Sitting at NXTcomm means a little downtime here and there, so I thought it would be the perfect opportunity to multi-task and talk about a couple of new travel sites that I have come across. They range from the useful, the neat and the just plain odd.

Now, these are probably not the best sites for group travel, but they do come in handy when event planners have to head out for the site inspection, travel to an event or head out on the next vacation (sure we get vacations!).

So, here are a couple of sites, in no particular order of importance or funk factor.

FareCast (www.farecast.com)

This is a flight search engine that treats airline ticketing like your broker treats your portfolio (you hope).

It displays trends and predictions on whether you should go ahead and buy or hold off on getting that ticket based on statistics and past history.

YAPTA (www.yapta.com)

This little ditty follows fare prices for you so you can buy at the right time and also continues to track them long after the flight has returned. This is important because if there was a major shift in the price of your purchased ticket you can get a partial refund if you booked directly through the airline.

Creepiest Airline Site Ever Devised:

AirTroductions (www.airtroductions.com).

If you are traveling by yourself and are looking to meet others, look no further than AirTroductions. You set up a profile, log in, enter your flight info and choose who you want to sit with based on their profile.

I kinda think that this one is a little on the odd side, “flying the friendly skies” on crack if you will. Flights have always been my down time to think about nothing or catch up on paperwork. I am not sure that meeting fun and interesting people to fly with would be my first priority after a long event, or on the second leg of a LA to London hop.


So, I am not sure if any of these sites are going to radically change the way we travel, but they should give you something to do at 9:00 pm when you are sitting on the couch watching TV.

Just a thought!

Keith