06 October 2009

Airline Ã¢â¬Ëœadd-onsÃ¢â¬â¢ calculator unveiled

An airline fees estimator designed to bring ‘clarity to a climate of confusion’ has been introduced as part of a new flights search engine from TripAdvisor.

The application is designed to help travellers work out the true cost of flying in Europe by highlighting checked baggage fees, charges associated with payment methods, and anticipated in-flights food a drink costs.

It claims to calculate and compare the entire cost of a flight from the UK to destinations across Europe.

The introduction comes as the company released data from a poll of 600 travellers which found that almost 70% of Britons were surprised at the total costs of their flights after the imposition of add-on charges.

More than three quarters were unaware of differing credit cards fees when booking flights.

Eighteen per cent found themselves having to pay extra unexpected fees at the airport while 13% did not realise they had to pay extra for items in flights such as soft drinks and snacks.

The flight search is in beta format on the tripadvisor.co.uk site including the dynamic fees estimator.

The poll also found that the average traveller spends three and a half hours researching different flight options across six different websites to find their best flight.

The new service includes direct booking links to airlines including British Airways, Virgin Atlantic and Bmi together with Expedia, Opodo and ebookers.

by Phil Davies

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Your Comments (3)

price comparison?

Once again, a proof that there is no such thing as a "price comparison search engine". Before you can compare prices you need to know dozens of different criteria. TripAdvisor's tool is a good start, but still far from accurate comparison. J Hewson: TripAdvisor compares Opodo and Bravofly as well as Expedia.

By Martino Matijevic, Wednesday, October 7, 2009
Alan Wilman said ,,,

which is usually cheaper than they can find for themselves. --- And, I would add more direct with fewer connections instead of filling the last seats on various flights like Expedia - the owner of TripAdvisor - does. Expedia's idea of optimum routing is more like a world tour.

By J Hewson, Wednesday, October 7, 2009
Airline Bookings

Pity they don't let travel agents do the work for them, in less than a third of the time, and giving the public a true price, which is usually cheaper than they can find for themselves. Long live the "fareing", "caring" travel agent

By Alan Wilman, Tuesday, October 6, 2009