Graeme (our CTO), Jesse (Media Relations) and yours truly (Rick Seaney, CEO of FareCompare.com) were sitting around our table at a curry restaurant for a late lunch last Friday (Nov. 30) when we got to chatting about holiday travel. We were sort of thinking out loud, wondering what clever angle we could take to create a story that would highlight holiday air travel and also let us look back at all the crazy things that happened to travelers this past year. So we’re tossing things back and forth, when suddenly Graeme blurts out that we should have a “virtual” Santa travel from the east coast to the west coast, and use him to highlight some of our best tips for getting the cheapest airfare. We both stared at each other for a moment, then we both yelled out,”Let’s get a real Santa do the trip!”

Of course, we had to have Santa touch down in all 50-U.S. states (and, Washington, D.C., too) — you see, we are serious tech geeks and wanted this to be as challenging as possible.

We both had the same”Santa” in mind: Mike, one of writers. He is both clever and looks like a perfect “grumpy” Santa — but would Mike actually do it? Would he wear a Santa suit while enduring several flights a day, all over the country?

We began to discuss how Santa could video blog throughout his trip,and highlight all the crazy things that happened in 2007 — and maybe have him stop along the way for a few “road trips” as an extra-added attraction. We thought it would all be great fun, not just for us and our employees but for the traveling public, as well. After all, our mission is to make sure everyone always makes the best airfare purchasing decision, and, has the best traveling experience possible.

As we wrapped up lunch, Graeme had a gleam in his eye which I knew meant we’d soon be in the office, pouring through our database of flight schedules to see if this ridiculous idea could actually be accomplished.

But first, we had to call a meeting with everyone at FareCompare…