Travel Industry and American Express Launch First-Ever Industrywide Promotion to Stimulate Travel

DailyGetaways.com Features Once-in-a-Lifetime Trip Experiences and Limited-Time Travel Values from Leading Brands

May 3, 2010

New York City - VIP tickets to the Country Music Awards. A police escort to the Indianapolis 500. A private jet to Las Vegas. Meetings with Chicago’s celebrity chefs Rick Bayless and Grant Achatz. A New York Fashion Week show and meeting with a top fashion designer. Riding a Mardi Gras float.

In a unique one-month promotion through a specially created website, DailyGetaways.com, nearly 50 of America’s top destinations and travel brands have come together to provide once-in-a-lifetime experiences and tremendous values unavailable anywhere else.

Discover America Daily Getaways, a promotion of the U.S. Travel Association sponsored by American Express, runs May 3 to June 4. Aimed at stimulating travel in time for summer, it offers incredible deals of up to 50 percent off product from leading travel companies and memorable experiences from popular destinations.

Any U.S. resident 18 or older with a major credit card may purchase from an inventory of specially priced travel products offered by 25 leading travel companies related to hotels, airlines, rental cars, attractions and theme parks, dining and shopping, among others. 

Additionally, any American Express® Cardmembers have the opportunity to participate in a daily Cardmember-only auction.  Cardmembers can bid on travel packages arranged by two dozen cities.

“Discover America Daily Getaways is a win-win for consumers and the industry,” said Roger Dow, president and CEO of the U.S. Travel Association. “With the challenges everyone has faced, the travel industry is coming together for the first time ever to provide a unique, limited-time opportunity for Americans to buy products and take a trip they may not have considered the past couple years.”

“With travel and tourism being major drivers of the U.S. economy, American Express is committed to supporting the travel industry, and this partnership with the U.S. Travel Association helps achieve that goal,” said Shane Berry, senior vice president and general manager, American Express Merchant Services. “We’re also pleased to provide our Cardmembers with this exciting added benefit where they’ll receive access to once-in-a-lifetime travel opportunities. We encourage everyone interested in travel to visit www.DailyGetaways.com and take advantage of the great offers made possible by the travel industry.”

DailyGetaways.com features travel offers for sale at significant value from a different leading brand each weekday until the limited inventory is sold out. At the same time, American Express Cardmembers can also bid on a different unique city travel package being offered each weekday. The auctions will begin each weekday at 10 a.m. EDT and end at 10 p.m. EDT.

Upcoming products and auctions will preview five days in advance for consumers who want to be sure to capture these one-of-a-kind deals. Consumers can also sign up for daily alerts at DailyGetaways.com.

Additional deals and special travel offers from Daily Getaway participants are available on DiscoverAmerica.com, the official travel and tourism website of the United States. DiscoverAmerica.com is the nation’s most authoritative source of travel information on all 50 states and more than 120 U.S. cities and includes unique trip planning tools to help travelers plan vacations.

Contact:
Jill Collins 703-716-0925
Lisa Anselmo, American Express 212-640-2851

About U.S. Travel Association
The U.S. Travel Association is the national, non-profit organization representing all components of the $704 billion travel industry. U.S. Travel’s mission is to increase travel to and within the United States. For more information, visit www.ustravel.org.

About American Express

American Express is a global services company, providing customers with access to products, insights and experiences that enrich lives and build business success. Merchant Services is the merchant network of American Express, which acquires and maintains relationships with millions of merchants around the globe, which welcome American Express-branded Cards. 


About DiscoverAmerica.com

Discover America, LLC is a wholly owned entity of the U.S. Travel Association and operates DiscoverAmerica.com, the Official Travel and Tourism Website of the United States, for U.S. resident travelers and for international travelers. The international sites were developed under a cooperative agreement with the U.S. Department of Commerce in the five leading inbound markets to the United States. The website’s content is presently available in five languages: English, French, Spanish, German and Japanese. For more information, visit www.DiscoverAmerica.com.