Virgin Atlantic is attempting to make it easier for air travelers to meet up and share cabs from major airports with the launch of Taxi2, a free online service that matches solo travelers headed to similar destinations in major city centers.

Travelers on any flight (you needn't be a Virgin Atlantic traveler) enter their flight information and receive a printable ticket that can be easily folded into a sign used to signal other Taxi2 users on arrival at the destination airport. The service also allows users with compatible arrival times and destinations to contact each other in advance via email before the day of travel to make plans to meet at the airport.

Catching a cab outside San Diego hotels may be harder this week, but not because the taxis aren't looking for fares. Taxi drivers in the Southern California town are alleging that staff at many downtown hotels are getting kickbacks for sending guests to town cars and limousines instead of into cabs. The dispute escalated last week and prompted some cab drivers to begin boycotting San Diego hotels.

In a move likely to make it the lodging darling of New England's environmentally-aware and intellectual travelers, The Charles Hotel in Cambridge (whose bedspreads, fittingly enough, continue the vehicular theme by reminding us of oldschool taxis) has plans to juice up guests' hybrid and electric vehicles for free and offer discounted overnight parking rates to drivers of smaller cars.