Group Travel Scoop - Groople.com

Group Scoop Travel Podcast Featuring Mike Stacy, Groople CEO

The Group Scoop has a new feature! Podcasting...

This Group Scoop Audio edition is featuring Mike Stacy, Groople CEO, an interesting guest and group travel expert.

He'll be answering the questions like, Why use Groople? What is Groople? Group Travel? How to get started with Groople...and give tips on finding the best Group Travel Values.

So spend a few minutes with our CEO, Mike Stacy. Click any of the following topics to start the audio download:

Download why_groople.mp3

Download getting_started_on_groople.mp3

Download best_group_travel_values.mp3

Top Ten Group Travel Destinations

What do we want? Data! When do we want it? Now!

We here at the Group Scoop have decided you needed some hard facts to make your group travel a bit easier. We are the number one group travel site, and we keep track of what we do. This means we have lots of data about group travel.

So for this edition of the Group Scoop I scrubbed the Groople database and came up with a useful list – The Top Ten Group Travel Destinations.

For the statisticians out there this data represents a combination of the top cities we booked reservations for combined with the top cities searched for with the Groople searching engine.

So without further adieu…

                                        Top Ten Group Travel Destinations

            1. Las Vegas

            2. New York

            3. Chicago

            4. Disney World

            5. Myrtle Beach

            6. San Diego

            7. Washington

            8. Cape May

            9. Atlanta 

            10. San Antonio

Some of these results may surprise you…but we assure you they are accurate. Not only is this list an interesting topic of conversation for your next dinner party it is also crucial information for group travel planning. If you’re planning group travel to any of these destinations you will have to plan for the competition.

The Group Scoop has two key suggestions if you’re going to one of these cities:

• Plan ahead – plan further in advance than you would normally to maximize your options and buying power

• Consider Alternative Properties- hotels off the beaten path or in surrounding cities might offer you the experience you will be expecting in these very busy markets

Group News Update - United Airlines New Fees

Hot off the Group Scoop wires! Group travel news update…a new feature here at the Group Scoop. Flying your group around just got a little more complicated. Group travel air budgets are growing as of Feb 4^th, 2008. United Airlines is introducing new fees to the airlines business!

United Airlines is now charging a $25 service fee to check a second bag when traveling with a normal fare ticket. This signals a new level of service fees from airlines as checking two bags has always been included in the price of an airline ticket.

It will be interesting to see consumer reaction. United Airlines says 25% of its consumers check a second bag. Will UA lose some of that 25%? Will other Airlines follow suit and the days of two checked bags are leaving? Stay tuned!

A new feature of the Group Scoop will be to bring you news features that effect group travel or stories that represent a harbinger of things to come. What do you think of this move by UA?