Visitors to Travelocity can now click on the lowest destination fare and
immediately view a 90-day calendar that shows the flight’s availability.
“By moving their trips by just a few days, consumers may save hundreds of
dollars,” noted Terrell B. Jones, president and CEO.
The new service, which Travelocity said took 18 months and $5 million to
develop, is based on an entirely new Unix-based pricing platform. The
platform allows the online travel agent to take key components of the
fare-search process, such as fares and flight availability, off the
mainframe so it can sort through millions of variables.
“This will make searching more efficient for customers and give
Travelocity an even better ability to meet the unique needs of online
shoppers,” Jones said.
It’s a busy day for the online travel field. Microsoft’s Expedia subsidiary additionally announced upgrades and expansions in its online travel service.
In related news, Travelocity reported a strong fourth quarter for 2000.
Closing out the year with nearly 25 million registered members, the company
reported that gross travel bookings more than doubled to $2.5 billion.
In a published statement, the company said it “has a good chance
of reporting its first profit come the second quarter of the year.”
Travelocity’s stock price has gone up since this
morning. Opening at about $19, the company’s stock was selling at $21 per
share as of press time.
