iSeatz.com partners with Travelocity, MasterCard to offer travel packages

As consumers increase their demand for online booking of travel packages, iSeatz.com is getting its more than 1,000 member restaurants included in package deals offered through its expanding number of partners. Its latest partner agreements are with MasterCard International and Travelocity.com.

MasterCard is already offering dining at up to 30% off regular retail prices for restaurant reservations booked through iSeatz, where MasterCard is listed as the preferred payment option. ISeatz lists restaurants throughout the U.S., including Tavern-on-the-Green in New York, Wolfgang Puck`s Spago and The House of Blues.

And as of Aug. 2, travel services site Travelocity.com`s agreement with iSeatz will enable Travelocity users to access restaurant reservations through Travelocity`s Concierge Services page, its Global Review itinerary page and through direct links included in post-booking e-mailed travel confirmations. "Increasingly, our customers require full travel services from Travelocity.com, which includes restaurant as well as hotel and air reservations," said Peter Cardell, senior vice president, product marketing for Travelocity.com.

Online sales of T&E packages is a small but fast-growing segment of the online travel industry, reports comScore Networks Inc. It notes that online sales of travel packages, which may include any combination of transportation, lodging and dining services, grew 97% in the first quarter over the year-ago period, to $435 million from $220.8 million. (ComScore notes that the $435 million in the travel package sales category also includes separate online sales of ship, rail and other travel services, but that most of the growth is from package sales.)

Graham Mudd, an analyst for comScore, says many online travel services are focusing more on offering packaged deals because they offer high profit margins and help to replace revenue lost to declining airline ticket commissions. "By combining a number of travel components, such as airfare and hotel room, online agencies can deliver an attractive package price to consumers without revealing the price of any specific component of the trip, thus protecting each supplier`s pricing integrity," he says.

ISeatz also has partner agreements with several other T&E-related sites, including CitySearch.com, NewOrleans.com and DineOnline.com.