Skifting Gears

Gentlemen, a show of hands: do you think you’re getting screwed by the airlines?

And do you want to do more traveling? And pay less for it?

If your answers were “Yes,” “Yes” and a cartoonish head nod, then direct your browser to Skift, the de facto bible of the travel industry, online and dropping knowledge now.

Here’s what you need to know:

1. Travel experts read Skift

Think of Skift (“a travel intelligence company”) as the Moneyball of travel: a team of analysts pores through travel data to offer daily trend analysis and travel suggestions. If you’ve read a travel article on CNN or NBCNews.com recently, there’s a good chance it was written by Skift.

2. Skift readers tend to know more about travel than their insufferable seatmates

Our favorites from their recent articles: “10 Best International First Class Experiences” (Etihad looks nice), a report on family-friendly airport hubs, environmental travel tips (avoid China: the smog is particularly bad right now) and how the popularity of TSA’s PreCheck at airports is going to affect your security.

Plus, insider info on new travel apps (five must-haves this week alone, including Fareboom and Linqapp), upcoming airline mergers and detailed reports on cruises, train travel and hotels.

3. … and more than insufferable investors

Skift recently launched their Trends Report, a twice-monthly deep-dive into a particular travel trend (most recently: “The Rise of Local in Hospitality”), available as a subscription or single issue purchase PDF.

Smart travels, friend.