Instead of slapping ads on its free online email and calendar applications, BlueTie is partnering with other companies for user features, reports ClickZ.

BlueTie has partnered with Orbitz, MapQuest and OpenTable to have them provide features within its online software. Those partners then pay on either a cost-per-action or cost-per-click basis, much as they would for some forms of ads. But these features add to the user experience and integrate into the software.

Orbitz, for instance, allows searches for flight and other travel information within the BlueTie application. The MapQuest-powered feature lets people find driving directions to an upcoming meeting. BlueTie says it has a dozen such partners and expects that number to hit 30 by the end of the year.