CheapOair

CheapOair
Private
Industry Online Travel Agency
Founded New York City, 2005 (2005)
Founder Sam S. Jain
Headquarters New York City, US
Products Airline Tickets, Hotel Rooms, Rental Cars and Vacation Packages
Number of employees
3,500+
Website www.cheapoair.com

CheapOair is an online travel agency that allows customers to book airfare, hotel rooms, rental cars, and vacation packages online, on its mobile apps, by telephone or live chat.[1] Since its inception in 2005, CheapOair has become one of the top 5 online travel agencies [2] in the United States and is the number 2 online travel agency in flight volume. CheapOair has won numerous awards including those from Travel Weekly,[3]The Stevie Awards,[4] and the International Service Excellence Awards.[5] CheapOair has received recognition from Fortune,[6] USA Today,[7] The New York Times,[8] and Bloomberg Businessweek).[9] CheapOair has agreements with more than 550 airlines, 200,000 hotels and hundreds of rental car companies.

The agency is headquartered in a Manhattan office in New York City.[9] It also has offices in Las Vegas, Nevada; Gurgaon, India; Markham, Ontario; Pointe Claire, Quebec; Harrison, British Columbia; Mexico City, Mexico; Pune, India; London, England and Munich, Germany.

History

CheapOair was founded in 2005 by CEO Sam S. Jain in New York City as a subsidiary of Fareportal. Since its inception, CheapOair has been the largest unit under the Fareportal umbrella.[2] The name "CheapOair" was chosen to elicit a sense of value and affordability.[10]

In 2008, CheapOair was the ninth-largest online travel agency. It began offering hotel rooms in addition to airfares and car rentals.[11] As early as 2009, CheapOair was also using opaque negotiated airfare to achieve discounted prices.[10] By 2010, the agency started garnering attention as a major player in the online travel industry.[10]

2010 marked the first time CheapOair launched a dedicated ad campaign in offline channels. The campaign was used to demonstrate the ease of the platform and was recognized with Magellan Awards from Travel Weekly in 2011 [12] and Gold Link Awards from LinkShare.[13]

In 2011, the agency released the CheapOair app for iOS and Android devices. The app received critical acclaim [14] and even won two Silver Magellan Awards from Travel Weekly in 2012.[15] The app achieved the million-download milestone at the beginning of 2013.[16] By 2016, the app had been downloaded roughly 5 million times.[17]

Products and services

CheapOair sells travel services including Air Fare, Hotel Rooms, Car rentals and Vacation packages at a discounted price.

References

  1. Shillinglaw, James (6 April 2015). "Meet the Man Behind the Third Largest Online Travel Agency". Travel Pulse. Retrieved 6 September 2016.
  2. 1 2 Schaal, Dennis (24 September 2013). "Why CheapOair Is Sticking With Flights While Booking Peers Chase Hotels". Skift. Retrieved 2 March 2015.
  3. Munro, Aria (7 October 2010). "CheapOair Wins Three 2010 Travel Weekly Magellan Awards". eNewsChannels. Retrieved 2 March 2015.
  4. Gallagher, Maggie (15 September 2015). "Fareportal Wins Grand Stevie® Award for Organization of the Year in 2015 American Business Awards". The Stevie Awards. Retrieved 11 August 2016.
  5. Brooks, Amber (29 August 2016). "Fareportal Surpasses $4.5 Billion in Sales — a Testament to the Ease & Appeal of Its Multi-Channel Travel Booking". DealCrunch. Retrieved 6 September 2016.
  6. Eng, Dinah (13 November 2014). "Sam Jain's CheapOair is really taking off". Fortune. Retrieved 2 March 2015.
  7. Oakley, Rachel. "How to Fly Cheaply as a Student". USA Today. Retrieved 2 March 2015.
  8. Gross, Matt (16 February 2010). "Booking a Flight the Frugal Way". The New York Times. Retrieved 2 March 2015.
  9. 1 2 Bachman, Justin (22 August 2013). "This Travel-Booking Website Loves It When You Call". Bloomberg Businessweek. Retrieved 2 March 2015.
  10. 1 2 3 Schaal, Dennis (25 August 2014). "CheapOair CEO on Bridging the Gap Between Booking Site and Travel Agent". Skift. Retrieved 2 March 2015.
  11. O'Neill, Sean (15 September 2008). "CheapOair puts a fresh spin on hotel listings". Budget Travel. Retrieved 2 March 2015.
  12. "CheapOair Receives Three 2011 Silver Magellan Awards From Travel Weekly". Marketwired. 5 October 2011. Retrieved 6 September 2016.
  13. "CheapOair Receives Prestigious LinkShare 2010 Golden Link Publisher's Choice Award and Innovative Advertiser of the Year Nomination". PR Newswire. 1 July 2010. Retrieved 2 March 2015.
  14. Ward, Jenni (16 December 2011). "Best iPhone Apps for Finding Flights & Booking Airline Tickets". App Safari. Retrieved 2 March 2015.
  15. "CheapOair Receives Top Awards for Mobile Apps". Yahoo. 2 October 2012. Retrieved 6 September 2016.
  16. "CheapOair Celebrates One Million Mobile App Downloads". Reuters. 30 January 2013. Retrieved 2 March 2015.
  17. Johnson, Lauren (10 December 2012). "CheapOair racks up app downloads via mobile sweepstakes". Mobile Commerce Daily. Retrieved 2 March 2015.
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