Everett, Wash.
Published: Saturday, June 27, 2009

Bing makes travel searching easier

By Jen Leo
Los Angeles Times

 The travel section of Bing, www.bing.com/travel, is one of the major upsides to Microsoft's new search engine. The level of integration within the search feature makes shopping for travel a more informed experience from the first click -- reducing the number of steps between you and a fully booked trip.

What's hot: Bing Travel combines Farecast flight and hotel information with Microsoft editorial content. You don't have to be within Bing Travel to access handy travel information.

From the main Bing search area (www.bing.com), type in the airport codes of your departure and destination airports and watch as reservation numbers pop up along with a sample price and links to a 30-day outlook or deals.

Use the "airfare deals" tab within Bing.com/travel to find low fares across the board.

What's not: The hotel section has a terrific, easy-to-use user interface -- with tabs to sort the search results from the top and search refinement by amenities, price or distance on the left.

However, in my searches for "Vegas hotels," I discovered that the deals promoted did not match once I clicked through to the third-party site. Also, when I searched for a hotel I planned to book, no phone number was listed.
© 2009The Daily Herald Co., Everett, WA