Travelocity is expanding its mobile presence with a new service that lets travelers scoop up bargain trips while on the go.

Travelers can sign up for the Dashing Deals program by visiting Travelocity’s Web site or mobile site. Similar to other daily deal programs, the deals are time-sensitive and go out at 10 a.m. eastern time every day.

“Travelocity is always looking for new ways to offer our customers the best travel deals in the forms that they want to shop,” said Joel Frey, Travelocity spokesperson, Southlake, TX.

“The Dashing Deals flash sale model makes it easy to find deeply discounted deals on hotels every day, and by showing travelers the actual dates and room availability at the time of purchase, we’re improving the flash sale for the customer,” he said.

Travelocity is an online travel booking company  that offers services in both the United States and Canada.

Quick offers
Each day, consumers get an offer for a targeted travel package. Consumers can then view the deal on their mobile devices.

Users can also view the deals via the company’s Android and iPhone apps or on Travelocity’s Facebook page.

“We wanted Dashing Deals to be easy to use – part of that was being easy to access,” Mr. Frey said. “You don’t have to subscribe or be part of a club to receive them.”

“Dashing Deals is perfect for the mobile app user,” he said.

“The deals are available until the inventory sells out – so the mobile app enables you to always check on the deal and determine if that deal is for you.”

To celebrate the launch of Dashing Deals, Travelocity is offering consumers who buy a deal before Sept. 11 a $50 voucher towards booking travel services with the company.

Rush decisions
Daily deals are huge and continue to be a part of the mobile industry that every company wants a piece of.

In particular, travel deals and sales tap into mobile consumers who are already likely to book with a device that is with them while traveling.

The aim of Dashing Deals and similar programs is to get consumers to buy discounted, impulse deals before time runs up, which seems natural for every day products like food and entertainment.

However, travel deals include expensive hotels and airfares, which could lead them to be ineffective.

For example, one Dashing Deal is for a three-night stay at a Maui hotel.

Although the package is heavily discounted from more than $1000 to $500, it is still a significant purchase and it is unclear how consumers will respond to the deals.

However, Travelocity is still pushing ahead with the program and sees an untapped market for mobile bookings.

“Mobile is just at its beginning stages in travel, there is a lot more to come,” Mr. Frey said.

“We believe travelers will continue to explore their deal options and become more comfortable with booking via mobile,” he said.

Final Take
Lauren Johnson is editorial assistant on Mobile Commerce Daily, New York