Travel search going the way of the dinosaur?

Orbitz is losing out on yet another partnership. Last year, American Airlines pulled all its flights from the online travel website. And now comes word Enterprise and Orbitz are going their separate ways after “months of difficult discussions”.

Are these partnership break ups an Orbitz problem? Or an industry-wide problem?

Maybe both.

American Airlines (AA) originally pulled out of its deal with Orbitz because it wanted to cut costs and eliminate the “middle man” (although you still can book AA tickets on Priceline).

But if American’s business strategy proves successful, it won’t take long for the other airlines to follow suit and pull out of deals with Orbitz, Expedia, and the other sites. Heck, just look at Southwest Airlines. It has never offered its fares on any website but its own.

Ultimately, I worry the biggest loser is you the traveler. Less competition means higher prices and lower selection for flights, hotels, and rental cars...not to mention inconvenience!

Can you imagine the days of booking a flight by searching each individual airlines’ website and comparing each one-by-one? I need a vacation just thinking about it.