13 min · November 12, 2026
The Ticket Is the Bait: Where Travel Actually Makes Money
Jason and Sarah dig into why the plane ticket or the hotel room is almost never where the profit lives — and what that means for anyone building in travel.
Sarah: Okay, so before we even get into today's thing — somebody cornered me after that founder dinner last week. You know the one, the guy who's building the boutique hotel booking app?
Jason: The one with the really nice business cards and no revenue yet.
Sarah: That's the one. And he asked me, dead serious, 'how do I get airlines to give me better fares so I can undercut Expedia?' And I just kind of stared at him, because that's the wrong question entirely.…
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