AOL Tests Travel Search EngineAOL Tests Travel Search Engine

America Online Inc. on Monday launched a test version of a travel search engine that the company says will complement its current online travel service.

PinPointTravel.com, which is powered by technology from Kayak.com, searches for airline flights and hotel rooms, but does not offer any booking services. Instead, when a consumer or business traveler is ready to buy a ticket or reserve a room, he is directed to the supplier.

"(PinPointTravel) is not going to replace AOL Travel," company spokesman Brian Hoyt said. "It's a complementary site."

AOL, a subsidiary of Time Warner Inc., is hoping the search engine, which is expected to launch in April, will attract AOL members who currently head to other sites to search, and ultimately buy, airline tickets, vacation packages, car rentals and other travel-related products, Hoyt said. While AOL has 22.6 million members, the Dulles, Va., portal's full-service travel site only attracts about 8 million unique visitors a month.

The beta version of PinPointTravel.com is open to the public and contains about 550 airlines and 85,000 hotels in its data store, Hoyt said. Top travel sites Travelocity, Expedia and Orbitz, however, have chosen not to be searched by AOL, as well as discount carrier Southwest Airlines.

PinPointTravel.com uses AOL's proprietary search technology, which runs on top of Kayak.com's database of travel suppliers. AOL and Kayak.com share revenues from suppliers, which pay every time someone clicks to their site from the search engine, Hoyt said.

Travelocity powers the full-service AOL Travel site.