Travel

Skift Take The changes come as the Department of Transportation released a final rule that will require airlines to disclose all fees associated with add-on perks. Meghna Maharishi Frontier Airlines is changing the structure of its pricing scheme and getting rid of change fees for most of its fare classes, as part of a wider

Skift Take Airbnb appeared to have begun a wave of delistings for its travel experiences offerings, upsetting some operators. However, Airbnb has made it clear that it remains committed to the experiences business, with plans to boost customer awareness of the category. Jesse Chase-Lubitz Airbnb appeared to be doing a larger-than-usual purge of its travel

Skift Take There is a sea change taking place in how banks – and particularly how credit cards – interact with the travel industry. Watch what Skift Research has to say. Seth Borko Earlier this week, Skift Research’s Seth Borko and Pranavi Agarwal hosted a LinkedIn Live session to discuss the evolving role of credit

Skift Take Expedia Group wouldn’t provide additional details on the sudden exits of the two executives. Dennis Schaal One week after Ariane Gorin took over as the new CEO of Expedia Group, the company issued a statement Friday that Chief Technology Officer Rathi Murthy, and Sreenivas Rachamadugu, senior vice president, core services product & engineering,

Skift Take Chinese brand Ji Hotels wants to expand outside its home land, starting with the Middle East. Josh Corder As Chinese travel into the Middle East continues to increase, one of the country’s largest hotel operators sees an opportunity. While it’s not as commonly known in the West, H World is a giant in

Skift Take The roll-out comes at a sensitive time for the carrier as the FAA continues a major safety review into the company’s operations.  Gordon Smith United Airlines has premiered its new pre-flight safety video. The company says it has been designed “to capture and keep the attention of even the most frequent travelers.” The video features more than 1,000 real

Skift reported recently that Saudi’s Vision 2030 is too expensive for tourists: If it eventually wants 70 million international visitors, it’s going to need more supply of hotels that don’t cost thousands of dollars a day.  The Saudi Tourism Authority was quick to acknowledge the issue: The STA pointed to developments beyond the most high-profile

Skift Take After much debate on certain policies, the FAA Reauthorization Bill passed Congress on Tuesday, extending the federal agency’s authority for the next five years. Meghna Maharishi The House of Representatives overwhelmingly passed the Federal Aviation Administration Reauthorization Bill, which will now codify automatic refunds and guaranteed family seating into U.S. law.  The bill

Skift Take Today’s podcast looks at Google’s new AI tool, Ariane Gorin’s new plans for Expedia Group, and Qantas’ change in routes to China. Rashaad Jorden Good morning from Skift. It’s Wednesday, May 15. Here’s what you need to know about the business of travel today. Listen Now 🎧 Subscribe Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Overcast | Google Podcasts | Amazon Podcasts Episode

Skift Take Google is fully in its Gemini era. That’s what executives repeated as they showcased how AI pulls information from across its products to create detailed trip plans and more. Justin Dawes Google is diving head first into AI-powered trip planning.  Gemini Advanced, the paid version of the Gemini generative AI chatbot, will soon be able

Skift Take Despite being Australia’s national airline, Qantas couldn’t compete effectively with a torrent of competition from Chinese carriers. Gordon Smith Qantas is withdrawing from mainland China as it battles intense competition from local carriers. From July 28, the Sydney to Shanghai route will be scrapped. The Australian flag carrier cited “low demand” for the

Skift Take Though ChatGPT still has issues and many of its features are in experimental phases, the continued updates paint a clearer picture of the future digital travel assistant. Justin Dawes Travelers could have a robotic voice translator in their pocket with the next updates to ChatGPT. That was the most significant travel-related feature in a

Even by Saudi standards, the goals are ambitious: By 2030, the country wants 330 million passengers to pass through its airports annually, up from around 112 million last year. To get there, the Saudi airline sector is growing faster than almost anywhere on the planet. New carrier Riyadh Air has grabbed most of the attention. However, there’s another shift underway:

Skift Take Though the new Alaska Airlines AI flight search tool has issues, it’s an early glimpse at how the future of airline loyalty tech and search could look. Justin Dawes Alaska Airlines is testing an AI-powered flight search tool meant to inspire travelers during the early stages of trip planning and help them redeem

Skift Take The European Union’s rule gives a glimpse into how the U.S. may enforce its automatic refunds policy – though there are key differences. Meghna Maharishi When the Biden administration announced airlines would be required to automatically refund passengers for significantly delayed or canceled flights, the airline industry claimed there were unanswered questions.  Are

The Kayak website launched to the public in May 2004 as a pioneer in travel metasearch. When Kayak had its IPO in 2012, it was such a big deal in the travel and tech world that Skift published a live blog to follow every development. A few months later, Priceline Group – now called Booking Holdings

Skift Take No one ever said revamping the nuts, bolts and servers of a sprawling Expedia Group would be easy. How 2024 plays out will say a lot about whether all that toil was worth it. Dennis Schaal Expedia Group’s Peter Kern is handing off the CEO title to Ariane Gorin on May 13 as

Skift Take Soho House is continuing its streak of losing money every year since its founding in 1995. But it also appears to be improving on key metrics. Sean O’Neill Soho House’s share price closed Friday up 3%, with investors modestly liking what the membership club operator had to say about its recent performance. “It’s