistic that is well above the industry average.
Dramatically reduced call times for their members and customer service agents, by deploying the same advanced functionality in their call centers.
Jeremy Rabe, CEO at Club Premier, Aeroméxico said, “We’ve been very happy with the initial launch and how quickly we’ve been able to add new functionality to our site since. Our Club Premier members now have even more flexibility and value for their loyalty.”
Check out the full
case study
to learn more about the early results Club Premier has achieved with QPX™.
Posted by Brian Mulvey, Program Manager
Work hard. Serve hard.
Tuesday, July 03, 2012
Each year Googlers across the globe participate in
GoogleServe
, in an effort to give back to the communities that help us grow and thrive. This year GoogleServe took place between June 8-15, with more than 5000 Googlers across the globe participating in 350+ projects. We also expanded the program to include skill based projects like analytics support, resume workshops and scientific training that will give our employees a chance help individuals and corporations year round.
Cambridge based Googlers came out in full force. More than 200+ Googlers participated in 24 projects, covering a wide range of needs in the greater Boston area. Projects took place from Concord to Cambridge, Belmont to Boston and further afield, at great organizations like
Mass Audubon
,
EMARC
,
Gaining Ground Organic Farm
,
Greater Boston Food Bank
and more.
Feedback from recipients and the Cambridge Googlers who participated was enthusiastic. Adam, who attended our ‘Help a Hero Get Hired’ resume workshop, said “I appreciate the time you took to help me on Friday. In 90 minutes working with you, my resume improved more than it had in a week long class... It's nice to know that there are people like you and companies like Google.”
Elizabeth Mills, one of the Google volunteer site leads, said "I loved leading our GoogleServe project at the
Women’s Lunch Place
because we provided extra hands for an organization that helps women in Boston, no questions asked, day in and day out. We couldn't believe the scope of the services this organization offered and were thankful both to be able to give back and learn more about such a great non-profit."
GoogleServe really gives us a chance to revitalize and deepen our connections with the local communities where we work -- and it also helps us build a stronger sense of community with our fellow Googlers. Check out some of the pics from our projects across the globe on the
GoogleServe Google+ page
.
Posted by Jonah Berman, Account Executive, Online Sales | GoogleServe Boston Site Lead
Introducing Flight Search for Canada
Wednesday, June 06, 2012
(Cross-posted on the
Google Inside Search blog
)
Read this post in French
As a child, I remember my father driving us to an open field adjacent to the runway at Montreal’s P.E. Trudeau airport. We sat on the hood of our car and watched the incoming aircraft as they landed before us. There was something special about people embarking on their new journey or returning from a great trip. With the introduction of Google’s Flight Search, people can quickly and easily find flights to embark on their own travel adventures, and starting today, you can use Flight Search to find and book flights from Canadian airports.
If you live in Canada and are thinking of hitting the Florida beaches to celebrate the end of another school year, heading to the Rockies for a getaway, or simply planning a business trip,
Flight Search
can help you quickly and easily find and book your flight.
We’re introducing google.ca/flights in both French and English, with prices for flights in Canadian dollars. Now you can find and book flights from Canadian airports, complete with all the benefits of our Flight Search product:
Find flights quickly with results that load instantly in a format that’s easy to scan.
Discover places to go on a map - see ticket prices for various destinations by surfing the map. You can filter by price, airline, or flight duration.
Find the best time to go - Click the calendar icon to see what dates will get you low prices.
Compare your options by viewing the combination of price and flight duration in a graphical format
Flight Search is also available in French
You can use Flight Search to book travel to over 500 international destinations. If your ideal destination or airline isn't yet available, don’t worry -- we're working hard on expanding our global coverage and adding more routes and airline partners in the future. Our goal is to make booking travel as fast and enjoyable as possible.
Posted by Gianni Marostica, Commercial Director, Travel
Flight Search feeds your sense of adventure
Tuesday, May 08, 2012
In honor of
U.S. National Travel & Tourism Week
, we want to give you a few tips on how Flight Search can help you plan an amazing summer vacation.
My favorite vacation is one where I can have a bit of adventure -- be outdoors, get some exercise and feel the rush. After combing the lists of best places to visit, I set my sights on Moab, Utah. Moab has everything I like in a vacation -- rafting, hiking, rock climbing, mountain biking and four-wheeling. It’s also set within
Monument Valley
, which is the famous backdrop for many Hollywood western movies. And Frommer’s named it the
Top Adventure Destination
in the world this year.
So let’s take a look at how you can use Flight Search to plan your Moab adventure. Begin by going to
www.google.com
and searching for [
flights to Salt Lake City
], the closest airport to Moab. Your departure city will be automatically recognized; mine was Chicago. As you change your dates, prices will instantly update.
I prefer nonstop flights, so I clicked on “Nonstop” to get a list of flight times available at the $466USD price. Once I picked the flights that worked for me, I clicked the red “Book” button to make my booking.
Whether you end up visiting Moab, Utah or some other destination this summer, we hope you have the best travel experience with Google.
Posted by Noam Ben Haim, Senior Product Manager, Travel
Frequent fliers vote American AAdvantage the best overall loyalty program
Friday, May 04, 2012
This year we sponsored the annual
Freddie Awards
, an awards program started by "frequent flyer guru" Randy Petersen, founder of
FlyerTalk.com
and editor of
Insider Flyer Magazine
.
Our customer American Airlines and their AAdvantage loyalty program won the Overall Airline Program of the Year (Americas). American uses our Reward Redemption product to allow AAdvantage members to shop online for flights using miles. Suzanne Rubin, President, American AAdvantage Loyalty Programs, accepted the award.
According to the Freddie Awards blog, “AAdvantage treats elite members well. Many members would say that the program offers the best domestic award availability of any U.S. airline and AAdvantage miles offer some of the most lucrative international award redemptions in the industry. Members are clearly happy after all these years.”
The Freddie Awards were inspired by Sir Freddie Laker, who was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II for his contribution to commercial aviation. Winners are determined by members of frequent traveler programs who vote for their favorite program in a variety of categories. This year over 1.3 million global program members voted for their favorite programs.
The awards ceremony was held on April 26 at the Renaissance Hotel, Newark Airport. Over 400 travel industry executives, journalists and bloggers attended the gala event. The son of Sir Freddie Laker, Freddie Laker Jr., made a special guest appearance and helped emcee the event along with Randy Petersen and actor Robert Wuhl.
Congratulations to American Airlines and
all the winners
!
Posted by Cara Kretz, Sr. Manager Marketing, Communications and Public Affairs, Travel
ITA removes “agony” for Hipmunk engineers
Tuesday, April 10, 2012
Hipmunk
, the winner of Travel + Leisure’s Best Travel Websites 2011, is known for their lovable logo and their commitment to removing “agony” from travel planning. “We wanted to find a way to give people the best high level understanding of results and make it easier to mentally narrow down what the best options are,” said
Adam Goldstein
, co-founder and CEO, Hipmunk.
Hipmunk integrated ITA’s
QPX™
pricing and shopping technology in January 2011, to give travelers more comprehensive results and more flexibility in how those results are displayed. According to Adam, “The way we standardized how the results are displayed was a huge differentiator, and a big reason why people love Hipmunk. We built a site to help users find a way to easily compare schedules, prices, lengths of flights and duration for example. As it turned out our users became passionate about Hipmunk and we see them sharing their Hipmunk experiences with friends, family and colleagues. What we’re doing does
take the agony out of the experience
, and it worked out far better than we hoped!”
Hipmunk recently implemented ITA’s Boombox, a comprehensive integration platform that provides a simple API and hosted service layer for QPX. Adam said, “QPX and Boombox certainly remove agony from our engineers’ lives, allowing them to work a lot more quickly and efficiently to roll out new features that help users.”
I sat down with Adam to ask him about his thoughts on travel technology, the success Hipmunk’s had with QPX over the past year and a few other personal thoughts.
What have you done with QPX that has helped differentiate Hipmunk or been really popular with your users?
There are several things we’ve been able to do with QPX that help remove agony from travel planning, such as:
Calendar shopping,
Multi-city shopping,
Search filters for multiple airlines and flexible dates,
ITA routing language that lets users fine tune search parameters before they click search, and
Integrated airfare shopping results with Google Calendars.
QPX lets us enable people to specify what they want and what they don’t want at the time of search. They can use
special routing notation
to search for certain airlines, cities, flights -- or even specify cities they don’t want to connect through, maybe because those airports are known for having terribly long layovers, frequent delays or weather issues -- all to return the most relevant search results right away. This has been pretty popular with frequent fliers.
Another thing that’s really popped is the ability to interact with people’s calendars. When users log in, they can integrate their Google Calendar with Hipmunk to easily see which flights fit within their schedules. QPX powers that flight search and is super flexible in supporting this integration.
How has Hipmunk benefited the most since working with us?
The quality and speed is great! This applies to the results we return to users as well as the speed in which we’re able to roll out changes to our site. We talked about the Boombox integration earlier -- but it’s nice that our users benefit from new features more often when we don’t have to worry about implementation.
What change in technology has had the biggest impact on the travel industry over the last decade?
The biggest impact? Probably smart phones. We recently saw our first day in which our mobile usage exceeded web usage. Even absent any macro trends, people are finding mobile experiences to be much more seamless and important. And, having the same power on your phone as you do on a desktop is incredible -- especially if you’re stuck in an airport and need to find a flight out. I think more and more of the technical power and experience we have on our mobile devices will migrate to desktops as well.
What have you learned about the travel industry that surprised you?
There are a lot of big companies in this industry that are slow to adapt to change. The systems and websites of some airlines and suppliers make engineering changes extremely slow. We’re really fortunate to be able to iterate as quickly as we do.
What's the funniest thing that's happened to you while traveling?
That depends on your sense of humor. I’ve been stranded and have bumped into people I know half way across the world, in Buenos Aires and Hong Kong. But, one especially funny incident; we were in Turkey, driving through the countryside between two cities about eight hours apart -- basically, in the middle of nowhere. We saw a restaurant called
Mantar Evi
- which means Mushroom House. It sprung up pretty randomly, and the entire menu was all mushrooms. I was pleasantly surprised. Honestly, it was the most delicious and best meal we had on our entire trip.
Check it out
if you’re ever in Korkuteli Turkey.
Hipmunk has been a great team to work with over the past year plus! I’m looking forward to helping them come up with new ways to remove “agony” from the travel planning experience. You can learn more about Hipmunk on their
Google+ page
.
Posted by Scott Myles, Senior Technical Account Manager
What do Air France-KLM travelers get with Affinity Search?
Wednesday, March 21, 2012
The best airfare deals across their combined global network, instantly!
Affinity Search uses ITA Software’s pricing and shopping technology to let travelers search the AFKL global network for the best deals. Results immediately display the lowest price for each destination with an intuitive Google Maps solution. It also includes filters that make it easy for travelers to select flights based on price, dates, duration and more.
When travelers select a point of departure, the new feature instantly returns prices to AFKL destinations worldwide for travel during a period of up to 180 days from the departure date. The traveler can then explore the results returned and complete a booking in a few simple steps.
Martijn van der Zee, SVP of eCommerce, AFKL said they selected ITA to develop Affinity Search because, “We knew they were the best partner for the job. We’ll be able to give our travelers useful features with ITA’s technology and we like their commitment to solving difficult airfare search problems.”
A global leader in air travel and Europe’s largest airline, AFKL has long been focused on driving value for their customers. They soft launched Affinity Search on
airfrance.com
for the Austrian, Finnish, Greek, Italian, Spanish and UK markets, and on
klm.com
for Finland, Greece and Austria. Now, they are progressively extending the functionality to their other country websites.
We can’t wait to see what AFKL does next.
To learn more about ITA, visit
www.itasoftware.com
.
Posted by Nicola Simionato, Head of Account Management, EMEA
Club Premier uses QPX to launch new frequent flyer programs
Monday, March 19, 2012
Mexico’s leading coalition loyalty program and the operator of Aeroméxico’s frequent flyer program, Club Premier, recently launched a completely new website,
www.clubpremier.com
that allows Club Premier members to redeem awards online. Powered by our QPX™ pricing and shopping engine, the new website makes it much easier for members to shop and redeem kilometers for Aeroméxico flights.
As part of the launch, Club Premier introduced two ways for members to use their awards -- using Classic Awards or Always Awards. The Classic Award program offers members the best value for their kilometers. This program uses traditional, fixed mileage awards based on limited availability. As you can see in the example below, Classic Awards are only available for the top two flights traveling from Mexico City to Cancun:
However, the Always Awards program is more flexible. Always Awards point requirements are based on the current availability and price of tickets, but are always available for redemption. This means if a Classic Award is sold out, Club Premier members can still book an Aeroméxico award seat with their Always Awards. This is great for popular routes that sell out quickly.
Using the same example where a traveler wants to go from Mexico City to Cancun, you can see they now have access to all Aeroméxico flights, even those that were previously unavailable using their Classic Award kilometers.
“We’ve been very happy with the product and the people who helped us implement QPX. It was a pleasure working with them” said Jeremy Rabe, CEO, Director General, Club Premier, Aeroméxico. “And, because of the new functionality, our Club Premier members will get even more flexibility and value for their loyalty.”
We’re really pleased to have Club Premier as part of the ITA Software by Google family. We look forward to seeing what comes next.
Posted by Mike Mo, Sales and Business Development Manager
Find flights to destinations worldwide
Thursday, March 15, 2012
(Cross-posted on the
Google Inside Search blog
)
If you’re in the U.S. and thinking of hitting the slopes in the Swiss Alps or heading to Sydney for a getaway, you can now use
Flight Search
to find and book a flight quickly and easily.
Since we
launched
Flight Search, we’ve heard from many globetrotters eager to use the feature to search for destinations outside the U.S. Starting today, you can find flights, including international destinations, from the U.S. quickly and conveniently.
As you consider vacation possibilities, maybe you’d like to go to Australia but are flexible to fly into either Sydney or Perth based on whichever fare is more affordable. A quick click over each city on the map will show the different options available to you almost instantly -- and click the chart next to the dates to show alternative dates so you can make the best choice for your trip.
Likewise, if you’re looking to hop over to Europe for a weekend from New York City and are flexible with your departure and arrival airports, you can see the options for your gateway. We hope you have fun with our latest update to Flight Search.
At this stage we've included more than 500 airports outside the U.S. If your ideal destination isn't yet available, we're working hard on expanding our global coverage and adding more routes in the future. Our goal is to make booking travel as fast and enjoyable as possible.
Posted by Eric Zimmerman, Product Manager
Cape Air takes off with ITA Software’s new airline reservation system
Thursday, March 01, 2012
We’ve long been focused on making travel planning easier and faster for travelers, and helping airlines and travel companies deliver great travel experiences. We started with airfare shopping; today we’re pleased to introduce our new
airline platform
.
Cape Air
, one of the largest independent regional airlines in the U.S.,
launched our new airline platform
this past weekend. Dan Wolf, the CEO of Cape Air, said “It has been about the smoothest technology rollout as I have ever seen. It went so smoothly in fact most customers probably didn’t notice.”
The platform contains software required to run a passenger airline, including a reservation system, inventory control system, departure control system, and more.
We’ve built this system from scratch using modern, modular, scalable technologies. The system’s modern user interfaces make it easy to learn and use. The system’s modern, comprehensive database lets airlines offer customers more personal attention. The modular technology makes it easier to change the system as airline needs change. The system is built to scale to support airlines of all sizes.
The new websites for
capeair.com
and
nantucketairlines.com
enable Cape Air customers to quickly find and book the most relevant flights, and manage changes to their reservations.
We’ve worked to develop a system that is very easy to learn and use, and we’re pleased that Cape Air was able to train its reservations and airport agents in only two days.
Dan Wolf said “Our employees love the system, and we think our passengers will find the way they search, book and travel to be faster, easier and more personal. We’re also excited about our partnership with ITA Software by Google. We will have even more innovative and visionary things coming in 2012.”
In conjunction with this launch, Cape Air also rolled out a
Google+ Page
for its business to promote deals, hang out with customers, announce new products, services, and routes -- and build relationships with a greater number of people.
The system that Cape Air used until last week was first launched 48 years ago. Thank you to the hundreds of people from ITA Software/Google and Cape Air whose dedication and hard work have helped us launch Cape Air into the future.
Posted by Jeremy Wertheimer, Vice President, Travel
Find flights while on the go
Tuesday, February 21, 2012
(Cross-posted on the
Google Inside Search blog
)
Planning trips is fun and exciting, and ideas for where to go on your next adventure can strike you when you're in the most unexpected location. Last week I met a friend for coffee, and he told me about his recent trip to Maui. His story and photos inspired me and I immediately made a note to myself to check flights to Hawaii at home.
Since we launched
Flight Search
back in September, we’ve been hard at work improving the features, increasing coverage and making it easy to
find flight results directly from google.com on your desktop
. Starting today, we're also making it easier to find flights departing from the US on your mobile device.
For example, when you search for [flights from Chicago to Daytona Beach] you’ll see a table that shows available flights, including duration and prices. You can adjust dates on the page, or click any flight to further research and book your trip.
The Flight Search feature on mobile browsers offers all the benefits of Flight search on desktop:
Find flights quickly with results that load instantly and a list that’s easy to scan
Discover places to go on a map - see ticket prices for various destinations by surfing the map. You can filter by price, airline, or flight duration.
Find the best time to go - Click the calendar icon to see what dates will get you low prices.
The feature is available on Android and iOS devices. To learn more about the Flight Search feature, see our tips at
http://www.google.com/insidesearch/flights.html
.
Posted by Gus Prevas, Software Engineer
Customer relationships are key
Thursday, February 02, 2012
Each year we interview our QPX™ pricing and shopping customers to find out what we do well and where we need to improve. Since we started the survey in 2007, we’ve seen satisfaction with our products and service climb. We were especially pleased that this year’s survey yielded strong results. 100% of participants were somewhat or very satisfied with our QPX pricing and shopping products, and 96% were somewhat or very satisfied with the service we provide. One customer said that while there is always room for improvement, the service gets better every year -- from the engineers to the technical support staff to the customer-facing team.
While it’s great to hear the positive feedback, the real value is in what we do with the suggestions for improvement. Our internal teams look forward to hearing the survey results and are focused on coming up with creative solutions to address any suggestions identified by our customers.
My hat’s off to all the teams that focus on making our products even better and giving our customers the tremendous support that keeps them so happy. We’re committed to listening to what our customers want and partnering with them to make them successful. I think that’s what makes these relationships so strong.
Posted by Eli Sanders, Director, Technical Account Management and Customer Support
Find hotels by travel time
Tuesday, January 24, 2012
(Cross-posted on the
Google Inside Search blog
)
Have you ever wanted to visit somewhere while on vacation and realized that getting there from your hotel would be a real trek? Wouldn’t it be great if you could specify how close you wanted to be to that place when searching for a hotel?
Last year we introduced
Hotel Finder
, an experimental tool to help you find hotels, and today, we’ve extended its functionality with a new way to search: ‘Hotels by Travel Time’. Now if you go to Hotel Finder and enter [
Empire State Building
] in the search box, you’ll see the hotels that you can get to by public transport within 20 minutes.
The areas you can easily reach from your point of interest are spotlighted on the map. If 20 minutes is too long to travel or you like to get around on foot, you can easily change the travel time or your mode of transport (e.g., walking, transit). The map will update automatically to show a new spotlighted area and the nearby hotels. You can also drag the red pin to find hotels near other places you might like to visit.
This feature is not only for tourists. You might be travelling on business and want to make sure you can get to the office or that conference center. Check out this example of hotels near [
Canary Wharf, London
].
As well as searching by travel time, you can define your own area to search within (choose “Hotels in selected area”) or find hotels in a city’s most popular locations:
To try it out, simply go to
Hotel Finder
, search for a city or a point of interest and select “Hotels by travel time”. Keep in mind that Hotel Finder and 'Hotels by travel time' are experimental and filtering by transit time is only available in
cities
where we have partnered with local transit agencies to integrate their data into Google Maps. We’d love to hear what you think: just click the “Send Feedback” link in the right-hand corner of Hotel Finder.
Posted by Konrad Gianno, Software Engineer
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