Between the plethora of online booking agencies and airline websites, travel consumers have never had so many choices at their fingertips. But is so much choice too much? When dozens of options pop up on your screen, how do you navigate them all, and who do you talk to when a complication arises? When you need a refund? For those still bewildered by all that information hitting you at once, here are some navigating tips — and the notion that maybe the traditional travel agent isn’t so bad after all.
Since the introduction of the first online booking agencies in the late 1990s do-it-yourself flight arrangements have become so popular that today online travel bookings represent a full third of worldwide travel business.
And indeed the big names such as Expedia Travelocity and Orbitz are billion-dollar business. Expedia inc. sites have over 54 million visits a month and quarterly revenue of $1 billion. Orbitz hosts 1.5 million flight searches and a million hotel searches a day. One of the most compelling features of online booking is the control the customer assumes he has as well as the convenience.
“We’ve spun around the screen so you’re the one sitting in front of it. You’re the one in control” says Jill Lloyd senior PR manager for Expedia.
If you’re even just a little computer proficient you can find a flight that suits you book it on the spot choose your seat order special meals and print out your own e-ticket all in the comfort of your own home. For many hundreds of thousands of satisfied customers the online booking process is smooth and simple.
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