Technology
Momondo doesn't just find cheap flights - now it finds the best flights
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- Category: Technology
- Created on Wednesday, 29 August 2012 14:40
Metasearch engines like Momondo, Kayak and Skyscanner have changed the landscape of travel. They gather flight fares from hundreds of travel sites to make it easier for travelers to compare and find the cheapest fare. In many cases, however, the cheapest flight is not necessarily the best flight.
A search was made a search for a flight from London to Birmingham, Alabama, USA and the cheapest flight found was at £506. It’s a decent price. However, the flight includes a 1-stop layover making the outbound duration 14h 03m and the homebound duration 12h 30m – on average 13h 15m hours each way, 26h 30m in total.
To get past these cheap, but longer flights, Momondo is introducing a new rating technology that seeks to bring metasearch to a new level. By combining several factors into a single rating system, Momondo’s new technology can instantly spot the best flights available.
“Flight search engines scan the web and present the massive amount of
flight information in a long list for the traveler to trawl through in hope of finding the right flight. Typically they also add some filtering options, but this isn’t very innovative. We have been working hard on our next generation of metasearch, and our new rating technology turns raw information into knowledge and insight,” says Martin Lumbye, Partner at Momondo.
By activating the rating system on the search example for flights from London to Birmingham, Alabama, USA, the best flight found was just £543 with a total travel time of 23h 20m. For an extra £37 we save 3h 10m of travel time.
“Price is important, but not the only factor. The rating system helps consumers to save time and money - not only the time used for travel, but also the time used on finding the right flight to book. We believe it’s a strong tool for the consumer to swiftly find the best flight available,” says Martin Lumbye.
The new technology makes it possible for travelers to edit their search results, ensuring the best flights appear at the top of their list. Every flight is rated with a smiley and a score between 0 (bad) and 10 (good) to help the user find the flight with the best balance between price and flight duration.
Momondo’s new rating system is part of the biggest redesign of both mobile and web sites in the past 4 years. The ambition is to be the most innovative and user-friendly online travel metasearch site.
