CheapOair website recognized as Platinum and “Perks” TV commercial recognized as Gold winner in AVA Digital Awards

March 25, 2015 – CheapOair, a leading hybrid (online/traditional) travel agency, announced today that it was recognized with two top industry honors for its website and latest TV commercial.

CheapOair website was named as Platinum winner in the Website (Travel) category and CheapOair’s latest TV commercial entitled “Perks” won Gold in the Commercials (Travel) category in AVA Digital Awards. Only 15 percent of this year’s more than 2,500 entrants were recognized with the Platinum award and another 18 percent received the Gold award.

“CheapOair aims to make travel effortless, affordable and enjoyable, and the speed and usability of our website are critical as we strive to make our online booking experience as easy and smooth as possible,” said Harsh Sood, chief technology officer at Fareportal, the parent company of CheapOair. “Our new award-winning “Perks” TV commercial addresses those user benefits as well.”

Organized by the Association of Marketing and Communication Professionals, AVA Digital Awards is an international competition that recognizes outstanding work by creative professionals involved in the concept, direction, design and production of digital communication media. More than 2,500 entries were received in the competition this year, from U.S., Canada and 17 other countries, with winners ranging from start-ups to Fortune 500 companies.

About CheapOair
CheapOair is the first hybrid (online/traditional) travel agency that enables consumers to book travel online, on mobile apps, by phone or live chat. CheapOair (http://www.cheapoair.com, 1-646-738-4820) bridges the gap between an online and traditional travel agency with certified travel agents available to help find deals and offers to destinations worldwide on over 450 airlines, 150,000 hotels, and hundreds of car rentals. Partner airlines benefit from access to CheapOair’s broad customer base that books high yield international travel and add-on ancillaries at above the industry average. Follow CheapOair on Facebook and Twitter to learn how to travel the world for less.

Leading hybrid travel agencies CheapOair and OneTravel win a total of two gold, six silver and six bronze awards

March 13, 2015 – Fareportal, the parent company of leading hybrid (online/traditional) travel agencies CheapOair and OneTravel, announced today that it won a total of two gold, six silver and six bronze awards in the 9th annual Stevie Awards for Sales & Customer Service. As a result of the company’s multiple recognition, as selected in independent judging by more than 200 business judges, Fareportal was also named #5 most awarded company during this year’s competition, among such industry leaders as DHL, Delta, John Hancock, Marriott and Vizio.

“It is an impressive achievement for Fareportal to be the #5 most awarded company from among a record-breaking 1,900 entries in this year’s competition,” said Michael Gallagher, president and founder of the Stevie Awards. “This year’s Stevie Award winners are the highest rated in the history of the awards, and we congratulate Fareportal and all of the winners on their commitment to excellence and innovation in customer service.”

CheapOair’s customer service department won gold in the Innovation in Customer Service category and Ruben Bello, VP of international operations, won gold in the Customer Service Leader of the Year category. The company’s silver winners included customer service department, contact center and best use of technology categories, as well as individual silver recognition for customer service agents Devindra Seenarain and Carmen Jimenez. Bronze winners included Roy Sneharthi, SVP of operations, as well as customer service agents Nitin Verma, Yatendri Sahai and Fiona Sailo. OneTravel accolades included silver award for Belinda Bishop, senior director of operations and bronze award for Tony Pham, associate director of operations. All winners are published at: http://www.stevieawards.com/pubs/sales/awards/426_2281_25576.cfm.

“The Stevie Awards for Sales and Customer Service is the second global award body in the past two months to recognize CheapOair’ vision and strategy of offering our customers superior customer service to make their travel booking experience effortless, affordable and enjoyable,” said Werner Kunz, chief operating officer at Fareportal, the parent company of CheapOair. “Following the recognition from the International Service Excellence Awards in January, this award further underscores CheapOair’s exemplary standards of customer service – and our unique focus on our customers.”

The Stevie Awards for Sales & Customer Service are the world’s top sales awards, business development awards, contact center awards, and customer service awards. More than 1,900 nominations from organizations of all sizes and in virtually every industry were evaluated in this year’s competition. Finalists were determined by the average scores of 139 professionals worldwide, acting as preliminary judges; and more than 100 members of several specialized judging committees determined the winner placements from among the finalists during final judging in February. The awards were presented to honorees during a gala banquet on Friday, February 27 at the Bellagio in Las Vegas, with more than 500 executives from the U.S.A. and several other nations in attendance.

About Fareportal
Fareportal is a travel technology company that powers hybrid (online/traditional) travel agencies. Utilizing its innovative technology and company owned and operated contact centers, Fareportal has forged strong industry partnerships with over 450 airlines, 150,000 hotels and 100s of car rental companies to serve millions of customers every year. With a portfolio of consumer travel brands including CheapOair and OneTravel, Fareportal’s airline partners benefit from access to a broad customer base that books high-yield international travel and add-on ancillaries at a rate higher than the industry average. To learn more, visit www.Fareportal.com.

Leading independent review site chooses CheapOair for its dedication and superior customer service

March 10, 2015 – CheapOair, a leading hybrid (online/traditional) travel agency, announced today that it was recognized with the High Flyers Award by Trustpilot in February. Only a handful of Trustpilot’s more than 10,000 review partners earn this elite title.

“CheapOAir demonstrates excellence in all of the values a High Flyers award recipient should. Reading through just a few of their over 1,300 reviews, it is obvious that customers are thrilled at CheapOAir’s commitment to delivering every customer a truly outstanding experience. Through their near-perfect TrustScore and their history of industry recognition, it is clear that their team is 100% dedicated to providing a personalized, attentive, and overall standout customer experience from top to bottom. By engaging directly with their customers, their team has built a reputation of delivering fast, simple, friendly, and exceptional service, setting a high standard for other members of the travel services and online review communities,” said Jordan Garner, director of customer success at Trustpilot.

In more than 1,200 online reviews, CheapOair has received consistently high praise and an overall ranking of 9 out of 10, underscoring its unshakeable commitment to delivering top-notch customer experience.

“We appreciate Trustpilot for recognizing our efforts to provide our customers with the best customer service experience,” said Brijen Rajput, senior vice president of online marketing at Fareportal, the parent company of CheapOair. “To make our customers’ travel effortless, affordable and enjoyable has always been our motto and we are particularly grateful for this objective recognition, based on independent, anonymous reviews from our global users.”

CheapOair’s excellent customer service was recognized with two other awards from top-tier global awards programs in the past two months alone, winning the top accolade in the Customer-Focused Innovations category in the 7th annual International Service Excellence Awards and gold award in the Innovation in Customer Service category in the 9th annual Stevie Awards for Sales and Customer Service.

About Trustpilot
Trustpilot offers a global, multi-language online open review community that builds trust and transparency between consumers and businesses. Launched in 2007 and boasting more than 100,000 businesses and 12 million consumer reviews, Trustpilot produces a TrustScore for businesses based on recent reviews. Every day, more than 10,000 consumers join Trustpilot and every five seconds a new review is posted. The platform helps businesses generate actionable insight through real-time analytics of customer review data, which can be used to improve business operations, increase customer satisfaction and drive innovation. Trustpilot has customers in 65 countries and offices in Copenhagen, London, New York and Melbourne. Trustpilot was selected as one of Crain’s 2014 Best Places to Work in New York City with 300 employees representing 40 nationalities.

About CheapOair
CheapOair is the first hybrid (online/traditional) travel agency that enables consumers to book travel online, on mobile apps, by phone or live chat. CheapOair (http://www.cheapoair.com, 1-646-738-4820) bridges the gap between an online and traditional travel agency with certified travel agents available to help find deals and offers to destinations worldwide on over 450 airlines, 150,000 hotels, and hundreds of car rentals. Partner airlines benefit from access to CheapOair’s broad customer base that books high yield international travel and add-on ancillaries at above the industry average. Follow CheapOair on Facebook and Twitter to learn how to travel the world for less.

HR team recognized for its recruitment, talent management and employee well-being initiatives for over 2,500 employees across five countries

January 22, 2015 — Fareportal, one of the fastest-growing travel technology companies, announced today that its HR Team won Outstanding HR Team in 2014 Global Business Excellence Awards. Fareportal’s human resources team handles all functions from talent acquisition through performance management to employee well-being and company culture initiatives.

“Managing the HR function for Fareportal, one of the fastest growing travel companies in the world with more than 2,500 employees in five countries, is a herculean task,” commented this year’s Global Business Excellence Awards judges. “Fareportal’s HR team rose to the challenge and implemented a number of new initiatives for recruitment, talent management and employee well-being that have transformed the business. Staff satisfaction rose by 25% and global staff attrition has been maintained at the exceedingly low rate of 5%. With the new professional HR services behind them, staff are now more productive, focused and have generated some great innovations for clients.”

Global Business Excellence Awards, one of the world’s highest profile awards, pride themselves on having a large panel of independent expert judges who select winners according to strict criteria for each category and sector; focusing on financial results, innovation, customer, employee, investor and community benefits. The awards attract a wide range of entries from across the world, from large international companies such as Heathrow Airport, Microsoft, Portugal Telecom and Royal Bank of Scotland to dynamic and innovative start-ups.

“This award is particularly exciting for us, as it rewards our 75-person global HR team, who work tirelessly every day to ensure each of our employees globally feels fulfilled, challenged and happy at work and for that reason better able to serve the needs of our customers,” said Prev Venugopal, senior vice president and head of human resources at Fareportal, the parent company of popular online booking site CheapOair. “Every day we strive to create the perfect trip for our customers and this award provides confirmation that we are progressing in the right direction. The award also serves as an ideal opportunity to once again thank the team for their ceaseless efforts – it is the combined efforts of the HR team globally that really made this possible.”

About the Global Business Excellence Awards
The Global Business Excellence Awards are open to private, public and third sector organisations of all sizes, based in any country around the world. Entrants to the Global Business Excellence Awards do not have to be operating globally to enter the awards, entries are judged against other entries from the same country. There are four rounds each year with quarterly deadlines being the last working day of February, May, August and November and winners for each round hold their title for twelve months.
For more information and to find out how to register for the next round of the Global Business Excellence Awards visit http://www.gbeawards.com/

About Fareportal
Fareportal is a travel technology company that powers hybrid (online/traditional) travel agencies. Utilizing its innovative technology and company owned and operated contact centers, Fareportal has forged strong industry partnerships with over 450 airlines, 150,000 hotels and 100s of car rental companies to serve millions of customers every year. With a portfolio of consumer travel brands including CheapOair and OneTravel, Fareportal’s airline partners benefit from access to a broad customer base that books high-yield international travel and add-on ancillaries at a rate higher than the industry average. To learn more, visit http://www.Fareportal.com.

“Miles Away” offers consumers tips and advice from the largest flights-focused travel agency.

December 10, 2014 — CheapOair announced today the launch of its new travel blog, Miles Away. With the holiday travel season right around the corner, CheapOair will offer consumers tips and advice from the experts behind the scenes at the largest flights-focused hybrid travel agency.

“Through the Miles Away blog, we will offer consumers more than just low airfare deals and options,” said Chris Cuddy, chief commercial officer at CheapOair. “The blog will feature expert advice from the CheapOair staff and our airline industry partners that advise travelers how to navigate a busy airport, when they should book flights to trending destinations to get the cheapest deals, and what to do if they run into issues along the way.”

Since the first customer booked with CheapOair in 2005, the hybrid travel agency has offered travelers the widest range of choices with deals on over 450 airlines, online, on mobile apps, by phone or live chat. It was also the first to offer added extras like ChoiceSeats on US Airways, preferred seats and meals on American Airlines, and pre-paid bags on Spirit Airlines.

Now, through the Miles Away blog, the hybrid travel agency hopes to be the consumer’s travel partner – not just during their travel booking, but during takeoff, in-flight, and at their destination, with trained travel agents available 24/7 by phone and live chat until they return from their trip.

Visit CheapOair.com/Miles-Away/ to read CheapOair’s 10 most affordable destinations to travel to on a budget this Thanksgiving.

About CheapOair
CheapOair is the first hybrid (online/traditional) travel agency that enables consumers to book travel online, on mobile apps, by phone or live chat. CheapOair (http://www.cheapoair.com, 1-646-738-4820) bridges the gap between an online and traditional travel agency with certified travel agents available to help find deals and offers to destinations worldwide on over 450 airlines, 150,000 hotels, and 100s of car rentals. Partner airlines benefit from access to CheapOair’s broad customer base that books high yield international travel and add-on ancillaries at above the industry average. Follow CheapOair on Facebook and Twitter to learn how to travel the world for less.