SYDNEY, July 3, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Global travel service provider Trip.com has today unveiled its upcoming Jet Set July Mega Sale. Tailored exclusively for Australian holidaymakers, the initiative features a massive inventory of premium coupons, flash sales, and value drops across flights, accommodations, global attractions, transports and eSIMs from 7 to 12 July.

High-Flying Flight Deals & Unmissable Flash Fares
For Australian travellers with wanderlust, Trip.com is unlocking unbeatable flight deals and flash sales—your dream trip is now more affordable than ever.

Mega Promo Codes: 50% off flight codes (capped at $100) and 25% off flight codes (capped at $50).Domestic & Trans-Tasman Savings: Up to $40 off domestic and Australia-New Zealand flight promo codes with Jetstar, Virgin Australia and Qantas.Airline Exclusive Offers: Up to $100 off airline exclusive promo codes, alongside special airline exclusive fares.$29 Domestic Flash Sale: One-way domestic flights from just $29 to and from Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide and Gold Coast.International Flash Sales: One-way fares from $109 to Bali from Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane or Perth; from $149 to Ho Chi Minh City from Sydney, Melbourne, or Brisbane; and from $189 from Sydney to Shanghai.Bundle Savings: An extra 10% off flight and hotel packages via dedicated codes (capped at $50).

Hotel, Attraction and Destination Savings
Beyond the skies, the sale provides end-to-end booking promotion to completely transform the ground experience:

Accommodation Discounts: 50% off promo codes (capped at $100) and 25% off codes (capped at $50), along with 15% off codes across Australia, New Zealand and Asia. Premium bookers can also leverage exclusive global hotel deals scaling up to 70% off.Hotel Flash Sale: Up to 89% off selected properties in Japan and Thailand.Attraction and Tours: Buy 1 Get 1 Free passes in Universal Studio Japan, 50% off Shanghai Disneyland entry, and exclusive global experiential rates.Seamless Connectivity: Stay connected globally via 50% off eSIM codes, alongside $1 eSIM flash sale.Ground Transportation and Cruising: Up to 50% off car hire, up to 20% off airport transfer, up to 50% off train rides in mainland China, Hong Kong, Europe, Japan and Korea, plus up to $150 off cruises (minimum spend applies).

Bonus Winter Savings: Active Concurrent Campaigns
To maximise winter savings, travellers can also access two running partner campaigns:

“This is China”  (On now through 27 July): Up to $100 off flights departing Sydney to China, with fresh code drops releasing every Tuesday at 2pm AEST. Special $189 one-way flash sales drop on 7 July (Sydney to Shanghai) and 21 July (Sydney to Beijing).“Fly with China Eastern” (On now through 17 July): In partnership with China Eastern Airlines, Aussie travellers can snag up to $100 off flights departing Australia to different destinations (flights from Sydney to China excluded).

Terms and Conditions apply. All promotional offers are available on a first-come, first-served basis within the specified period and while stocks last. Please note that all deals are in AEST time.

For more information, please visit https://au.trip.com/.

About Trip.com
Trip.com is an international one-stop travel service provider, available in 27 languages across 48 countries and regions in 44 local currencies. Offering an extensive hotel and flight network of more than 1.7 million hotels and flights from over 680 airlines, along with over 350,000 in-destination activities, Trip.com covers 3,500 airports in 220 countries and regions. Trip.com‘s world-class 24/7 multilingual customer service helps to ‘create the best travel experience’ for its millions of customers worldwide. To book your next trip, visit Trip.com.

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SOURCE Trip.com

Marlinspike Disruptive Technology Fund II will invest in early-stage companies executing at the intersection of national security and American industrial strength.

ARLINGTON, Va., July 2, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Marlinspike Partners, a venture capital firm investing in dual-use technologies with national security and commercial applications, today announced the final close of Marlinspike Disruptive Technology Fund II at $127 million, surpassing its $75 million target.

Rearming and Rebuilding America is the most important mission of our time. With geopolitical tensions around the globe rising, the technological race to capture leadership in AI and robotics heating up, and de-globalization redrawing commercial relationships, the only guarantee of a bright future is a strong American military and economy.

The Fund II close comes at a critical time as AI and robotics are not only changing how wars are fought and won, but are also significantly increasing the strategic value of domestic industrial production. Marlinspike’s investments in rebuilding the industrial base to reclaim American dominance of global manufacturing will significantly increase America’s security and prosperity.

The oversubscribed Fund II will support Marlinspike’s continued investment in early-stage companies operating at the intersection of national security and next-generation industrials, with a focus on the United States and its allies. As industrial output gets progressively impacted by robotics and AI, Fund II will back companies developing technologies across artificial intelligence, autonomous systems, advanced manufacturing, and other mission-critical sectors.

“Marlinspike was built around the belief that maintaining American technological dominance requires investing in the companies rebuilding the industrial base and rearming the United States for the next generation of national security challenges,” said Neil Keegan, Co-Founder and CEO of Marlinspike Partners. “With Fund II, we are deepening our commitment to founders building technologies that can serve urgent defense needs while scaling into large commercial markets. We are high-conviction investors taking bold action before it’s obvious, funding companies shaping the next generation of industrial leadership.”

Marlinspike’s Fund II advances its strategy of building a generational investment firm focused on maintaining American technological leadership by investing in companies such as Anduril Industries, BrightAI, Layup Parts, Armada, JetZero, and others.

“We believe we are transitioning from a human-centric to an autonomy-centric world; from a world run and operated by humans to one run by AI and operated by robotics. We are at the early stages of the transition, and we expect to see meaningful acceleration of U.S. GDP growth in the next few years. We look for bold founders rebuilding the U.S. industrial base through grit and pushing the boundaries of engineering,” said Mislav Tolusic, Managing Partner and Chief Investment Officer at Marlinspike Partners. “The Internet did not change how we make and drive cars; AI is changing both. The implications for national security and economic prosperity are clear: nations that master AI-enabled design, manufacturing, and autonomy will build faster, compete harder, and lead the next industrial era.”

Fund II is supported by legacy Marlinspike investors, notable family offices, Conway Investment Solutions, and leading institutional investors including Fairfax County Employees’ and Police Officers Retirement Systems. “We are delighted to be partnering with Neil Keegan, Mislav Tolusic, and the broader team at Marlinspike,” noted Katherine Molnar, Chief Investment Officer of the Fairfax County Police Officers Retirement System. “We share a constructive outlook on the investment opportunities ahead across Autonomy, Advanced Manufacturing, and Artificial Intelligence.” Such investments reflect a growing interest in technologies serving national security, defense innovation, and commercial industrial markets.

About Marlinspike Partners
Marlinspike was founded in 2020 and, following successful co-investments in companies such as Palantir and Shield AI, launched a series of venture funds focused on dual-use technologies addressing national security imperatives. Marlinspike Disruptive Technology Fund I launched in 2022 with positions including Anduril Industries, Armada, Voyager Technologies, and Elroy Air. Marlinspike Disruptive Technology Fund II followed in 2024 with positions in Layup Parts, Kodiak AI, BrightAI, and JetZero, among others. The firm invests in the convergence of AI, Autonomy, Advanced Manufacturing, and other critical national security sectors. Marlinspike is headquartered in Arlington, VA.

For more information please visit: https://marlinspike.us.

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SOURCE Marlinspike

Checkout.com supports Agoda’s payment processing across more than six million properties worldwide.Virtual card issuing delivers highly reliable payment operations for Agoda’s global supplier network.

SINGAPORE, July 3, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Checkout.com, a leading global digital payments company, today announces its partnership with digital travel platform Agoda. The partnership delivers high-performance digital payments infrastructure that supports Agoda’s mission of bridging the world through travel.

Agoda connects travellers to over six million hotels and holiday properties worldwide as well as with flights, activities, and other travel experiences.

To deliver travel experiences at this scale, Agoda relies on payments that perform reliably across markets, currencies, and peak demand periods. Through its partnership with Checkout.com, Agoda strengthened its virtual card issuing capabilities, ensuring travellers can complete bookings smoothly while suppliers are paid without disruption.

A key driver of Agoda’s increased performance has been Intelligent Acceptance, Checkout.com’s proprietary AI solution that uses real-time network data to optimise each transaction. By intelligently routing payments and applying performance-enhancing adjustments, Intelligent Acceptance reduces failed transactions and improves approval rates. Combined with Network Tokens and Real-Time Account Updater, these enhancements help reduce false declines across complex payment flows common in global travel, including cross-border, multi-currency, and high-volume transactions.

Agoda and Checkout.com also partner on virtual card issuing to power payments to travel suppliers. With a 0% downtime record, supplier payments are processed reliably at scale keeping the travel ecosystem running smoothly behind the scenes. Through a single connected platform, Agoda maintains clear oversight and control across its issuing operations.

Pitichoke Chulapamornsri, Senior Director, Head of Fintech & Business Initiatives at Agoda, said: “Our mission is to make travel easy, accessible, and rewarding for everyone, and that requires payments infrastructure we can trust at global scale. We chose Checkout.com for its proven performance, resilience, and deep technical expertise. Their ability to improve acceptance rates while delivering zero downtime on issuing gives us confidence as we continue to expand our platform and serve travellers around the world.”

Brian Sze, Head of APAC, Checkout.com, said, “Behind every booked trip is a digital moment that needs to work instantly and invisibly. As travel becomes increasingly digital, AI-driven optimisation and resilient payments systems are essential to connecting travellers, merchants, and partners worldwide. We’re proud to support Agoda with the technology that powers those connections.”

ENDS

About Checkout.com

Checkout.com processes payments for thousands of companies that shape the digital economy. Our global digital payments network supports over 145 currencies and delivers high-performance payment solutions across the world, processing billions of transactions annually. In 2025, Checkout.com processed more than $300bn in ecommerce payments volume.

We help enterprise merchants boost acceptance rates, combat fraud, and turn payments into a major revenue driver. Headquartered in London and with 19 offices worldwide, Checkout.com is trusted by leading brands such as Spotify, HelloFresh, eBay, Uber, Pinterest, Vinted, Klarna, Financial Times, and Sony.

Checkout.com. Where the world checks out.

About Agoda

Agoda, a digital travel platform, helps anyone see the world for less with its great value deals on a global network of over 6 million hotels and holiday properties worldwide, plus flights, activities, and more. Agoda.com and the Agoda mobile app are available in 39 languages and supported by 24/7 customer support.

Headquartered in Singapore, Agoda is part of Booking Holdings (Nasdaq: BKNG) and employs more than 7,000 staff in 27 markets, dedicated to leveraging best-in-class technology to make travel even easier.

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SOURCE Agoda