Frequently Asked Questions About InsideTrip

InsideTrip.com is the first online travel search site to offer consumers a "TripQuality" rating and visual itinerary bar to help them make the smartest travel purchase decision possible.

1. What is the TripQuality score and which factors go into the rating?

With each flight search, InsideTrip.com instantly provides a "TripQuality" rating that takes into account relevant travel needs that can materially affect a traveler’s journey. This score, based upon a 100 point scale, takes into consideration 12 travel "pain" points that are detailed below. Please note that InsideTrip applies different weightings to each when generating the TripQuality Score. For example, the ‘Number of Stops’ category is weighted higher than the ‘Lost Luggage Rank’ category. At this point, the weightings of these different factors are not customizable.

SPEED FACTORS

1. Number of stops: InsideTrip believes consumers prefer non-stop and one-stop flights and rates trips accordingly.
   • Most preferable: Non-stops
   • Least preferable: 2+ stops
2. Flight duration: InsideTrip dynamically compares airline flight schedules across the industry to score the elapsed time of an itinerary.
   • Most preferable: In top 10% of fastest overall itineraries
   • Least preferable: In bottom 50% of fastest overall itineraries
3. On-time performance: InsideTrip taps into the past 62 days of historical trends.
   • Most preferable: Flights with greater than 80% on-time performance
   • Least preferable: Flights with less than 50% on-time performance
4. Security wait time: InsideTrip provides information on the traveler’s potential security check time through sophisticated analysis of TSA airport data such as location of travel, time of day, day of week, airline, and more.
   • Most preferable: Flights with historical average wait time of less than 5 min
   • Least preferable: Flights with historical average wait time of greater than 12 min

COMFORT FACTORS

1. Leg room: InsideTrip provides data on the minimum available seat legroom of the aircraft for a specific airline on an itinerary.
   • Most preferable: Aircraft with above average legroom (minimum of 33"+)
   • Least preferable: Aircraft with below average legroom (less than 31")
2. Aircraft type: InsideTrip believes that travelers generally prefer larger jets and rates itineraries accordingly.
   • Most preferable: Wide-body, jet aircraft
   • Least preferable: Propeller-driven aircraft
3. Aircraft age: InsideTrip estimates the average age of the aircraft for a specific airline on an itinerary.
   • Most preferable: Average aircraft sub-fleet age of less than 5 years
   • Least preferable: Average aircraft sub-fleet age greater than 15 years
4. Historical airplane passenger loads: InsideTrip shares how full your flight may be based on market data from the previous year during the same month.
   • Most preferable: For the same month last year, averaged less than 60% full
   • Least preferable: For the same month last year, averaged greater than 85% full

EASE FACTORS

1. Connection time: InsideTrip helps alert travelers to the length of potentially short or long layovers.
   • Most preferable: Domestic: 45 min to 90 min. Int’l: 90 min to 150 min
   • Least preferable: Greater than 3 hours
2. Routing quality: InsideTrip determines the degree an itinerary routing is out-of-the way.
   • Most preferable: Flying less than 10% "extra" miles than flying non-stop
   • Least preferable: Flying 25%+ "extra" miles than flying non-stop
3. Lost luggage track record: InsideTrip knows how often a specific airline tends to lose luggage (based on the Department of Transportation historical data).
   • Most preferable: US DOT airline ranking in top 3 of 20 US airlines
   • Least preferable: US DOT airline ranking in bottom 14 of US airlines
4. Airport gate locations: InsideTrip knows both the departing and connecting gate locations and scores those itineraries that do not involve a bus/train higher.
   • Most preferable: Walking to your departing or connecting gate
   • Least preferable: Taking a bus/train to your departing or connecting gate

2. Can I customize my own TripQuality score?

Absolutely! Although the default TripQuality score uses all 12 factors, you can create your own custom score by using the TripQuality Dashboard at the top of the page. All you have to do is deselect those factors important to you and then click the Recalculate TripQuality button. The "TripQuality" rating can be recalculated instantly when a shopper selects the comfort features that are specifically important to them.

3. Where can I find flight details and information on the individual TripQuality components?

You can access detailed flight information several ways. By clicking on the ‘Details’ link, the TripQuality score itself, or the individual Speed, Comfort, and Ease subcategories, this opens up an easy to read flight details display. Organized by subcategory, you can click on each of the tabs to get a view of the details summarized by Speed, Comfort, and Ease.

4. What if an airline changes their schedule, airplane, airport gate location, etc. between now and the scheduled date of departure?

InsideTrip provides its TripQuality score based upon the available schedule that an airline intends to fly as of the date of travel search. While for a variety of reasons airlines do make last minute schedule, airplane, and other changes, InsideTrip assesses the schedule as filed by the respective airline as of the date of travel search.

5. What if an airline operates out of multiple areas in the same airport?

In the case where the same airline has flights operating out of multiple concourses at the same airport, InsideTrip’s logic provides feedback on the least preferable scenario. For example, a Delta Air Lines itinerary connecting in Atlanta assumes that you will need to take a train to your connecting flight even though the possibly exists that your arriving and connecting flights depart from the same concourse.

6. How does InsideTrip know which exact airplane will show up for my flight?

Because an airline only decides very close to departure the exact airplane for a given flights, InsideTrip uses the data reflective of that particular airline’s and sub-fleet type.

7. What are some of the reasons why I might see an ‘N/A’ in the flight details area?

• Connect time: Non-stop flight without a layover
• On-time performance: New flight with little flight history
• Security Wait time: Data available only for US departing routes
• Aircraft age and legroom: InsideTrip constantly monitors multiple databases for airline fleet changes and tracks missing data
• Historic load factor: (a) It is a route that doesn’t depart/arrive the US or, (b) the airline did not operate that route last year
• Lost Baggage: Airline did not make the DOT list of top 20 largest US airlines

8. How do I read the visual itinerary bar to get flight information?

InsideTrip makes it very easy to compare itineraries. Whenever a flight has a connection, the itinerary bar shows a gray area that if you mouse over, you can view layover details. Also, the length of the itinerary bar is scaled to the length of the trip, therefore, you can see that the shorter the trip duration, the shorter the itinerary bar.

AIRFARE SEARCH

9. How do you search for airfare?

InsideTrip uses award-winning flight search technology to make it easy to find the lowest fares on hundreds of airlines. In addition, InsideTrip has access to exclusive fares that you won’t find on the most of the big sites. InsideTrip currently partners with Orbitz for airfare search.

10. Are taxes and booking fees included in the price that you show?

Yes, we display the final price including taxes and any service fees.

11. Can I search for child, senior or other fare types?

Currently, InsideTrip only allows searches for the "adult" fare type.

12. Does InsideTrip search international destinations, too?

Absolutely. You can search for airfare not only from the United States from also from 30 other countries.

13. What do you mean by nearby airports?

Nearby airports as those found within approximately 70-80 miles of the airport searched.

14. How can I sort and filter my search results?

To sort columns in ascending and descending order, click on the headings at the top of the flights section. Also, to narrow the list, use the filter tools on the left hand side of the page.

15. What if I need to find a flight during a specific time?

You can narrow down your results and sort them by time. To sort, click "Depart" or "Arrive" at the top of the flights section. To narrow the list, use the filter tools on the left side of the page to select the times you like.

TICKET PURCHASE and CUSTOMER SERVICE

16. What happens when I purchase an airline fare?

Once you select a flight, you will go directly to Orbitz.com, our ticketing partner’s website. We make every effort to send you straight to your chosen flight. When you book your flight, you do so directly with Orbitz and they can help you with any changes or questions with your ticket. For further information, please email Orbitz customer service directly at customerservice@orbitz.com or access their customer service center at https://faq.orbitz.com/cgi-bin/orbitz_faq.cfg/php/enduser/home.php#call.

17. Can you help me with my reservation? I tried to book a trip and have some questions. Or I have a special request to make for my trip.

InsideTrip does not sell tickets ourselves; we are simply a search engine that helps you find the best flight. If you have questions about your reservations, please contact Orbitz which is where you purchased the ticket. For further information, please email Orbitz customer service directly at customerservice@orbitz.com or access their customer service center at https://faq.orbitz.com/cgi-bin/orbitz_faq.cfg/php/enduser/home.php#call.

18. How do I change or cancel a ticket?

Because we are exclusively a search engine, transactions do not take place on our Web site. All transactions are processed by Orbitz. To cancel or change your ticket, you must consult with Orbitz, the site where you made the purchase. The confirmation message that the provider sent you upon booking probably has what you need to know. For further information, please email Orbitz customer service directly at customerservice@orbitz.com or access their customer service center at https://faq.orbitz.com/cgi-bin/orbitz_faq.cfg/php/enduser/home.php#call.

OTHER STUFF

19. Which browsers does InsideTrip support?

InsideTrip has been designed and tested for optimal experience using today’s best available browser technologies. Currently, the site is accessible via Firefox 2.0 and higher and Internet Explorer 7. We do constantly evaluate browser usage and we might add support for even more browsers in the future.

20. What is the cost of your service?

InsideTrip is free.

21. What is your privacy policy?

All user information is kept completely confidential. We do not share, distribute, or sell any information about our users. You value your privacy, and so do we. For our complete privacy policy, please click here.

22. Where can I submit my feature requests?

Please send us any feedback to feedback@insidetrip.com.