CheapOair Announces “Traveler of the Year” Winner

NEW YORK, December 13, 2012

CheapOair, one of the fastest growing travel companies in the country, announced today that Team “Captain & Clark,” also individually known as Chris Staudinger and Tawny Clark, are the winners of its “Traveler of the Year” competition. After a five month long competition, Captain & Clark won the title as the competitors who best demonstrated that they could travel the world for less.

“The ‘Traveler of the Year’ competition is proof that ‘traveling the world for less’ is possible,” said Peter Howard, chief marketing officer at CheapOair. “Captain & Clark expressed creativity and enthusiasm for world travel throughout this competition, and we encourage others to take the same perspective when thinking about booking a future vacation.”

Captain & Clark met at the base of Mt. Kilimanjaro in 2008 and have since been traveling the world together in pursuit of taking on different “extreme” adventures. The two formed a pact to acquaint themselves with the world, and themselves, by continuously journeying to new locations that enrich their lives, not their bank accounts.

Having traveled to India as the final phase of the competition, Captain & Clark experienced riding on elephants and camels, feeding monkeys, visiting historical landmarks, witnessing ancient and exotic dance performances, dining on traditional Indian cuisine, and learning more about the overall Indian culture and residents — all within a strict and limited budget. The couple also wowed fans by announcing their engagement during the trip.

Fans utilized Facebook and Twitter to vote, and ultimately named Captain & Clark the Traveler of the Year. Strong numbers were pulled on each of CheapOair’s social media channels, with hundreds engaging through shares, likes and tweets of contest updates. On YouTube, the contestant videos received over 33,000 views.

Final phase videos documenting the travel experiences of Captain & Clark in India are available to view online on the Traveler of the Year contest website. As the official “Traveler of the Year” team, Captain & Clark received $5,000 worth of travel from CheapOair.

SOURCE: CheapOair

CheapOair Achieves Top Three Online Travel Agency Ranking

NEW YORK, December 10, 2012

Leading travel website CheapOair is now ranked third in site traffic among top online travel agencies according to the latest data released by Experian Hitwise, ahead of Travelocity, Orbitz, Hotwire and Kayak, among others. The company’s rise in the rankings reflects its growth in many areas, including enhancements within its mobile applications, brand campaigns and an increase in airline and hotel partners.

“CheapOair’s top three visitor ranking reflects and validates our team’s consistent hard work to provide quality service to our customers across all platforms,” said Peter Howard, chief marketing officer at CheapOair. “This has been a year of enhancements for all facets of our company, and we look forward to seeing continuous growth leading into and throughout the coming year.”

With travelers increasingly turning to mobile technologies to research and book travel, CheapOair has made great efforts this year to provide new ways for customers to book from the palm of their hand. In addition to its award-winning iPhone and Android apps, it became the first OTA to release an app for Windows 8, each providing CheapOair’s flight and hotel discounts on the go, as well as a recently introduced chat feature offering customers 24/7 support directly from the app.

This year, CheapOair also launched its “Travel the World for Less” campaign to show its customers how aspirational trips and vacations are actually attainable via the website’s deals and vacation packages. “With over 450 airlines and millions of flight selections, our customers can mix and match to build their ideal trip,” says Howard.

“With the launch of our new campaign, ongoing site improvements and increased brand awareness and customer engagement through our mobile apps and social media channels, we are driven to keep CheapOair as a top OTA for many years to come,” said Howard.

Customers are noticing these accomplishments, according to recent research by J.D. Power and Associates. The survey, which compiled customer feedback on overall satisfaction with their purchase experience on an independent travel website, reviewed seven factors including competitiveness of pricing, useful information, booking/reservation options, website/online store, ease of booking/reserving, competitiveness of sales and promotions and customer service. CheapOair was ranked in the top 10, among leading competitors.

SOURCE: CheapOair