Three things that
Most of the Indian Online Ticketing websites need to do
- Improve UX,
- Improve UX and
- Improve UX.
Isn't it the pricing that drives?
Not exactly. Of the
last 10 trips that you made, how many were reimbursed? Well, That answers why
pricing is not always the main criteria
to choose the booking agent. What a customer actually needs is a hassle-free
way of booking a flight. That's good enough reason for OTAs to focus more on
UX. But somehow, it appears that UX is overlooked by even the top players
including MakeMyTrip, Yatra, Cleartrip, Expedia, Ezeego1 and Goibibo.
URLs can be Universal too!
The search and
flight details URL are shared often across co-travellers . Searching and
booking are not always done the same person and in the same session.
Below are some of
the URLs of flights
These URLs are just
not reusable, share-able or bookmark-able.
Some OTAs have a
unique session id attached which has its own limitations. It times out!
Though the search
result URLs do not have such a major drawback, they do not include the filters
and sorts.
Use Cache to Cash
If the user has
searched in a site, the site should remember the search and results and not the
user. The previous searches and flights viewed can be remembered and presented
for easy access in the next visit. A lot can be learnt from Amazon.com. Even if
a session is timed-out or payment is failed, provide the fresh results to the
user rather than asking the user to go through the complete search. OTAs can
also use the information to inform the user on regular price changes.
Relevant Details
Not all websites
provide complete details about a flight. Information including Food, Terms of
Cancellation, Terms of Rescheduling,
Baggage allowance are also important for the user.
Corporate Booking
Just a thought or a
Killer idea. A trip planning usually involves multiple mail exchanges with the
passenger and the HR/Finance department. Why not make a corporate portal where
the traveller books a flight while the payment is done by finance later, thus
reducing the hassle of claiming reimbursement. Getting corporates to adapt this
might lock this agent for all the corporate trips. A huge potential waiting to
be exploited.
For the Deal Hunters
Why should a Coupon Code be put while checking out? Is
it because everybody is doing it from the beginning of time. Why not let the
user put his coupon codes and then search to get the results with
coupon-adjusted pricing. An A/B testing can provide a empirical proof whether
it can work or not.
These were some of
the random thoughts about improving the Flight ticket booking experience. I
personally feel, there is a disruption waiting to happen in this space by
Indian Players who haven't changed much in the past 3-4 Years. Please put in
your views in the comments.
