CheapOair
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Private | |
Industry | Online Travel Agency |
Founded | New York City, 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 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
- ↑ Shillinglaw, James (6 April 2015). "Meet the Man Behind the Third Largest Online Travel Agency". Travel Pulse. Retrieved 6 September 2016.
- 1 2 Schaal, Dennis (24 September 2013). "Why CheapOair Is Sticking With Flights While Booking Peers Chase Hotels". Skift. Retrieved 2 March 2015.
- ↑ Munro, Aria (7 October 2010). "CheapOair Wins Three 2010 Travel Weekly Magellan Awards". eNewsChannels. Retrieved 2 March 2015.
- ↑ 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.
- ↑ 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.
- ↑ Eng, Dinah (13 November 2014). "Sam Jain's CheapOair is really taking off". Fortune. Retrieved 2 March 2015.
- ↑ Oakley, Rachel. "How to Fly Cheaply as a Student". USA Today. Retrieved 2 March 2015.
- ↑ Gross, Matt (16 February 2010). "Booking a Flight the Frugal Way". The New York Times. Retrieved 2 March 2015.
- 1 2 Bachman, Justin (22 August 2013). "This Travel-Booking Website Loves It When You Call". Bloomberg Businessweek. Retrieved 2 March 2015.
- 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.
- ↑ O'Neill, Sean (15 September 2008). "CheapOair puts a fresh spin on hotel listings". Budget Travel. Retrieved 2 March 2015.
- ↑ "CheapOair Receives Three 2011 Silver Magellan Awards From Travel Weekly". Marketwired. 5 October 2011. Retrieved 6 September 2016.
- ↑ Ward, Jenni (16 December 2011). "Best iPhone Apps for Finding Flights & Booking Airline Tickets". App Safari. Retrieved 2 March 2015.
- ↑ "CheapOair Receives Top Awards for Mobile Apps". Yahoo. 2 October 2012. Retrieved 6 September 2016.
- ↑ "CheapOair Celebrates One Million Mobile App Downloads". Reuters. 30 January 2013. Retrieved 2 March 2015.
- ↑ Johnson, Lauren (10 December 2012). "CheapOair racks up app downloads via mobile sweepstakes". Mobile Commerce Daily. Retrieved 2 March 2015.