Credit Card News: Travel&Rewards

A popular travel app is now available on Android operating systems. Last Minute Travels Deals is introducing several new iPhone features, along with an Android version.

The free app helps people find flights, hotel rooms, vacation homes and activities as prices that fit their budgets. Users can browse offers from over 175 airline carriers, 100,000 hotels in more than 150 countries, almost 20,000 vacation homes, and an estimated 10,000 activities. They also recently added 25,000 car rental pick-up locations from 18 car rental brands in their database.

Car rental database offers affordable rental cars

Customers can search for cars by vehicle type, standard or automatic transmission, and preferred rental company. A map view makes it easy to choose a convenient pickup location. A credit card scanner and an iPad version are also now available from Last Minute Travel Deals.

Omer Chehmer, the company’s head of mobile communications, said the app carries the largest and most comprehensive selection of car rentals of any mobile device app. “With its massive inventory, filter options, and easy-to-use map functionality, travelers can find a car more easily and affordably – regardless of their location.”

Faster and more convenient checkout

When checking out, members will find their credit card numbers auto-populated in payment fields, saving them from having to input the 16-digit number. Card imaging features have been redesigned, making travel booking a more streamlined experience for users.

Chehmer said that the majority of hotel reservations booked on Last Minute Travel Deals are same-day reservations. “Over 60% of hotel reservations booked through the app are last minute bookings. We know travelers are in a rush, so why not make life easier for them and allow them to scan their cards?” explained Chehmer.

More services coming by end of 2014

Last Minute Travel Deals plans to add vacation packages and cruises to the app before the end of the year. Chehmer said it will be the first mobile app that lets travelers book and pay for cruises and travel packages.

Last Minute Travel can be downloaded for free from the iTunes store (for Apple iOS) and Google Play (for Android). The app works by using a wholesale model to broker hotel rooms, flights, vacation homes, car rentals and attraction tickets to customers.