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(c) Elliott Publishing.

Searching for Travel
Kirby's Korner · December 15, 2000

A number of new Web sites for finding low-cost travel have popped up in recent months, but they prove the adage that there's nothing new in the world.

These sites join established low-cost travel providers throughout the Web, including media darlings Hotwire and ITA Software. Visitors can book air and other travel at Hotwire now; ITA software, which will be the booking engine for the airline-owned Orbitz when it launches next year, is still running a beta test at its Web site that lets you compare airline prices but not buy tickets.

What's not new about the three recent low-cost travel additions - FareChase, Sidestep, and QIXO is that they search the Web sites of online travel agencies or of travel suppliers and present their findings to travelers, who then either book through the search sites or are sent on to the online agency or supplier site to book.

My favorite fare search engine, Trip.com's Intellitrip started life just that way several years ago, and it received as chilly a reception as some of the new travel search engines are receiving.

Intellitrip got off on the wrong foot, requiring travelers to download a plug-in for their Web browsers. Then, once they connected to the service, they entered their desired itineraries just as they would at any online retailer. Intellitrip searched the Web sites of its parent, Trip.com, along with Travelocity.com, Expedia.com, and the now defunct Preview Travel and Internet Travel Network. It returned the cheapest fares, and travelers were then linked seamlessly to the online agency of their choice to complete the booking.

Several of the agencies to which Intellitrip connected protested, and Trip.com pulled the product from the market. When it emerged again more than a year later, no browser plug-in was needed, and Intellitrip searched for fares on the Web sites of travel suppliers. Intellitrip now has agreements with 15 airlines and, for trips I've made, I've found the best deals through it.

QIXO (pronounced "kick-so"), launched in September, had a similar plan and received a similar chilly reaction. It says it searches for deals from 13 top travel Web site, including both online agencies and travel suppliers. But Expedia has already threatened legal action, causing QIXO to drop it from its list. And Travelocity has tried to block the site from accessing its information.

Intellitrip didn't charge travelers when it searched online agencies and still doesn't charge them for travel supplier searches. QIXO, however, charges a 1 percent transaction fee for any bookings, up to $10.00.

Sidestep, which also started last month, uses the other bad idea from the original Intellitrip: requiring a browser plug-in. It compares offerings from more than two dozen airlines, nearly four dozen hotel companies, and around 10 car rental companies to searches travelers perform at the online agency site of their choice. If Sidestep finds a cheaper fare, travelers can click a button on the Sidestep screen that pops up, and they'll be transported to the supplier's site just a click or two away from completing the booking.

Sidestep obviously has a wide variety of supplier options, but the need to download a plug-in likely will prevent many people from using it. Macintosh users, for example, are not going to be accommodated.

FareChase started in September and is still in beta testing. As of last month, it said it searched nearly 40 online agency and travel supplier sites, including travel consolidators and wholesalers. Twenty-one site provide air bookings, 14 provide hotel reservations, and four connect travelers to rental cars.

Travelers can tell FareChase which sites on its list to search, and it sends travelers to their chosen sites for bookings.

The three companies have different visions of the online travel space, and they rely on different revenue models: QIXO charges a transaction fee. Sidestep sees itself as a technology company that will expand its search functions to other industries. And FareChase is a tech company that expects to license its travel search features to Web portals and other Web sites; its not really in a consumer-direct business.

Once you give the sites a try, I'd love to hear your reaction. Let's see if we can pick a "Ticked Best" for low-cost travel searches.

David Kirby is the content manager at start-up company iJET.com and was the founding editor of Interactive Travel Report. His column appears on Friday. You can reach him at david@ticked.com.