Cleartrip Launches SMS Based Mobile Search
Travel search and booking portal Cleartrip has launched mobile search on their own short code 667744, currently available on Airtel, BPL, Hutch and Reliance.
I tried out a search for a Delhi Bangalore flight for the 17th, and got a list of fares by SMS - the best deals for each airline. Cleartrip has alliances with eight airlines, and to limit the length of the message, they’re restricting results to 8 deals and using airline display codes (example: DC for Air Deccan).
One thing that I found missing is option to search for a flight at a specific time of the day. Hrush Bhatt, Founder & Director, Product and Strategy tells me that while technologically, it’s not too difficult to offer all the information that users want from a search via SMS, there are issues of usability and syntax: for information on only Jet Airways, users could request for ‘Jet’, ‘Jet Airways’ or ‘Jet Airlines’. Even if they have specific syntax, then there are issues of having users remember the syntax for request. There are similar syntactical issues with booking tickets using SMS, and hence, for booking, one needs to log on to Cleartrip When mentioned some initiatives by Cleartrip’s competitors, Bhatt just said - We’re not in the features arms race.
Related:
— Jet Airways And Hutch Launch Mobile Airline Ticketing Service
—Cleartrip Gets $8 Million In Series B From DAG Ventures: Report
Posted In: E-Commerce, Travel, Mobile
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Comments (13)
Mar 14, 2007 8:42 AM
Hmm flightraja’s sms booking service gives the time details as well.. i think its an important info for the user.
Mar 15, 2007 11:53 AM
yes i tried flightraja.It is a far better service…by the way after seraching what are supposd to do?Whats the point for search.Is it an academic excercise or time pass!
Should it not be BOOK and then PAY over mobile or using a mobile…..ultimately you want to travel is it not!
rahul
Mar 15, 2007 12:07 PM
Cleartrip Mobile provides you with time of departure and an all-inclusive price when you search and is an information service provided for convenience.
As regards booking and paying on your mobile phone via SMS, think about the following:
* You will need to type in your name and email address before a booking can be made for you. That’s a lot of typing on your mobile phone.
* You will also need to send your credit card number, expiration date and CVV over SMS. SMS is a completely insecure medium, would you like to take that risk?
Mar 15, 2007 11:52 PM
I agree with Madhu and Rahul.There has to be a call to action for search.Search is to get the best deal, but the pain point it addressess is if one can also book a ticket based on that search and obviously pay for it via mchek, obopay, (which are incidentally very secure and run by ICICI and AIRTEL and something by CITIBANK too ,etc)
Incidentally, today ToI in Pune shows the facility that rahul mentions, searching and then booking also via mobile.This would seem a better value proposition, and if mobile Cos can get such deals across all offerings offer this, then online cos will be in trouble!Mobile reach 160 million!
Gautam Kumar
Pune
Mar 16, 2007 1:23 AM
Thanks for the good words about flightraja, They say immitation is the best form of flattery, and we are very flattered to have Travelguru copy us, then Indiatimes copy us and now Cleartrip copy us. Its sad it took them, one year to get to what we did one year back, and very unfortunate India does not allow method patents, these companies have copied and abused our idea, which they would not dare in the west. But any ways please catch on the goose is already moved…. look for some cooler mobile offerings to be announced in the next quarter…
Regards,
Vinay Gupta
CEO
Flightraja.com—booking 3k tickets day—Largest seller in the country.
Jun 10, 2007 7:03 PM
Vinay, let me pull up some money. Then I will copy you as well ;)
Jun 11, 2007 1:59 AM
its not about who did it first but who did it better that will get the revenues cause i may remember my first, but i will go back to the better one, unless you can find a way to marry me.
heres to continuous innovation that doesnt suck!!
Jun 12, 2007 8:08 AM
The co-founder of arguably India’s best travel website Cleartrip.com, Hrush Bhatt was born in Anand, Gujarat.
Read more about him at http://www.loscreador.com/2007/06/12/clear-and-simple-an-interview-with-hrush-bhatt
Jun 26, 2007 12:20 AM
I don’t buy that you cannot ‘implement’ a method to do something just because someone else implemented it first. Payment by phone is not a ‘process innovation’. Also, patents are good but don’t mean much in software, copyrights do.
Its good that many players are actively working on raising the bar :-) for new and existing entrants in an already crowded market.
Cheers !!!
Shailender Chohan
Jan 17, 2008 2:48 AM
How do they send SMS Through website?
Jan 17, 2008 2:49 AM
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