Cheapair

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Cheapair
TypePrivately held company
IndustrySoftware, Travel, Internet, Travel agency
Founded1989; 33 years ago (1989)
HeadquartersCalabasas, California, United States
Key people
Jeff Klee (CEO)
Craig Fichtelberg (President)
ProductsSoftware
Number of employees
90+
Websitecheapair.com

CheapAir.com is an American online travel agency, established in 1989 by Jeff Klee. Based in Calabasas, California, with additional offices in Chicago and Denver, CheapAir.com is a privately owned company. According to Travel Weekly, CheapAir.com, under the parent company Amtrav, is ranked #48 on the 2013 Power List of Travel Agencies in the United States.

History[]

Founded in 1989 by CEO, Jeff Klee, out of his University of Michigan dorm room, CheapAir.com was originally known as 1-800-Cheap-Air prior to the website launch in 2000. In 1993 Craig Fichtelberg became a co-founder and president and began the nationwide expansion from California to Chicago to NYC.

In 2011, CheapAir.com announced Price Drop Payback, a program that guarantees to reimburse any price difference before a flight.[1]

In 2012, after airlines began adding ancillary revenue, CheapAir.com added amenities like WiFi, movies, Live TV, and power ports, to its online shopping display.[2]

In September 2012, CheapAir.com launched “Easy Search”, which lets users enter natural language to search for travel deals, becoming one of the first travel websites to offer semantic search.[3]

In March 2013, CheapAir.com created the first voice-activated flight search app for iOS devices.[4] The app won a Travel Weekly award and was named one of the best apps and websites for travelers.[5]

In November 2013, CheapAir.com became the first travel agency worldwide to accept bitcoin as an alternate form of payment for flights.[6] In February 2014, CheapAir became the first travel agency worldwide to accept bitcoin as an alternate form of payment for hotels.[7]

In February 2015, CheapAir.com became the first U.S. travel agency to book direct flights from the U.S. to Cuba.[8]

References[]

  1. ^ "Getting Refunds if the Price Drops". The New York Times. May 6, 2012.
  2. ^ Schaal, Dennis (February 1, 2012). "CheapAir details flights with Wi-Fi, movies, live TV". Phocuswire.
  3. ^ "CheapAir Makes Searching For Travel Simpler, More Intuitive". Mashable. September 28, 2012.
  4. ^ "Digital Traveler: Voice search app gives fingers a rest". USA Today. June 5, 2013.
  5. ^ RIZZO, CAILEY (April 6, 2015). "50 Apps and Websites to Optimize Your Vacation". Travel + Leisure.
  6. ^ "Cheapair.com CEO on accepting bitcoin Latest News Videos". Fox Business. November 26, 2013.
  7. ^ "CheapAir.com adopts Bitcoins to book hotels". Usatoday.com. 2014-02-04. Retrieved 2014-02-18.
  8. ^ "CheapAir selling direct U.S.-Cuba flights online;". latimes.com. 2015-04-15. Retrieved 2016-04-27.

External links[]

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