Cheapairlines.com: A Case of False Advertising?
Written: Aug 08 '02 (Updated May 16 '05)
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Cheapairlines.com is a full- service travel site on the world wide web that has its headquarters in Virginia Beach, VA. This site offers a wide range of travel- related services to satisfy the needs of its customers. The name of the service sounds appealing, because it denotes that the site contains deeply discounted airfare. But is this really an accurate assumption? Let’s take a look at what this site has to offer:
Features of This Service:
When I first logged into this site, I went there looking for airline tickets and, judging by the name, I assumed that it was strictly an airline reservation service. Although airline tickets are the mainstay of the site, it’s actually contains much more than that.
The flight search function works just like most other airline reservation services on the internet. You enter your departure and arrival cities, dates, number of passengers, airline preference, etc. The results page lists the flights that match your criteria in price order, from least expensive to most expensive. I noticed that the search is a little slow. Even on my networked pc, it still took about 15 to 20 seconds to complete.
Car rentals are another feature of Cheapairlines.com. This system is very basic, with no additional tools or special options to utilize. You enter cities, dates, size of car desired, and other special features that you want, and it returns with a list of possible cars to rent, listed in price order from lowest to highest. The prices are a little more competitive in this area, when compared to the rest of the site, but the search function is unremarkable.
Hotel lodging can also be accessed in Cheapairlines.com. Your search results can be displayed in either price order or quality rating. The price for each day of your stay is displayed, and you can click on a link to view pictures of the hotel and inquire on amenities.
The last main feature is cruise reservations and among these four, I think the cruise section is the best one. You search for a cruise by entering the desired destination (western Caribbean, Alaska, Panama Canal, etc.), a cruise line, and a departure port (or, you can let all three default to “all”, to widen your search). The display shows the departure date, number of nights, and places that the ship will dock. You have to click a link, to see prices, itinerary, ship information, cabins available, etc. Although this function isn’t as good as some of the other cruise- searching web sites, it’s still fairly good and far better than the airline, car rental, or hotel search functions.
Other Services:
Besides these four main search options, Cheapairlines.com does have a wide range of additional services that relate to travel. You can access a currency converter, luggage shop, passport info, travel guides, weather, maps, travel insurance, driving directions, and you can sign up for the site’s travel newsletter.
Making a Purchase:
If you decide to accept any offer through this site, you will have to establish an account first. This is easy and painless, and it involves making up a user id and password.
Prices in this site tend to be toward the high side, when compared to other on- line services. Also, you need to keep in mind that the flight reservations are priced at the base cost, but there is usually an additional fee of $20 added to your flight price. This is a fee that the site collects, presumably to stay in business. If there is an additional fee for your flight, you will see the words “plus fee” next to the price. If you then click these words, a window will pop up showing what the extra fee will be.
Final Thoughts:
Cheapairlines.com does offer a wide range of travel services, but much of this site is flawed, from the search functions to the dismal appearance of the site itself. Starting with the flight search function, I found it to be rather sloppy and a little frustrating. You cannot quickly switch your dates or make other simple modifications to your flight preference. You have to go back to the main screen, press reset, and start over.
The hotel search, in my opinion, is the weakest part of the site. The main reason I feel this way is because of the extremely limited number of cities that you can search for lodging. I looked at the site’s database and found that it includes only about 170 U.S. cities and fewer than 100 international cities! If you enter a city that doesn’t exist in the Cheapairlines.com database, it will sometimes display a nearby city (if one exists), or it will tell you that there are no matches available. This is pretty useless, if you ask me. For a web site to be restricted to so few cities, for lodging, is inexcusable. Also, I noticed that the search results page looks very much like another travel web site, but the name escapes me right now. This makes me suspect that this is nothing more than a link into another service.
The only part of the site that seemed acceptable to me was the cruise search function. Again, it was nothing special but it was better than the hotel, flight, and car rental searches. Some of the additional services were useful, too, like the maps, driving directions, and travel insurance links. But the main criteria to use to judge a site like this are the prices, and Cheapairlines.com strikes out in this area. The only area that was competitive was car rentals.
Overall, this is a weak service. Search functions are inadequate, the dark blue/purple colors on the page are a pain on the eyes, and the number of places available for obtaining travel information is inadequate. And, most important of all, the prices are not that cheap. This is one travel site that doesn’t live up to its name. It’s good to glance at, perhaps to use some of the special services or the cruise search, but you can find better deals elsewhere.
Be Sure to Click the Links Below to Read More Reviews on Other Popular Travel Sites:
American Express Travel
Travelnow.com
Cheaptravel.com
Hotel Discount.com
Bestfares.com
Hotwire.com
America’s Vacation Center
Expedia.com Hotels
Expedia.com Cruises
Travelocity.com Flights
Travelocity.com Hotels
Priceline.com Flights
Priceline.com Hotels
Vacations To Go
Vacationspot.com
Flycheap.com
LowestFare.com
Mytravelco.com
Placestostay.com
Orbitz.com
Cheaptickets.com
Recommended:
No
What product did you purchase or try to purchase? Flight
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