So many companies want a piece of the travel action these days because of its high-end customers and everyone’s deep desire to travel despite shaky economies and personal budgets. Enter Visa, the credit card payment network, which launched a travel website that competes against the likes of Chase, Capital One and Citi.
Visa says Visa Destinations is “additive” to the travel portals that its card issuers operate, but it doesn’t look that way from my vantage.
As a payments’ network, Visa has been able to forge direct relationships with suppliers that many online travel players only dream of. Those attractions’ partnerships can be hard to come by.
But if things go awry during a trip, Visa says it will try to answer customer queries within a seemingly endlessly long 48 hours.
Will travelers be able to sort through the confusion of a travel offering offered by “Visa” versus those travel portals run by their credit card companies? Let the games begin.
ÀVEN HOSPITALITY + SKIFT
New research finds many hotels are investing in AI, but few have built the foundations needed to stay visible as traveler discovery shifts to AI-powered search.
EDITOR’S PICKS
Visa Steps Into Travel — and Into Competition With Its Own Card Issuers
June 29, 2026
Visa just officially launch a consumer travel site that competes with the banks that pay Visa to issue their cards. That's the real story here, the structural conflict of a payment network establishing direct relationships with cardholders and entering into the banks' own travel businesses.
MakeMyTrip and Cleartrip Both Just Launched Creator Programs. The Models Are Different — For Now
June 29, 2026
Two near-identical launches in five weeks prove that creator-led travel commerce is here. The hard part now is proving that a reel can turn into a booking, and deciding how much the companies are willing to spend before they have that proof.
Airbnb Moves Into Fintech With a Cancel-for-Any-Reason Feature
June 18, 2026
Airbnb is selling peace of mind to guests, giving assurances to hosts, and potentially debuting a new fintech revenue stream that’s been so successful for Hopper. The issue is whether this will further alienate hosts, who deal with the logistical hassles of last-minute cancellations.
SKIFT PODCAST NETWORK
Hotels spent the last decade trying to convince travelers to book directly.
Hilton's "Stop Clicking Around" campaign became one of the most recognizable direct-booking efforts in travel history, helping launch an industry-wide push to reduce dependence on online travel agencies. But ten years later, OTA market share has barely moved.
SKIFT TRAVEL 200
How are public travel tech companies performing around the world? The Skift Travel 200 pulls the data you need to know to understand the market. Paid subscribers get full access here.
