[IxDA Discuss] Ease of use of travel booking websites

[Tori Egherman]

After years of booking my own travel using all sorts of online apps, I
have rediscovered the joys of a good travel agent. You would not
believe how nice it is to have someone else do the work. (Of course I
now live off the expedia/travelocity grid).

That said, my parents, who are not online whizzes, have recently
started using Orbitz. They live in a smallish town with unpredictable
midwestern weather. They love the fact that Orbitz rebooks and
reschedules for them when there are problems.

Solutions that are 100% application based, will never work. That said,
I would love the application to work like a good agent: For instance,
I should be able to say that I am interested in the cheapest flight to
a certain location within a certain time range. I would love to walk
away then and let the app do the work for me. I don't want to sit
there making decisions. When I have problems, I want them solved
without much fuss. I want the information I need to be clear: how much
I have to pay to reschedule a flight, how much luggage I can bring,
who I have to call when there are problems. Travel can be complicated
and unpredictable. I hate when I am stranded and left to deal with
problems on my own.

Well... a big part of what I want requires a bit of restructuring of
the airline business itself.

Tori