In a radical move that is likely to shake-up the UK travel newsletter market, Cheapflights.co.uk, the UK's independent, award-winning and profitable pioneer of internet travel deal search and comparison, is now offering free deal listings to industry advertisers in its weekly newsletter. The newsletter is currently the leading independent UK travel news newsletter with over one million subscribers.
In this ground-breaking industry development, Cheapflights' Newsletter editors will now consider deals submitted by any reputable travel industry advertiser. Subject to the deals being really compelling, they will be included for free. Alternatively, advertisers can book a free "Exclusive Content" position by providing time-limited exclusive offers such as free seats, a time-limited discount or entry to a competition. In addition, and as a significant bonus, the advertiser will not be subsequently charged for any leads referred to them from the newsletter. Cheapflights will also continue to offer paid-for graphical advertising placements including banners, skyscrapers and MPUs, which have proved highly effective for its travel partners
As a neutral site that does not sell travel deals but which daily publishes over 1.5 million updated deals from a Who's Who of the travel industry, Cheapflights.co.uk has always been a consumer champion. The free newsletter and this new initiative are further evidence of Cheapflights' commitment to its users.
Rob Passmore, Cheapflights' Commercial Director comments:
"In line with our independent status, our team of newsletter editors will have discretion to select the very best deals each week without the bias or distraction of having to consider who has paid for advertising space and who has not. With no inventory of our own to promote, we can publish the best value deals for our subscribers to view. This is in marked contrast to newsletters linked to commercial sites who often offer "Handpicked" deals from their own sales inventory."
He added:
"In offering free newsletter advertising, we aim to make the Cheapflights newsletter the 'must read' consumer travel email and thus to command a massive and loyal user base. Our goal is to offer Cheapflights’ users the very best independent newsletter travel round-up of deals, sales and news from across the travel industry."
David Soskin, CEO of Cheapflights commented:
"We believe this bold new initiative will benefit our newsletter subscribers by giving them once a week access to an even wider source of selected deals. This will also provide a significant add-on value for existing Cheapflights advertisers. We also hope that it will attract new advertisers to the internet. Cheapflights introduced the pay per click model into the UK in 2000 and, benefiting from this cost-effective advertising model, it is estimated that last year our travel partners sold £1 Billion worth of deals which had been referred from Cheapflights' sites. "
Notes to Editors
Cheapflights Ltd. Founded in 1996 and profitable since launch, Cheapflights is the UK’s leading UK flight price comparison web and pioneered the travel price comparison model in the UK and also introduced pay-per-click in the UK in 2000.
Cheapflights does not sell any travel products. Each day, it displays over one million constantly updated prices supplied by hundreds of travel partners worldwide. These deals can be accessed online or by telephone direct with the advertiser from links or information on our site. This makes Cheapflights one of the most comprehensive independent publishers online of flight and other travel deals available
Leading online measurement company Hitwise has described Cheapflights as ‘the UK’s favourite travel price comparison site’. The Company's unique user numbers globally reached 5.25 million in January 2006.
Cheapflights estimates that it generated travel product sales of over £1 billion for its advertising partners in 2005. These advertisers read like a Who’s Who of the travel world - ranging from British Airways, Thomson, Expedia, Travelocity and Thomas Cook to specialist operators like STA Travel , Mark Warner and Iglu.com.
Cheapflights is one of the few British internet companies successfully to establish an operation in the USA with Cheapflights.com. Launched in May 2003, with 2 million unique users a month it is already in the top 13 USA travel sites. The Company has also recently launched UK and USA "Flight News" blog sites with a view to these becoming major
Cheapflights' independent status as an online travel price search and comparison and travel news site makes it a natural starting point for finding travel deals and up-to-date travel industry information.
Travel Web Sites:
www.Cheapflights.co.uk; www.Cheapflights.com;
"Flight News" Blog sites:
UK News: http://news.cheapflights.co.uk; US News: http://news.cheapflights.com
