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If all goes according to its grandiose plans, Lola will be the go-to app for a wealth of your travel needs.
From one name come many voices, all aimed at getting you to where you want to go and assuring that you are staying in comfortable accommodations.
Before we dive into this new app, we might acquaint ourselves with Lola's website where you can glean more information ahead of the promised May premiere of Lola on iOS.
And if you are the intrepid soul who enjoys taking things for a test drive, you can get in on the Beta phase, which will allow you to test the app without the $99 fee that will normally grant access once Lola goes live.
As for what Lola offers, the website states, "Lola is a new kind of travel service that provides real human travel expertise on-demand through our smartphone app."
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In a sense, it's a travel agent in app form, delivering service that books flights and accommodations for that business or leisure trip you haven't the time to plan.
We leave it to time and trial as to whether this can match the personal touch you might get from a time-tested travel agent.
Though it should be noted that Lola, based on the website's brief tutorial, promises a travel expert that answers your various queries: An example given is a hypothetical wedding in Portland, which garners the advice and help from a travel agent who can do all the heavy lifting for you.
The promise of an all-in-one solution sounds intriguing. And recent news certainly suggests there's a team and funding in place to meet consumer demand.
That is a tweet from Lola's co-founder Paul English who also served as the CTO of travel website Kayak.
In addition to English, Lola recently brought on former Orbitz Worldwide's CEO Barney Harford to the team.
It has also acquired other vital board members that have aided in acquiring millions. Some estimates put that number at $19.7 million in its Series A investment rounds.
At the time of this writing, the report states there are "several travel agents being trained to use the new tools."
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The plan seems to be not to replace travel agents, but to utilize their expertise in crafting Lola's recommendations It remains to be seen exactly how many travel agents will be brought on to serve as expert advisors to solve all your travel wishes.
We imagine an app that offers this much service for a relatively low price would be a tremendous value to business travelers short on time.
Of course, with tremendous demand comes a wealth of potential issues. If things maneuver smoothly and offer that personal touch crucial to specified itineraries then Lola may just make a giant splash in the industry.
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