Nearly five months after Google Inc. bought a
Massachusetts flight-information software company, the Internet giant
has unleased the fruits of that $700-million purchase.
Google’s
airfare search tool was unveiled last week, offering what Google says
is a faster, more flexible online tool for finding the lowest fare
between two locations. Reviews have been mixed, but Google says it plans
to upgrade the site soon.
The tool — found at
www.google.com/flights — shows only domestic, round-trip, economy-class
fares. Flights to many small cities are not included.
The
Google site shows prices for all carriers and enables travelers to
filter flights by price, number of stops and duration. Other features
let travelers see ticket prices over a span of dates and from several
airports in a region at the same time.
But none of this is groundbreaking. The big advantage of the Google site is its speed.
“It’s
almost instantaneous,” said Ed Perkins, a contributing editor for the
website Smarter Travel. For now, he said, the site won’t be very popular
with business travelers, who typically want a selection of seat classes
and don’t have much flexibility in their schedules.
The
April acquisition of ITA, the flight-information software company, had
unnerved other travel industry players, which worried that it would give
Google too much influence over the online travel industry.
For
good reason, Perkins said. “Anybody who competes with Google should be
worried, just because it’s Google and they have the resources and the
clout.”
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PERKS EXPECTED ON THE ROAD
Business travelers are expected to hit the road again, and they want hotels to step up with free amenities.
Those
are among the conclusions of a survey of more than 2,000 adults,
including 780 business travelers, conducted by Harris Interactive on
behalf of hotel giant Best Western International Inc.
In
the survey, 73 percent of business travelers said they plan to travel
the same or more this fall than they did last fall. When it comes to
hotel amenities, 74 percent of business travelers said they expect free
parking and 65 percent expect breakfast to be included in the rate. And
80 percent said they want free Internet access on the road.
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L.A. HOTEL TO PUT IPADS IN ROOMS
When
it comes to free in-room amenities, the Four Seasons Hotel Los Angeles
at Beverly Hills is offering more than extra towels and tiny shampoo
bottles. Starting Oct. 3, all 285 rooms and suites will have Apple
Inc.’s iPad 2 tablet computers.
But the tablets
are not freebies. Guest can use the high-tech gadgets to order room
service, call for the valet to have a car ready, make dinner
reservations and call for housekeeping, among other services.
You
can use the iPad to do all this free of charge, but if you want to use
it to connect to the wireless Internet in the room, there is a fee.
The
hotel said it is the first Four Seasons in the world to put iPad 2s in
the rooms. What’s to keep you from walking off with it?
If the iPad is missing after you check out, the hotel will charge you $800.
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©2011 the Los Angeles Times
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