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Out of Site, Out of Mind
Opinion · November 15, 2002

It's hard being a travel dotcom. You have to deal with angry investors or shareholders, an impatient public - and now, the holiday shopping season. This year, there's more to worry about than the Web servers overloading with orders. Many e-businesses are wrestling with other issues, from compatibility and customer service problems to the threat of government regulation. Here's how the holidays are shaping up for the travel sites - and what it all means.

Site	Problem	Solution	Prospects
Orbitz	Coalition of rivals is trying to shut it down, claiming it's anti-competitive.	Feds this week said there's no need to regulate the sale of airline tickets over the Internet.	Not bad. Now, about that public stock offering ...
United.com	Macintosh users report site freezes when they try to book tickets.	Telling affected users to upgrade to a more recent browser.	If only it was that easy to repair carrier's troubled finances.
Trip.com	Nielsen numbers show traffic lags behind powerhouses Expedia, Travelocity, others.	Snagged booking engine deal for New York Times site, co-branded Nickelodeon project.	Decent. Look for spike in numbers by summer.
AOL	Jimmy de Castro out as head of Internet service after only seven months on the job.	Bring back Ted Leonsis, who oversaw rise of AOL travel.	Even if parent company tanks, AOL travel should rock.

Christopher Elliott is a travel commentator based in Key Largo, Fla. All e-mailed questions may be edited, condensed or republished at the site's discretion.