Montreal - Spain from May 5th to May 22nd on Air Transat.
I booked with voyagesarabais.com. These guys offer pretty low airfares and, as much as I know, they offer a good service.
They are from Trois-Rivières, Quebec and they are doing an awesome job to be the leader in Quebec’s tourism industry. I’m not paid to say that. ; )
My previous post about usability is, among others, “dedicated” to this company. They have cheap airfares and packages but it is soooo frustrating to navigate on their website. They use the engine from Softvoyage which is, by far, a leader in usability problems. Even this morning I had to manage with other problems like the fact that when we change the departure date, it modifies automatically the return date even if I’ve already changed the return date myself. It’s nothing big but it’s annoying.
Also, I wonder if voyagesarabais.com knows how much it will help them to optimize their website for search engines. It would surely bring more traffic… and sales!
P.S. How come I live so far from Europe!? Each time I have to pay “too much” for plane tickets!
I read a lot of blogs everyday and I think it’s time to thank everyone who is working hard to write about travel and tourism. Here is a list of those I like the most :
Thanks to you!
It’s not the complete list so if I forgot you, thanks anyway!
MGM Grand, Las Vegas, launched their new website in 2006. In terms of Search Engine Optimization and usability, it is not perfect… but WOW what a nice intro video! Take a look a this nice job done by some creative guys from Montreal.
As I always say, the 80-20 rule is what you should focus on. It applies perfectly to usability.
I’m actually planning a trip to Spain (lucky me!). Since I’m trying to get the better price for my plane ticket, I’m going thru a lot (and a lot!) of airfare websites. Some of them are well done but some others made me so frustrated! When tourists are looking for tickets, a car to rent, an hotel to book, they most of the time make a lot of searches on each websites. You can imagine how frustrating and discouraging it is to be slowed down by usability problems. You want tourists to buy tickets from you, then be sure that it is easy for them to do so. Happy experiences will also make them come back next time!
Here is a list of usability problems that you should fix quickly in case of an airfare search form:
- Customer should not always have to fill the form and he wants to change a date or a destination.
- The most used item (for example : a dropdown list of years for a leaving date) should be selected as default. We are December 28th 2006. Why is “2006″ the default date in the dropdown? Sure we are in 2006 but 99% of people are searching for 2007!
- Calendars are cool but please give alternatives. Calendars are good for some of the customers but for others it is simpler to write down the date directly.
- In the French version of your website you should use the french names of the countries/cities in your lists.
- If someone is accidently searching for past dates do not launch the search process for nothing. Tell him right away that the entered dates are not valid.
In conclusion, I would suggest you to use your own forms from a customer perspective, you’ll see that it is not always easy to use. ; )
I really wish I could go to the Travel Distribution France 2007 event. I could finally speak to the people I read everyday!
Here is what I need: Plane tickets, hotel room and a pass for the event.
I wonder which one of the partners will invite me and provide me with one of the needs I have! 
Easyjet? Hotels.com? Go Voyages? Boscolo Hotels? I will wear your t-shirt (or even tatoo your logo on my back!) all event long if you want! haha
Invite Mathieu to Travel Distribution France 2007
5 days remaining until the holidays break. I hope you’ll have fun and enjoy these days with your friends and family.
I received a couple of emails from you asking me why I didn’t write lately. Actually I have a lot of work to do but I will get back a soon as I can. Now maybe… ; )