Marriott adds flights & cars to web site

So the hotel chains are finally offering flights/car hire as integral offerings from their sites: Marriott has added car and air booking capabilities to its web site.

Marriott International has added new functionality to www.marriott.com that enables travelers to book air transportation and car rentals with OR WITHOUT Marriott hotel rooms.

Travelers using the Marriott Flexrez functionality can book one-way and multiple destination options, as well as roundtrip flights with 60 airlines, including most major U.S. carriers, Marriott said. Marriott Flexrez also accepts frequent flyer numbers so that travelers can earn credit for flights.

Along with air transportation, Marriott also allows users to book car reservations in the U.S. from nine different car rental companies.

As predicted steadily throughout Travolution's short blogging lifespan, the dividing lines between travel brands are becoming increasingly blurred. The ability to plug in flight/car/bed booking capability is so simple now that, we fully expect the next time we log on to www.eastanglianpigbreeders.com, to be able to book a flight to Rio. Of course this doesn't mean the game is over- rather that its just beginning- that online travel is , mercifully, moving way from its protracted phase 1 (enabling transactions) to phase 2- building sustainable brands and customer experience. Bring it on, and don't expect the winners to be obvious.

PS- if you clicked on the pig breeders link you are truly doomed, and should be spending your time adding posts to this excellent blog.