Comments on: Are ‘Cheap Flight’ websites missing a trick?

By: Cheap Flights - Cameron

Cheap Flights - Cameron — Wed, 16 Jan 2008 19:52:30 +0000

I like using http://www.lowfares.com they are very fast and easy to use.

By: danielle

danielle — Wed, 19 Sep 2007 14:26:22 +0000

I find http://www.kayak.com good for your request, it offers flights from your chosen airport to the top 25 destinations and they will also email you results weekly if you wish to keep track of the best time to buy that summer holiday flight for next year. I enjoy using the site due to its slick fast sorts, I presume its part ajax coded…?

By: Paul Irish

Paul Irish — Tue, 21 Aug 2007 04:36:22 +0000

Also http://www.farecast.com has that feature.

By: Christopher Fahey

Christopher Fahey — Wed, 25 Jul 2007 12:08:09 +0000

I don’t think that DJ understood that you were specifically talking about the “last minute cheap getaway” businesses out there, that cater to people interested in spontaneous, unplanned travel.

By: Andy Baker

Andy Baker — Tue, 24 Jul 2007 10:44:46 +0000

Thanks for the suggestions folks -I’ll check them out.

DJ – not sure if I agree with your diagnosis that ‘I’m not really looking for a flight’ – I am and I’m prepared to slam my cash on the table fairly immediately if I can compare the options I want. I’ll of course have a few other windows open to see a bit more about each destination before deciding but the site that lets me compare flights across destinations and dates will be the one I book with.

By: Louise

Louise — Tue, 24 Jul 2007 10:32:01 +0000

I agree! As a user, that’s exactly what I want. Luckily, things are changing. Check out Teletext’s new site: http://www.teletextholidays.co.uk which does exactly that.

I confess I work for the company who redesigned the site, and we didn’t get everything perfect, but it’s a step in the right direction, with the user experience taking priority.

By: Andrew

Andrew — Tue, 24 Jul 2007 10:16:18 +0000

Check out skyscanner.net. Does exactly what you’re looking for.

They used to have a very visible query that showed the cheapest places you could fly away over a number of weekends. It’s still in there, somewhere.

By: DJ

DJ — Mon, 23 Jul 2007 20:12:02 +0000

Hi Andy
There are 2 factors here:
1. If you don’t know where you’re going, then you’re not really looking for a flight, you’re looking for some inspiration and persuasion about where to go. This is the attitude of the flight booking sites – you’re looking in the “wrong” place. Fair enough, because a site that does inspiration really well may not convert customers – so is not a great commercial proposition. Plus all that inspirations takes *really* good & expensive content. Again the ROI’s not there (or so I’m told!).

2. Most people looking for flights want to know “how much” and “when can I go”. These questions can’t be answered without the user providing a range of airports to fly from & to. Partly I think this is why people get freaked out about going into travel agents. As an experience, it’s too “in your face”. However this is the way the travel industry works.

So taking those 2 factors into account, there is certainly an opportunity there. But why haven’t any of the major sites taken this one up?

Cheers
DJ