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Airbnb, Uber and so many other entities entered 2015 with high hopes. As you will soon see, some were far more successful than others.
And with that, we have what is a brief breakdown of some of the familiar names that have popped up amid your business travels.
Winners:
Uber
This was the year that Uber stepped out of the shadows for many, including mere casual travelers. Instead of a fringe app that people in the know utilized, it quickly became the solution to traversing major cities.
Yes, that meant a great deal of scary upheaval from taxi drivers around the world. But for the consumer, it meant relatively inexpensive transportation available with the ease of an app.
Now with UberX, Pool and the budding Uber Eats there are more ways to enjoy the technology.
Airbnb
Much like Uber, Airbnb garners animosity from some in the industry. However, it had a wonderful year in the form of monetary gains.
It recently raised $1.5 billion in funding, becoming a veritable $25.5 billion juggernaut that all manner of travelers are increasingly using.
Concur
Known as an expensing solution for droves of weary business travelers who would like to take the sting of logging their journey, Concur had a fairly impressive year.
Already established in the industry, it managed to widen its reach with partnerships with Starbucks as well as Lyft and HotelTonight
Consumers
The big winners this year has to be the consumers, you intrepid mass of eager travelers. As we have noted before, there are so many digital solutions that alleviate an immense load from traversing the globe.
Apps like GetClose help reach businesses. Websites like Service solve the burden of customer service. And a seemingly infinite amount of apps continue to pop up on the horizon, settling issues like accommodations, airport transport and travel dining.
Technology has surpassed its growing pains and now rests comfortably as the go-to tool for so many travel headaches.
Losers:
Apple
Apple had a rough year with the lackluster reception of the Apple Watch to the apparent discrepancy of battery life in its iPhone 6s.
Rather hilariously, Apple also launched a solution that business travelers need: more power. It did so by making its slim iPhone 6S line bulkier.
At least we can say we paid handsomely for great entertainment.
Mixed Bag
Uber and Airbnb are indeed winners, but we simply had to include both for the issues both suffered this past year in the form of troubling headlines.
The former endured often violent protests in places like France, Mexico and Australia.
The latter had to suffer through such things as marketing gaffes and allegations of discrimination.
Notoriety, fiscal success and consumer satisfaction are indeed treasured assets, but they aren't everything.
TSA
No one travel entity had a worse year than the TSA, which not only endured failing grades during actual tests but also lost a great deal of faith in the general public.
Even the budding show "Adam Ruins Everything" featured the TSA recently and illustrated its purported security theater.
In-flight Wi-Fi
As we have seen recently, in-flight Wi-Fi is about to get faster, thanks in particular to items like Gogo's 2Ku innovation.
However, in 2015, in-flight internet was akin to the queue at the airplane bathroom, essentially slow and very painful.
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