I live in Chicago and my company decided to send me to a conference in Boston. I had the option of staying a few extra days because the weekend after the conference was a holiday weekend.
I know that Boston has a lot of historical sights that are mostly about the Revolutionary War. I decided to stay three extra days and do some sight-seeing. I was on my own to arrange for flight and hotel tickets, so I did an internet search for one of those search engine aggregators that finds the cheapest flights and hotels.
I landed on the Momondo site mostly because it’s just gorgeous! I was really struck by the high resolution photos of exotic places like Istanbul, Buenos Aires, and Moscow. Those are places I really hadn’t thought about traveling to before, but the photographs made me want to plan another trip!
It was pretty easy to find flights and hotels at a reasonable price on Momondo. I even got a rental car using their site. Using Momondo was so easy that I didn’t even think about the process of booking much. Now I have these really great memories of visiting a city with a rich and important history and a mix of cultures that really speaks to the spirit of America.
About
Momondo is based out of Copenhagen, Denmark. It was launched in 2006 as a search engine for air flights. In October of 2007, Momondo relaunched with the additions of city guides and travel blogs. Since then, they have added pricing for vacation packages, hotels, rental cars, and travel deals. In April, 2011, Momondo and its parent company, Skygate, were acquired by the British/American travel company, Cheapflights Media, Ltd. They currently brand under the name Momondo Group, Ltd.
Momondo is a search site that helps travelers find the best prices on hotels, flights, and cars. The guest enters the travel departure and return dates and Momondo finds the best deals and rates for them. Momondo also shows how someone can get additional savings by adjusting some of the criteria, like the travel dates.
Momondo is a multilingual site. It includes translations in Danish, Swedish, Norwegian, Finnish, Polish, Ukrainian, Chinese, English, German, French, Spanish, Portuguese, Italian, Russian, Romania, Dutch, and Turkish.
Momondo doesn’t directly sell tickets or book hotels. They show what options are available and then refer guests to travel providers that can finalize the transactions.
As of 2014, Momondo has a strong financial rating with a net worth of 130 million euros.
Top Features
Destination Photos and Descriptions
I was really taken in by the beauty of the photographs of various places on the site. The photos are high resolution images of some of the most breathtaking sights in every location. The hues and compositions of the photos make you want to visit every place. When you click on a destination, it takes you to another page that tells you a little about the city.
My trip was scheduled for Boston, so seeing historical sights was a given. When I clicked on the Boston page, the first thing it said was, “Lobster, lazy days, and sultry jazz.” Those weren’t the first things that came to my mind when I thought of Boston, but it opened my eyes that there might be more to Boston than I anticipated.
Travel Blogs
One of the top tabs is labeled, “Inspiration.” When I clicked on that, it took me to a page full of links to travel blogs. There are a bunch of articles about specific places in various parts of the world. It’s a closer look at destinations from the perspective of people who’ve traveled there. The blogs were interesting to read and inspired me to think outside the box a little for my next vacation.
Large Selection
Momondo has listings of over 130,000 homes, villas, and apartments from places all around the world. They offer selections in virtually every location and budget.
Apartments and Villas
Hotel stays aren’t for everyone. Apartment, single family home, or villas can sometimes be more affordable than a hotel. Some travelers prefer to cook in, rather than eat out, because it’s cheaper and healthier. Some facilities have use of on-site laundry services which is a real plus.
Momondo searches for apartments, homes, and villas, making it easy to compare that type of vacation with the costs of a hotel. That makes it easier to weigh your options.
Highlighted Listings
Momondo takes the liberty of highlighting trips that have good deals. If your dates are flexible or if you haven’t settled on a destination, this is an efficient way to narrow down your choices and still keep your budget in line.
Top Countries and Cities Listed
The bottom of the home page bullets the top countries and cities for travelers. I found it interesting to see where other people were going. I suspect that the some of the most popular travel places might also be ones that regularly have great travel deals.
Trip Finder
There’s a pretty awesome feature where you can input information about the kind of trip you’d like to take and what your budget is. The site will pull up possible trips that fit within your agenda. I could see this being fun if you had some time off but really didn’t know where you wanted to go.
It would also be a great feature if you had a tight budget because the site weeds out trips that are out of reach. Once you know what fits into your budget, it’s easier to choose where to go.
Best Price Guarantee
Momondo is so sure that you’ll find the best price on your vacation, that they guarantee it. If you find another booking within 24 hours that has a lower rate, they’ll refund the difference.
Flight Ratings
Momondo rates flights from 1-10, based upon value. The score is calculated by combining the duration of the flight and the cost. Strong ratings mean a good value for your travel dollars.
Prices
One of the coolest features is the graphs that appear after you select your destination and travel dates. The graphs show the difference in prices if you adjust your travel dates. For my Boston trip, I couldn’t change the dates anyway. Even if I could have changed them, the difference was less than $50, so I probably wouldn’t have bothered. If my dates were flexible or I had extra time, I’d definitely consider making some adjustments in the dates to take advantage of the savings.
Criticism
The travel industry is fluid by nature, so flight and hotel rates change often. Momondo does not offer rates in “real time,” so information isn’t always totally accurate, unless you get a confirmation on your booking.
One thing reviewers complain about is that flights come up in the search that don’t actually exist and then they have to go back to the search to find another flight. It’s frustrating because the whole point of using a search aggregator is to save time.
Most people who use the site never need customer support. The occasional situation where the site doesn’t work and someone gets overcharged, customers found it difficult to get in touch with someone in customer service. The most complaints with the site pertain to poor customer service.
The site works so well, that most people never need customer service, so the few complaints are an anomaly.
Customer Support
Momondo doesn’t list a phone number on their site, so if you had a problem or question, the only way to get a hold of them is by email.
You can get a phone number for them if you book a reservation. A couple people said that they mistakenly added in some extras like travel insurance and didn’t want it.
They felt like they overpaid and had difficulty getting a refund.
Customers complain of calling and no one answering or waiting on hold for long periods of time.
PROS
Choice of accommodations-hotel, apartment, villa, home
One-stop shopping for hotels, rental cars, and flights
Large selection of over 130,000 listings
Best price guarantee
Booking directly through agent or owner
Flexible dates calendar
Flight ratings
Worldwide destinations
Major airlines and hotels
CONS
Pulls up flights that don’t exist
Flexible dates are inaccurate
Conclusion
Even though my trip is booked, I still like to return to the Momondo site because it’s so beautiful. It’s like having a coffee table travel book on your laptop. I’m still nosing around the site trying to figure out where I want to go next and how I can get the lowest price for it.
I didn’t have any trouble getting around the site. Thanks to the little blurb of information about Boston, I did seek out some good lobster and a few jazz bars. It’s not something I would have done if I hadn’t read that.
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