SEATTLE, WA, Jun 23 (MARKET WIRE) --
Yapta.com, Your Amazing Personal Travel Assistant, today announced the
launch of the first travel shopping Web site that integrates customized
flight search results with the ability to track airfare prices and create
flight-specific savings alerts in a single click. Until today, these
combined travel shopping capabilities were possible only by downloading
Yapta's Web browser add-on and using it to shop various airline websites
for flights. By introducing Yapta.com as an alternative to the browser
add-on, travelers can now more quickly find their ideal flights based on
their personal travel preferences, start tracking price fluctuations and
be alerted via email when fares drop or fall below a desired spending
limit. The site also alerts travelers when they're eligible for a travel
credit from their airline in the event that a lower fare becomes
available on tickets that have already been purchased.
"This evolution of Yapta represents a major step forward for online travel
shoppers, including the frequent traveler that needs a personal assistant
who knows their budget and travel preferences," said Tom Romary, president
and CEO of Yapta. "Travelers today are overwhelmed by choices, and are
confused by the frequency of price changes. By providing travelers with a
single site where they can find their ideal flights from a number of
domestic and international airlines -- and have flight-specific price
checks automatically conducted for them on a continuous basis -- we're
eliminating all the time-consuming shopping leg work and simply alerting
people to the best flights at the best value. Additionally, Yapta protects
travelers' interests by connecting them directly with an airline Web site
for the purchase of their flight. This approach helps travelers avoid
booking fees applied by online travel agencies and maintains their
eligibility for an airline travel credit if the price of their flight
drops after purchase."
Yapta.com is the only travel shopping Web site that delivers a unique
combination of price assurance and transparency to the 71 percent of
travelers that buy their tickets directly from airline Web sites.
According to research conducted by PhoCusWright, a travel industry
research firm, online travel agencies will book only 29 percent of online
air ticket sales in 2008 (down from 40 percent in 2003). By channeling
ticket bookings exclusively through airline Web sites -- which extend
consumers the strongest price protection policies -- and alerting
travelers when prices drop or when they're eligible for airline travel
credit, Yapta is helping travelers make a more informed and confident
purchasing decision.
In addition to introducing a download-free travel shopping experience,
Yapta also announced that it will now support airfare price checking on
more than 30 domestic and international carriers.
"Broadening the scope of Yapta's airfare price-tracking capability has
been among the most requested improvements from our community of frequent
travelers," Romary said. "Travelers can now use the Web site to track
airfare prices on flights from nearly all major U.S. airlines -- and for
the first time -- on the key international carriers as well. Frequent
travelers will also appreciate Yapta's ability to store all of their
preferences for regularly traveled routes, allowing them to quickly find
relevant flight options."
Other new features and functionality introduced with the Yapta.com Web
site include:
-- A flight recommendation engine that yields a short-list of relevant
flight search results based on a traveler's personal travel preferences
-- A single repository for airline mileage account numbers and travel
credits
-- An archive of travel preferences for "frequent trips," including
preferred airlines, flight times, and routings
Since the launch of Yapta in late May 2007, hundreds of thousands of
people -- from independent business travelers and leisure travelers, to
travel agents and meeting planners -- have used Yapta to help them get
the most value out of their online travel planning. In total, Yapta has
identified over $60 million in savings for travelers in the form of lower
ticket prices and travel credits from airlines. Used primarily as a travel
planning service by frequent travelers, Yapta has tracked prices on over 1
million flights -- 46 percent of which had a price drop that helped people
buy their ticket at a lower price. Meanwhile, 19 percent of airfares
tracked after purchase qualified for a travel credit from airlines that
have "guaranteed airfare" policies.
"To date, Yapta has done an excellent job of saving people money on
airfare," Romary said. "With the enhancements delivered in this Web site
release, we'll also be saving people a tremendous amount of time and
effort -- and making online travel shopping what it should be; simple."
About Yapta, Inc.
Yapta, Inc. was founded in January 2006 with the mission to help air
travelers receive the optimal value out of their online travel planning.
Yapta enables travelers to find their ideal flights, track airfare prices
and be alerted via email when fares drop or fall below a desired spending
limit. Bringing to light pro-consumer "guaranteed airfare" policies
offered by many airlines, Yapta also helps travelers obtain airline
travel credits when the price decreases on tickets that have already been
purchased. Yapta is used by hundreds of thousands of travelers and many
small businesses to not only save on airfare, but also to record personal
flight preferences, previous flight searches and mileage account
information that can be used to economize future travel planning. For
more information about Yapta, visit www.yapta.com.
Contact:
Jeff Pecor
Yapta, Inc.
206-625-2301
Email Contact
Copyright 2008, Market Wire, All rights reserved.
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