Social media buffs have Klout scores to show off, but now itinerary management service Traxo hopes its new Traxo Travel Score will also be a badge of honor.
Traxo unveiled its Traxo Travel Score today and members who notch a score of 80 or above out of 100 can choose a perk from partners such as Avis Budget, Condé Nast Traveler, Virgin America and World Nomads. These awards, which are redeemed quarterly beginning in September, might include a car rental voucher from Avis Budget, Virgin America lounge access or travel insurance from World Nomads, for instance.
Road warriors who score 90 or greater also are eligible to win -- but aren't guaranteed -- extra goodies such as a roundtrip flight on South African Airways or "adventure luggage" from Briggs &Riley, Traxo says.
Traxo uses a patent-pending algorithm to calculate travel scores, which becomes part of consumers' public profiles on Traxo.
Here's how it works.
You register for free on Traxo and the algorithm automatically goes back 18 months and retrieves your travel and loyalty information from 10 to 11 sites, and updates your travel score within 24 hours after your current trips, as well, Traxo says. Traxo also pulls your information from any of the dozens of airline, hotel, cruise line, car rental, train or bus websites that you register on Traxo, too.
Consumers register sites with Traxo so the company can pull their travel confirmations and build itineraries for travelers to share with friends and colleagues.
Specifically, the Traxo travel score is based on coverage (states and countries visited); distance (miles traveled); duration (number of days); and frequent flyer loyalty status.
Two additional factors comes into play, a spokesperson says. They are verification (travel confirmations from suppliers you've registered with on Traxo) and recent trips (which carry more weight) than older trips.
The Traxo algorithm also pulls information from check-in sites such as Gowalla and hopes to soon add foursquare and Facebook Places, says Andres Fabris, Traxo cofounder and CEO.
"But we differentiate between self-reported sites and give more weight for trips where we have a travel confirmation," Fabris says. "We weigh verified trips more heavily."
And Fabris says Traxo hopes to soon add members' travel data from rival TripIt through the TripIt API.
By going back 18 months, querying a diverse set of sites and weighing various elements of your travel resume, "it's all designed to very quickly present your true travel experience," Fabris says.
Of course, it's also all designed to get consumers bragging about their Traxo Travel Scores and to push Traxo center stage much as Klout has done with social media scores.
Fabris says Traxo realized it had at its disposal valuable data about consumers' travel experiences and now is seeking to leverage it for itself, consumers and suppliers.
Traxo will offer advertising programs to suppliers looking to get their brand in front of high-scoring travelers and plans to license Traxo Travel Scores through the Traxo API.
For example, a travel review site could license the data to show the travel-experience level of reviewers.
The business relationships between Traxo and suppliers participating in the travel score program vary, Fabris says. Some suppliers are giving away products, and for others Traxo will purchase the perks at a discount.
Redemption of the consumer perks takes place quarterly, beginning in September and the method varies according to the supplier, officials say.
Of course, there is a social media aspect to the Traxo Travel Score as travel plans and bragging rights are shared on Facebook.
There are innumerable ways to earn an 80 score to qualify for perks, Traxo says.
For example, a member can earn an 80 Traxo Travel Score by visiting five states, five countries and three continents; traveling 144,000 miles and 69 days; and being a member of one loyalty program, Traxo says.
Another member might hit the 80 mark by visiting two states, 14 countries and four continents; traveling 118,000 miles and 26 days; and belonging to 11 loyalty programs, Traxo says.
Regardless of how consumers achieve these scores, Traxo hopes its member will boast of their travel clout.