Cheapflights
Encyclopedia
Cheapflights Media Ltd. is a private international online media (dot-com
) company based in London
and Boston
that operates travel website
s. Cheapflights Media's sites do not sell flights but publish deals online from hundreds of airlines, low cost airlines and travel operators that fly out of the US, the UK, Australia
, New Zealand
, France
, Spain
, Italy
, Germany
and Canada
. Each country has a dedicated website
to help consumers, particularly with flexible schedules to find flight deals and relevant travel information.
Founded by travel journalist John Hatt, Cheapflights pioneered the travel Search Engine
(TSE) concept in 1996. Following a management buy-in
in early 2000 by entrepreneur
s David Soskin and Hugo Burge, Cheapflights introduced the pay-per-click (PPC) online advertising
remuneration model, the first vertical search
travel price comparison site to do so.The then pioneering concept continues to provide airlines and other travel operators with free listings for their flights deals which are then published online. Advertisers such as BA
and Expedia
then only pay for the high quality leads that click through to their sites or telephone call centres. In 2009, Cheapflights Media had some 88 million visits to its sites and helped its advertisers to achieve an estimated UK$2.6 billion sales.
Apart from daily publishing over a million flights deals for comparison by consumers each day, Cheapflights also includes additional travel information for consumers and news on low cost and major airlines on its websites through a news blog
on each side of the Atlantic. It also has free weekly newsletters for air-travellers in the US and UK, which now have more than 3 million opt-in subscribers.
In 2010, Cheapflights Media beta-launched its next generation flights meta-search product zugu in the US, UK and in Germany to complement its original flight deals product. zugu enables users with set travel requirements to search for flights by travel date/time of day and destination and other useful functionality.
Dot-com company
A dot-com company, or simply a dot-com , is a company that does most of its business on the Internet, usually through a website that uses the popular top-level domain, ".com" .While the term can refer to present-day companies, it is also used specifically to refer to companies with...
) company based in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
and Boston
Boston
Boston is the capital of and largest city in Massachusetts, and is one of the oldest cities in the United States. The largest city in New England, Boston is regarded as the unofficial "Capital of New England" for its economic and cultural impact on the entire New England region. The city proper had...
that operates travel website
Travel website
A travel website is a website on the world wide web, that is dedicated to travel. The site may be focused on travel reviews, the booking of travel, or a combination of both. Approximately seventy million consumers researched travel plans online in July 2006...
s. Cheapflights Media's sites do not sell flights but publish deals online from hundreds of airlines, low cost airlines and travel operators that fly out of the US, the UK, Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
, New Zealand
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
, France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
, Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
, Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
, Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
and Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
. Each country has a dedicated website
Website
A website, also written as Web site, web site, or simply site, is a collection of related web pages containing images, videos or other digital assets. A website is hosted on at least one web server, accessible via a network such as the Internet or a private local area network through an Internet...
to help consumers, particularly with flexible schedules to find flight deals and relevant travel information.
Founded by travel journalist John Hatt, Cheapflights pioneered the travel Search Engine
Web search engine
A web search engine is designed to search for information on the World Wide Web and FTP servers. The search results are generally presented in a list of results often referred to as SERPS, or "search engine results pages". The information may consist of web pages, images, information and other...
(TSE) concept in 1996. Following a management buy-in
Management buy-in
A management buy-in occurs when a manager or a management team from outside the company raises the necessary finance, buys it, and becomes the company's new management. A management buy-in team often competes with other purchasers in the search for a suitable business...
in early 2000 by entrepreneur
Entrepreneur
An entrepreneur is an owner or manager of a business enterprise who makes money through risk and initiative.The term was originally a loanword from French and was first defined by the Irish-French economist Richard Cantillon. Entrepreneur in English is a term applied to a person who is willing to...
s David Soskin and Hugo Burge, Cheapflights introduced the pay-per-click (PPC) online advertising
Online advertising
Online advertising is a form of promotion that uses the Internet and World Wide Web to deliver marketing messages to attract customers. Examples of online advertising include contextual ads on search engine results pages, banner ads, blogs, Rich Media Ads, Social network advertising, interstitial...
remuneration model, the first vertical search
Vertical search
A vertical search engine, as distinct from a general web search engine, focuses on a specific segment of online content. The vertical content area may be based on topicality, media type, or genre of content. Common verticals include shopping, the automotive industry, legal information, medical...
travel price comparison site to do so.The then pioneering concept continues to provide airlines and other travel operators with free listings for their flights deals which are then published online. Advertisers such as BA
British Airways
British Airways is the flag carrier airline of the United Kingdom, based in Waterside, near its main hub at London Heathrow Airport. British Airways is the largest airline in the UK based on fleet size, international flights and international destinations...
and Expedia
Expedia
Expedia is an Internet-based travel website based in the US with localised sites for 21 countries...
then only pay for the high quality leads that click through to their sites or telephone call centres. In 2009, Cheapflights Media had some 88 million visits to its sites and helped its advertisers to achieve an estimated UK$2.6 billion sales.
Apart from daily publishing over a million flights deals for comparison by consumers each day, Cheapflights also includes additional travel information for consumers and news on low cost and major airlines on its websites through a news blog
Blog
A blog is a type of website or part of a website supposed to be updated with new content from time to time. Blogs are usually maintained by an individual with regular entries of commentary, descriptions of events, or other material such as graphics or video. Entries are commonly displayed in...
on each side of the Atlantic. It also has free weekly newsletters for air-travellers in the US and UK, which now have more than 3 million opt-in subscribers.
In 2010, Cheapflights Media beta-launched its next generation flights meta-search product zugu in the US, UK and in Germany to complement its original flight deals product. zugu enables users with set travel requirements to search for flights by travel date/time of day and destination and other useful functionality.