TripAdvisor^® has announced the launch of a new airline reviews platform, a newly redesigned Flights search service, and beta launch of its “flyscore” that rates the quality of each air travel itinerary for consumers. The new enhancements to the site bring transparency to a marketplace that has become increasingly difficult for consumers to make direct comparisons between flight options.

With the launch of the new airline reviews platform, which will include all major airlines globally, TripAdvisor expands its massive base of 350 million traveller reviews and opinions. Travellers now have a go-to resource for making more informed air travel decisions based not only on the price of the flight, but the total experience with the airline as viewed by TripAdvisor’s community of more than 340 million monthly unique visitors.

According to a TripAdvisor survey¹, airline reviews will soar amongst Aussie travellers with 88 percent of respondents stating they would write an online review of their overall flight experience. Before booking a trip, 82 percent of Aussies said reviews would help them make better decisions about the airlines and flights they choose, with 63 percent saying they’d want to share feedback to help improve the experience for others. Airline reviews from the millions of flyers on TripAdvisor will better communicate the total value of a flight to travellers, beyond just its price.

“The time has come for a better way to research, compare and shop for flights. TripAdvisor is excited to innovate and lead with the launch of airline reviews in 48 markets in 29 languages. Additionally, we’ve introduced a set of new features within our search experience to help consumers better understand the true value of air travel beyond price. Over the years, the in-flight experience has changed dramatically – in some ways for the better, in some ways for the worse. We know our users tell us it is not always easy for travellers to find the best options by just looking at the baseline price of a flight. We’re uniquely solving that problem by surfacing candid traveller reviews and photos, detailed amenities information and tools to find the lowest fares all on one site, empowering flyers to pick the best itinerary for their trip,” said Andrew Wong, Head of Airline Review Partnerships, TripAdvisor Global Flights Business.

He added, “What we know for certain, is that Australian airlines already rate highly when compared to the global average. Airlines such as Virgin Australia hold a rating of 4/5, versus a global average of 3.7/5.”

Major Carriers Embrace Traveller Reviews

Many airlines around the world have embraced TripAdvisor’s launch of airline reviews. Carriers such as Virgin Australia, Air New Zealand, ANA, Air Canada, China Airlines, Cebu Pacific, Aer Lingus, AeroMexico, Aeroflot, HK Express, Swiss International Air Lines, THAI Smile, Transavia, Westjet and WOW Air will encourage flyers to share their candid feedback in collaboration with TripAdvisor. While travellers can review any airline they have flown, these brands are making a concerted effort to proactively engage with their customers and collect their honest feedback. All reviews submitted by travellers are subject to TripAdvisor’s review submission guidelines.

Virgin Australia’s Public Affairs Group Executive, Danielle Keighery says, “Virgin Australia prides itself on providing great customer service. As part of our process of continual improvement, we welcome and encourage feedback from guests as a way of understanding what they love about flying with us and what we can do better.”

New TripAdvisor Flights Features

In February 2014, TripAdvisor became the first to feature comprehensive in-flight insights, amenities information and candid traveller photos coupled with the ability to scan for the lowest prices for airlines globally. Now TripAdvisor is expanding on these advances with the following new features:

• Airline Reviews Platform – Gives travellers a platform to share their candid feedback – both good and bad – about all major airlines around the globe.
• Flyscore (beta) –  Helps demystify the flight shopping experience by displaying a 1-10 out of 10 score for individual flights based on the power of qualitative traveller reviews, the quality of the aircraft, in-flight amenities and the duration of the itinerary. The score helps travellers quickly scan for the best flight options before booking.
• Enhanced Amenities – Showcases even more comprehensive information about in-flight amenities, such as power ports and the type of in-flight Wi-Fi available to flyers.

Additional enhancements to flight search are expected to follow later this year.

TripAdvisor airline reviews and its new Flights search are available now and may be found here: https://www.tripadvisor.com.au/CheapFlightsHome