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Today we announced that we have integrated hotel search results from Booking.com that will enable you to track hotel prices on a much broader selection of properties. Using Yapta’s enhanced hotel rate tracking service, you can now monitor pricing on over 196,000 domestic and international properties and be alerted via email when prices drop.

Unlike “opaque” accommodation booking services that don’t allow you to see the specific hotel property you’re bidding on, Yapta enables you to designate the hotel you’re most interested in and be automatically alerted when the rate drops — or when it reaches a desired price point. Yapta diligently checks for the lowest published rate of a tracked hotel and reports decreases to you with a custom email that links you to the savings opportunity.

If you’re planning an upcoming trip, give Yapta’s hotel rate tracking service a try.  It can help you save a bundle.  Based on our data, travelers tracking hotel prices more than 30 days in advance of booking save between $50 – $60 on average.  (Again, that’s savings in the form of an email that alerts you to a lower available rate, not a refund.)  However, fear not travel planning procrastinators.  Travelers tracking hotel rates for fewer than 30 days save between $30 – $40 on average.

If you’re searching for flights on Yapta.com today, you may notice that the search results look a lot like those delivered by KAYAK.com.  Well, your eyes are not deceiving you.  KAYAK, the largest travel search site in the world, is now powering Yapta’s flight search.

This is great news for you!  By integrating KAYAK’s flight search, which provides prices and itineraries for hundreds of airlines, you’re now able to track prices on virtually any flight in the world.

All of us at Yapta are really excited to bring this enhancement to you – so give our new flight search a whirl and let us know what you think.  And if you would like to learn more about Yapta’s partnership with KAYAK, you can read our news announcement.

Spirit Airlines is attempting to cash in on the media frenzy surrounding Tiger Woods by running a 10-second online ad promoting its “Eye of the Tiger Sale” – which features a tiger that crashes an SUV into a fire hydrant.

It seems a little disconcerting (and tasteless) that an airline would be touting a fare sale with the depiction of a crash scene.  However, the ads are drawing some attention online and from a number of media outlets, including The Huffington Post, the Orlando Sentinel and E! Online – so perhaps it’s “mission accomplished” by the airline?

The USA Today reports that, “this is certainly not the first time Spirit has courted controversy with its advertisements.  Just last week, a Spirit press release touted a ‘We’re no Virgin’ fare sale, clearly aimed at rival Virgin America’s new service from Spirit’s Ft. Lauderdale base.”

And in case you’re wondering, the Eye of the Tiger Sale is offering fares from $9 each way.

Here’s some more travel news you can use:

• The first plane designed to fly day and night without fuel, the Solar Impulse HB-SIA, lifted off for the first time today in Switzerland.  Test pilot Markus Scherdel flew 350 meters down an icy runway at an altitude of one meter in a flight lasting 28 seconds.  The Impulse is as wide as a Boeing 747, but weighs only about 1.7 tons.  The 12,000 solar cells mounted on the wing are designed to provide renewal solar power to the plane’s 4 electric motors.

• Just in time for the holiday season, Wyndham Hotels and Resorts, an official sponsor of Cirque du Soleil touring shows, today announced exclusive discounts for Wintuk — the seasonal family show performing in New York — as well as stays at its Wyndham hotels in the city.  Wyndham is celebrating the return of the winter adventure to Manhattan with a double discount: 30% off the regular ticket price of any Wintuk show and a special 15% discount when booking at its participating NYC hotels.

BTW – If you’re planning to stay at a NYC hotel (or any hotel) you should be tracking prices with Yapta before you book.  That way you’ll know when prices drop and you can save big!

Google announced on their blog today that they’re partnering with Virgin America to provide free WiFi on every Virgin America flight between November 10, 2009 and January 15, 2010.

“Whether it’s using Gmail to confirm an airport pick up time with your brother, doing some last minute gift shopping for your niece on Google Product Search or searching Google.com for a good sweet potato pie recipe before touchdown — we hope this makes it a bit easier to stay connected with family and friends while you’re up in the air.

You can find out more about our partnership, where Virgin America flies and how the in-flight WiFi service works at www.freeholidaywifi.com.”

Virgin America currently serves 10 major markets, including San Francisco (SFO), Boston (BOS), Ft. Lauderdale (FLL), Las Vegas (LAS), Los Angeles (LAX), New York (JFK), Orange County (SNA), San Diego (SAN), Seattle (SEA), Washington-Dulles (IAD).

Here’s some more travel news you can use:

• The Detroit Free Press reports that Northwest Airlines is changing nearly all of its current flight numbers this week – so be sure to confirm your Northwest Airlines flight number before heading to the airport.  The changes are due to the takeover by Delta Air Lines and go into effect Saturday (10/26) for international flights and Sunday, Nov. 1st for domestic flights.

• AirTran Airways is expanding its mobile device options for customers to help manage their air travel. The expanded mobile Web services will allow flyers to book flights and change or cancel travel plans using their mobile devices, according to an AirTran release. The new services complement existing ones offered by AirTran, including being able to view flight status and check in for flights.

• JetBlue said today that its expanding its service at Boston’s Logan International Airport.  The New York-based carrier said that five daily nonstop flights from Boston to Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport will begin on March 1, 2010.

• There was an interesting debate carried out in a recent edition of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution in which Kate Hanni, the Executive Director of FlyersRights.org, and James May, President and CEO of the ATA, offered their perpsective on the proposed legislation for a  “Passenger Bill of Rights”.   Give it a read and comment here to let us know which side of the debate you fall on.

• If you’re interested in capturing information on hotels in nearly any city or town in the United States , visit Yapta’s new hotel browse pages.  You’ll find background on hotels from Abbeville, AL to Worland, WY.