NEW YORK–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Oct. 18, 2005–Site59, the leader in last-minute weekend travel, introduces the Meet Me In…(SM) travel coordinator, an innovative, patent-pending online tool that enables family and friends to effortlessly connect by traveling from two departure cities to a common destination with a convenient, deeply-discounted travel package.
Posed with the present-day challenges of coordinating complex travel itineraries — a time-consuming mishmash of back-and-forth communications and open browser windows — Site59 identified a tremendous opportunity to eliminate cumbersome schedule coordination by allowing up to four people from two different cities to select itineraries that maximize their time together.
“Coordinating flight times for two different departure cities in today’s online environment is very time-consuming because traditional travel websites are not built for this kind of itinerary,” said Jeff Varhol, General Manager of Site59, a Travelocity company. “The Meet Me In… travel coordination tool has been an enormous strategic and technical undertaking and has required a collective team effort across Sabre Holdings. It’s a rare opportunity to be able to deliver a travel service that doesn’t currently exist — and the team has done just that,” Varhol continued.
The technological highlights of the Meet Me In… travel coordinator include:
-- A new search tool that gives customers the choice of either a
traditional one departure city search or a search that
simultaneously queries for round-trip flight, hotel, and
rental car availability from two departure cities -- complete
with package pricing upfront
-- A complex algorithm which sorts through thousands of possible
flight combinations to present the 6 best itineraries, based
on price, travel time, coordinated arrival and departure
times, and most importantly, time together
-- A "time together" calculation (i.e...3 days, 7 hours, 42
minutes) is shown for all 6 itineraries
-- A flexible side-by-side flight comparison, which can be
independently sorted based on the following priorities: price,
airline, departure time, arrival time, and travel time
-- A suggested price breakdown for each traveler, including taxes
and fees, based on the origination cities
“Site59 was a pioneer in dynamic packaging, we launched the industry’s leading comparison search results, and now the Meet Me In… tool is yet another innovation designed to spur incremental leisure travel, the cornerstone of the Site59 business model,” added Varhol.
The Meet Me In… tool will be featured exclusively on Site59.com through the end of 2005, before being rolled out on Travelocity.com (within the Last Minute Packages area of the site).
Providing unrivaled choice and flexibility for spontaneous travelers who know when and where they want to go-and for those who need some inspiration — Site59 offers affordable, impulsive, irresistible Last-Minute Getaways from 14 days up to three hours before departure to 165 destinations in the U.S., Canada, Caribbean, Europe and Latin America from more than 150 North American cities.
With real-time inventory from over 4,000 suppliers worldwide, Site59 Last-Minute Getaways combine Flight + Hotel (with optional car), Flight + Car, and Hotel + Car, and also include optional travel extras and editor-recommended destination highlights so that travelers can make the most of their weekend getaway.
With Meet Me In… on Site59.com, saving time, saving money and spending time together just got a whole lot easier. Visit www.site59.com/MeetMeIn for more details.
About Site59(R)
Named for the 59th, or last, minute, Site59(R) is a recognized leader in technology and creative content for last-minute online travel and is owned by Travelocity(R), a Sabre Holdings (NYSE:TSG) company. Beyond accolades and best of web awards from Forbes, CNN, The Wall St. Journal, The NBC Today Show, Readers Digest, PC Magazine, USA Today, The Washington Post, and many more, Site59 is credited with developing the industry’s premier real-time packaging technology. Site59 has a patent-pending system that automates and assembles inventory in real-time from over 4000 industry suppliers — including major airlines, hotel companies, car rental companies, and hundreds of specialty providers worldwide. Additional information and offerings can be viewed at www.Site59.com.
CONTACT: PJ Inc.
Pamela Johnston, 212-629-8445
Pamela@pjinc.net
SOURCE: Site59
