Google Flight Search: evolution or revolution?

14 September 2011 by 1 Comment

Less than a year after its controversial purchase of ITA, Google finally unveiled yesterday its foray into the travel industry by launching Flight Search. The news became the instant talk of the town in the travel industry, yet the jury is still out to determine whether if this new tool will dwarf online travel agencies (OTAs) into oblivion or not. Or force airline companie to rethink their distribution model.

Now, it is still too early to tell how this game of titans will play out, but it will be interesting to see how much traction this new feature will get in coming days. Presently, only a few US cities are available for search & purchase, so I look forward to using it with Canadian cities and/or with international connections in mind once it all becomes available. Stay tuned for more details in coming weeks…

For more on this story, read on this blog post from Tnooz.

What do think, is Flight Search by Google simply evolution in the online travel distribution model? Or are we talking major disruption here?

Filed Under: social media, travel Tagged With: , , , , , ,

Frederic Gonzalo

Senior marketing and communications expert & speaker with 18 years expertise in the travel and hospitality industry. Consulting since early 2012, I provide strategic planning, social media & mobile development counseling to small and medium businesses alike. Reach me at frederic@gonzomarketing.biz

Subscription to the blog

Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.
1 comments
  Livefyre
Sort: Newest | Oldest
Gaetan
Gaetan

Just look at "tous azimuts" from STM (http://www.stm.info/azimuts/index.htm), This technology developed at l'École Polytechnique will certainly disappear since Google Maps as taken over the lead in Public Transportation Searching tools. In the same way will the Flight Search. will kill the competition over time. But the good news are it is to be well integrated with tools that are commonly used, easy to use, independent (this one is less certain). The bad news are that development is outside Canada, outside of Canadian laws, if you are not connected with Google what choice do you have?