PARSIPPANY, NJ— After much anticipation, Cendant Corp. has officially launched its online travel portal, representing a mix of its recently acquired electronic assets: Trip.com, Galileo, and Cheap Tickets. Under the coveted URL Trip.com, the new portal utilizes the technology of the original Trip site but adds a bevy of unique features. “Trip.com, prior to the [Cendant] acquisition, was focused on business travelers as its key differentiator. It was more of a booking engine,” said Jacob Stepan, COO/Trip Network. “Now [the site’s]changed to a leisure focus and it has a new user interface, more content, and better airline deals.” The revamped site also launched with more 50,000 hotel partners, largely due to participation from Cendant properties. Despite being owned by a hotel company, Trip.com has received no backlash from other hotel brands worried about siding with the competition, according to Stepan. “There’s no evidence that hotels or car rental companies are less willing to work with us. Cendant’s worked with competitors before through WizCom and through its real estate business,” he said. “It would not be prudent to bias hotel brands at the expense of losing hotel clients, plus we have an obligation to consumers to show them the best rates available.” And these great rates are available throughout the site’s extensive travel inventory. In addition to Cendant branded products— like Howard Johnson, Days Inn, and Avis car rentals— the site also features identical inventory of its affiliate cheaptickets.com, access to Galileo as a GDS, along with its other travel partners. “Cheap Tickets has helped with airline participation,” he said, noting that prior to the acquisition Cendant had not ventured into air ticket sales. These numerous affiliates have also propelled the site’s launch into the top three most visited travel sites on the World Wide Web, remarked Stepan. With Cheap Tickets 4.4 million monthly users combined with Trip.com’s existing 2 million monthly users and Cendant’s loyal customers, the site is already poised to see more than 6.5 million users in its first month. What can users expect to find on the newly re-launched site? Well, for starters “it’s no longer blue,” joked Stepan, noting the site’s obvious graphical revamp. In addition to aesthetics, Trip.com also updated its functionality and now includes several unique feature, such as: a 24-hour team of travel professionals ready to advise customers, a personalized TripBook to track travel itineraries, and a FlightTracker that provides real-time FAA flight information. “We have features that other sites don’t have,” he stated. Trip.com was also upgraded to include richer content— like hotel photos, maps, and local attraction information— that provides online travelers with a comprehensive “research tool,” said Stepan. “We’re not just a booking engine, we help travelers with their planning, researching, and entire travel process,” he stated, referencing Cendant’s emphasis on providing a supplementary call center to answer any user questions. The site plans to add a new “packaging engine” by the end of this year to bundle air, car, and hotel rates, he said, and in the long-term, Trip.com hopes to combine entertainment to package deals. In the immediate future though, the site is launching a $40 million advertising campaign to get the word out about its new look. Commercials and ads began running April 29 with the slogan “There’s only one you.”
