iXiGO Blog - Travel search India

Why CFOs love iXiGO.com

2009-07-02T17:05:00.009+05:30

In these times of flat top lines and receding bottom lines, cost cutting is an imperative from which no CFO can shy away. Some key findings according to a recent survey conducted by CFO Research Services in collaboration with Amadeus and research carried out by Effective Travel Management:

Around 50% of the CFOs / finance professionals interviewed for the respondents believe that booking directly on Airline / Hotel websites offers significant (medium to high) opportunity to save costs. (Source: Cost Control and Beyond)
A major proportion of respondents feel that effective feedback tools save costs (25%) and improve operational efficiency (17%) (Source: Cost Control and Beyond)
It is possible to enjoy cost savings of ~10% just through Advance Air Booking (5.7%) and booking Restricted Fares (4.8%)* (Source: Effective Travel Management)

* Note: As restricted fares are typically available in advance, there is a 1.5% overlap in savings from improved performance in these two areas.

iXiGO.com offers several tangible benefits to the CFO looking to keep costs in check:

Book Direct – iXiGO.com searches directly on the airline sites. It also provides access to the world’s largest inventory of hotels, offering the greatest option to users while displaying fares from various booking sites (including direct hotel sites).
Reduce Costs through “Visual Guilt” (Price Comparison) – It is a well researched fact that when people are presented with options and shown visually that they can get the same product for substantially less, they feel compelled to do the right thing (i.e. buy at the lowest price). iXiGO.com allows travelers to search and compare the same property across different vendors, thereby ensuring the lowest possible cost to the firm.

Leverage Feedback of the Crowd – iXiGO.com searches multiple travel review sites, providing “Do-It-Yourself” (DIY) professionals a single window access to the wisdom of the crowd.

Plan Ahead (Advance Air Bookings) – iXiGO.com’s fare outlook graph allows the business traveler to save costs by planning ahead.

Search Lowest Business (or Economy) Fares – iXiGO.com enables the harried business traveler strike the ideal balance between cost and comfort by providing the flexibility to search both Business as well as Economy class fares across all airlines.
Search Fare Trend on Preferred Supplier – Definitely a boon for the “DIY” traveler who can now view the next 30 days’ Fare Outlook for all airlines on their frequently flown sector(s).

Monitor Fare Trend on Most Frequented Sectors – iXiGO.com makes it easy to monitor fare trends by "pushing" them to the busy professional's Desktop or Web based RSS Reader.

Rail as a Viable Alternative – Super fast search allows the cost conscious traveler to easily identify the routes where rail becomes a viable alternative to air.

Smart CFOs understand that all travel portals are NOT equal - booking through Online Travel Agents (OTA) adds an extra layer of cost and makes true price discovery impossible due to opaque pricing strategies followed by the OTAs. It is also easier to make last minute bookings and modifications while dealing directly with the airlines. Most OTAs have a blackout period, hence in many cases flights which are displayed on airlines' site - as well as on iXiGO.com, may not even get displayed on the OTA!

We guess these are reasons enough for smart corporate users from firms as diverse as Puma, Microsoft, SAP, Oracle, ITC, L&T, Ranbaxy (and more...) to patronize iXiGO.com! :-)

iXiGO9 Bonanza Super Winners

2009-07-01T10:45:00.003+05:30

They came, they searched, they booked, and went home winners!! Recently concluded iXiGO9 Bonanza was a splendid success with our support team being flooded with redemption requests. And why not, on iXiGO.com, fliers not only got the best air fares, but also assured gift vouchers on every Jet Airways booking done after redirecting through iXiGO. Voucher values ranged from Rs 300 all the way upto Rs 2000.

Here is a partial list of our Super Winners (people who won more than Rs. 1000 for their air bookings). We wanted to list out all the winners, but then that would have run into hundreds of pages!! :-)

1. Sangam, Pune
2. Ramesh, Pune
3. Arun, Bangalore
4. Dhananjay, New Delhi
5. Subhash, New Mumbai
6. Mayank, Jaipur
7. Sehul, Mumbai
8. Sandipan, New Delhi
9. Nirmalya, New Delhi
10. Rohit, New Delhi
11. Shailajan, Pune
12. Vinayagam, Itarsi
13. Karthic, Mumbai
14. Rajesh, New Delhi
15. Nagaraja, Hyderabad
16. Anitha, Pune
17. Anup, Bangalore
20. Shaila, Bangalore
21. Arvind, Mumbai
22. Lee, Bangalore
23. Dheeraj, Mumbai
24. Anant, Balasore
25. Rajiv, Bhowanipur
26. Nitin, New Delhi
27. Sanjay, Guwahati
28. Sachin, Indore
29. Saji, Kochi
30. Dorab, Mumbai
31. Jairath, Chennai
32. Vandana, Ahmedabad
33. Chowdary, Itarsi
34. Pandey, Patna
35. Dinup, Pune
36. Anshuman, Bangalore
37. Mridula, Bangalore
38. Atul, New Delhi
39. Champa, Mumbai
40. Arunima, New Delhi

And the list goes on...!

Do check out Monsoon Madness and dive into the fun!

Planning a great bike trip - the dos and donts

2009-05-13T18:32:00.003+05:30

Ever rode beast at speed so fast, that the world around turns into a vivid blur? There is nothing around but a vast stretch of barren land, ice covered mountain peaks or maybe the vast expanse of the sea on one side. Its like being the only one in the middle of a small barren universe. Complete Isolation. Oneness with the self. And then the wind, which was relentlessly lapping on to your face with undying fervor, mysteriously starts to talk...
Or wait.. is that GOD himself?

There are many people who go for bike trips all throughout the year. In fact even as I write this post or you read it, there will be thousands of people all around the globe taking their machines on some wonderful escapades. While the very idea of a bike trip sounds exciting to everyone, it requires a little bit of preparation in advance in order for it to be a thrilling, yet safe experience :)

Be as meticulous in your preparation as you can be. Here is the list of dos and donts that will be helpful if you are preparing for a bike trip somewhere.
Dos

Try to book hotels in advance - If you book a hotel/accommodation before you start your journey, you avoid the last minute shock of finding no decent accommodation available. Or at least you can check out online if there are reasonable number of hotels available during your travel dates. If yes, then it might be safe enough to book upon arrival. And of course the best and cheapest hotel deals can be found at www.ixigo.com/hotels
These things MUST be taken - Map, Water bottles, first aid kit, pain killers, torch, puncture repair kit, biscuits, glucose, phone numbers of police stations/hospitals on or near the route, rain coat(if you going to mountains esp.), ploybags to cover electronic devices/important stuff in case it rains, a wind cheater, camera
A GPS device can come in handy and be cool as well
Always keep a tab on the distance you have covered since the last petrol refill. Keep refilling the petrol tank to full capacity after traveling a good distance. You never know how distant the next petrol pump is. If you are driving on a stretch where there might be no petrol pump for 2-300 kms, then carry some fuel with you.

Donts

Never ever ride without wearing helmet. I know you might be tempted to do that, but DON'T ever take off your helmet. A combination of a solid skull + safe thrill/fun is definitely better than a crushed skull bone any day
Avoid traveling during nights. Generally in remote places/hills there are no street lights on the roads. Mountains are especially dangerous during nights. Even the truck guy is in a hurry to cover as much as he can during the night. And they are not the most careful/responsible drivers either . So in any case it is quite unsafe to ride during nights/ after sunset
Do NOT drink while driving. While this might seem too preachy, it is perhaps the sanest thing you can do. Most of us tend to ignore commonsense over whims when our hearts cry out for cheap thrills. Resist this temptation at any cost

Making your trip awesome

Estimate your expenses before-hand. Then carry 30% extra, just for the times of emergency or a sudden urge for being pampered :)
Carry a camera. There will be a lot of "Kodak moments". From old dilapidated forts, to beautiful pine covered hills, the occasional chai shop, and or general horsing around. Be rest assured that you will have a range of memories that you will cherish.
Take breaks. Go easy. You are not in an F1 race. The point is to enjoy your ride.

Once you are done with all this preparation and start on the journey, leave your office/girl/guy trouble, bitching landlord/landlady, abusive maidservant/manservant, nosy friends, nagging parents, taunting relatives and the overachieving cousins behind. It's time to unplug and be at peace.

TripAdvisor back to BookingBuddy model on flights ?

2009-05-12T21:39:00.003+05:30

We just noticed that TripAdvisor in the US is no more showing meta-search results, but is showing brand buttons for people to click on to go to the respective booking site (a la BookingBuddy)

Hmmm ... website glitch or intended "meta"-morphosis ?

Team iXiGO

IPL Live!!

2009-04-20T18:44:00.002+05:30

20th April 2009

Here is a quick Snapshot from Cape Town, South Africa:

1st match: Chennai Super Kings v Mumbai Indians at Cape Town - Apr 18, 2009
Mumbai Indians won by 19 runs.

Last year’s runner up couldn’t find the going easy in their first match thanks to some sheet-anchor batting and clinical bowling attack by Mumbai Team. I guess this IPL is bundled with many more such unexpected surprises…….

2nd match: Bangalore Royal Challengers v Rajasthan Royals at Cape Town - Apr 18, 2009
Bangalore Royal Challengers won by 75 runs.

Defending Champions Rajasthan didn’t fail to surprise this time around by recording lowest score of the tournament, dubiously held previously by Kolkata :-)

3rd match: Delhi Daredevils v Kings XI Punjab at Cape Town - Apr 19, 2009
The match will be remembered more for the commercials and rain than cricket that people paid money for. Delhi Daredevils amusingly won by 10 wickets (with 7 balls remaining) (D/L method) having to chase 54 runs in 6 overs.

4th match: Deccan Chargers v Kolkata Knight Riders at Cape Town - Apr 19, 2009
The star-studded team of last year finally lived upto its name this time around with all bowlers reaping rewards of their tidy line and length. Deccan Chargers won by 8 wickets (with 41 balls remaining).

Live from the ground:

5th match: Bangalore Royal Challengers v Chennai Super Kings at Port Elizabeth - Apr 20, 2009 at St. George’s Park, Port Elizabeth

Time: 4:30pm IST

Our countdown has begun; Bangalore would love to keep the momentum going, with Chennai looking to get back into winning ways. Hope Chennai makes a wise team selection unless last time. For Bangalore, the onus is now on their top three batsmen to tighten up.

We will be back soon with more updates from the grounds of South Africa……….. It’s time to cheer up our teams now…….. till then eat cricket, drink cricket and sleep cricket!

IPL Starts Tomorrow!!

2009-04-17T20:28:00.004+05:30

Finally the wait is over, Indian Premier League starts tomorrow with Rajasthan Royals vs Bangalore Royal Challengers and Mumbai Indians vs Chennai Super Kings kicking off the first two matches of the tournament in Cape Town. Every team is looking great and raring to go for the DLF IPL Trophy 2009.

This is the first time that IPL is being held outside India in the beautiful country of South Africa. The host country for the IPL tournament is a wonderful place to visit and some really interesting 20-20 matches will be held here over the next one month. Twenty-twenty format has already come out as the more interesting and shorter version of the game and people really don’t mind getting hooked on to it as it finishes off in just under 3 hrs ☺ . There will be 2 matches on the same day starting at 4 PM and 8 PM IST. Some of the beautiful cities of South Africa where these matches will be held are worth visiting. Some of the fascinating places with eye-catching attractions are:

Capetown: Plan your tour to the Winelands and towns like Paarl, Stellenbosch or Franschhoek or Hoerikwaggo Table Mountain—Hiking or Cable cart or V & A Waterfront.

Port Elizabeth: Also known as “Nelson Mandela Bay” or “The Friendly City” or “The Windy City”. This city is also known as home for motor vehicle industry in South Africa. Port Elizabeth is also a major seaport, with the most significant ore leading facilities in the southern zone.

Durban: Durban is the third most populous city in South Africa. It is the largest city in KwaZulu-Natal and is famous as the busiest port in Africa. It is also a major center of tourism due to the city's warm subtropical climate and beaches.

Johannesburg: Johannesburg, is the largest city in South Africa. Johannesburg is served by O.R. Tambo International Airport, the largest and busiest airport in Africa and a gateway for international air travel to and from the rest of southern Africa.

Rajasthan Royals were the winners of the First IPL Tournament held in India in 2008, led by their Captain Shane Warne. Well, he is leading the team this year too.

So which team is your favorite this season? Who do you think will take the Trophy?
Any guesses?

Do check back for more interesting updates on the IPL as it moves along, till then have fun and enjoy the IPL matches!

The iXiGO Team

iXiGO.com to Support International Airlines’ Move to Zero Commissions in India

2009-04-17T17:16:00.001+05:30

India's Largest Travel Search Engine to Support Airlines by Growing Direct Bookings

New Delhi, Delhi, India, Thursday, April 16, 2009 - iXiGO.com, India’s fastest growing travel site, today announced that it supported the move by international airlines to zero commissions for travel agents and that it will continue working strategically alongside airlines in growing their direct sales and reducing their distribution cost.

14 international carriers in India have recently moved to zero commissions with a transaction fee system. These include Singapore Airlines, Lufthansa, American Airlines, Austrian Airlines, Qatar Airways, Air France, KLM, Delta Airlines, British Airways, Continental Airlines and Finnair. Though they acknowledge travel agents as an integral part of their business, they remain committed to reducing travel agency commissions to zero, pushing travel agencies to a transaction fee (or service fee) model. This is in line with their global policies and an increased focus on direct-selling through their own website with web-only fares, lowest fare guarantees and exclusive on-site promotions.

Announcing the company’s stand on the issue, Aloke Bajpai, Founder-CEO, iXiGO.com said – “iXiGO remains committed to growing direct web-sales for international airlines just like we have already successfully done for domestic carriers. We are in the process of signing partnerships with all major international airlines and we believe that the move to zero commissions will be beneficial for the entire travel ecosystem in the long-run. Instead of focusing on commissions, as an industry we need to focus on the value delivered to the consumer. Selling and distribution costs are a major burden on airline P&Ls and it is our responsibility to enable more efficiency in their cost of sales.”

iXiGO.com’s unique business-model has introduced a paradigm-shift in travel bookings and has made it India’s biggest airline-direct search engine enabling efficient customer acquisition for all airlines in India. Since bookings through iXiGO.com’s engine happen by transferring customers onto airline websites, the airline owns the customer and benefits from ancillary revenue and brand loyalty due to more effective marketing and direct distribution on the Internet. It is estimated that if efficient direct selling platforms such as travel search engines can transition just 10% of sales directly to the airline sites from intermediaries, airlines in India would cumulatively save at least Rs. 100 crores every year in distribution costs.

Nitin Gurha, VP, Travel Partnerships, iXiGO.com commented – “Travel agents will need to adapt to the transaction fee model prevalent in all large markets globally. They can make much better margins on hotels, tours & package bookings and also by offering value-added services like visas, insurance etc, so the impact on travel agency bottom-lines should only be marginal. Globally, travel agents have evolved into travel consultants and we don’t see a reason for that not happening in India”.

iXiGO.com, launched in June 2007, has grown exponentially in the last 12 months and is one of the biggest affiliates of airlines in India, driving transactions worth Rs.18 crores every month on airline sites. In addition to airlines, iXiGO.com searches more than 220,000 hotels across the world and bus operators within India.

About iXiGO.com:

iXiGO.com ® is India’s leading online travel search engine based out of Gurgaon. iXiGO.com searches across multiple airlines, hotels, and bus booking sites. Launched in mid-2007 by an entrepreneurial team of young IITians and INSEAD MBAs, iXiGO.com has been recognized by NASSCOM as India’s Top-100 Innovator; BusinessToday and WSJ-Mint have named it among India’s hottest startups for its unique market approach, product usability, and passionate management team. iXiGO.com is backed by BAF Spectrum, a Singapore-based seed-investment fund. For more information about iXiGO.com, visit www.ixigo.com.

Media contact:

Dharmendra Yashovardhan,
iXiGO.com,
+91 (124) 4045281,
dharmendra@ixigo.com

Jet Airways Introduces Special Fares For The Bahrain Grand Prix 2009

2009-04-01T18:11:00.004+05:30

Mumbai, April 01, 2009: Jet Airways, India’s premier international airline, has introduced special fares to Bahrain from several Indian destinations, for enthusiasts travelling to the Gulf emirate for one of the year's most anticipated automotive races, the Bahrain Grand Prix 2009.

Jet Airways operates daily, direct flights to Bahrain from Mumbai aboard a state-of-the-art Boeing 737-800 aircraft. For travelers from other Indian cities, the airline offers seamless connections to Mumbai via its vast domestic network, and onwards to Bahrain.

The special fares on offer are valid for return Economy Class travel on the sectors outlined below. To avail of these special fares, passengers must book their tickets by April 30, 2009.

Details of the sectors and fares may be found below:

In addition to Bahrain, Jet Airways also flies daily to Kuwait, Muscat, Doha, Dubai and Abu Dhabi in the Gulf, from several Indian cities.

For more details, passengers may log on to jetairways.com.

*Excludes applicable taxes and surcharges.

Jet Airways Introduces A New Daily Service, Direct To Kuwait From Mumbai

2009-03-31T22:23:00.004+05:30

Mumbai, March 29, 2009: Jet Airways, India’s premier international airline, today launched its daily, direct service to Kuwait from Mumbai.

This is the airline’s second daily service to Kuwait from India, complementing the airline’s existing Kochi-Kuwait service.

Jet Airways operated the new flight aboard a state-of-the-art Boeing 737-800 aircraft .

Flight 9W 572 departed Mumbai at 1900 hrs, and will arrive in Kuwait at 2030 hrs. Flight 9W 571 will then depart Kuwait at 2130 hrs and arrive in Mumbai at 0400 hrs, the following day.

Speaking at a ceremony to launch the inaugural service, Mr. Wolfgang Prock-Schauer, CEO, Jet Airways said, “Jet Airways has already established itself as a formidable brand in the intensely competitive India-Gulf sector in a relatively short period of time, on account of the warmth of its service and quality of its in-flight product. We are confident that the new Mumbai-Kuwait service will prove similarly popular with passengers.”

In addition to Kuwait, Jet Airways also flies daily from India to Bahrain, Muscat, Doha, Dubai and Abu Dhabi in the Middle East.

Low Fares from Jet Airways and JetLite

2009-03-25T19:29:00.010+05:30

Jet Airways and JetLite introduce new, low 30-day advance purchase fares for the approaching holiday season

24 Mar 2009

Jet Airways, India’s premier international airline, and its all-economy subsidiary JetLite have introduced new, low 30-Day Advance Purchase fares, effective March 24, 2009.

With the introduction of these attractive fares, travellers can now enjoy low fares suitable for families to plan their holiday travel on Jet Airways and JetLite.

Jet Airways and JetLite guests who purchase tickets on domestic sectors 30 days in advance may now enjoy low airfares starting from INR 2,071 for Jet Airways, and INR 1,722 for JetLite. These 30-Day fares are all-inclusive, and exclude Airport Development Fee, User Development Fee and Passenger Service Fee components. JetLite passengers will also have to pay an additional transaction fee, over and above the other charges.

The new fares, with the comparatives, are illustrated below:

Jet Airways Special Offer for Women

2009-03-25T18:40:00.004+05:30

JET AIRWAYS WILL FURTHER EXTEND ITS ‘CELEBRATING WOMANHOOD’ SPECIAL OFFER FOR LADIES BOOKING TICKETS ONLINE FROM MARCH 25 TO MARCH 31, 2009

Mumbai, March 25, 2009: As part of its ‘Celebrating Womanhood’ initiative, Jet Airways will further extend its special offer of a 10% discount on base fares for all ladies who book tickets on jetairways.com, from March 25 to March 31, 2009.*

The special offer for the airline's lady travelers was originally valid between March 1 and March 15, 2009 only, and has been extended due to popular demand.

As part of its ‘Celebrating Womanhood’ initiative, Jet Airways, in association with Citibank, and along with several key partners, will offer its lady travelers a host of special offers and privileges.

The special initiative includes an in-flight film festival on board, featuring a selection of acclaimed, women-centric Indian and international movies, as well as short features, on select Jet Airways domestic services.

During this promotion, Jet Airways will also support the cause of women through a fund-raising programme by its in-flight collections which will support five NGOs working on a range of women’s issues.

Special offers from Jet Airways during this period will include:

A 10% discount on base fares for all ladies who book tickets on jetairways.com from March 25 to March 31, 2009.

Jet Airways’ lady travelers booking tickets through jetairways.com between March 1, 2009 and April 30, 2009 stand to win 10 domestic and international round trip tickets respectively, per week, over 2 months.

The airline also offers lady travellers a free Rudi Kellner pen with any purchase from Jet Boutique, its In-flight Duty Free Shopping, as well as a rebated offer on the purchase of any perfume, jewellery or cosmetics, for the month of March 2009.

For more information, passengers may log on to www.jetairways.com.

*Conditions Apply.

Treasure trove of trivia

2009-03-09T20:50:00.003+05:30

We opened our vault and fished out some trivia just for you! Wouldn’t it be interesting to know that your holiday destination is the most visited or the most unique? We did some data mining from the past searches and bookings made through iXiGO.com and here is what we found:

Most searched holiday destinations

1. Goa
2. Jaipur
3. Shimla

Most searched international destinations

1. London
2. Singapore
3. Bangkok

Most searched air routes

1. Delhi-Mumbai
2. Bengaluru-Delhi
3. Delhi-Goa

Keep watching this space as we will continue giving you interesting data from our vaults!

iXiGO.com is voted India's most trusted travel site

2009-03-09T20:30:00.011+05:30

An 18 member team’s 21 month old product gets voted India’s most trusted travel web-site. Need we say more?

iXiGO.com emerged as a clear winner in a recent poll conducted at Pluggd.in, a website that tracks Indian startups & businesses. iXiGO.com garnered 274 votes out of a total of more than 1000 votes leaving the runner-up way behind at 194 votes. It almost seemed like a David and Goliath story amongst all the major online travel agencies.

Considering Plugged.in attracts a very internet savvy and tech-friendly audience, we like to believe the product has been hugely appreciated and heavily adopted by this user set.

The response from our iXiGOers has left us overwhelmed and even more committed to build great products to simplify your travel search. We think 5 reasons contributed to our win:-

1. We show the lowest fare from each airline without any extra fees charged. The rate on the airline web-site is the rate on iXiGO. All you have to do is search, redirect and book!
2. All the airlines are searched and shown on one platform which not only saves time but also eases comparison between airlines for timings, schedules, prices etc.
3. We have the world’s largest real time bookable hotel search engine. From Goa to Gotham City, we have it all!
4. Our easy to use interface, constant efforts to increase search speed and comprehensive database across flights, hotels and buses gives us an edge over other travel portals.
5. And last but not the least our biggest awards are you iXiGOers whose feedbacks, suggestions, criticisms and appreciations are taken with the highest respect and dedication.

We would like to thank each and every person who voted for us from the bottom of our hearts for helping us on every step. We promise to keep surprising you with newer and better products and all we ask for in return is your support.
Thank you all!

Happy Searching!
The iXiGO Team.

Khajuraho Dance Festival Begins Today

2009-02-25T12:17:00.004+05:30

Khajuraho dance festival is organized every year in the month of February-March. This festival is famous for very good dance performances by well known artistes in India. It is a rich combination of various dance forms in India to name some is Kathak, Odissi, BharatNatyam, Manipuri etc. It is attended by lot of tourists from and outside India. It is a week long festival begins today 25 February and ends on 3 of march this year.

Khajuraho is also famous for its rich architecture of temples and caves. It is a tourist destination and attracts lot of tourists this time of the year.

The festival programme is listed below (courtesy MP Tourism)

25th Feb 2009
Gajendra Panda - Odissi Group
Malvika Mitra - Kathak Solo

26th Feb 2009
Geeta Chandran - Bharatnatyam Solo
Darshana Jhaveri - Manipuri Group

27th Feb 2009
Vijaylaxmi Shivaji - Mohiniattam Solo
Vasanti Vaishnav - Kathak Solo

28th Feb 2009
Group Dance Performance - Manipuri Pungcholam-Joy Singh-Group
- Satriya-K.D. Goswami-Group
- Purulia Chhau-Chinidas Mohato-Group
01st March 2009
Maneesha Sathe - Kathak Solo
C.V. Chandrashekhar - Bharatnatyam Solo

2nd March 2009
Kalamandalam N.R. Gramprakash - Kathkali Group
Kiran Sehgal - Odissi Group
Ishira & Moulik Shah - Kathak Duet

3rd March 2009
Vaijayanti Kashi - Kuchipudi Solo
Rajendra Gangani - Kathak Group

You can find cheap hotels and flights for your Khajuraho tour here.

Jet Airways Introduces Special Valentine Fares

2009-02-13T19:47:00.002+05:30

PRESS RELEASE

JET AIRWAYS INTRODUCES SPECIAL VALENTINE FARES (Book now)

TO SINGAPORE AND HONG KONG FROM MUMBAI

Mumbai, February 13, 2009: Jet Airways, India’s premier international airline, has introduced special Valentine fares to Singapore and Hong Kong from Mumbai, with immediate effect.*

The special Valentine fares will entail a 30% discount on base return Economy Class and Première fares on these sectors.**

The offer is applicable for those passengers who complete their ticket purchase by February 18, 2009, and commence outbound travel on the Mumbai-Singapore sector between 18-19 February, 2009 and

23-27 February, 2009.

Passengers travelling on the Mumbai-Hong Kong sector must complete their ticket purchase by February 18, 2009, and commence outbound travel between 18-21 February, 2009 and 23-27 February, 2009.

Jet Airways operates daily, direct flights to Singapore and Hong Kong, aboard state-of-the-art wide-body Airbus 330-200 and Boeing 777-300ER aircraft respectively.

* Offer subject to change without prior notice

** All additional taxes and surcharges apply

Jet and JetLite offer 30-day Apex fares

2009-02-11T20:32:00.004+05:30

This just in from Jet Airways:

JET AIRWAYS AND JETLITE OFFER 30-DAY APEX FARES FROM INR 300 AND INR 1 RESPECTIVELY ON KEY DOMESTIC ROUTES

Mumbai, February 11, 2009: Jet Airways, India's premier international airline, and its subsidiary all-economy carrier, JetLite, now offer passengers attractive 30-day APEX fares, from INR 300 and INR 1 respectively, on several key domestic routes.*

These APEX fares are valid for sale with immediate effect, until April 30, 2009, on both carriers.

Some of the sectors on which these APEX fares are valid may be found below.

Jet Airways 30-Day Apex Fares

Sector	Base Fare*
Mumbai-Ahmedabad	300
Mumbai-Goa	300
Delhi-Jaipur	300
Delhi-Srinagar	300
Kolkata-Bagdogra	300
Kolkata-Jorhat	300
Chennai-Kochi	300
Chennai-Hyderabad	300
Hyderabad-Indore	300

JetLite 30-Day Apex Fares

Sector	Base Fare*
Mumbai-Delhi	1
Mumbai-Hyderabad	1
Mumbai-Chennai	1
Delhi-Hyderabad	1
Delhi-Pune	1
Kolkata-Delhi	1
Kolkata-Guwahati	1
Kolkata-Patna	1
Chennai- Vishakhapatnam	1

*Base One-Way fare. Excludes all applicable taxes and surcharges.

Intermittent problems with Indian Ailrines...

2009-02-10T17:29:00.002+05:30

As you might have noticed by now, since this morning the Indian Airlines fares are intermittently unavailable on iXiGO.com We just want to assure you that we work very hard to make sure we are as comprehensive as we can possibly be and this is just a temporary phase and Indian Airlines will be back on iXiGO shortly.

Thanks a lot for your patience and understanding!

The iXiGO Team

iXiGO shows lowest airfares - The Hindu confirms it now!

2009-02-07T16:33:00.004+05:30

Finally, some brilliant journalism from The Hindu Business Line uncovers the dark secret of the online travel industry and the ongoing strategic shift in airline focus to selling directly.

In an article published on 6 Feb 2009, Shubhra Tandon reports - "If you thought you were getting the best bargains for air travel on portals like Cleartrip, Yatra, Makemytrip and so on, think again. This may seem tough to believe but airline Web sites are actually offering the best deals.

The chances are that you could get a ticket Rs 150-Rs 400 cheaper or, with a great degree of luck and timing, even close to Rs 2,000!

While fares are largely a function of demand and supply, the transaction/service fee levied by travel agents is resulting in cheaper deals on airlines’ Web site.

For instance, a ticket on an Indigo flight from Mumbai to New Delhi booked on its Web site for March 8 is available for Rs 2,123 (inclusive of taxes and surcharges), which is Rs 150 lower than the figure of Rs 2,273 on travel portals.

The cheapest fare on Air India’s Web site between Mumbai-Hyderabad is Rs 2,272 against portals, which hover around Rs 2,500 for the same date. Similarly, a ticket on Kingfisher Airlines between Mumbai-Bangalore is available for Rs 2,800 against around Rs 3,000 on portals.

The comparison holds good for tickets on other routes and other airlines with some exceptions, of course."

Other highlights from the article include a quote by Mr Foo Chai Woo, General Manager, India, Singapore Airlines - “As an airline it is our commercial prerogative to market directly to the consumer. There is also a message that airlines are trying to get across to the customers –‘Keep checking our Web site, we could have something better to offer"

An executive from MakeMyTrip tries to argue that the difference between the fares on their site and the airline site are due to "a lag in matching fluctuations" (in fare). This perception is corrected at the end of the article by Mr Samyukth Sridharan, Chief Commercial Officer, SpiceJet - " Online travel agents charge for services they offer. They provide multiple choices to customers in one go which, in turn, carries with it some advantages. At the same time, we also want to drive customers to our own Web sites. And since this is a direct channel, there is no transaction fee charged on bookings there"

As far as iXiGO.com is concerned, as we all know, we show airline fares directly from airline sites and allow you to book them there. This article only confirms that we find you the cheapest fares 100% of the time :)

Original article here : http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/2009/02/07/stories/2009020752020100.htm

Surajkund Crafts Mela - 2009

2009-02-06T15:10:00.005+05:30

Indian culture is rich and diverse and as a result unique in its own way. The fabric of one’s culture heavily influences the way of life and the very core of a person’s everyday living. Culture and tradition are more than just means of life and are in fact drivers of handicrafts and festivals. Haryana Tourism was one of the first government bodies to initiate a mass scale festival to not only popularize Indian handicrafts and cultural events but also give it a commercial angle. Since 1981 they have organizing cultural events on a national level by launching their annual and now internationally famous Surajkund Craft Mela.

The Surajkund Crafts is an annual event that highlights some of the finest handloom and handicraft traditions of the country. Starting from 1st to 15th February of every year rural India basks in the warmth of admiration at Surajkund Mela village that lies about 8km from South Delhi. It is a fortnight long event filled with events, festivities and thousands of people.

The mela is organized under the aegis of the Surajkund Mela authority. The 23rd edition of the annual Surajkund Crafts Mela showcasing rich craftsmanship from all over the country and abroad was inaugurated by President Pratibha Patil on 1st February, 2009.
The Mela also celebrates the rhythms of folk theatre and a theme state that makes each visitor marvel.

OBECTIVES
• Create a rural ambience for tourist, both domestic and international.
• To educate patrons about the fascinating technique and skills involved in craft creation.
• To introduce crafts and craftsperson’s directly to the buyers and help them to find their patrons.
• To Identify, nurture and preserve languishing crafts of the country and save it for posterity.
• Suraj Kund is a beautiful tourist location of Haryana Tourism and in its lovely setting, folk painters, metal workers, stone and wood carvers, tie dye craftsperson’s, embroiders, lace makers, textiles printers, carpet and loom weavers, producers of silk fabrics, jewelers and sculptors- execute and display their skills.

Madhya Pradesh, ‘The Heart of Incredible India’ chosen as the theme state
HIGHLIGHTS of the MELA

CUISINE
No festival is complete without a variety of cuisines and Suraj Kund is no different.. Some of the popular food traditions from Punjab come at the Punjabi 'Rasoi'. South Indian delicacies come in from South Indian Section. Popular Chinese and snack foods also arrive for the event along with a special stall where patrons are introduced to the traditional foods and sweet meats of the selected Theme State.

CULTURE
The Surajkund Crafts Mela has grown equally famous for the rhythms of folk theatre: It resonates with the formal notes of the classical genre: The heady rhythms of percussion instruments: The ballads of singing minstrels: The celebration of the simple joys of rural life and reverence of epic traditions all mingle well. All these colorful events are also presented before the audience in the open-air-theatre named Natyashala.

CRAFTS
Some of the most delightful crafts collections of the Mela arrive from practically all over the country. In wood and cane, come inlay work, rose wood carving, sandal wood from Punjab and South India. Chiki wood craft of Kashmir and some very fine cane craft come from West Bengal and North Eastern States. Delicate sholapith and shital patti work come from Assam and West Bengal. The phulkari of Punjab, the Banjara and Banni embroidery of Gujarat and Rajasthan, the Kantha traditions from West Bengal and Tripura, lace and crochet from Goa, the Suzni of Kashmir and Mirror encasing work along with the traditional chikan work of Lucknow delight. Oxidized jewellery, sea shell decorations and agate stone work delight as also do delicate gold work and chunky silver jewellery. Toys in wood and cane, ply and mud make the young thrill with joy.

A quick snap shot of this year’s Mela would be:
• Cane & Bamboo
• Embroidery
• Metalware
• Pottery
• Fashion Show based on Khajurao Theme- 7th Feb
• Performance by Egypt Troupe- 8th Feb

How to reach Surajkund:

Surajkund lies in the Faridabad district on the Delhi - Agra national highway. Surajkund is 8 kms from South Delhi. Special transport links the Mela ground to major bus stops in Delhi, Gurgaon and Faridabad towns.

The Mela begins from 9.30 a.m. and closes at 5.30 p.m. each evening from 1st to 15th February every year.

The Fare Wars Have Begun - 2 !

2009-01-23T18:48:00.002+05:30

This just in from Jet Airways:

JET AIRWAYS AND JETLITE ANNOUNCE SPECIAL INSTANT PURCHASE FARES ON SELECT DOMESTIC ROUTES, EFFECTIVE 23^RD JANUARY 2009

Mumbai, January 23, 2009: Jet Airways, Indian's premier international airline, and its all economy subsidiary JetLite have announced Special Instant Purchase fares on select domestic routes, effective January 23, 2009.

These fares, offering a 50% discount on the basic fare and surcharges in Economy Class, may be booked and purchased over for the next three days only, namely January 23, 24and 25 2009. However, the PSF (passenger service fee) will have to be fully borne by the customers.

Customers purchasing tickets under this scheme from today may commence outbound travel on an immediate basis.

For more details, passengers may log on to jet airways.com or call the airline's call centre at 3989 3333 or toll-free number on 1800-22-55-22.

Fare details on a few of the sectors covered by the scheme are as follows.

Jet Airways

Jet Airways - Basic + Surcharge
Sector	Pre - Discount	Post - Discount
Bengaluru - Mumbai	6585	3295
Bengaluru - Hyderabad	4350	2175
Bengaluru - Pune	5100	2550
Delhi - Jaipur	3840	1920
Delhi - Lucknow	4100	2050
Goa - Hyderabad	5100	2550
Kolkata - Delhi	7130	3565
Mumbai - Delhi	5350	2675
Mumbai - Mangalore	5360	2680
Mumbai - Goa	4600	2300
Mumbai - Kolkata	7850	3925
Mumbai - Chennai	6300	3150

JetLite

Jetlite - Basic + Surcharge
Sector	Pre - Discount	Post - Discount
Bengaluru - Delhi / Kolkata	4545	2275
Mumbai - Goa	2295	1150
Mumbai - Nagpur	2595	1300
Mumbai - Delhi	2845	1425
Mumbai - Lucknow	5195	2600
Kolkata - Mumbai	4545	2275
Kolkata - Delhi	4145	2075

*Excludes Applicable Taxes and Surcharges

About Jet Airways:

Jet Airways currently operates a fleet of 87 aircraft, which includes 10 Boeing 777-300 ER aircraft, 12 Airbus A330-200 aircraft, 51 classic and next generation Boeing 737-400/700/800/900 aircraft and 14 modern ATR 72-500 turboprop aircraft. With an average fleet age of 4.48 years, the airline has one of the youngest aircraft fleet in the world.

Flights to 63 destinations span the length and breadth of India and beyond, including New York (both JFK and Newark), Toronto, Brussels, London (Heathrow), Hong Kong, Singapore, Kuala Lumpur, Colombo, Bangkok, Kathmandu, Dhaka, Kuwait, Bahrain, Muscat, Doha, Abu Dhabi and Dubai. The airline will continue to connect existing international destinations with additional gateway points across its network in the future.

Jet Airways currently operates over 370 flights daily.

About JetLite:

JetLite is a wholly owned subsidiary of Jet Airways India Ltd. and was acquired by Jet Airways in April 2007. Positioned as an all-economy airline, JetLite promises to offer value for money fares. JetLite currently operates a fleet of 24 aircraft, which includes 17 Boeing 737 series and 7 Canadian Regional Jets 200 Series. The airline flies to 26 domestic destinations and 2 international destinations (Kathmandu and Colombo), currently operating a 110 flights a day, on average.

Jet Airways, with the acquisition of JetLite, today has a combined fleet strength of 111 aircraft and operates over 480 flights daily.

The Fare Wars Have Begun !

2009-01-23T16:18:00.004+05:30

Noticed on jetairways.com this morning:

Seen in Indigo mailers this afternoon:
As we head into the lean February and March season, airlines want to retain their January booking levels but with a smaller number of flyers that means a price correction is required. Low oil prices (<40$ a barrel) helps this too.

Let the fare wars begin !

World's Biggest Hotel Search Engine Launched by iXiGO.com

2009-01-22T13:09:00.002+05:30

World’s biggest hotel search engine launched by iXiGO.com
Searches 220,000 budget & luxury hotels across 23,400 cities in 202 countries

New Delhi, January 22, 2009: iXiGO.com, India’s largest travel search engine today announced the launch of the world’s biggest hotel search engine, with easy to use and never seen before functionalities for its users. Now, travelers across the world can search for rates and availability, in real-time, across more than 220,000 hotels, hostels, heritage properties, serviced apartments, home-stays, guest houses and villas.

This latest offering from iXiGO.com, India’s fastest growing travel site, empowers globetrotters to choose from a wide variety of accommodations from multiple hotel sites, all of which are bookable with instant confirmation on the respective hotel booking website. A sample search on iXiGO’s hotel search engine for accommodation in London found over 850 hotels, with 20 properties within the city below US$20 (Rs. 1000) per room-night and for Paris, the search fetched more than 1380 properties with prices ranging from US$ 29 (Rs. 1400) to US$ 1000 (Rs. 49,000) per room-night. This included 600 properties in the budget category (less than US$ 100 /Rs. 5000 per room-night) and 33 five-star properties. A New Delhi search found over 250 hotels starting from US$7 (Rs 315) per room-night. Similar searches for cities all over the world, e.g. Nairobi (Kenya), Santiago (Chile), Reykjavik (Iceland) and Guangzhou (China), found numerous hotel deals with a large variety of choices for selection by location, prices and star-ratings. According to market research conducted by the company, no other travel site globally offers more hotel inventory with real-time search and booking.

Speaking on the occasion of the launch, Mr. Aloke Bajpai, Founder & CEO remarked – “With our ability to integrate niche hotel aggregators quickly, we have gone from being India’s biggest, to being the world’s biggest hotel search in just over eight months, now, aggregating nearly 50 hotel booking providers globally”. Nitin Gurha, VP, Travel Partnerships added - “Now travelers have a uniquely comprehensive, unbiased and easy-to-use metasearch platform for narrowing down their choice of hotels based on their preferences of location, amenities, rates and hotel booking site. Hotel sellers worldwide get a neutral and unbiased ‘hotel marketplace’ that not only acts as a marketing medium, but also generates highly qualified online-leads for fulfillment. Our platform allows consumers to choose hotels based not only on price, but also on the unique value each and every property delivers”.

iXiGO.com had launched its Indian hotel search engine in April, 2008 and has since established content partnerships with multiple hotel aggregators including HostelsClub, HotelsCombined, Travelguru, Inasra and Intech. These relationships allow travelers using iXiGO.com to search and compare prices across nearly 50 hotel booking websites worldwide and give consumers more than 6 million real time bookable hotel-rooms. In addition to descriptions and pictures of hotels, this launch also introduces some cutting-edge features and usability tools never seen before on hotel search sites, including city-maps with hotel markers, city-landmarks and pictures, search by distance from an address, location-based search, filters for amenities, property-types and hotel-chains, aggregation of travel reviews from multiple review sites and comparison of hotel room-rates for the exact same hotel-room from multiple hotel websites on a single page.

iXiGO.com has experienced phenomenal growth since its launch due to its customer friendliness, supplier-centric business model and a strong focus on product innovation. iXiGO allows consumers to search across all available travel inventory and book on travel sites directly by redirecting to their final booking page. Since it does not sell anything itself, iXiGO can aggregate flight, hotel and bus deals from multiple travel sites. Travelers view it as a comprehensive source of information for travel related products while travel suppliers find this a perfect marketing channel to showcase their key differentiators. iXiGO has been named among India’s hottest startups by Wall Street Journal / Mint and BusinessToday.

ABOUT iXiGO.com:
iXiGO.com ® is India’s leading online travel search engine based out of Gurgaon. Launched in June 2007, iXiGO has been recognized by various national and international awards for its unique market approach, product usability, and passionate management team. iXiGO is driven by an entrepreneurial team of young IITians and INSEAD MBAs and has raised seed capital from BAF Spectrum Pte Ltd, a Singapore based early stage investment fund. For more information about iXiGO please visit www.ixigo.com .

Contact

Partnerships & Affiliations
partners@ixigo.com
+91 124 4045281

Media Contact
Shudeep Majumdar
shudeep@ixigo.com
+91 9899960914

Season's Greetings from iXiGO !

2008-12-25T14:34:00.002+05:30

A tale of two business models ..

2008-12-23T10:21:00.007+05:30

Online Travel Agents have been in the news quite a bit this month. Also, our partnership with TravelGuru and the agency-airline tussle for commissions has given a lot of press to the two business models of agency and search.

In a series of invigorating articles, VC Circle (Online Travel Agents: Caught in Turbulence), WATBlog (The Indian OTA Nosedive - Where is the value beyond the ticket?) and TravelBizMonitor (OTAs are they getting it right?) have examined the challenges facing the OTA business model as of today, and what the future holds for them.

We think that the long-term future of the online travel industry in India (including OTAs) is still bright, although some retweaks to their business model and some product innovation and creative partnerships can make them look a lot less vulnerable to bloggers and media.

In January 2009, we will analyze the differences in business models and value-adds of an OTA vs. a travel search engine to see where they have similarities and where they differ in approaches to the same problem.

Cheers,
The iXiGO Team

Jet agrees to pay 3% commission to Travel Agents

2008-12-09T10:56:00.002+05:30

In continuation to our coverage of the zero-commissions / transaction fee tussle ongoing in airline distribution, here is the latest.

Business Standard, The Economic Times, LiveMint and Financial Express are all reporting that Jet Airways has given in to the travel agents' demand of moving back to the commission model. According to the reports, Jet Airways will now pay travel agents 3% commission on total fare, as compared to 5% commission on base fare earlier. This might make the actual commission higher than before in some cases !

Kingfisher Airlines is still mulling on when it will move back to the commissions model, and if it does, what %age commission will it offer travel agents. As for the national carrier Air India, it does seem inclined to continue the zero-commissions regime.

We at iXiGO have always believed that travel agents are an integral part of the travel ecosystem - indeed they are still experts at selling high involvement products and acting as travel consultants for all the requirements of a traveler. The survivability of travel agents who were heavily dependant on airline ticketing for their earnings was threatened under a zero-commission regime. This current move is definitely reassuring for their business continuity . Upto 80% of airline bookings come from travel agents, and until that %age balance of direct bookings and indirect bookings does not change, it will be tough to make drastic changes in incentive structures. Our own thoughts are that the latest compromise is a short-term one, and if you are a small travel agent, you definitely need to diversify away from the flights business or hook up with a consolidator with bigger buying power with airlines for your customers' fulfilment.

More than anything else, the bold step of taking commissions to zero is an audacious signal from the airlines to intermediaries that what has happened elsewhere in the world can also happen in India, and we need to be prepared for it. Small/Mid-sized Travel Agents need to look at the time ahead as a "grace period" from airlines to rework their business models and diversify into richer products, because it is just a question of time and the change in ratio of %age of bookings done direct on airlines vs. agents that will determine when the airlines will push zero commissions once again.

Cheers,
The iXiGO Team

PS: Noteworthy is the fact that JetLite will continue on its model of paying no commissions and adding a transaction fee for agents to charge their customers, just like other LCCs !