NEW YORK, October 2, 2012

CheapOair, a leading online travel agency, today announced that it has been awarded two Silver Magellan Awards by top trade publication, Travel Weekly, and two W3 Awards by The International Academy of Visual Arts. All four awards presented to CheapOair were on behalf of the company’s advancements within the mobile space.

The CheapOair Flight Search app and Mobile Site were each recognized with Silver Magellan Awards in the Online Travel Services category. The CheapOair Flight Search app also received a 2012 W3 Award for Best in Show in the Travel Mobile Applications category and the CheapOair Flight Search iPad app won a separate 2012 W3 Silver Award.

“We are constantly striving to improve CheapOair’s customer service through various updates to our mobile and web platforms, and this year we are thrilled to have our efforts recognized by both Travel Weekly and the International Academy of Visual Arts,” said Ankur Gupta, senior director of mobile solutions at CheapOair. “We have focused a lot on growing our mobile capabilities over the last year and are pleased to see that our apps are providing useful travel tools and services to users.”

The CheapOair Flight Search app is available for free on Android, iPhone and iPad platforms, and a separate Mobile Site that is accessible by anyone with an Internet enabled phone. Both the Flight Search app and Mobile Site allow users to search, select and book flights by price, and offer 24/7 customer support while on the go. The sleek and easy-to-use design of each platform constantly pushes CheapOair to the top of user reviews and award lists, including the recent Communicator Awards.

The Travel Weekly Magellan Awards honor the best in travel and salutes outstanding travel professionals. Honoring a broad range of industry segments including Hotels and Resorts, Travel Destinations, Cruise Lines, Online Travel Services, Airlines and Airports, Travel Agents and Agencies, Tour Operators and Car Rental Companies, the Magellan is a highly desired award in the overall business of travel.

The W3 Awards honors creative excellence on the web, and recognizes the creative and marketing professionals behind award winning sites, videos and marketing programs. The W3 is sanctioned and judged by the International Academy of the Visual Arts, an invitation-only body consisting of top-tier professionals from a “Who’s Who” of acclaimed media, interactive, advertising, and marketing firms.

SOURCE: CheapOair

NEW YORK, September 20, 2012

Travelong, a full service travel agency and parent company to leading online travel agency, CheapOair, announced today that it received the “Million Dollars Sales Award” for the third consecutive year from China Airlines.

This award, presented to Travelong on August 24th, recognized the company for its sales exceeding one million dollars with China Airlines in 2011 and its achievement as an inventive business leader in the travel industry.

“On behalf of China Airlines, I would like to thank Travelong for its hard work and sales contribution to China Airlines,” said Steve Chang, General Manager of the Eastern USA Division of China Airlines. “We appreciate Travelong’s continuous support and look forward to working closely together for many years to come.”

“We are both honored and proud to receive this award from China Airlines for the third year in a row,” said Sam Jain, President and CEO of Travelong. “It is rewarding to see our efforts and improvements continue to be recognized as our company strives to maintain and advance services for our customers.”

Travelong continues to be acknowledged for its outstanding work and efforts in the online travel industry. In the past year, Travelong has earned numerous performance awards from partners including: LAN Airlines, Korean Airlines, Avianca and TACA Airlines and been named to Travel Weekly’s Esteemed Power List.

SOURCE: Travelong

NEW YORK, September 5, 2012

Today, leading online travel agency CheapOair launched phase two of its “Traveler of the Year” competition in search of the traveler who can best demonstrate how to travel the world for less. Ten semi-finalists have been chosen for an opportunity to advance to the third and final round, where two finalists will be sent on a trip to either China or India on flights sponsored by Emirates, each with $7,500 of travel money courtesy of CheapOair.

During this phase, the social community will cast their votes online to select the two finalists. Voting starts today and runs through September 21 on the “Traveler of the Year” website.

To encourage social media followers’ involvement, CheapOair will host micro-contests throughout phase two allowing fans to win prizes via Twitter and Facebook.Facebook fans who share their favorite semi-finalist video via the “Traveler of the Year” website will be entered to win CheapOair’s Travel the World for Less Tool Kit, valued at $300.

Throughout phase two, CheapOair’s Twitter followers can share their favorite video, add hashtag #traveltheworld4less to any tweet or follow CheapOair for the chance to win a $200 American Express gift card.
Anyone who votes for their favorite video will be automatically entered to win $500 in future travel with CheapOair.

“Our ‘Traveler of the Year’ competition has already been a great success, and we are looking forward to phase two in which our fans and followers will decide who they want to ‘Travel the World for Less,'” said Peter Howard, chief marketing officer at CheapOair. “The campaign will continue over the next few months as our two finalists, and ultimately the winner, are selected.”

CheapOair’s 10 semi-finalists were carefully selected by a panel of judges who reviewed entrants’ submissions and evaluated their videos based on creativity, demonstrated travel experience, ability to create quality content and on-screen presence. The 10 semi-finalists for “Traveler of the Year” are:

• Captain & Clark: Captain Chris Staudinger and Tawny 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, including everything from extreme hiking to extreme cooking.
• Kyle O’Donnel: Fascinated by his father’s stories of traveling as a photographer in the military, Cyle traveled during every semester break in college to learn how to compose, capture and develop his photography.
• Giovanni Silva: Giovanni is an independent film director, photographer, editor and world traveler who has journeyed to 37 different countries around the globe.
• Keaton Davis: A prize-winning videographer, Keaton uses his 10 years of travel experience in Europe, Central and South America and Australia as leverage.
• Kristen Van Nest: When not working as a global branding specialist, Kristen is a world traveler who has been to over 30 European cities.
• Lauren Rains: Lauren is the co-founder of Outdoor Minded Magazine and founder of The Mad to Live blog, which highlights stories from the road based on her adventures in travel and entrepreneurship.
• Mannie Boitz: Mannie is a program assistant who hails from King Cove, Alaska, a community of 700. Now a resident of Wasilla, she loves to climb and is excited to travel the world.
• Robert Guiterrez: Founders of the His and Her Travel blog, Robert and his wife document their time teaching and traveling across the world.
• Ryan McDevitt: Ryan is a world traveler who has visited close to 40 countries, documenting each experience in his online gallery of photographs from around the world.
• Todd Van Duzer: Todd is a marketing major in the Honors College at Arizona State University who has traveled to 25 countries studying identity, branding, social interaction, body language and stress-free productivity.

Host of the “Traveler of the Year” contest, travel enthusiast Paul Rogers will be launching phase two and introducing the semi-finalists via a video blog. An avid traveler who continually looks for life’s next adventure, some of Paul Rogers’ top experiences include skydiving in New Zealand, climbing Mt. Whitney in California, seeing the Matterhorn in Switzerland and golfing in Ireland. All of these experiences are documented for his web travel adventure show “Where’s Walnuts?”

SOURCE: CheapOair

NEW YORK, July 23, 2012

of the Year” competition in search of the traveler who can best demonstrate how to travel the world for less. Two semi-finalists, selected by CheapOair’s social media followers, will embark on the journey of a lifetime, one to China and the other to India, with $7,500, courtesy of CheapOair.

The two competitors will be sent on a series of challenges that will highlight how these amazing destinations can be experienced to the fullest, even when on a budget. All tasks, from finding accommodations to souvenirs, will be documented by photographs, videos, social media and blog posts. After reviewing the content created by the travelers, the brand’s social media followers will again pick the winner, who will receive an additional $5,000 worth of travel from CheapOair.

“Through the competition, we are offering our customers a great opportunity to engage in the online travel conversation, and to associate our brand with that conversation,” said Binti Pawa, vice president of marketing at CheapOair. “We want to show our customers that, in addition to great travel deals, we have integrated our website, blog and social media channels to truly help them travel the world for less, including expert insights on what to do and how to save once they’ve arrived.”

Starting today, travelers can submit three to five minute videos to CheapOair’s “Traveler of the Year” website, http://contests.cheapoair.com/traveleroftheyear/, featuring their own unique tips and tricks for traveling the world for less. The videos and other content created throughout the contest will be readily accessible on the contest website, CheapOair blog, and social media channels.

To enter, you must:

• Be skilled at creating engaging video and blog posts about travel
• Be 18 years or older
• Have a valid U.S. passport
• Be able to travel between 10/12/12 and 11/12/12 to either China or Spain
• Have an interest in traveling and the challenges that come with it

SOURCE: CheapOair

NEW YORK, June 28, 2012

Travel Weekly’s esteemed Power List was released yesterday and Travelong, parent company to leading online travel agency, CheapOair, is happy to announce that it is now in the top 10 of the rankings of this list, coming in at number nine. This recognition from one of the top publications in the trade industry, coupled with moving up two spots from last year’s standing at number 11, further solidifies Travelong as an emerging leader in the online travel space.

“We are both proud and honored to see our progress recognized on this year’s Power List,” said Sam Jain, CEO of Travelong. “This reward reinforces our position as an innovative leader in the travel industry and we are thrilled to continue to work hard to offer our consumers the best travel services.”

This 2012 Power List recognized Travelong’s achievements as a top company and for its major developments throughout the past year, including Travelong’s 2011 sales at $ 1.85 billion. The company continued to focus on global expansion of its brands like CheapOair in the United Kingdom and Canada, investments in customer service and award-winning mobile product developments such as the CheapOair iPhone App (version 2.0.17) and access anywhere via Android, the CheapOair mobile site, and Windows. Further information on the CheapOair mobile apps can be found on the CheapOair website.

Looking to the next year, Travelong is continuing further growth in many ways to help its customers. In addition to a continual drive to be the fastest online travel site on the web, Travelong will also launch its Clubmiles Loyalty Program, which will give existing customers exciting benefits and convenience. Also, to help create a fast and easy form of booking travel, Travelong is expanding its mobile developments in an effort to accommodate all mobile users in today’s technologically advanced world.

Travelong and its affiliate companies have been continuously acknowledged for outstanding work, placing them among industry leaders such as Expedia, American Express, and AAA Travel. In the past year, Travelong has earned numerous performance accolades from partners including the Sabre Travel Network, US Airways, LAN Airlines, EVA Airways, China Airlines, Korean Airlines, Avianca and TACA Airlines, and TAM.

SOURCE: Travelong