Ten things every travel site should avoid

Mistakes are made all the time in the online travel business. A strategic blunder here, a bad investment there.

But the first half of this year has seen more than a fair share of flubs by marquee travel brands. These aren’t simple missteps, but full-blown blunders that leave us utterly baffled.

What am I referring to? Let me offer a few hints. Try to think of the worst mistakes a travel Web site could possibly make. In no time at all, you’ll have guessed the identity of this mysterious start-up.

- Hire consultants with practically no travel experience to run the company.

- Hire a chief technology officer with absolutely no travel industry experience.

- Announce your intentions almost a year before you’re prepared to take your first booking.

- Get the Justice Department to investigate you.

- Make travel agents angry. Get them to call you “a threat to consumer welfare.”

- Be forced to hold a press conference months before launch to dispel negative rumors about your company.

- Fail to show how your site will be any different than the thousands of other travel sites.

- Name your project after a bad movie.

- Give your company the same name as an awful-tasting soda that features tiny jelly spheres floating in clear, flavored liquid.

- Make sure your logo is as insipid as your name.

Is it any wonder that some industry observers are referring to Orbitz as “Obits” – as in, obituaries? The site once known as T2, which appears to be a six-airline partnership, promises an unbiased display of travel information and the “latest technology of any travel service on the Web.” But so far it’s delivered nothing but controversy.

Is the old T2 dead on arrival? Should we relegate it to the online travel junkyard where PCTravel, Destination Florida and Preview Travel now lie?

Not so fast. Yes, Orbitz has made mistakes — perhaps more than its fair share. But this is just halftime. The only group with a shorter attention span than the Department of Justice (given that this is an election year) is travel agents. With several airlines trying to merge at once, the heat could very well be off this company by the time it’s open for business. Everyone will move on to the next thing.

And what then? Then we see if Orbitz can succeed despite its errors.

Christopher Elliott is the author of Scammed: How to Save Your Money and Find Better Service in a World of Schemes, Swindles, and Shady Deals. Critics have called it “eye-opening” and “inspiring” — it’ll “grab your attention and won’t let go.” Order your copy now on Amazon, Barnes & Noble or iTunes.

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