#FreeMyPoints: The Right to Share Your Data
In the age of the open API, it’s easy to take your own data for granted. So when three of the major airlines decided to cut off third party access to reward point data, it was a tough pill to swallow for travelers. They were forced to resort to the old way of doing things, logging into every account separately, and TripIt was stunted – for a brief moment.
“#FreeMyPoints” became the battle cry in hundreds of tweets, Facebook posts, and customer service calls by loyal travelers demanding the right to share their reward points with third parties like TripIt.
This was the latest example of TripIt championing the free flow of data on behalf of travelers in an industry that’s traditionally limited.
The journey to get the rest of the travel industry on board with this philosophy of openness is fraught with challenges. Learn from TripIt’s own experience so you can be prepared to go to battle for your users and their data, no matter what industry you strive to improve.
Sponsored by TripIt.
Presenters
Darren Bauer Kahan
VP R&D
TripIt/Concur
Darren Bauer Kahan is an established technical leader in the travel industry with 17 years of experience and a deep knowledge of online travel technology, having developed and led engineering teams and strategy for major consumer e-commerce websites. He spent 10 years in increasingly senior engineering roles at Hotwire.com, including Senior Director, Software Engineering and Web Development, leading a global team of 50 developers and managers across all aspects of Hotwire.com and Travel-Ticker.com. As SVP, Engineering at Limos.com, Darren was responsible for all development and support of web and mobile applications, APIs, private label sites and Limousine operator ground control. He is currently VP, R&D for Traveler Services at Concur, responsible for all engineering functions and strategy for TripIt and ExpenseIt. Darren remains a hands-on technical leader who keeps current with technologies and software development methodologies while driving corporate strategy. He holds a BA in Computer Science from the University of California, Berkeley.