It's not a major surprise, but a mobile website provider found that traffic on its travel-related mobile websites increased 200% during the recent blizzard on the East Coast.
Usablenet, which powers mobile websites for some 50 travel clients, saw the traffic surge Dec. 26-28 as marooned travelers used their mobile devices to reschedule flights, check flight statuses, reserve hotel rooms and book bus tickets on mobile websites and applications.
Interestingly, Usablenet says the most popular devices on mobile sites for travel clients were iPhones and Android-powered devices, "with Android surpassing Blackberry for the first time among business travelers."
The company's "review of mobile traffic data on Monday [Dec. 27] showed, for the first time, that devices running Android OS were used more frequently than Blackberry to visit the mobile websites of Usablenet travel clients," a spokesman says.
Usablenet's travel clients include American Airlines, British Airways, Delta, JetBlue, US Airways, Amtrak, Expedia, Bolt Bus, Hilton Hotels, Omni Hotels, Wyndham Hotels and Starwood Hotels.