Cheapflights in the Press

Bounty.com - Top tips for flying during pregnancy

With more and more expectant mothers taking to the skies for a pre-baby holiday, Cheapflights.co.uk has offered some top tips to make flying a hassle-free experience during pregnancy.

Media Real Travel – Grand opening of new terminal at Heathrow

Heathrow's new airline hub opens in March and, covering an area the size of 50 football pitches, will be jam packed with Europe's best restaurants and retail outlets. "Terminal Five promises to be the most exciting launch of the year," says Francesca Ecsery, general manager of Cheapflights.co.uk.

The Sunday Telegraph – Cheapflights co-founder Soskin hands control to a new pilot

David Soskin, a co-founder of the internet travel business Cheapflights.com, is to step back from the controls of the online flights comparison company.

The Guardian – Co-founder Soskin takes a back seat at Cheapflights

One of Britain's most successful dotcom entrepreneurs, David Soskin, is to step down as chief executive of Cheapflights. He will become vice-chairman of the price-comparison site he co-founded as it prepares for a sale or floatation.

Wanderlust

Air passes can save you pounds but can be confusing - so step in Cheapflights. Its handy webpage summarises which passes work where. www.cheapflights.co.uk/travel-tips/airpass.html

The Sun

Cheapflights has launched a dedicated online ski page giving a rundown of some of the favourite destinations, comparing flight deals and details on the best peaks and pistes.

Financial Times – Website for cheap flights eyes float

Cheapflights is expected to make a decision in the next few weeks on whether the flight-comparison business will float next year…

Travolution - Social networking brings travel its greatest challenge

The online travel industry faces possibly its greatest challenge… in working out how to exploit the social networking revolution that is changing the way people use the Internet, according to Cheapflights CEO David Soskin.

London Lite – Loved-up Brits

Aren't we Brits romantic? A recent poll by Cheapflights.co.uk asked travellers about their most essential travel item. Their loved one was the answer for 33 per cent.

Sunday Express

Fear of flying is a surprisingly common phobia but help is at hand. The website Cheapflights.co.uk has sourced a selection of courses to help cure the anxiety.

The Sun - Air pass with save you ££s on flights

Save up to 75 per cent on flights - by buying an airpass. Cheapflights.co.uk has links to passes operated by airlines around the world, from Asia and the Middle East to the Pacific and South America.

The Daily Telegraph – Go for it - you can still get to Paris

As the referee's whistle blew last Saturday night, England fans began planning their trips to the Rugby World Cup final in Paris this weekend. Cheapflights.co.uk reported that by 10pm, searches for flights to the French capital were up 845 per cent.

Travel Weekly – Cheapflights.co.uk eyes German and Australian markets

Cheapflights.co.uk aims to launch websites in Germany and Australia to expand its reach as it continues to revamp its UK portal. The flight comparison portal already has sites in the US and Canada.

The Times City Diary

David Soskin, Chief Executive of online search company Cheapflights and a veteran traveller, has just returned from the wilds of Wyoming and a surreal encounter with US airport security at Rapid City. "I was told it was fine to take a roast beef sandwich on board the plane as long as it did not have mustard or mayo. My wife had to abandon lipstick and mascara, which I can understand, but an exploding beef sandwich?"

The Daily Telegraph – Terror alert hits travel

Cheapflights.co.uk, the UK’s leading travel price search and comparison site, has reported a 19 per cent drop in people searching for flights since the terror alert a fortnight ago. It said the US, down by 24 per cent, had suffered the most; Australia, down 8 per cent, and Tenerife (11 per cent) performed best.

Sun World – It's not a sick joke

The humble sick bag comes top in poll of UK travellers' best freebies on flights. The Cheapflights.co.uk vote found 19 per cent of passengers believed the sick bag was the most gratefully received giveaway.

The Sun

According to Cheapflights.co.uk, 41 per cent of pet owners would like to holiday with their pets in tow. And thanks to pet passports, they now can.

The Sun – Search out autumn sun

The dreary summer has led to a surge in half-term holiday bookings…And it doesn't end there… Cheapflights.co.uk has found we're still desperate for sun come Christmas.

Marketingservicestalk – Cheapflights remains major lead generator

Cheapflights, the online flight price search and comparison site, is maintaining its leading position as a major referrer of high quality leads to UK advertising partners.

The Sunday Times – Tech firms that stay on track year after year

The Tech Track 100 league table is now in its seventh year and competition for a place on it has never been so fierce. Showcasing Britain's fast-growing private technology companies, this year's table features a diverse range of ventures… Cheapflights (No 64) has made the table four years in a row. A fast-growing presence in America and a recently launched Canadian website have helped boost sales 71 per cent a year from £4.2m in 2004 to £12.5m in 2006.

The Sun

If you're planning a ski holiday this winter, check out the new tips page at Cheapflights.co.uk. There's information on what airlines will charge you to take your skis or snowboards, whether you need to pre-book and info on insurance.

London Lite – Cheat the robots

Cheapflights.co.uk has just published a new edition of its telephone cheat sheet, featuring numbers for the top airlines, travel companies and hotels.

TravelMole – Cheapflights reports 'strong growth'

Cheapflights has reported an increase in sales of 71 per cent a year between 2004 and 2006 thanks to the launch of its US site.

Times Online – UK web use hits all-time high in July

The number of Britons online reached its highest ever level in July with 31.8 million unique users flocking to the net…After retail and cinema, the travel category saw the biggest gains in traffic. Lastminute.com, Cheapflights and First Choice Holidays grew by 30 per cent, 22 per cent and 19 per cent respectively, Comscore reports.

The Daily Telegraph – Bombings 'won't see travel industry crash'

Airlines and travel operators hit a spot of turbulence in the wake of the attempted car bombings at Glasgow airport, but industry experts are not expecting a rush of holiday cancellations…David Soskin, chief executive of Cheapflights, said he was not seeing any dip in traffic on the group's price-comparison website.

Internet Travel News – Cheapflights calls for pricing transparency

Trading standards officials are on the warpath to stamp out abuse of online holiday and flight pricing by airlines and operators. Cheapflights.co.uk wholeheartedly supports this initiative ...

The Times Educational Supplement – Web of the week

www.cheapflights.co.uk - useful for comparing prices, but also has lots of other info, including a "telephone cheat sheet" which gives you directions on how to "speak to a human" in easy steps and a travel checklist for all the things you need to do before you go.

The Observer - Cheapflights on the runway

The Cheapflights website could float later this year with a price tag of £300m. The company has appointed LongAcre Partners to advise on strategic options - a trade sale or IPO look to be the most likely outcome, say sources.

Conde Nast Traveller - Magic numbers

"As a frequent traveller - and travel booker for friends and family - I am tired of hanging on, listening to hold music when on the phone to airlines and hotels…So I'd like to recommend the 'cheat sheet' at www.cheapflights.co.uk/travel-tips/cheatsheet.html, which provides direct contact numbers for a selection of travel companies."

Woman & Home - We can't live without…Cheapflights.co.uk

It not only gives you a "phone cheat sheet", so you can talk to a human being about your flight or hotel reservation, it also has the lowdown on "economy vs premium economy" - when is it worth it?

Travolution - Hugo Burge creates 'travel experiences' site.

Cheapflights' vice chairman Hugo Burge has pushed a personal web project, targeting travellers who want to share their experiences, into beta this week.

Easier Travel - Booking your summer holiday? Speak with a human!

Just in time for summer, Cheapflights.co.uk, the UK's leading flight price comparison site, has published a new edition of its famous and well-established telephone cheat sheet so that you can get off the phone and go on holiday!

The Times - Flying on the dole

It is a "fallacy" that middle-class travellers are the main reason for the budget airline boom, according to the head of Cheapflights.co.uk, who says that working-class holidaymakers and the unemployed are key no-frills flyers.

The Sun – Flying? Greece is the word

Cheapflights.co.uk saw an amazing 400 per cent increase in interest on flights to Athens during the Liverpool vs Chelsea game this week.

Travel Weekly – Down with space invaders

So say the respondents of Cheapflights.co.uk's latest poll, in which 37 per cent said the worst offence of all aircraft passengers was reclining seats.

The Daily Telegraph

… Cheapflights, another survivor of the dotcom boom, has been put up for sale with a price tag that could be more than £200m.

The Observer – What happens…if your luggage is delayed

The baggage carousel goes round and round, and one by one the bags are reclaimed, but an hour later your suitcase still hasn’t turned up…Check out the table at www.cheapflights.co.uk/travel-tips/delayed-luggage.html

FT.com – Cheapflights gets its US wings

The list of British websites successful in the US cannot be a long one, but Cheapflights.com says it figures right at the top. David Soskin, chief executive, who is in San Francisco for the ad:tech conference, told us unique visitors had now reached around 3m a month, meaning the US site, less than five years old, was now as popular as Cheapflights.co.uk, founded in 1996.

TravelMole – Cheapflights launches in Canada

Cheapflights has launched a site in Canada as part of its strategy to go global within the next five years. The flight price comparison website has launched www.cheapflights.ca to tap into the Canadian market.

The Independent Magazine – Cheapflights.co.uk.

The name gives it away really. If you're yet to start worrying about the impact of flying on your carbon footprint and are still keen to bag as cheap a flight as possible, this no-frills website will search for the cheapest flights it can find.

Daily Express

A website launched on a shoestring allowing users to swap reviews of pubs and restaurants has secured £500,000 of backing from the team behind travel site Cheapflights. TrustedPlaces … aims to cash in on the success of social networking sites such as YouTube. The investor was Howzat.

The Mail on Sunday – Tips for negotiating the charges maze

www.cheapflights.co.uk is a useful reference tool covering the cost of optional extras charged by two dozen airlines flying short-haul routes.

Daily Mail Ski & Snowboard Magazine - Fly and be happy

Airlines have been getting it in the neck lately ... Not fair, hollers David Soskin, chief exec of Cheapflights.co.uk, who says the industry is being made a scapegoat…

Revolution – Cheapflights employs first brand agency

Cheapflights has hired its first branding agency, Boston and Pollitt, in a bid to improve the brand's personality and design.

The Big Issue – Holiday clues

Cheapflights has a search facility, as well as time and cost saving info: see www.cheapflights.co.uk/travel-tips/ for telephone cheat sheets … advice on the best currency deals, and reviews of different airline services.

The Sunday Times Travel Magazine – The best time to book flights online

Also keep an eye on the news blog at Cheapflights.co.uk, which covers the airlines' clearance sales.

The Times - Ten years of internet travel

This week Cheapflights.co.uk, an online holiday directory, turned ten years old, while on October 22, Expedia.com, the biggest online leisure travel agency in the world, reaches this landmark. John Hatt, 57, a former travel editor of Harpers & Queen, founded Cheapflights. "I never quite realised things would go this fast," he said. "But I did realise that the internet meant the world had changed. I saw it as the biggest single change to communication since the printing press".

The Sun – Saks and the city

Great places to start your search for flights include Cheapflights.co.uk.

The Guardian – Don't give up the day job... yet

Brits have no shortage of ideas but the entrepreneurial spirit is rather more conservative in the UK than across the other side of the Atlantic, and America has one huge advantage: scale.

"I am afraid I am a bit pessimistic because the US does have such a huge advantage with the size of the domestic market," says David Soskin, a former City Banker and now Chief Executive of travel site Cheapflights.co.uk. "If you've got a website that works well you've immediately got 300m consumers in the US rather than 60m in the UK."

Cheapflights weathered the last dotcom storm and recently celebrated its 10th birthday. Profitable since launch, it has never raised any funding from venture capital firms and has been embracing Web 2.0 ideas such as online communities. The scale of opportunity enjoyed by American start-ups became obvious when it launched in the US. After three years its fledging American arm is fast approaching the size of its UK business and in the first six months of this year grew a staggering 186%."

Telegraph.co.uk – Travellers fly in the face of global warming

David Soskin of Cheapflights.co.uk, said people using his website were encouraged to donate to the CarbonNeutral Company and another firm, Climate Care. He opposed higher taxes to deter people from flying.

"It will make flying elitist, because only the well-off will be able to go, and do enormous damage to poor countries which rely on tourism," he said. "In addition airlines' profits will go down, so they won't be able to develop ever more fuel-efficient aircraft."

Evening Standard - Media mogul on the trail of British online firms

American media mogul Barry Diller is on the acquisition trail for "several" British businesses. Diller's interest in the UK is bound to ignite takeover talk for Cheapflights, the British-based price comparison travel website...

The Daily Telegraph - Tax on air travel exposed

David Soskin of Cheapflights.co.uk told Telegraph Travel last week that taxation would make flying elitist. "Only the well-off will be able to go," he said. "In addition, airline profits will go down, so they won't be able to develop ever more fuel-efficient aircraft."

The Guardian - How click-happy Britain fell in love with online shopping

Rather than battle their way through the hordes on the high street at the weekend, British shoppers are embracing the internet, spending more than their European counterparts booking holidays, hunting out book and DVD bargains and having groceries delivered to their door.

The Interactive Media in Retail Group reckons online spending is growing 10 times faster than spending in shops. And it is not just “pure” internet players such as Amazon, play.com and Cheapflights.co.uk that are seeing the benefit, the major brick-and-mortar players have become aware of the shift in spending habits.

The Daily Telegraph – How air travel has changed since the attacks on the US

Fares, particularly for transatlantic routes, have not risen in real terms. David Soskin of Cheapflights.com, the price comparison website, said average return fares from London to New York started at £200 in 2001 and start at £250 now.

The Times – 50 people to know in travel

6. John Hatt. Author of the seminal guide, The Tropical Traveller, Hatt, 57, set up Cheapflights.co.uk in 1996, the first site to compare air fares on the web "neutrally" - listing all deals regardless of whether or not the airline was an advertiser.

The Observer – Escape’s picks of the week

Be it baggage charges, fuel supplements, or paying to reserve your seat, travellers are increasingly facing additional fees imposed by the airlines. Often these make one carrier more expensive than another. Check out the list of extra charges at www.cheapflights.co.uk before you book.

The Mail on Sunday

Actually, the online travel business is officially celebrating its tenth birthday this year. It was back in 1996 that many of the big names of the online travel world started up including Expedia, Travelocity, Cheapflights and Flightbookers.

Daily Express

Potential bidders are homing in on Cheapflights... City sources said investment banks and buyout firms were showing growing interest in the company, which this year celebrates its tenth anniversary. A survivor of the dotcom crash, Cheapflights has become one of Britain's most successful online companies.

The Sunday Times – Tech Track 100

64. Cheapflights (57.18%) Travel price comparison website Cheapflights.co.uk is planning European expansion. The London company, led by chief executive David Soskin, takes complex data - as many as 14m prices from hundreds of travel companies - and presents them in a simple format online.

The Times City Diary

David Soskin, Chief Executive of online search company Cheapflights and a veteran traveller, has just returned from the wilds of Wyoming and a surreal encounter with US airport security at Rapid City. "I was told it was fine to take a roast beef sandwich on board the plane as long as it did not have mustard or mayo. My wife had to abandon lipstick and mascara, which I can understand, but an exploding beef sandwich?"

The Daily Telegraph – Terror alert hits travel

Cheapflights.co.uk, the UK’s leading travel price search and comparison site, has reported a 19 per cent drop in people searching for flights since the terror alert a fortnight ago. It said the US, down by 24 per cent, had suffered the most; Australia, down 8 per cent, and Tenerife (11 per cent) performed best.

Sun World – It's not a sick joke

The humble sick bag comes top in poll of UK travellers' best freebies on flights. The Cheapflights.co.uk vote found 19 per cent of passengers believed the sick bag was the most gratefully received giveaway.

The Guardian – The sites that changed our world

All the best internet ideas are dead simple. Cheapflights.co.uk., the UK’s first internet travel start-up, began life in the attic of veteran travel journalist John Hatt, with one of the simplest: a single website that compares the prices of different airlines and tour operators. Today it publishes over a million deals for comparison each day. In profit since year dot, privately owned and all without spending a penny on advertising.

International Herald Tribune – Travellers shrug off fears over air terror

According to data compiled by Cheapflights.co.uk., a budget travel search web site, the number of travel enquiries in the nine days following the terror alert dipped 19 percent compared with the nine days following the terror alert... But the disruption was short lived. "It has been fairly brief", David Soskin, Chief Executive of Cheapflights.co.uk., said of the impact on travel behaviour. "We're already back up to exactly where you would expect to be at the end of August".

Forbes.com – British Airways Flies With Google Earth

David Soskin, Chief Executive of the airfare comparison site Cheapflights.com, said BA was making its website more functional in order to lure its customers online. "Margins in flight sales are not enormous," he said. "So in order to keep profits up it's very lucrative to go into higher margin areas, like car hire and accommodation." The airlines' strategy of cross selling such related services via its website is one that travel agents have already enacted.

Sun World – Left Turn Ahead

Even if you can't afford the extras, make sure you don't pay over the odds by checking out the new service at price comparison website Cheapflights.co.uk. The tips page reveals how much around 20 airlines charge travellers for items such as food, entertainment, seat selection and baggage.

Evening Standard – Hidden airline fees that leave golfers teed off

A new web page comparing online air fares on Cheapflights.co.uk. reveals that no two airlines flying in Europe agree when it comes to eking extra money out of their passengers.

Business Life – A start-up that took to the skies

Cheapflights is a resolutely modest company. A dotcom with no smoothies or beanbags in its offices and a name that is useful but adds no pizzazz, the flight comparison site hails not from Silicon Valley but a London attic. It is also distinguished from most of its peers in another respect: Cheapflights has been profitable since before the dotcom boom and throughout the messy aftermath. Its owners plan next year to either to float it on the stock market, accept an injection of private capital or find a buyer.

The Business

It is no longer bawling babies but drunks who are the people we would least like to find on board a plane. A survey of UK travellers by Cheapflights.co.uk showed alcohol-addled passengers taking 40 per cent of the vote, just one percentage point ahead of yelling babies.

The Sunday Times – Website hopes for £200m take-off

Founded in 1996, Cheapflights is one of Britain's longest-established and consistently profitable internet businesses. The website allows users to compare the cost of flights, and earns money from "pay-per-click" referrals to airlines and other travel firms...Cheapflights attracts more than 5m users a month, and is growing rapidly in America, where it started up three years ago. It generated revenue of £12m in the year to the end of March, but is growing at 50% to 60% a year.

The Times – The 120 best travel websites

One of the original flight comparison and holiday offer sites; Cheapflights has a useful news section listing routes and sales offers for low-cost airlines.

The Guardian – Cheapflights looks at expanding into Europe

Cheapflights, the flight comparison website that is one of Britain’s oldest independent dotcom companies, is looking to expand into mainland Europe, having carved itself a lucrative niche in the UK and US online travel markets and seeing off a number of recent bid approaches from media and private equity companies. The website, which celebrates it’s 10th anniversary this year, is considering a move into Germany and other European markets. It is in the last stages of hiring a head for its US unit to free up management time to concentrate on Europe. David Soskin, its chief executive, said: “We think we’ve got a global business here. Our view is that if you can succeed on then internet in America you can succeed about anywhere.”

The Sunday Herald – Bubbles can go up as well as down

For those who get it right, the rewards are there for the taking. The discount airfares portal Cheapflights.co.uk did so and today, with over 70 million visits a year to its sight, it refers about £1bn worth of travel business to its advisors and it generates a reliable profit for its shareholders without making too much fuss about it.

Forbes.com – BA's Walsh sets out airline's two-year plan

David Soskin, chief executive of Cheapflights.com, an independent online travel search company and flight price comparer, told Forbes.com the possibility of further fuel surcharges was “deeply troubling”. Soskin added that since a great deal of travel was discretionary, there was a real danger that consumers may decide "enough is enough".

The Sunday Times – Introducing the travel genie

Let’s say that you are one of the millions who use low-cost airlines. To get the best deals, you need to know when EasyJet, Ryanair or Flybe introduce new routes or special fares. In the past, that meant signing up to each of their e-mail newsletters. Not any more. Instead you can go to Cheapflights.co.uk and subscribe to its RSS feed, which has news of the latest deals offered by every low-cost airline in the UK.

The Times – On hold in a queue? Here's how to bypass the machines and speak to a human

Cheapflights, a British-based internet travel company has come up with a “cheat sheet” - a list of codes for getting straight through to a real person at dozens of airlines, travel companies and hotel groups, and avoiding pre-recorded menus that can cost up to 65p a minute to listen to. David Soskin, the company’s chief executive said: “We believe that despite the increasing use of the internet, there are times when customers need to speak to a real person. We have all been frustrated by automated telephone systems.’

The Mail on Sunday – And now, the phone 'cheats' that put you on to a human when you book a holiday

The campaign against infuriating automated phone-answering systems has been given a major boost by the publication of a detailed new ‘cheat sheet’ targeted specifically at the travel industry…
The new cheat sheet has been compiled by the internet travel firm Cheapflights.co.uk.

The Daily Telegraph – I' tired, I'm hungry and it's Tuesday - time I logged on to book my holiday

The morning coffee break has been and gone, last night’s sports results and television soaps have been analysed – but there are still 13 minutes until lunch. It is 12.47pm on a Tuesday and this, according to new research is when the nation’s thoughts turn to travel.
     The research analysed the internet habits of every visitor to three of Britain’s most popular travelwebsites–Cheapflights.co.uk, cheapaccomodation.com and cheapholidaydeals.co.uk…“The time pressures of the modern office mean that a trip to the travel agent is less viable. Lunch hours are spent at the desk, and long commutes leave workers exhausted.” said David Soskin, chief executive of Cheapflights.co.uk.

The Guardian – Going Going....Gone: How to DIY it

Being able to let the price of a trip determine the date of your travel, rather than the other way around, should be a doddle. […]First, remove a lot of the guesswork by visiting Cheapflights.co.uk. Although it doesn’t sell tickets, the site works like a giant interactive tip sheet that tells you which website is likely to have the cheapest flight over the next few months.

Travel Trade Gazette – Cheapflights boasts about its weblog

Cheapflights says 65,000 people are using its weblog, which it claims is the “first serious travel blog” […] Chief Executive David Soskin said: “Both our sites here and in the US have got off to a good start. We are building a community with more interactions between consumers and sites.”…

The Guardian – Argos owner pays £270m for online site that compares prices

…“This is the third major transaction in this space in just a few months”, according to David Soskin, chief executive of Cheapflights, which operates sites Cheapflights.co.uk. and Cheapflights.com. “It demonstrates very clearly the value of leading price comparison sites and represents a true coming of age for this explosively successful sector of e-commerce.”

The Daily Telegraph – Soccer fans wanting to travel to Germany should consider all options…

…David Soskin, the chief executive of Cheapflights.co.uk. said the cheapest return flights to Frankfurt in early June were £159. “My advice is to go and enjoy a break before the competition, or get the atlas out and work out where you can stay. The European rail network is superb. There are many places where you can stay cheaply and travel from within a few hours.”

Financial Times – Is this the journey’s end for travel agents?

[T]he number of travel agents is dwindling. With the agency business model facing increasing pressure from the growth of internet travel sites such as Expedia, Lastminute.com and Travelocity, many tour operators are scaling back their investments in high street outlets.[…]

However, others say travel agents can prosper by using the internet, particularly if they sell niche products or specialise in areas such as business travel. “The internet can be incredible useful for traditional travel agencies” says David Soskin, chief executive of Cheapflights.co.uk[…]

For many small travel agents, though, the internet has already proven a useful marketing tool. “We always include small independent travel agents on our site and they often have super prices because they can get the discounts from airlines” says Mr Soskin. “These agents offer a very good way for airlines to shift inventory in a low key way.”

The Economist – Flying from the Computer

…In the middle are the specialist search websites that do not sell anything directly, but put consumers in touch with both online agents and travel firms. Cheapflights.com, for instance, asks travel firms to pay whenever a potential customer clicks through to an advertiser’s website or clicks to obtain their telephone number. “There is still an awful lot of travel that can only be sold on the telephone,” says David Soskin, Cheapflights chief executive. This could be because it involves complicated or special arrangements. Whereas Mr Soskin is convinced that the internet has persuaded people to travel more often, he also thinks the death of the traditional high-street travel agent has been greatly overstated.

The Sunday Times – Tech Track 100

Cheapflights […] helped to pioneer online travel price search and comparison in 1996 and has capitalised on this in the past two years to treble the number of users of its website to 4m a month. The firm takes complex data – as many as 14m prices from 900 travel companies – and presents them in a single format. In 2004 it launched its forth website Cheapholidaydeals.co.uk The company has a subsidiary in Boston and has boosted its sales 47% a year from £1.9m in 2002 to £4.1m in 2004.

The Guardian – London still no1 destination, says travel site

Last month’s bombings in London have not had as dire an effect on tourism as first feared, according to Cheapflights, the air fare comparison website. In July the company, which has more than 4 million unique visitors a month, said the capital retained its place as the most popular destination on Cheapflights.co.uk, with New York in second place.

The Sun – Take a hike Phil

Prince Philip would be the worst royal to travel with a survey said yesterday. The blundering Duke of Edinburgh was followed by Camilla and Prince Edward. The best royal for a travel companion would be Prince William. The poll was carried out for website Cheapflights.co.uk. Spokeswomen Liz Faherty said: “We don’t want someone likely to make cultural mistakes or who seems aloof.”

New Media Age – Secrets of Success

Given the number of dotcoms that have come and gone in the last ten years, what is it about the survivors that has brought them through? Sean Hargrave investigates […]
The dotcom winners were those that were allowed to think and plan for the long term, says David Soskin of Cheapflights. He purposefully didn’t seek venture capital for the dotcom formed in 1996 and which as far as he knows, is the only Web service (certainly in the travel sector) to successfully export itself to the US.
“There was a lot of VC money around but the problem with that is it’s like getting in a taxi: the meter’s running from the second you set off.” He says “It meant everything was very short term and companies that could have been successful were forced to spend too much cash in the early days, trying to buy an audience so that they could be profitable and pay for all the bad decisions their VCs had made with other companies.”

Evening Standard – How Britain's other dotcoms fared

…The internet was never going away but plenty of those who reckoned they would make fortunes through it have disappeared. In the worst year for failures – 2001 – 537 dot coms went under or closed down around the world […]
Yet there is a huge and healthy dot-com economy still running in Britain, including Cheapflights.co.uk set up in 1996, Betfair, one of the top betting websites in the world, Friends Reunited, which is terribly profitable for founders Steve Pankhurst and Jason Porter, and grocery delivery business Ocado.

The Sunday Telegraph – Brent Hoberman tells James Hall why he has sold Lastminute.com

…Rivals welcomed the deal. “When you’ve got such a major US player investing almost $1bn in European web travel it is a real coming of age for our industry, and recognition that the internet has changed the travel business for good,” says David Soskin, the chief executive of Cheapflights.com, one of the biggest players in the industry.

Daily Express – Investors hail £500m bid for Lastminute

…Internet industry expert and Cheapflights.co.uk chief executive David Soskin said: “Sabre Holdings buying Lastminute would give it an extremely strong position in Britain, Germany and France, so from a strategic point of view, it is good for them.

Financial Times – Icon of dotcom era swallowed up by larger rival

…Assuming the £577m recommended cash offer for Lastminute by Sabre Holdings succeeds, the development will be one of the least contentious in the brief history of Britain’s best-known listed dotcom.
“It’s an extremely good price”, says David Soskin, chief executive of Cheapflights.co.uk, an online company that provides leads for travel operators. “The reason why is not because they have a terrific financial record but they have an extremely well-known brand name in the UK and they have managed to hold off rivals like Expedia, with all the millions Expedia has at its disposal for advertising.”

The Guardian – Cheapflights hires headhunters for US

One of the great British dot.com survivors, Cheapflights.co.uk, has hired headhunters to find a senior executive to lead the online travel firm’s expansion in the US market.

In stark contrast to the traditional model in the internet industry, where American giants cross the Atlantic into Europe, Cheapflights will today announce it has hired recruitment experts Heidrick & Struggles to find a manager willing to head in the opposite direction to run its site. […]

Since it was founded in 1996, Cheapflights.co.uk has grown without any external fundraising from 70 advertisers and 300,000 unique users a month to 900 advertisers and more than 4m users – a quarter of whom visit its US site, Cheapflights.com, set up less than two years ago.

Chief Executive David Soskin reckons the time is right to expand. “We have the resources to put in place the management to support our planned expansion of the business”, he said.

The Observer – Pilgrims swell interest in tours to holy sites

…There was a rush of inquiries about flights to Rome last week as pilgrims flocked to the Pope’s funeral. The website Cheapflights.co.uk said Rome had moved into its top five destinations from its usual position in the lower end of the top 20. “I have never known any event to have such an effect on inquiries,” said chief executive David Soskin.

The Independent – Mouse clicks and mortar

…David Soskin, the Chief Executive Officer of Cheapflights.co.uk, says: “It’s an extraordinary environment in which to work, because it moves so rapidly. The difference between working for a dot.com company and a normal company is like driving a family saloon car and driving a Ferrari. Internet companies move at a bewildering speed. It’s a young industry. Our company has been going for only 10 years but we’re dinosaurs by internet standards. We’re all still learning”.

In this environment only the tough survive. “it’s bruising, competitive, fast-moving,” says Soskin. “Running a 24-hour-a-day operation, 365 days a year, is complex – your head spins just thinking about it. It’s not for everybody. We take great care to get the right people. We want people who are very creative, very quick and flexible, and who can work had under pressure”.

The Guardian – The fit test: British neterati who survived

[Lastminute.com] has lost about £250m since it was founded. By comparison, Cheapflights.co.uk, the online travel search and price comparison site established in 1996, makes money and last year accounted for 15% of all travel internet advertising.

Financial Times – How surfers are creating a tide of change

…Large internet companies such as Yahoo and America Online are also entering the travel search arena by buying up stakes in metasearch companies. Others, such as Cheapflights of the UK, pull inventory from lesser-known sources, such as bucket shops, allowing for an even broader range of deals.

Times Online – Making money from cheap flights

…It has taken just 18 months for the Cheapflights.com website to become one of the 20 most-visited travel sites in America.

Mr Soskin puts his website’s success in America down to customer referrals and owning a prize domain name…The Cheapflights website, which was established in 1996 by John Hatt, a former travel journalist, does not actually sell any flights – it is simply a portal listing flights offered by hundreds of travel agents and airlines. The company makes its money on a pay-per-click basis. Each time a consumer clicks through to an airline’s website, Cheapflights receives a fee.

International Herald Tribune – Surfing for the Best Fares

Here are some useful sites in Europe: […] www.cheapflights.co.uk(a kind of travel mart, displaying 600,000 best prices for flights, holidays and short breaks from over 600 airlines and travel companies)
ROGER COLLIS

Daily Express – Passengers who give you flightmares

More than two-thirds of holiday-makers have ended up next to their worst nightmare on a flight abroad, according to a report which identifies five kinds of terrible traveller.

They include the Osbourne-style family which constantly argues and the Elton John type of prima donna who moans about everything, said the report be online site Cheapflights.co.uk.

Others are the drunk, the expert who claims to know about everything and the over-amorous couple.
Cheapflights surveyed 2,500 regular air travellers. They found that 57 per cent fly at least twice a year and 68 per cent had sat next to a nightmare.