More travel startup news tonight after Sidestep’s acquisition of TripUp: Yapta, one of the many Seattle-based travel startups (see Farecast and TripHub too), is announcing its second round of venture capital – $2.3 million from First Round Capital, Bay Partners and other investors. The company has now raised a total of $3 million.
Yapta, which launched in May, has a unique approach to saving people money on travel: The core of the Yapta service is a browser bookmarklet or addon that lets users “bookmark” fares that they find on major travel sites. Ten airline and travel sites are currently supported, and many more will be added over time. See a flight you are interested in and bookmark it. The flight and fare information is then stored in your account at Yapta.
Find a number of different flight options at different sites, and then go back to Yapta to compare them. This is particularly useful when you fly Southwest or Jetblue, which do not provide flight information to other services. If the fare increases or decreases before you make a purchase, that will be reflected on the Yapta site.
If you make a purchase by clicking through to the airline or travel site from Yapta, they’ll continue to monitor the price. If it falls, they’ll ping you and suggest you contact the airline for a refund or flight coupon. All airlines offer these on price drops but few consumers follow up. Yapta will help by reminding you.