Author: admin

by Paul Heney Last updated: 8:55 AM ET, Mon November 17, 2025 This year’s IGLTA Convention, held in Palm Springs, Calif., broke the record for the largest ever, with more than 750 attendees from 30 countries and territories attending. IGLTA CEO/President John Tanzella, who himself recently relocated to Palm Springs, noted how difficult it was for many international attendees to attend this year’s convention, given the current administrations’ policies and many travelers’ fears of the U.S.’s status today.“It’s a challenge for us living here in a lot of ways, as you can imagine, but I really do feel like we’re…

Sequoia-backed fintech platform Aspora, which lets the Indian diaspora send money back to India, is launching a new feature for users to pay bills. This means non-resident Indians (NRIs) can pay utility bills or recharge their mobile prepaid plans for their family. The startup said that until now, users had to either transfer the money to their Indian accounts or ask someone to handle the bills for them. The other option for them was to use their foreign cards and try and pay bills while facing high charges and payment failures. Aspora has hooked up to the Bharat Bill Payment…

Black Friday is in full swing, with offers running through the end of December. From cruises and resorts to rail and vacation packages, suppliers are offering discounts, perks, and bonus incentives. Here’s a roundup of Black Friday travel offers for 2025:Vacation PackagesAir Canada Vacations – Meliá Hotels Up to $2,000 off per pair*. Book by Nov. 18, 2025 | Travel Nov. 11, 2025 – Sep. 30, 2026 Destinations: Participating Meliá Hotels and Resorts in Cuba, the Dominican Republic, and Mexico. Exclusive perks at select hotels + up to 4,000 extra Aeroplan points per member on 7-night bookings.Learn more Sunwing  – Up…

Swedish automaker Volvo has canceled a five-year-old contract with Luminar, the latest escalation in an increasingly ugly brawl between the lidar sensor company and its biggest customer. The fight is happening during an existential moment for Luminar. The company recently defaulted on several of its loans. While it’s working with those lenders on a resolution, Luminar has warned investors it may have to declare bankruptcy. To stave that off, Luminar recently laid off 25% of its staff and is trying to sell itself — or parts of itself — to potential buyers. One of them is Luminar founder Austin Russell,…

Networking giant Cisco has acquired EzDubs, a Y Combinator-backed consumer startup that provides real-time translation services. Cisco announced the acquisition over the weekend, but the company didn’t disclose the size of the deal. EzDubs was founded by Padmanabhan Krishnamurthy, Amrutavarsh Kinagi, and Kareem Nassar in 2023. Notably, Nassar had previously worked at Cisco’s Speech AI group before co-founding the startup. The company raised $4.2 million in seed funding led by Venture Highway, which was founded by Neeraj Arora, who was previously WhatsApp’s chief business officer. Other investors in EzDubs include Replit CEO Amjad Masad; Replit President Michele Catasta; Qasar Younis,…

Last December, the Biden Administration launched, “a rulemaking to protect passengers stranded by airlines canceling or significantly changing their flights.” This announcement sought public feedback for passenger compensation on significantly delayed flights, including a tiered approach where compensation could range from $200-$300 for domestic delays from three to six hours, $375-$525 for delays six to nine hours, and $750-$775 for delays of nine hours or more. But now the Trump Administration has submitted a filing saying it was withdrawing the plan. Recently, a group of Democratic Senators released a letter that said, in part, “This is a common-sense proposal: when…

The one area outside of AI where investors are still enthusiastic is expense management fintech, at least if Ramp’s 2025 is anything to judge by. Every few months, Ramp has raised another large sum at another giant new valuation. On Monday, the fintech announced it had raised $300 million led by Lightspeed, which also included an employee tender offer. This is just a few months after a $500 million Series E-2 at a $22.5 billion valuation led by Iconiq, announced on July 30. That round was just a few weeks after a $200 million Series E at a $16 billion…

by Lacey Pfalz Last updated: 8:00 AM ET, Mon November 17, 2025 It’s officially mid-November, and that means it’s once again the most wonderful time of year to snag some great deals on hotel and resort stays around the world. This Black Friday, Cyber Monday and Travel Tuesday, hotels and resorts are offering discounts, sometimes as much as 70 percent off, to entice travelers to start planning their next vacations. From London to Jamaica, check out our curated list of deals to start your search for your next trip.  Who knows? You might just find what you’re looking for. Sandals Resorts and…

One year ago, e-commerce giant Amazon kicked off its new online car sales business with Hyundai. Now, Ford is joining in with a certified used car twist. Ford announced Monday that customers will be able to shop for, finance, and purchase certified pre-owned Ford vehicles on Amazon Autos. The partnership still keeps dealerships — a key revenue driver for Ford — in the loop. Customers can browse a participating local dealer’s inventory directly through Amazon’s website, complete most of the paperwork online, and then schedule a time to pick up the selected vehicle, according to Ford. Ford said any certified…

by Donald Wood Last updated: 8:10 AM ET, Mon November 17, 2025 The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) lifted the government-mandated cuts in domestic flights that were put in place during the record-breaking federal shutdown.According to Reuters, the FAA made the announcement Sunday night, saying impacted flights at 40 airports across the United States would return to full service on Monday morning at 6 a.m. ET now that air traffic controllers are paid and back to full force. The FAA revealed that restrictions on space launches and general aviation flights had been lifted, with FAA Administrator Bryan Bedford saying that the…