Or more likely Orbitz does the affiliate deal with them now. Then if it appears Hipmunk is popular and getting traction then Orbitz tries to buy them, at the ve

Or more likely Orbitz does the affiliate deal with them now. Then if it appears Hipmunk is popular and getting traction then Orbitz tries to buy them, at the very least to keep it out of Google's hands and/or beef up their UI features relative to ITA/Google.