Press Release: Orbitz
June 5, 2001
CHICAGO, IL -- Orbitz, the much-anticipated, new full-service Internet travel site founded by the world's leading
airlines -- American, Continental, Delta, Northwest and United -- officially opened for business yesterday, offering
consumers a universe of fares and world of travel opportunities. Orbitz offers consumers the most low-cost airfares
and flight options anywhere on the web, including the largest collection of discounted web-only fares available
in one place. Orbitz also offers rental cars, lodging, cruises, vacation packages and other travel deals.
Orbitz launched with the best news possible -- separate research by two independent companies released today confirms
that Orbitz is the place to go on the Internet to find the most low fares and the biggest selection of flights:
-- For finding low fares, Orbitz meets or beats low fares offered on its
largest competitors, Travelocity and Expedia, in more than 4 out of
5 searches (80 percent), according to a new survey by the independent
auditing firm Arthur Andersen. Andersen examined available fares
within the top 100 domestic routes.
-- Consumers who shop online for travel prefer Orbitz 3 to 1 for broadest
array of low fares over Travelocity and Expedia, in a separate Horizon
Research Corp. survey of 500 travel web site users done in mid-May.
-- Those same consumers also preferred Orbitz 2 to 1 for most flight
options over Orbitz' leading competitors.
``Consumers are ready and eager for a different kind of travel web site that offers a more comprehensive and unbiased
view of their travel options and that's much easier to use,'' said Jeffrey G. Katz, Orbitz president and CEO. ``And
travelers have spoken in the research we released today -- they told us they want the best selection of low fares
and flights, and they agree -- Orbitz is the best place to shop online for travel.''
Katz noted that the Internet is already one of the top two places consumers go to plan and buy travel and the number
one retail category on the Internet -- $18 billion last year and expected to leap to $63 billion by 2006 -- with
sales exceeding combined revenues from autos, apparel and books. In April, 33 million people visited Internet travel
sites, more than one-third of the 87 million people online.
At launch, Orbitz already has 175,000 registered users and has sold $3.5 million in tickets, before the marketing
campaign launched. ``We're celebrating the Orbitz launch with a breakthrough leisure travel advertising campaign
debuting in June that introduces collectible-quality posters by renowned travel artists,'' Katz announced. ``And
Orbitz users can enter one of the biggest travel sweepstakes ever -- we're giving away a free, round-trip ticket
every hour, 24 hours a day, seven days a week for six full weeks.''
Orbitz: Most Low Fares, Top Travel Products and Great Traveler Care
Orbitz is the only travel web site that guarantees unbiased fare and flight displays from 455 domestic and international
airlines -- in an easy-to-use grid all on one screen, thanks to revolutionary Orbitz technology developed from
the ground up for the Internet and capable of searching more than two billion fare and flight options in seconds.
And no other online travel site offers as many discounted web-only fares -- thousands and thousands every week
-- as Orbitz.
And Orbitz' unique Travel Watch and Traveler Care services provide personalized trip information not available
from any other travel site. Travel Watch is a veritable ``helicopter traffic report'' of information on weather,
airport congestion, flight delays and more. Through its Traveler Care program, consumers will be notified -- by
email, phone, pager or voice mail -- of their flight's status 48 hours in advance, and can opt to receive another
update three hours before departure time.
``We listened to hundreds of Orbitz travelers while we were developing the site and used many of their ideas. So
now people never again will have to shop multiple sites, wondering whether they found the best selection of low
fares and all of the flights available to their destinations,'' Katz said. ``And for the first time, they'll have
all of the information they need at their fingertips to make their trips as easy as possible.''
Research: Travelers Prefer Orbitz
The Arthur Andersen airfare survey included more than 2,000 individual searches of 7-, 14- and 21-day advance-purchase
fares, as well as weekend web fares. On the weekend getaway fares, the survey found Orbitz meets or beats Travelocity
and Expedia's lowest fares more than 90 percent of the time. Andersen used multiple methodologies, one of which
was Farechase's automated search tool, which performed simultaneous, identical searches on the three sites.
Providing a consumer ``report card'' on Orbitz and its two leading competitors, the Horizon Research survey also
found that nearly twice as many online travel shoppers plan to use Orbitz again and would recommend the site to
a friend than users of either of the other two travel sites. A majority of Orbitz travelers were more satisfied
with the site than the other two, and preferred Orbitz for easy navigation and ability to quickly sort search results.
Giving Away Planet Earth: One of the Biggest Travel Sweepstakes ... Ever
To celebrate the launch, every hour of every day for six weeks, from June 4, 2001 through July 15, 2001, Orbitz
is giving away one round-trip airfare to anywhere in the contiguous 48 states in the ``Orbitz Free Travel Winner,
Every Hour Giveaway'' -- to more than 1,000 winners. In addition, each week a lucky traveler will win an all-expenses-paid
trip for two to any international destination. Travelers just register on Orbitz to qualify (www.orbitz.com)
-- the earlier they register, the more chances they have to win. Local sweepstakes also will be offered on leading
radio stations across the country to add even more excitement to the Orbitz launch.
About Orbitz
Orbitz, LLC is the Chicago-based Internet travel services company that created www.orbitz.com, the full-service
Internet travel agency that offers the most low-cost airfares and flight options on the Internet, including the
biggest collection of discounted web-only fares anywhere. Founded by the world's leading airlines, Orbitz has a
160-employee team of travel, technology, consumer products and communications experts working to create an Internet
travel site that meets consumers' desire for more fare, flight and travel information to make ``Visiting Planet
Earth'' fun and easy.
NOTE: Online travel market facts provided by Jupiter Media Metrix
SOURCE: Orbitz