A submission to the US Patent & Trademark Office for iTravel might revolutionize the travel industry.
Steve Jobs and the Apple Corporation have yet to comment on this application that would cover every aspect of a trip, from flight and hotel bookings to RFID boarding passes and room keys. Of course to use this technology, the iPhone itself would need to be NFC (Near Field Communication) compatible, which translates into: we need to wait for the iPhone 5 to come out.It is still unclear how the American company will access the individual hotels’ reservations systems, whether they will directly tap into them, or go through on-line travel agents (OTA). Depending on how economical (or expensive) Apple’s commissions may be, this application can be viewed as the long-awaited savior from OTAs (remember Choice vs/ Expedia?), or just another "brandjacker".As with iTunes, Apple will indeed get a commission on hotel bookings sold through the future iTravel. If the project sees the light of day, we might be on the verge of a revolution of the travel industry, the same way Global Distribution Systems revolutionized it in the 70’s.It is still unclear how the American company will access the individual hotels’ reservations systems, whether they will directly tap into them, or go through on-line travel agents (OTA). Depending on how economical (or expensive) Apple’s commissions may be, this application can be viewed as the long-awaited savior from OTAs (remember Choice vs/ Expedia?), or just another "brandjacker".
