Years ago, flight booking, hotel reservations, car rentals and what-nots used to be the bane of frequent flyers. Added to that hassle is the long wait that people had to endure to get these things done, as everything had to go through several manual processes. Additionally, travelers were limited to the rates and packages that their travel agents could offer, which meant that room for customizing your trip was kept to a minimum.

The Internet has definitely helped make traveling a lot easier for jet setters all around the world. With web access available to practically anyone in the world, anyone can now book their own flights, hotel rooms and even car rentals at the comfort of their own homes. Thanks to the enterprising spirits of Orbitz, Expedia, Travelocity and Priceline, these things have been made possible and easy.

Orbitz Worldwide

Orbitz Worldwide is an online travel company based in Chicago, Illinois. Orbitz came about as a response from the airline community to meet the rising demand for travel services’ availability over the Internet. Among the initial group of airlines that provided the impetus for Orbitz are Continental Airlines, Delta Air Lines, Northwest Airlines and United Airlines. American Airlines joined in 1999 to complete the roster, which put out a total of $145 million to get the project up and running. Initially, it was dubbed as “T2″ – which, according to some analysts, was supposed to stand for “Travelocity Terminator” – but was eventually christened as Orbitz in 2000 when it started operating as DUNC, LLC. The name was taken from the initials of the first four airlines that founded the company. The following year, the company ran beta tests of its services and the company’s flagship website, Orbitz.com, was officially launched in June of that same year. It currently has 1,600 employees spread over 20 countries.

Currently, Orbitz is headed by Steven Barnhart. He is the current Chief Executive Officer and President of the company and oversees Orbitz Worldwide’s international group of travel brands such as ebookers (for European markets), HotelClub.com and RatesToGo.com (for Asia-Pacific markets) as well as Orbitz and CheapTickets (for North and South American markets). Alongside Barnhart is Mike Nelson, who is the company’s Senior Vice President and Chief Operating Officer. Nelson started with the company in 2001 and has held various critical management positions in the company prior to assuming this role. Its board of directors is chaired by Jeff Clarke, who has held the post of chairman since 2006.

Orbitz’ services have always been about making travelers’ lives easier and its set of services does exactly that. With its inventory of 80,000 hotels, several hundreds of airlines, and 13 car rental brands, Orbitz allows its clients to search for the cheapest rates for tickets on several airlines, the best packages for hotels and other lodging establishments for travelers, as well as car rental services and cruise deals. Simply put, logging on to Orbitz.com makes traveling seem easy as walking into a one-stop shop.

Expedia

Expedia.com is another web-based travel portal that allows easy flight, lodging, and car rental bookings for its customers. It also offers cruises and other holiday packages on its site. Expedia’s services are available through the Internet or through the telephone through an agent who makes sure that prospective clients have it easy when they try to plan their trips. It uses the Sabre system in its operations and its efficiency has garnered Expedia.com a Webby award in the “Best in Travel Websites” category, as well as a Stevie Award (given by the American Business Association) for “Most Innovative Company”.

The company is currently headed by its chairman and Barry Diller, who is also serving as a Senior Executive for IAC. Dara Khosrowshahi functions as Expedia’s Chief Executive Officer when Expedia was officially inaugurated as a sub-entity of IAC in August 2005. Prior to this role, she was in charge of IAC’s travel accounts.

Expedia’s services and systems integrate with each other seamlessly, which, coupled by the fact that the company offers online means to let their clients book their travel plans in advance, translates to a customer booking everything he needs on a trip without going to another website or calling his travel agent.

Expedia has gotten major mileage when it started to enact initiatives that would help the company minimize and/or offset the carbon footprint that results from its operations and the traveling done by their clientele. Expedia’s introduction of TerraPass is one of these initiatives.

Through a partnership Expedia has already issued its version of Terrapass, a special ticket that contains a carbon emission reduction offset value attached to it. This way, customers are offered the option of offsetting their carbon footprint via these special passes. Expedia also proactively implements environmental awareness campaigns. Internally, the company has set up incentive schemes for frequent commuters from their employee base and has set up carpools and free transportation services for its employees in order to further reduce carbon emissions.

Travelocity

Another online travel agency is Travelocity.com. It is a subsidiary completely owned by Sabre Holdings Corporation. Travelocity has offices in New York City and San Francisco but is headquartered in Southlake, Texas. It also has several offices abroad. To date, Travelocity is the sixth largest US-based travel agency and ranks second in the list of online travel agencies. Travelocity uses the Sabre reservation system since the company’s inception in 1996. Travelocity maintains two websites for two of its largest customer bases: Travelocity.com primarily deals with customers from the consumer market, while Travelocitybusiness.com focuses on the business travel market.

Travelocity pioneered the concept of “disintermediation” in the travel industry. The Sabre system allowed users not only to view the schedules of flights or available rooms in a hotel, but to book the reservations themselves. This proved to be a very successful model for an online travel agency and eventually caught on. Other online travel agencies, regardless of the reservation system they use, have now integrated this concept of presenting the customer with more customizability by letting him book, reserve, and purchase the tickets himself.

Travelocity is currently headed by Michelle Paluso who’s currently functioning as the president and Chief Executive Officer of the company. Peluso carried on the pioneering torch by implementing another innovative Travelocity idea: the net rate hotel program. She also ensured the sustainable profitability of the business by strategically acquiring companies such as LastMinute.com and ZUJI.

Travelocity has also become a household name because of the media mileage that it gets through well-executed media initiatives. In the 7th, 9th and 11th seasons of the popular reality contest The Amazing Race, Travelocity participated as a sponsor. It also rolled out a mascot campaign (named “The Roaming Gnome”) in its advertisements to be more visible and easily recognizable.

Priceline

Priceline is another web-based service that allows travelers to get discount rates for items like airline reservations and lodging. It functions as a middleman between the suppliers of these services and the consumers, and has the ability to provide a comparison between rates based on the specifications of the customer. Priceline is based in Norwalk, Connecticut. It was founded by Jesse Fink and Jay Walker (whose company, Walker Digital, has helped Priceline in its early stages of operation). Cheung Kong Holdings eventually purchased a large part of Priceline’s stock.

Priceline’s initially made a strong reputation when it introduced its “Name Your Own Price” scheme to the market, where travelers entered their desired price for airline tickets, hotel reservations and car rentals. This figure would be then compared to Priceline’s (undisclosed) prices in the company’s catalog of services. The customer would not know the airlines’, car companies’ or hotels’ names and locations until they have confirmed their purchase. Once this was done, the customer would not have the option to get a refund, as part of Priceline’s agreement with its suppliers is that these services will have a guarantee of being sold. However, the popularity of this system has waned and Priceline has used a more conventional system where customers can see the names of the hotels, car companies and airlines. Nevertheless, the company still profited from the Name Your Own Price (and derivative models adapted for specific products and services) system and eventually got eBay to purchase a license for this idea.

These online travel agencies have definitely changed the way we plan our trips and the increasing traffic to and from these sites are proof that people are becoming more comfortable with the idea of booking their own reservations without the aid of a middleman. Moreover, this system has greatly made everything quicker and more affordable for the traveler as less manpower is needed.

Other Travel booking agencies include Travelport, headed by Jeff Clarke.

Visit World Travel Information for additional resources.