TripAdvisor Introduces Airline Reviews and Redesigns It’s Flights Search Experience for Travelers

TripAdvisor^® today announced the launch of a new airline reviews platform as well as a newly redesigned Flights search service and beta launch of its “flight score” that rates the quality of each air travel itinerary for consumers. The new enhancements to the site bring transparency to a marketplace that has become increasingly difficult for consumers to make direct comparisons between flight options.

With the launch of the new airline review platform, which will include all major airlines globally, TripAdvisor expands its massive base of 350 million traveller reviews and opinions. Travellers now have a go-to resource for making more informed air travel decisions based not only on the price of the flight, but the total experience with the airline as viewed by TripAdvisor’s community of more than 340 million monthly unique visitors. 

According to the TripAdvisor India Air Travel Survey 2015¹, 54 percent of Indian travellers believe airline brand to be the most important factor when choosing a flight. Airline reviews from the millions of flyers on TripAdvisor will better communicate the total value of a flight beyond the price.

“The time has come for a better way to research, compare and shop for flights. TripAdvisor is excited to innovate and lead with the launch of airline reviews in 48 markets in 29 languages. Additionally, we’ve introduced a set of new features within our search experience to help consumers better understand the true value of air travel beyond price,” said Bryan Saltzburg, Senior Vice President and General Manager, Global Flights Business. “Over the years, the in-flight experience has changed dramatically – in some ways for the better, in some ways for the worse. We know our users tell us it is not always easy for travellers to find the best options by just looking at the baseline price of a flight. We’re uniquely solving that problem by surfacing candid traveller reviews and photos, detailed amenities information and tools to find the lowest fares all on one site empowering flyers to pick the best itinerary for their trip.”

New TripAdvisor Flights Features

In February 2014, TripAdvisor became the first to feature comprehensive in-flight insights, amenities information and candid traveller photos coupled with the ability to scan for the lowest prices for airlines globally. Now TripAdvisor is expanding on these advances with the following new features:

• Airline Reviews Platform– Gives travellers a platform to share their candid feedback – both good and bad – about all major airlines around the globe.

• Flight score (beta) – Helps demystify the flight shopping experience by displaying a 1-10 out of 10 score for individual flights based on the power of qualitative traveller reviews, the quality of the aircraft, in-flight amenities and the duration of the itinerary. The score helps travellers quickly scan for the best flight options before booking.

• Enhanced Amenities– Showcases even more comprehensive information about in-flight amenities, such as power ports and the type of in-flight Wi-Fi available to flyers.

Additional enhancements to flight search are expected to follow later this year.

Major Carriers Embrace Traveller Reviews

Many airlines around the world have embraced TripAdvisor’s launch of airline reviews. Carriers such as:

Air Canada, Swiss International Air Lines, Aer Lingus, Aeroflot, AeroMexico, Air New Zealand, ANA, Cebu Pacific, China Airlines, HK Express, Thai Smile, Transavia, Virgin Australia, Westjet and WOW Airwill encourage flyers to share their candid feedback in collaboration with TripAdvisor. While travellers can review any airline they have flown, these brands are making a concerted effort to proactively engage with their customers and collect their honest feedback. All reviews submitted by travellers are subject to TripAdvisor’s review submission guidelines.

Starting today, TripAdvisor airline reviews and its new flights search are available globally and may be found here: www.tripadvisor.in/CheapFlightsHome

¹TripAdvisor India Air Travel survey 2015 was released on December 28 2015.

About TripAdvisor

TripAdvisor^® is the world's largest travel site*, enabling travellers to plan and book the perfect trip. TripAdvisor offers advice from millions of travellers and a wide variety of travel choices and planning features with seamless links to booking tools that check hundreds of websites to find the best hotel prices. TripAdvisor branded sites make up the largest travel community in the world, reaching 340 million unique monthly visitors**, and 350 million reviews and opinions covering 6.5 million accommodations, restaurants and attractions. The sites operate in 48 markets worldwide.

TripAdvisor, Inc. (NASDAQ:TRIP), through its subsidiaries, manages and operates websites under 24 other travel media brands:

www.airfarewatchdog.com ,  www.bookingbuddy.com ,  www.cruisecritic.com , www.everytrail.com , www.familyvacationcritic.com , www.flipkey.com , www.thefork.com (including www.lafourchette.com ,  www.eltenedor.com ,  www.iens.nl , www.besttables.com and www.dimmi.com.au ), www.gateguru.com , www.holidaylettings.co.uk , www.holidaywatchdog.com , www.housetrip.com , www.independenttraveler.com , www.jetsetter.com , www.niumba.com , www.onetime.com , www.oyster.com , www.seatguru.com , www.smartertravel.com , www.tingo.com , www.travelpod.com , www.tripbod.com , www.vacationhomerentals.com , www.viator.com , and www.virtualtourist.com .

*Source: comScore Media Metrix for TripAdvisor Sites, worldwide, February 2016

**Source: TripAdvisor log files, Q1 2016