Travel is My Life; Work and Pleasure

Whats the major difference between buying online and buying through a travel agent?

When you go online you buy what you see on the spot; i.e. instant purchase, you insert your credit card and you guarantee the price you see.

The process with the travel agent is more like a stock option - you buy an option to purchase, usually 24 hours before you need to purchase (issue ticket) actually, its best valid until same day 23:59 (its a system issue, dont ask why…)

ClickAir, the Spanish Low Cost Airline, has come up with a new feature; come online; freeze your price, and you have it for 24-72 hours.  They believe this will allow users to better plan their holidays and will increase sales on ClickAir.

Moreover, I see the synergy between such a tool and social networks when you wish to plan your vacation with more friends, this is “must be” widget on facebook and others.

Alex Cruz CEO of ClickAir whom I met in person a few times is an amazing person, and he is always ahead of others - good on you mate.

www.Fly.comhas just cost TravelZoo $1.7M - and i was sure we are in difficult time or whats it called; Recession…

Its funny, as i read my favorit writers Phil Daviswho quoted TravelZoo Senior VP “The name is a perfect match for TravelZoo’s renowned approach; simple, fun and world class”

Can one teach me how Simple and World Class go hand in hand…

 Anyhow; I am selling a few domains if someone has some “change” to spare

GRAB A BLANKET !!!

Airlines have been cutting on extras; and blankets are accessories which seems easy to be eliminated…

That been said; airlines are pumping more cold into the aircraft; in order to reduce passengers mobility - safety moreover, easier life for the crew.

Flights are getting chilly, grab grab grab… or freeze your ass!

Air Asia X has confirmed first flight on the route London (UK) to Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia) will be in March 2009.

The advertised price is 99 GBP round trip… the airline will operate 5 times a week, carrying 286 passengers a direction.

I wonder what do; CEO Tony Fernandes & Owner Sir Richard Branson think they will be doing better than Oasis Airlines who closed their sole route London HongKong a couple of months ago.

Are there so many more Brits going to Malaysia - I thought HongKong will be a larger and by far more important hub of service.

At first it looks fun, even cool; so many low cost airlines on the runway. Having taken the picture I wondered about 2 issues:

The Reasoning; does departure punctuality = no penalties;
The Consequences: is it safe to be all “standing” there together so close?
Facts, data, and knowledge is more than welcomed to be shared here.

I flew out of Stansted Airport a couple of days ago; quite an experience; I assume its due to the crowd - the Low Cost Airlines Travelers. 
At the current situation everyone wants to cut costs, I just wonder at what price. In my humble opinion as long as passengers’ safety is not on the line all means are acceptable.

If you look at the photos you would be able to see that all the airlines; EasyJet, Air Berlin, Ryanair, Thomson; all connect to the Air Sleeve Terminal for passengers to be able to board and off board safely. However, you will see the; “take a walk on the tarmac” style of German-Wings Airlines who are saving money by not paying for such services to Stansted Airport.

Why use the old style AirStair when the airport is equipped with top of the range Jetways, afterall, Stansted Airport is a well equipped, designed and functions like a Low Cost Airline hub.

Its not me who says it; you could all watch Ryanair CEO; Michael O’Leary saying it out loud;
Ryanair at a press conference talking about flying UK to USA - over the Atlantic for funny prices. Thus, if you fly transatlantic for 10 Euro you would probably have to pay for the BJ whereas, in his business class its gonna be for free…

Thats an airline i want to fly with tonight

ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh i am fed up of this stupid situation.

Too many travel companies collapse, when will it stop? where will it take us? It has such a hugh effect on it all, its crazy.

We have heard and read a great deal about Iceland in the past month; the world’s financial situation has crashed the country to pieces, actually shreded it.

It has been publically announced today, that Sterling DK has shut its operation and all flights are cancelled.

What a shame, we have lost today an amazing low cost airline; Sterling, which served Europe greatly by connecting West and East with Scandinavia for reasonable prices.

I hope they will find an investor to lift them back up in the sky.

We have all seen how the grand XL Group UK has collapsed in a matter of days, and yet on its grounds here comes Kiss Flights and rises up from the same place, only looking into the profitable routes and destinations of its previous operator.

I wish them luck; http://www.kissflights.com//Agents/Default.aspx

I am not talking about the size of my shirt…

XL.com the UK largest tour operator has collapsed & stopped trading on Sep 12th.

There are over 100,000 Brits stuck overseas wondering how would they get home. The message on XL home page was not that clear about who will be taking them home, moreover, who will be paying their bills for the already paid accommodation, car rental and cruises.

The UK based company has closed all operations in the UK leaving the French and German divisions fully operative.

If I was to choose whom to book my next holiday I am not sure I would buy from a French or German subsidiary of a UK closed company… after they have left tens of thousands of their own clients / tourists stuck away from home.

The Travel Industry is definitely going through a rough stage, the smart operators will survive.

A couple of months ago I have written about the Trans Atlantic Open Sky revolution, and here it comes; British Airways has announced to open OpenSkies new low cost airlines (www.flyopenskies.com). Not a surprise that they chose the French market to start with; (June 19th). Following the closure of 2 low cost airlines flying the Atlantic from the UK, British Airways has decided to compete with Lavion.

Prices are not bad at all, and divided to 3 categories; Business, Premium and Economy.

Round trip restricted fares; NYC PAR NYC: Business; $2450, Premium; $1525, Economy; $1155

Round Trip restricted fares PAR NYC PAR; Business; €1420, Premium; €1019, Economy; €706

A bug;

I tried to check one way prices and the site seems to display one way but the prices are of round trips.

Have a great flight; I like the Open Sky revolution.

A few months have passed since SouthWest Airlines have taken the big step and changed its homepage GUI (Graphical User Interface), shifting the booking engine from the left side position which is the conventional worldwide standard, to the right side panel - the first and only airline to do so.

The New look:
The Old Look:
I wonder what made SouthWest Airlines lead to such action to move the booking panel, which is the “Action Item” to the right which is known to be the users visibility dark side; also known as the Z shape Eye Tracking Methodology. Moreover, I am very curious to see actual website usability results, and I will be looking forward to see other airlines, especially Low Cost Airlines, following this step, if the results are positive.

The only other airline which I found to have moved the action item; booking engine, from the left side panel is the Indian Low Cost Airline SpiceJet;

Had I had to analyze the results only according to blog reports, I would say the change has done only good to SouthWest Airlines, though; blog comments can be adjusted and thus biased if needed. I have read the comments on the SouthWest Airlines blog, where consumers love the new look, and find it much easier to navigate.

It could just be that SouthWest Airlines have decided to dedicate the hot spot to strengthen their brand name and logo.

Other Airlines website to compare look & feel; left side booking panel.

I am sad to announce, yet again, of another airline which has closed down.

Eos, a 48 seats all business class airline, flew from London to New York, is the second all business class airline to close down operations in less than 4 months.
What have they being doing wrong? What should SilverJet do in order not to drop down like its ex-competitors?

Unfortunately, quality does not win it all.

In the past 3 years I have studied and specialized in the LCC industry (Low Cost Carriers), not only that, I was the founder of a startup which we had to close a few months back, called Skylow.com - allowing users to book low cost airlines under a single interface.

Whenever I had to speak about low cost airlines and whenever I presented the sophisticated algorithm which was developed to find the low fares of 0 (yes, yes Zero) + airport taxes air fares I was stopped and asked; “But how come…, you have an algorithm mistake”

Watch the clip, it will answer your question of how the Low Cost Airlines, such as Ryanair, EasyJet, Virgin Blue and many other make their money…

Farecast, founded by Prof. Yair Ezioni, is a smart Travel Meta Search with a sophisticated algorithm which predicts according to previous years, dates, days, hours and competition the price fluctuation and variation which will help the user to determine whether to buy now or wait as price is predicted to fall.

Currently prediction market is focused US market, and limited Canadian cities.

Personally, I believe in the concept, but it’s still very early. For example, low cost airlines such as; Virgin America, Jet Blue and SouthWest airlines who have a great impact on internal US travel prices, if not the greatest impact after fuel prices, are not included in the equation.

Having said that, I am very happy to see the growth of the online travel, and the growth in the travel industry buyouts, such as:

Kayak and SideStep

TripAdvisor and Holiday Watch Dog

TripAdvisor and SeatGuru

TripAdvisor and Cruise Critic,

TravelGuru & Desiya

Sadly the first low cost airlines to link Europe and Asia (Oasis Hong Kong), has decided to fold its wings and close down operation.

Oasis Airlines Hong Kong established Oct 2006 and flew daily from Hong Kong to London and Hong Kong to Vancouver. Their prices ranged from as low as 75 USD each direction to / from UK.

The CEO, Stephen Miller, “It is with great regret that Oasis Hong Kong Airlines has today voluntarily applied to the Hong Kong courts to appoint a liquidator.”

The national carrier; Cathay Pacific has stepped in to help, taking into consideration the holiday period and the large number of families with children who have lost their way home…

As nicely said by Cathay Pacific Airlines CEO; Tony Tyler: “We sympathize with the many passengers in Hong Kong, London and Vancouver who have been stranded by the Oasis’ decision, and we will do our very best to help them through this difficult and stressful period,”

I wish them all luck, and their thousands of passengers an easy and safe flight home.

AirAsia has been recognized as one of the World’s most innovative companies by “Fast Company Magazine“.

Air Asia being the first and only making it the only South East Asian brand, moreover, the only airline to have made it on the “Fast 50″ list. The list consists branded companies such as; Nike, Google, Disney, Facebook, IBM, GE & BMW.

A few months back I have attended a seminar where Tony Fernandes has spoken about the innovation and out of the box thinking philosophy of his company. Mr Fernandes has highlighted the importance of such philosophy which leads their strategy. This has brought the young company to a steady expansion, growth and profitability, which is driven by customer loyalty and retention.

Lookout for Mr. Fernandes new venture; Air Asia has introduced AirAsiaX (FAX) the Asian Low Cost Long Haul Carrier. Their young appointed CEO Mr. Azran Osman has announced that by late 2008 FAX will fly from Asia to Europe for as low as 17 GBP a direction - I am looking forward to that.

It has been a tough week for the US & Hawaiian Low Cost Airlines Industry. 2 major airlines; ATA who has been 35 years in the air, and Aloha Airlines 62 years flying; have stopped their services.

While the American Continent has not seen much growth and prosperity in the Low Cost Airline business, Europe & Asia are still growing.Fast growth is also seen in Middle East; with Etiad (Abu Dhabi) advising on opening their new LCC (low Cost Carrier) and Brazil, with GOL Airlines leading the local industry, will enjoy new competition from Jet Blue founder, David Neeleman, who is planning to start flying

Having studied the market thoroughly and been involved in the Low Cost Airlines first booking engine (www.skylow.com) I believe that an airline needs to be born as a low cost airline, rather than transform its self to one. It is in its DNA, it’s all about the culture, the way its run, operate and perceived. Therefore, we will be seeing more low cost airlines emerging, and more conventional airlines and charter companies who try to “convert” to a low cost closing down under chapter 11.

Effective Sunday 30th March 2008 for the first time European Airlines will be allowed to fly from any point in Europe to any point in the USA without any restriction, i.e. European Airlines will be able to fly from anywhere, thus, not only from their home town , no limit on the number of times per day, at any given price!!!

Jacques Barrot, Vice-President of the European Commission in charge of Transports. “This agreement is the most ambitious air services deal ever negotiated. The two biggest aviation markets, encompassing 60% of world traffic”

I believe that we will shortly see airlines such as EasyJet, Ryanair, Air Berlin, Condor, Thomson Fly, Clickair, SkyExpress, and many others fly for crazy low prices, as low as $0.01 a direction + taxes.

Which will enhance the use of Low Cost Airlines Booking Engines who engage with lowest internet travel fares, such as Skylow.com

There are over 50 million passengers a year flying across the Atlantic, which means there is plenty of room for quality, low fare, low cost competition.

This will open up new destinations; I personally believe that destination such as Orlando, Dallas, Las Vegas, San Francisco, San Jose and mostly Seattle will see more direct traffic.

The effect of the US Dollar has a great impact on the Europeans travelling to the US, enjoying high return on their local currency; the Euro.

Having said that, this matter will enhance issues such as; Airport congestion (example; the fiasco of British Airways Terminal 5), the environment, secondary airports and most of all the security. On the other hand, it is estimated that approximately 100,000 new jobs will open up on each side of the Atlantic.

I was invited to the World Low Cost Airlines in London, where i met over 60 representatives of low cost airlines from around the globe - it was amazing.

After a couple of hours I have realized that business will not be conducted in the congress hall, but outside near the chocolate fountain…

You need to understand that the Low Cost Airlines revolution is changing the industry; numbers are increasing, and over 25% of the worlds travelers traffic is done on Low Cost Carriers. Many of those I have met in the conference; the leaders of the Airlines industry; Ryanair; EasyJet, Air Asia, Sky Express, Click Air, Jet Blue, South West, Virgin Blue, Aer Aerarann, Air Berlin, Air Arabia, Air Deccan, Jazeera Airways, Cimber, Mango, FireFlyz, FlyBe, Baboo, Who, Germanwings, Kulula, Gol, Central Wings, BMI Baby , Condor, King Fisher, Jet Star Asia, LTU, Monarch, Oasis Air, Sky Europe, Sterling, Vueling, Thomson, Norwegian, Iceland Express, HLX, Aer Lingus, Pegasus, Spring Airlines, Sverige, Tiger, Virgin Nigeria, Volaris, Wizz, Sama, Spice, Go Air, 1Time, Aegean, Jet 2, Zoom, 1 2 Go, Meridiana, Atlas Blue, Globespan, TUI, Helvetic, Rex, Volare, Sky Mark, Lion, Nok, Do, Virgin USA, Sky Bus, Liat, Nature, ATA, Sun Country, XL, Hooters, My, Indigo, Alma, Air Tran, Transavia, Blue 1, Ocean, Click MX, Corendon, Alpi Eagles, LAL, AirSouth, Daallo, and more.

The prices of the low cost airlines are hard to grasp, how can an airline fly so many people at $0.01 ?! And if they do how can they still be in business?!

Well, having studied the industry of the low cost airlines for many years I must agree with the airlines, and strongly support their actions, they manage to fly people for low prices and be very profitable.

My visit there was as the CEO of a startup which believes to have developed a unique booking engine system which aggregates low cost airlines into one simple website; Skylow: www.skylow.com . Skylow is the Global Distribution System (GDS) of the low cost airlines. Worldwide there are only 4 GDS systems which enable users to book flights. Those systems are for on line and off line users; i.e. main street travel agencies & online booking engines like Expedia, Orbitz & Travelocity. Having said that, the 4 systems; Amadeus, Worldspan, Galileo & Sabre, can only support Conventional Airlines; example; American Airlines, British Airlines, ELAL, Lufthansa, United Airlines and the many others. Therefore, the idea behind Skylow is to support the 220 airlines which do not appear on the systems, their bookings can only be done directly on the airline website.

I will elaborate more on the Low Cost industry soon,

Fly Low Cost - use Skylow.com