Comments on: iXiGo Launches Mobile Version of Travel Search – Looking To Eliminate Other OTA’s

By: raghav

raghav — Fri, 17 Oct 2008 17:27:54 +0000

hmm… wrong time to launch in a recession esp when people are trying to avoid flight because of their increasing charges

By: Frequent Traveller

Frequent Traveller — Fri, 17 Oct 2008 15:56:56 +0000

@Rajiv: Interesting innovation – thanks for the post.

@Rajat: “And even then, airlines reserve some offers for their own web-specials.” means you did’t understand the value proposition of a tool like iXiGO. They search airlines’ sites, which means they display all the web-specials which airlines showcase on their own platform.

Average difference between OTA prices and iXiGO could be “just” a few hundred bucks on metros, but it could very well run into thousands on tier 2 cities, try Bangalore – Chandigarh and you’ll see what I mean.

Disclaimer: Have used iXiGO in the past and liked the way they saved me time and money.

By: Rajat Goyal

Rajat Goyal — Fri, 17 Oct 2008 12:42:03 +0000

@Rajiv: I agree with you in principle. But in practice, to the user it is just another service. They will still go with the greatest value add. A meta-search by nature cannot create special offers/price valuations for the consumer. They can only offer what the airline is offering. And even then, airlines reserve some offers for their own web-specials.

I’d say the mantle has been thrown, lets see who picks it up.

By: Rajiv Dingra

Rajiv Dingra — Fri, 17 Oct 2008 11:53:42 +0000

@Rajat Goyal: Hi Rajat I never said iXiGo was an ota but by directing users directly to airline sites its certainly eliminating the OTA whether thats a margin of 100 bucks or less.

By: Ajitesh

Ajitesh — Fri, 17 Oct 2008 11:27:21 +0000

IXIGO Founder Alok has shown tremendous strength in terms of his vision and the manner he is making it come true. Congratulations to Alok and team! You guys are setting example in the Indian startups landscape.

By: Rajat Goyal

Rajat Goyal — Fri, 17 Oct 2008 10:15:12 +0000

iXiGo is not an OTA. It is a meta-search site which necessarily has to redirect requests to the hosting site.

As far as flights are concerned, with a zero commission model coming in soon, there will be a difference of 100 bucks on an average between prices published by Airlines and OTA’s.

I don’t see how this will make much of a difference to any OTA.