If we're talking about SEO-potential, sure an aged .com with solid keywords will give you a better running start. However, if you're looking to make a splash Travel.info might fit the bill - it's intuitive, brandable and lends credibility. Keep in mind everyone has different development and marketing strategies, and also that with calculated risk comes potential reward.
Yes certainly "branding" is a crucial factor in devloping a solid business and I agree that travel.info may well provide that opportunity, although one would suggest you'd need a decent marketing budget behind it as you would to build any brand name. Therefore I think the $116k may only be a fraction of the overall investment required to build this name up.
rfm said:
While there is certainly some risk, it could end up as a shrewd investment (I think most solid generic .infos are buys at this point.)
It may well turn out that way, but on an as-yet unproven extension and with the SE's changing ranking algorithms all the time, it could go either way. That's where the real risk is IMO. Like you I have a few infos, but I'd shrink away from that size investment on
any .info name right now.
I'd hazard a guess that with $116k in your pocket you could probably pick up a good brandable dot-com with age, existing traffic and revenue from some place like Sedo or Fabulous as a solid foundation to grow a brand.