CheapTickets.com and United Way of America have joined forces to launch a “Volunteer Vacations” website: volunteer.cheaptickets.com.

The site will “focus on travel to communities across America to help people in areas of need….” and utilize the United Way’s national network of over 1300 local United Ways to “educate and arm” those interested with information and volunteer opportunities.

““CheapTickets customers want the opportunity to support communities like New Orleans with their volunteer efforts during the day, while experiencing attractions like Bourbon Street’s jazz clubs and restaurants by night,” said Steven Barnhart, president and Chief Financial Officer of Orbitz Worldwide, which operates the CheapTickets brand.”

The main features of the site are

• The presence of the VolunteerSolutions search tool.
• A monthly spotlight connecting opportunities to discount tickets.
• “A travel blog featuring the experiences and photos of consumers who have traveled on volunteer vacations. The first blog features United Way’s President and CEO, Brian Gallagher, as he discusses the importance of vacationing with a purpose.”

A number of questions pop into my head as to how exactly this new site and alliance work.

From checking out the site, it seems that the main difference from the (main) Cheap Tickets is mainly that this site offers the possibility to search for volunteer opportunities too – and there will be featured monthly deals highlighted. Additionally, the volunteer opportunities are geographically located in the US. I first wondered if people volunteering would get even cheaper tickets (which would still raise some questions in my mind) but right off the bat the practical details of making that work would be rather overwhelming (How to make sure people actually volunteer? What about others who want to volunteer but not with United Way?)…and this makes me think that will not be the case.