December 18, 2024 – Today, Laura Chadwick, President and CEO of the Travel Technology Association, released the following statement in response to the issuance of the Federal Trade Commission’s final Junk Fee rule and the inclusion of S.2498, the Hotel Fees Transparency Act in the Continuing Resolution to be passed by Congress by the end of the week:
“Travel Tech applauds both the Federal Trade Commission and Congress for advancing policies that set a national standard for price transparency for consumers seeking overnight stays. Consumers will now see an up-front and consistent total service price for lodging – including nightly room rate and mandatory fees – no matter where they live or how they shop for lodging options, either directly on hotel websites or through online travel comparison tools and services.”
“Travel Tech and its member companies worked tirelessly to educate policymakers about the complex and multilayered information flow from hotels to different types of intermediaries,” said Chadwick. “As a direct result of our advocacy, both the FTC rule and S.2498 include provisions that ensure accurate mandatory fee information is relayed to consumers through both direct and indirect channels.”
“We are grateful for Senators Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) and Jerry Moran (R-KS) in championing S.2498, along with Representatives Young Kim (R-CA-40) and Kathy Castor (D-FL-14), who introduced H.R. 6543, the House companion bill. Travel Tech calls on Congress to finalize passage of the Continuing Resolution without delay.”
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The Travel Technology Association (Travel Tech) empowers traveler choice by advocating for public policy that promotes marketplace transparency and competition. Travel Tech represents travel technology innovators ranging from dynamic startups, small, and midsize businesses to leading online travel agencies, metasearch engines, short-term rental platforms, global distribution systems, and travel management companies.
To schedule an interview with a Travel Tech spokesperson, contact Bradford Williamson of Glen Echo Group at 202.870.3234 or bwilliamson@glenechogroup.com.
Wednesday, December 11, 2024 — The Travel Technology Association (Travel Tech), the voice of the travel technology industry and advocate for public policy that promotes transparency, competition, and innovation, submitted a letter to the Department of Transportation (DOT) responding to certain claims included in Airlines for America’s (A4A) comments on the Family Seating Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM). Travel Tech’s letter emphasizes that ticket agents already perform essential roles in collecting and transmitting passenger information and existing industry processes are designed to meet these needs effectively.
“Ticket agents are committed to supporting families and providing airlines with the necessary information to facilitate seat assignments,” said Laura Chadwick, President and CEO of Travel Tech. “A4A’s proposals overlook the effective processes already in place and would create redundant and unnecessary burdens on ticket agents.”
Travel Tech’s letter details how ticket agents provide passenger information required for compliance with the Transportation Security Administration’s (TSA) Secure Flight Program and Customs and Border Control’s (CBP) Advance Passenger Information System (APIS) as well as IATA Resolution 830d.
The Travel Technology Association (Travel Tech) empowers traveler choice by advocating for public policy that promotes marketplace transparency and competition. Travel Tech represents the leading innovators in travel technology, including online travel agencies, metasearch engines, short-term rental platforms, global distribution systems, and travel management companies.
To schedule an interview with a Travel Tech spokesperson, contact Bradford Williamson of Glen Echo Group at 202.870.3234 or bwilliamson@glenechogroup.com.
Wednesday, December 4, 2024 – Today, Laura Chadwick, President and CEO of the Travel Technology Association, released the following statement following the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Subcommittee on Permanent Investigations hearing titled, “The Sky’s the Limit—New Revelations About Airline Fees.”
“Travel Tech thanks the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations for holding a hearing focused on ensuring transparency and fairness in airline fee ancillary fee practices. Transparent pricing is essential to empowering travelers with all the information they need to make informed choices.
“Travel Tech’s mission is to empower traveler choice by advocating for transparency and competition. These principles ensure that consumers benefit and travel service providers can thrive in a fair, open marketplace. We look forward to working with policymakers to address these important issues.”
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The Travel Technology Association (Travel Tech) empowers traveler choice by advocating for public policy that promotes marketplace transparency and competition. Travel Tech represents travel technology innovators ranging from dynamic startups, small, and midsize businesses to leading online travel agencies, metasearch engines, short-term rental platforms, global distribution systems, and travel management companies.
To schedule an interview with a Travel Tech spokesperson, contact Bradford Williamson of Glen Echo Group at 202.870.3234 or bwilliamson@glenechogroup.com.
Wednesday, November 20, 2024 — Today, the Travel Technology Association (Travel Tech), the voice of the travel technology industry and advocate for public policy that promotes transparency, competition, and innovation, moderated the second annual Soapbox Industry Debate at the Phocuswright Conference in Phoenix, AZ.
This year’s debate focused on the impact of the recent U.S. election on the travel tech industry. Travel Tech President & CEO Laura Chadwick was joined by representatives from Travel Techmember companies, including Lara Tennyson, Head of US Federal Affairs at Booking Holdings; Emmett O’Keefe, Director of Federal & State Government Relations at Sabre; and Jason Scism, Founder and CEO of DreamGuest.
Panelists and audience members discussed what a Trump presidency and Republican-controlled Congress could mean for several critical policy issues impacting the travel tech industry, including AI regulation on the federal and state levels, price transparency laws, prospects for national data privacy laws, the U.S. Department of Transportation’s recently-issued Ancillary and Refund rules, greater support for start-ups, and more.
“With the 2024 election behind us, we’ve seen a shift of the political landscape in Washington,” said Laura Chadwick. “As the second Trump Administration and Republican-controlled Congress prepare to get underway, travel technology companies should be optimistic about the industry’s future.”
Relatedly, Phocuswire recently published an op-ed by Laura Chadwick about the reasons why the travel technology industry should be optimistic about Donald Trump’s presidential reelection and Republicans’ full control of Congress.
“I am encouraged by President Trump’s promise to ‘unleash the full potential of American industry and American innovation,’” Chadwick writes. “As an industry consisting entirely of innovators, both small and large, we have an excellent opportunity to shape and benefit from the Trump Administration’s pro-innovation policies.”
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The Travel Technology Association (Travel Tech) empowers traveler choice by advocating for public policy that promotes transparency, competition and innovation. Travel Tech represents travel technology innovators ranging from dynamic startups, small, and midsize businesses to leading online travel agencies, metasearch engines, short-term rental platforms, global distribution systems, and travel management companies.
To schedule an interview with a Travel Tech spokesperson, contact Bradford Williamson of Glen Echo Group at 202.870.3234 or bwilliamson@glenechogroup.com.
Comments Emphasize Airline Responsibility and Consumer-Friendly Transparency in Family Seating Regulations
November 07, 2024 — The Travel Technology Association (Travel Tech) filed comments on the Department of Transportation’s (DOT) Family Seating Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM). Travel Tech expressed its support for the DOT’s commitment to ensuring families with young children can sit together on flights without incurring additional fees, while highlighting the need to focus regulatory responsibility on air carriers, which control seating policies.
In its comments, Travel Tech addressed the DOT’s proposed requirement for airlines to facilitate family seating and emphasized that ticket agents, including online travel agencies and other intermediaries, do not have control over seating assignments. Travel Tech underscored the importance of making certain the regulation clearly identifies air carriers as responsible for implementing family seating accommodations.
“Travel Tech supports the DOT’s efforts to improve families’ travel experience,” said Laura Chadwick, President & CEO of the Travel Technology Association. “Our priority is ensuring that the final rule prioritizes airlines’ role in seating assignment without burdening ticket agents. Clear, targeted regulations will prevent confusion and help families enjoy a more seamless travel experience.”
Travel Tech’s comments included a recommendation to refine the term “online platform” in the rule to specifically apply to air carriers’ own websites and apps. This adjustment would prevent any unintended impact on third-party booking platforms and other intermediaries. Additionally, Travel Tech urged the DOT to confirm that any required refunds for families unable to secure adjacent seating should be the exclusive responsibility of the air carrier, as ticket agents do not have the necessary control over seating arrangements to facilitate these refunds.
Travel Tech also noted the importance of ensuring ticket agents and intermediaries have access to complete, real-time seating information to provide consumers with the transparency they need to make informed decisions when booking travel.
The Travel Technology Association (Travel Tech) empowers traveler choice by advocating for public policy that promotes marketplace transparency and competition. Travel Tech represents the leading innovators in travel technology, including online travel agencies, metasearch engines, short-term rental platforms, global distribution systems, and travel management companies.
To schedule an interview with a Travel Tech spokesperson, contact Bradford Williamson of Glen Echo Group at 202.870.3234 or bwilliamson@glenechogroup.com.
Thursday, September 19, 2024 — Earlier this week, the Travel Technology Association (Travel Tech) hosted a virtual webinar featuring experts from Wiley Rein, LLC to offer information and insights about the FTC’s final rule on combatting fake and deceptive reviews and what it means for travel technology companies.
The panelists provided an overview of the FTC’s final rule, focusing on what constitutes a deceptive practice and the enforcement actions the government is taking to combat AI-generated fake reviews. The panelists also covered the rule’s prohibitions on buying positive or negative reviews, the new standards of liability for review sites, and best practices for spotting and reporting deceptive reviews.
The panelists also noted Travel Tech’s involvement in the final ruling, highlighting how the FTC adopted the Association’s recommendations as part of comments filed in response to the FTC’s then-proposed rule, urging the Commission to revise its “known or should have known” standard to avoid unduly burdening review platforms.
“Ensuring the integrity and reliability of reviews is critical to preserving consumer trust and confidence as they plan their travel, no matter the occasion or destination,” said Laura Chadwick, President and CEO of Travel Tech. “Travel Tech is pleased the FTC adopted our recommendations and is proud to continue working with our member companies to protect the integrity of their platforms and reviews.”
Panelists from Wiley Rein included Stephen Conley, Associate in Telecom, Media, and Technology; Duane Pozza, Partner; and Kathleen Scott, Partner and featured remarks from Laura Chadwick, President and CEO of the Travel Technology Association.
The webinar recording is exclusively available to Travel Tech members. For more information about membership, please reach out to Bethany Reitsma.
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The Travel Technology Association (Travel Tech) empowers traveler choice by advocating for public policy that promotes marketplace transparency and competition. Travel Tech represents travel technology innovators ranging from dynamic startups, small, and midsize businesses to leading online travel agencies, metasearch engines, short-term rental platforms, global distribution systems, and travel management companies.
To schedule an interview with a Travel Tech spokesperson, contact Bradford Williamson of Glen Echo Group at 202.870.3234 or bwilliamson@glenechogroup.com.
Thursday, September 12, 2024 — Earlier this week, Travel Tech CEO Laura Chadwick participated in panel discussion organized by the National Consumers League (NCL) about Flight Delay Compensation in the U.S. The panel was led by moderator John Breyault from the NCL. The panel also included Michael Negron, Special Assistant to the President for Economic Policy at the White House, Teresa Murray from the Public Interest Research Group, and Tomasz Pawliszyn from AirHelp, a Travel Tech Advocate member company. At the event, U.S. Senator Ed Markey (D-MA) provided remarks about his efforts to eliminate hidden fees and expand travelers’ rights.
The panel discussed the prospect and impact of the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) proposing rules requiring airlines to compensate passengers of disrupted flights, bringing the U.S. in line with policies found in the E.U., Canada, and other and other jurisdictions.
Travel Tech President & CEO Laura Chadwick’s remarks centered on keeping the responsibility for flight delay compensation, should these policies be proposed and adopted by the DOT, on the airlines and no other entity, including ticket agents.
“When it comes to flight delay compensation, only airlines should be held responsible for controllable flight delays, like crew shortages, scheduling errors, or aircraft maintenance issues. The same principle applies when travelers are bumped by airlines from their flights and no one else; the same should apply here,” said Chadwick.
Tomasz Pawliszyn, CEO of Travel Tech member company Airhelp, discussed how flight delay compensation works in the European Union and how Airhelp helped over 4 million passengers last year, putting money back in the pockets of travelers.
“We see that families are the ones who apply for compensation more than anyone else because then you have the whole family with you and you have to cover the cost of four or five people, and you are missing work and the kids are missing school and you have to rent a car to go back to the hotel maybe for another night, and so that’s why the compensation is there and why it was brought into Europe and other countries…for the families and people with a smaller wallet,” Pawliszyn said.
In May 2023, the DOT announced plans to initiate a rulemaking to require U.S. and foreign air carriers to adopt and adhere to customer service plans identifying essential services (meals, rebooking, hotel, transportation to or from hotel, timely customer service) and compensation which airlines would be required to provide to mitigate passenger inconveniences when the cause of a cancellation or delay for flights to, within and from the United States due to circumstances within the airline’s control. To date, the DOT has not yet released this proposed rule but does maintain a online dashboard to hold airlines accountable to passengers when airline-caused delays or cancellations occur.
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The Travel Technology Association (Travel Tech) empowers traveler choice by advocating for public policy that promotes marketplace transparency and competition. Travel Tech represents travel technology innovators ranging from dynamic startups, small, and midsize businesses to leading online travel agencies, metasearch engines, short-term rental platforms, global distribution systems, and travel management companies.
To schedule an interview with a Travel Tech spokesperson, contact Bradford Williamson of Glen Echo Group at 202.870.3234 or bwilliamson@glenechogroup.com.
Tuesday, September 3rd, 2024 —
Reviews are crucial to the travel industry, helping consumers choose between competing options. With the advent of generative AI, efforts to police the authenticity of such reviews have become far more challenging.
While deceptive reviews have always been illegal, last month, the Federal Trade Commission issued a final rule spelling out clearly deceptive practices, strengthening enforcement actions, and banning AI-generated fake reviews.
Join Travel Tech on Tuesday, September 17th, 2024, at 1:00 pm for a free webinar featuring attorneys Stephen Conley, Duane Pozza, and Kathleen Scott of Wiley for a deep dive into the FTC’s new final rule and what it means for you and your travel tech company.
“Travel Tech is pleased the FTC adopted our recommendation regarding the “knew or should have known” standard for review hosting platforms. Doing so reflects that the rule is targeting bad actors that intend to commit fraud through fake reviews,” saidLaura Chadwick, President and CEO of the Travel Technology Association.
“The integrity of reviews is essential to maintaining the trust and confidence of customers as they plan their travel near and far. Travel Tech members invest significant resources in robust trust and safety operations to protect the reliability of the reviews appearing on their platforms.”
Last year, Travel Tech submitted comments in response to the FTC’s then-proposed rule, urging the Commission to revise its “know or could have known” standard to avoid unduly burdening review platforms. In the Final Rule, the Commission wrote that “…the most appropriate standard for imposing liability under § 465.2(b)…is the “knew or should have known standard.” As discussed above, those paragraphs were not intended to apply to consumer review hosting and § 465.2(d)(2) now contains an explicit exemption for consumer review hosting.”
The FTC’s Final Rule also prohibits the sale or purchase of fake or deceptive reviews and allows the agency to seek civil penalties against knowing violators. It bans company-controlled review websites, review suppression, insider reviews and consumer testimonials, and misuse of fake social media indicators, among other provisions.
Travel Tech will host a free industry webinar, “#1 Five Star Webinar: Unpacking the New FTC Rule on Fake and Deceptive Reviews” on Tuesday, September 17th featuring attorneys Stephen Conley, Duane Pozza, and Kathleen Scott of Wiley. Register here.
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The Travel Technology Association (Travel Tech) empowers traveler choice by advocating for public policy that promotes marketplace transparency and competition. Travel Tech represents travel technology innovators ranging from dynamic startups, small, and midsize businesses to leading online travel agencies, metasearch engines, short-term rental platforms, global distribution systems, and travel management companies.
To schedule an interview with a Travel Tech spokesperson, contact Bradford Williamson of Glen Echo Group at 202.870.3234 or bwilliamson@glenechogroup.com.
August 15, 2024 – Today, Laura Chadwick, President and CEO of the Travel Technology Association, released the following statement in response to the recent decision in the United States v. Google LLC case, which found that Google violated Section 2 of the Sherman Antitrust Act:
“This landmark ruling from U.S. District Court Judge Amit Mehta proves what the travel technology industry already knew: Google abuses dominance in the search engine market. In doing so, it has an outsized impact on travel by suppressing competition and transparent choice for consumers.
“The Travel Technology Association is grateful that the U.S. Department of Justice pursued this case. While we fully expect Google to appeal this decision and understand the case will continue to move through the court system, we are hopeful that the court’s potential remedies will limit Google’s overall ability to suppress consumer choice and restore competition to the search market.”
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The Travel Technology Association (Travel Tech) empowers traveler choice by advocating for public policy that promotes marketplace transparency and competition. Travel Tech represents travel technology innovators ranging from dynamic startups, small, and midsize businesses to leading online travel agencies, metasearch engines, short-term rental platforms, global distribution systems, and travel management companies.
To schedule an interview with a Travel Tech spokesperson, contact Bradford Williamson of Glen Echo Group at 202.870.3234 or bwilliamson@glenechogroup.com.
Travel Technology Association Applauds Ruling Against Google’s Monopolistic Stronghold over the Search Engine Market
December 18, 2024 – Today, Laura Chadwick, President and CEO of the Travel Technology Association, released the following statement in response to the issuance of the Federal Trade Commission’s final Junk Fee rule and the inclusion of S.2498, the Hotel Fees Transparency Act in the Continuing Resolution to be passed by Congress by the end […]
