During his junior year study abroad, Max Morganroth, traveled to 30 countries, primarily flying in business and first class. His jet-setting was funded almost entirely by airline points he collected through strategic credit card applications and miles redemptions. Morganroth told TechCrunch that just about everyone he knew was “begging” him to teach them how to…
Category: travel
AI, ai agent, Apps, Global Security News, travel
Airbnb is quietly rolling out an AI customer service bot in the US
Airbnb started rolling out an AI-powered customer service bot in the U.S. last month, CEO Brian Chesky said during the firm’s first-quarter conference call on Thursday. Chesky said 50% of Airbnb’s U.S. users are already using the AI bot for customer service, adding that the company plans to roll out the feature to all its…
Apps, Global Security News, travel, travel tech
Airbnb will now show users the total cost of their stay right away
One of the chief complaints of Airbnb users over the years has been not being able to tell right away how much they would pay for their stay, including charges such as cleaning fees. Airbnb is now fixing that by showing the total cost for a given property, including all charges, automatically. Users across the…
AI, Artificial Intelligence, Global IT News, Global Security News, travel
Airbnb CEO says it’s still too early for AI trip planning
Airbnb is planning to first introduce AI to its customer support system. © 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only.
Commerce, Global IT News, Global Security News, Prosus, tourism, travel
Prosus buys Despegar for $1.7B, taking a bite out of Latin America’s travel sector
Yet another major investment is going down in the travel sector, underscoring its ongoing rebound after the Covid-19 pandemic. Prosus, the tech conglomerate controlled by Naspers, is paying $1.7 billion to acquire Despegar, one of the biggest online travel agencies in Latin America, to scale up its operations in the region. Despegar’s board of directors…
Fundraising, Global IT News, Global Security News, travel, Venture
Hotel booking platform Safara raises $14M, acquires rival Skipper
Doug Schuessler has always been a founder. This passion, which has been with him since childhood, saw him launch two startups, move to San Francisco, and take a job at Square to see what a “real rocket shop looked like.” He later became chief revenue officer at restaurant booking platform Resy, before becoming a founder once…
Commerce, Fundraising, general atlantic, Global Security News, hostaway, Real estate, tourism, travel, Vacation Rentals
Travel is back: Hostaway raises $365M at a $925M valuation
The tourism and travel industries — after several tough years that included not just a global health pandemic but economic and geopolitical upheaval — are finally back on track, expected to make a “full recovery” to pre-pandemic levels of activity, the UN said earlier this month. As an indicator of that, Hostaway, one of the…