Fareportal, CheapOair Win Three Stevie Awards Including Gold Award for Customer Service

NEW YORK, NY (June 20, 2016) – Fareportal and its subsidiary CheapOair have been honored with three of the biggest and most prestigious Stevie Awards from the American Business Awards program including the Gold Stevie for Fareportal’s Customer Service Department and two awards for CheapOair’s website and mobile app.

“We are extremely humbled by this peer recognition as the Stevie Awards are considered the world’s premier business awards,” noted Sam Jain, CEO of Fareportal.

The Stevies were created in 2002 to honor and generate public recognition of the achievements and positive contributions of organizations and working professionals worldwide.  The American Business Awards are open to all organizations operating in the U.S.A., and feature a wide variety of categories to recognize achievement in every facet of the workplace.

More than 3,400 nominations were submitted to this year’s American Business Awards for consideration in a wide range of categories, including New Product or Service of the Year, Most Innovative Company of the Year, Management Team of the Year, Best New Product or Service of the Year, Corporate Social Responsibility Program of the Year, and Startup of the Year, among others. More than 250 judges participated in the competition review.

Fareportal was presented with the Gold Stevie for the Customer Service Department of the Year. The Stevie Awards for Sales & Customer Service are open to all organizations worldwide, and recognize the achievements of sales, customer service, and call center professionals.  

Fareportal’s unique high-touch, hi-tech capabilities in the travel industry and their impressive contact center are vital to their success. Fareportal’s customer service department receives over 30,000 daily calls, manages over 450 emails and handles over 800 instant messages per day. In addition, the companies abandoned calls have decreased by 5% since 2014 due to protocols and procedures set in place so that these rates continue to decrease in the years to come. All of Fareportal’s customer service centers are operated in-house.

“Fareportal does not outsource,” said Ritesh Chaturbedi, General Manager, Global Operations for Fareportal, adding: “This ensures direct contact over customer service enabling our travel company to exceed customers’ expectations on a regular basis.”

CheapOAir has also been named a Silver Award winner in the category of Travel Apps. In October 2015, CheapOair launched its Predictive Home Screen on IOS Apps, a travel application offering simple navigation for customers who want to easily check their flight status, upgrade their trip or purchase extras. In addition, the application has interconnectivity with the Apple watch, allowing travelers to access the Predictive Home Screen right on their wrists, making CheapOair a true travel companion. Since the launch of the Predictive Home Screen, the app has been downloaded more than 1 million times and has received positive feedback for its design, interface and rankings.

“CheapOair uses cutting edge technology to make it effortless, affordable and enjoyable for our customers to book their perfect trip,” said Sam Jain, CEO of Fareportal, the parent company of CheapOair.

CheapOair also won the Bronze Stevie for its Consumer Friendly Homepage as one of the best home/welcome pages.

As a leading hybrid (online/traditional) travel agency, CheapOair strives to remain ahead of the curve with periodic enhancements to ensure that CheapOair.com is the primary go-to resource for consumers booking travel. Aside from daily updates, CheapOair.com provides a fast and simple booking path, features a live chat, allows consumers to check their flight status, conveniently provides CheapOAir’s customer service number on the homepage and provides customers with a quick and easy search/booking process with three simple clicks, compared to the standard industry protocol of the 5+ clicks.

“Once again, Fareportal’s company focus on technology enables CheapOair to provide a website, mobile apps and services that give our customers the ultimate service they expect,” said Jain.

2016 Stevie winners were celebrated and presented their awards during a gala event on Monday, June 20 at the Marriott Marquis Hotel in New York.  The presentations were broadcast live via Livestream.

Past Stevie Award winners including Apple, Ford Motor Company, Procter & Gamble, Samsung, among many others. The Stevie® Award trophy is one of the world’s most coveted prizes.  Since 2002 the Gold Stevie Award has been conferred for achievement in business to organizations and individuals in more than 60 nations.

The name Stevie is taken from the name Stephen, which is derived from the Greek for “crowned.” The Gold (soon to be Grand) Stevie is approximately 16 inches tall, and is hand-cast and finished in 24-karat gold. The crystal pyramid held aloft by Stevie represents the hierarchy of human needs, a system often represented as a pyramid that was developed in the 1960s by psychologist Abraham Maslow, who observed that after their basic needs are met, human beings seek the esteem of their peers.

About The Stevie Awards

Stevie Awards are conferred in seven programs: the Asia-Pacific Stevie Awards, the German Stevie Awards, The American Business Awards, The International Business Awards, the Stevie Awards for Women in Business, the Stevie Awards for Sales & Customer Service, and the new Stevie Awards for Great Employers. Stevie Awards competitions receive more than 10,000 entries each year from organizations in more than 60 nations. Honoring organizations of all types and sizes and the people behind them, the Stevies recognize outstanding performances in the workplace worldwide. Learn more about the Stevie Awards at http://www.StevieAwards.com.

About Fareportal

Fareportal is a high-tech, high-touch Travel Company that powers the next generation travel concierge. Utilizing its innovative technology and company owned and operated contact centers; Fareportal has forged strong industry partnerships providing access to over 450 airlines, 150,000 hotels, and 100s of car rental companies that serve millions of customers every year. With a portfolio of consumer travel brands including CheapOair and OneTravel, Fareportal’s airline partners can benefit from access to a broad customer base that books high-yield international travel and add-on ancillaries. To learn more, visit www.Fareportal.com

About CheapOair

CheapOair is a next generation concierge travel agency (online/traditional) that enables consumers to book travel online, on its award winning mobile app, by phone or live chat. CheapOair bridges the gap between an online and traditional travel agency with certified agents available to help find deals and offers to destinations worldwide on over 450 airlines, 150,000 hotels, and many car rental companies worldwide. Partner airlines benefit from access to CheapOair’s broad customer base that books high yield international travel and add-on ancillaries. Follow CheapOair on Facebook and Twitter to learn how to travel the world for less or go to www.cheapoair.com or call 1-646-738-4820.