New Service on Alaska Airlines and Horizon Air Web Sites Makes Group Travel Planning Easier, More Interactive

Planning group air travel for family reunions, weddings, vacations and other events is now easier thanks to a new, interactive group travel service introduced on the Alaska Airlines and Horizon Air Web sites, alaskaair.com and horizonair.com.

The airlines recently became the first in the industry to provide a group travel service on their sites where customers can set up a group trip, invite guests, track who is coming, share itineraries and request discounted group airfare. The service can be used to plan travel for groups of any size, as long as each passenger is traveling to the same destination. Discounted group rates may be available for groups with 10 or more passengers.

According to Steve Jarvis, Alaska’s vice president of sales and customer experience, group travel represents about 12 percent of Alaska’s annual passenger traffic.

"Customers planning travel for groups often have faced challenges coordinating the details of so many different itineraries at once," said Jarvis. "Alaska and Horizon are pleased to offer passengers this new interactive service that not only makes group travel planning easier, but also makes it fun and interactive."

In the past, customers coordinating group travel could make group reservation requests through the airlines’ Web sites or toll-free reservations line. However, collecting individual traveler’s information and communicating itineraries was a time-consuming process. The new system allows group organizers to collect individual passenger details in one convenient place online before communicating the group’s reservation request to the airlines.

Alaska and Horizon partnered with Seattle-based TripHub, Inc., which developed the software, to launch the service.

"We are excited to launch this innovative and useful service with Alaska and Horizon. The TripHub service on Alaska and Horizon’s Web sites makes it easy for groups to get organized, discuss and select their travel options, and securely share itineraries with other participants," said Josh Herst, CEO and founder of TripHub. "We’re committed to making planning group travel-related events easier and more fun."

Alaska and Horizon have made a number of technology innovations in the airline industry. In 1995, they were the first domestic carriers to sell airline tickets over the Internet. During recent years, the airlines were the first to allow customers to check in for flights over the Internet and allow customers to use instant messaging to request assistance.

Alaska Airlines and sister carrier, Horizon Air, together serve 88 cities through an expansive network throughout Alaska, the Lower 48, Canada and Mexico. For reservations visit alaskaair.com. For more news and information, visit the Alaska Airlines/Horizon Air newsroom at http://newsroom.alaskaair.com/ .

TripHub believes that planning and sharing life experiences with friends and family, and others who share similar passions and interests should be easy and fun. The company’s free online service enables people to easily coordinate, purchase and share any trip or event that involves people going to a destination. TripHub was founded in 2005 by Expedia and Microsoft veterans and is headquartered in Seattle. The company is funded by Madrona Venture Group and private investors. Visit http://www.triphub.com/ . For more information, please contact pr@triphub.com.

SOURCE: Alaska Airlines