IgoUgo's Travel Deals newsletter popped in yesterday, highlighting the sometimes-wacky world of travel distribution.
When you click on four of the five deals in the IgoUgo email, you'll find they come from Travelzoo, which publishes its own deals newsletters with 22 million subscribers. [The other deal comes from CheapCaribbean.com.]
So, with the IgoUgo-Travelzoo relationship, you have a deal publisher pushing the deals of another deal publisher.
This really should come as no surprise in an online travel industry where competitors commonly participate in one another's advertising programs.
Consider the following image of facilitated search via multiple booking engines on IgoUgo.com, which is owned by Travelocity:
So, does it make sense for Travelzoo to offer deals in IgoUgo's publication?
Apparently so.
"One of the ways we syndicate our deal content is through our publishing partners' newsletters," says Diego Sanchez, who heads the Travelzoo Network business. "It's another way to extend great Travelzoo deal content to additional travel-intending audiences."
IgoUgo may be taking in some nice money by collecting fees from Travelzoo, but does it make for a satisfying user experience for IgoUgo email subscribers?
After all, if users click on the "Four Nights including air to Puerto Rico" deal for $449 in the IgoUgo newsletter, they'd find themselves on Travelzoo.com, and if they wanted to actually book the deal, then they'd have to click once again and navigate to the supplier website.
Meanwhile, these deals sometimes sell out very fast. This is what you'd see if you clicked on the Puerto Rico deal link today:
These deals sometimes sell out quickly.
The other three Travelzoo deals in the IgoUgo newsletter appear to have been sold out, as well.
Raj Beri, director of IgoUgo, notes that the company has a partnership with Travelzoo.
"We feel deals providers like Travelzoo, with its strong coverage in local and destination-specific deals, give us great exclusive deals to deliver to our users," Beri says. "There are many travel deals being pushed out there every day and it's a bit overwhelming. We are trying to cut through the clutter and pick the five best deals of the week that we think are relevant to our users."
IgoUgo has been publishing a deals newsletter since early 2010, although it changed the "look and feel" and added partners this year.