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CHEAPFLIGHTS ADDS CAR HIRE FUNCTIONALITY TO DESKTOP AND MOBILE SITES

Announcement posted by Cheapflights 15 Jun 2016

Addition follows further enhancements to core flight search products on website and app

Cheapflights has placed Australian travellers firmly in the driving seat by adding car hire to its existing flight and holiday package search functionality. Users of the leading flight search and deals publishing platform can now access 1,500 car hire agents in 30,000 locations across 174 countries, thanks to a new partnership with the world’s leading online B2B travel technology platform, CarTrawler.

 

Nathan Graham, Regional Sales Manager ANZ at Cheapflights, said: “The best value fly, stay and drive options are now comparable within seconds on our site, so travellers can plan their holiday with certainty using real-time information. We’re giving our users access to more car rental providers than they will find anywhere else, and the ability to compare global brands with independent firms all over the world.”

 

The addition follows a number of enhancements to the desktop and mobile user experience in recent weeks including the display of cheaper flight options from airports close to the user’s selected departure airport, and a choice of booking through an OTA or direct with an airline. 

 

Flight search results now display in Cheapest, Quickest and Smart Value tabs to make these sorting options clear. Cheapflights intuitively filters out flights with an unnecessarily long duration so travellers can focus on their most convenient and closely-matched options, whilst the search calendar also helps out with a new reset option.

 

Furthermore, this week has seen hotel search functionality added to the Cheapflights app globally, giving users the facility to search for the best price on hotels as well as flights, making it simple to plan their entire trip in a single location. Globally, Cheapflights app usage has increased by 202% YoY (+347% Q1 2016 versus Q1 2015), with downloads growing by 87% YoY.  

 

Michael Cunningham, Chief Commercial Officer of CarTrawler, said: “This partnership is great news for Cheapflights customers. They are used to booking great value flights, and now they will have direct online access to the best value car rental options all around the world, through CarTrawler’s simple technology integration. We’re looking forward to working with Cheapflights to maximise the ancillary potential of their extensive customer base.”

 

Graham added: “Our heartland will always be flight search, and with 40 per cent increase in year-on-year visitor traffic across our meta sites, that’s what more and more people come to us for first. But with nearly half of all visits now repeat users it’s clear we’re trusted to deliver accurate and timely information across the spectrum of travel products. Adding car hire to that range, as well as hotel search in our app, is a natural step for us. Our other refinements further finesse the search process across our platforms, keeping it simple and intuitive for the user.”

 

Car hire is currently available on the Cheapflights desktop and mobile websites.  

Visit www.cheapflights.com.au.

 

ENDS


MEDIA CONTACT:

Edwina Brook / History Will Be Kind / edwina.brook@historywillbekind.com.au / 0422 292 878 

 

 

CHEAPFLIGHTS – www.cheapflights.com.au

Founded in 1996, Cheapflights is a leading global flight comparison and deals publishing platform dedicated to taking the complexity out of finding the best value flights through the application of innovative, intuitive technologies: Smart search. Made simple. It is now a market leader in the UK, US, Canada, South Africa, Australia and New Zealand generating over AU $4 billion (£2 billion) in global downstream revenue for its partners as it expands in to numerous other territories. Over 120 million users visit its websites and apps each year, receiving more than two billion search results a month from across 900,000 routes. The 10 million strong opt-in subscribers to the Cheapflights newsletter received over 1.25 billion targeted emails during 2015, offering the best deals from over 120 travel businesses – for whom it has driven more than AU $80 million (£40 million) in revenue this year. Together, the Cheapflights platforms generate enough bookings for its partners to fill a Boeing 747 every five minutes.

 

In 2011, Cheapflights became part of the privately-owned online travel search and inspiration network, Momondo Group.

 

Follow Cheapflights on Twitter: @Cheapflights 

Follow us on Facebook: www.facebook.com/cheapflights

 

About CarTrawler

CarTrawler connects business and leisure customers and online travel retailers with more road and rail transport solutions than they will find anywhere else. Over 80 international airlines and 2,000 travel retailers around the world trust CarTrawler to provide their customers with real-time access to over 1,500 leading and independent car rental agents, coach transfers, rail networks and chauffeur drive services at 30,000 locations in 174 countries. Its in-house booking engine gives it the opportunity to easily and quickly scale to accommodate customer demand. CarTrawler also owns and operates the Cabforce, Holiday Autos and arguscarhire.com brands. The company headquarters and Customer Centre of Excellence are located in Dublin, Ireland, with additional offices in Boston, London and Helsinki. CarTrawler is private equity backed by BC Partners and Insight Venture Partners. For further information, please visit www.cartrawler.com