Expedia has unveiled a new logo - an event usually of biblical proportions and almost guaranteed to get the advertising community to huff and puff over for a few days. The new logo has, in the words of one ad creative and branding blog, lost the "playfulness" of the old version in favour of a "dull and generic" rendering of an aircraft. They're not very happy with the fonts either. Tnooz Node Tim Hughes also suggests it marks a newer image for a new decade - "a world of darker hues and serious companies". Little mention so far, however, has been made about the tagline: "Where you Book Matters".... Read More

Most popular travel websites in the US for the week ending January 2 2010. Data includes Top Ten travel search terms and the Top Ten Agency, Airline and Destination/Accommodation sites.... Read More

Former U.S. counter-terrorism official and frequent CNN guest Larry Johnson labels the new TSA security measures and the agency's failure to impose a uniform security system as "criminal negligence." In a blog post, TSA Punts on Security, Johnson, co-founder of BERG Associates and former deputy director in the U.S. State Dept.'s Office of Counter Terrorism, says the TSA's procedures, which went into effect Jan. 4, "likely increase the chance that terrorists will succeed in putting a bomb onboard an in-bound commercial airliner." In a phone interview, Johnson told Tnooz that the new TSA procedures for flights in-bound into the U.S. revert to the "absurd notion" of "threat-based security," which was in place prior to 9/11 when the FAA had responsibility for airline security and tried to "play Kreskin to figure out where the threat came from."... Read More

If the global financial markets continue their recovery this year - or at least a return to 2008 levels - then the rumours about travel-related public listings may not be so wide of the mark. The initial benefit of throwing the doors open to the world's stock exchanges is a well-trodden path for travel firms as it gives the listed company access to growth capital from the outset, opportunity to create an acquisition warchest, ability to spread the equity base, and the chance to reward the best management and staff. The big publicly listed online travel agencies have seen a strong return to 2008 levels during the latter part of 2009 and it now appears other tech and online travel firms are either weighing up their options or are in advanced stages.... Read More

What you missed on Tnooz this week, Sunday 26 December to Saturday 2 January 2010. Read on to see the most commented articles, the most controversial topic, and every other article this week...... Read More

Most popular travel websites in the UK for the week ending January 2 2010. Data includes Top Ten travel search terms and the Top Ten Agency, Airline and Destination/Accommodation sites.... Read More

To many people this could be the next best thing. In truth Augmented Reality has been around for some time. Originally deployed in a commercial environment by Sky Sports we have been exposed to it probably without know it. The use of displays on playing fields via TV (for example showing the play in American Football) is a common indication.... Read More

The TSA's Christmas Day security directive, following the Northwest flight 253 terrorism incident, with its prohibitions against passengers roaming aircraft aisles or placing blankets in their laps during a flight's approach, was a short-term response to an emergency situation and some of its elements were widely criticized. But, starting Jan. 4, the TSA has dug in with "long-term, sustainable security measures," which alter the flavor of the air-traveler experience for flights inbound to the U.S. for the forseeable future. Some of the Christmas Day mandates about in-flight prohibitions, which drew such scorn, are dropped, but remain optional prohibitions at the discretion of the airlines and pilots.... Read More

The TSA issued new security directives, effective Jan. 4, for all U.S. and international carriers with inbound flights to the U.S. Here are the publicly available highlights from a statement the TSA sent to me: * Every individual -- i.e. 100% -- flying into the U.S. and traveling from or through countries designated as state sponsors of terrorism "or other countries of interest" must go through "enhanced screening," the TSA says in a statement. However, despite today's TSA statement about the new security directives, there was nothing as of 4:40 p.m. EST Jan. 3 about the new rules on the TSA website.... Read More

UPDATE: Less than an hour after posting this story below, a source familiar with aspects of the TSA investigation confirms Tnooz speculation that TSA agents were in Frischling's home on the evening of Dec. 29 when he tweeted a request to the source of the leaked security directive to contact him. Steven Frischling, one of the two travel bloggers subpoenaed by the Dept. of Homeland Security and visited by TSA agents after publishing a security directive, tweeted Jan. 2 that he can't comment on the "author" of a controversial tweet, issued from his account, at 10:05 p.m. on Dec. 29. While two TSA agents likely were in his home at the time and allegedly were threatening to terminate Frischling's ability to work with the airline industry unless he divulged the source of the security-directive leak, the Dec. 29 tweet from the FlyingWithFish Twitter account said the following: "To the gentleman who sent Flying With Fish the TSA Security Directive ... Thank You! Can you drop me an email?I have a question. Thanks-Fish."... Read More

To coincide with the mammoth Tnooz Predictions 2010 article, Tnooz asked people around the industry to gaze into their own crystal balls to forecast some of the key developments for the next 12 months. The final article in this five-part series features Andy Owen-Jones (chief executive of Traveltainment), Ben Jackson (chief executive of TourAbout) and airline consultant Al Lenza.... Read More

Journalist Chris Elliott says this evening that -- a few hours after the Dept. of Homeland Security extended a deadline for him to comply with a subpoena -- he received word from his attorney that DHS withdrew the subpoena. The stunning reversal occurred as media outlets throughout the country picked up the story that the DHS and TSA were playing hardball and going after Elliott and blogger Steven Frischling with subpoenas and tough tactics after they published the post-Northwest flight 253 security directive on new passenger screening rules. Perhaps dropping the subpoena on New Year's Eve made more sense than letting the issue and the bad publicity for the TSA linger through upcoming news cycles.... Read More

UPDATE: The DHS this afternoon gave journalist Chris Elliott an extension until Jan. 20 to comply with a subpoena, his attorney told Tnooz. The initial deadline was Dec. 31. Facing a Dept. of Homeland Security subpoena and its Dec. 31 deadline, travel journalist Chris Elliott has not turned over any documents related to the source who provided him with the TSA's secret Christmas Day security directive, his attorney says. Attorney Anthony Elia, who's representing Elliott, says he e-mailed a request Dec. 31 to TSA special agent Robert Flaherty, who served the civil subpoena at Elliott's home on the evening of Dec. 29, asking for "additional time to allow the process to unfold in a reasonable way." Giving Elliott roughly two days to respond to the subpoena was an "inordinately short" period of time and "unreasonable," Elia says, given the serious nature of the issues.... Read More

The introduction of new security technology at airports across Europe, including so-called naked body scanners, could be sped up in the aftermath of the failed bomb plot on-board a US-bound passenger jet on Christmas Day. UK government officials say an urgent review is underway following the arrest of a suspect who allegedly tried to blow up Northwest Airlines flight 253 on its final approach to Detroit airport from Amsterdam Schipol. The review in the UK is being carried out ahead of an hastily convened meeting next week of European Union member states to discuss wider airport security measures.... Read More

To coincide with the mammoth Tnooz Predictions 2010 article, Tnooz asked people around the industry to gaze into their own crystal balls to forecast some of the key developments for the next 12 months. The fourth in this five-part series features Ignacio Martos (chief executive of Opodo), Tim Russell (managing director of Amadeus UK & Ireland) and Bob Atkinson (travel expert at TravelSupermarket).... Read More