Summary
Indie, the world’s 1st trip planner focused on long-term travel, was released 1 year ago today.
Since then:
- 682 bugs were fixed/squashed
- 632 new features were released (See the big one’s below)
- 600,000+ searches were conducted (see the most popular searches here)
- Over 100,000 routes were saved by long-term travelers on Indie (Here’s how)
What’s Next?
- More airlines and more budget airlines
- Automated Route Optimization and flight hacking (push button)
- Connecting Long-Term Route Planning with our Experts and Community
One year ago today
It’s been a year to the day that BootsnAll released Indie to the world. Though Indie is the first of its kind, that didn’t mean the work was done (there have been 59 releases of Indie over the past year).
Here are the highlights we’ve added to Indie over the last 365 days.
Flight Availability Picker – Flexible Dates
Travelers who use Indie and have 5 or more stops can take advantage of the Flight Availability Picker (FAP) to customize their multi-stop flights.
This feature may save you time, money, or both, as FAP allows users to edit the details of each individual flight in their multi-stop itinerary.
FAP makes it possible to choose each flight by:
- Price
- Number of stops
- Airline
- Cabin class
- Travel time
For more in depth information about how to use FAP to save time and money, with real trip examples, read RTW Airfare’s Sweet Spot: Time vs. Money
Flexible Date Search
In addition to the Flight Availability Picker, travelers can also use the Flexible Dates Search to search 3 days before or after each flight in their multi-stop itinerary (like the Flight Availability Picker above, the route must have at least 5 legs).
One of the benefits of long-term travel is not having a rigid schedule – time is finally on your side! By using the Flexible Dates Search, travelers can search each individual flight in their itinerary over the course of a week.
Flight prices and details (travel time, number of stops) can vary from day to day, so being able to see flight details over the course of a week can help you save time and money on your route. See the screenshot below for how much things like prices and flight times can differ from day to day and flight to flight.
Customer service and expert help
Being able to search, price, and book a multi-stop flight without having to talk to a single person is appealing to many travelers, but it’s also nice to be able to ask questions and pick the brain of an expert should you want.
Submit your route for expert feedback
BootsnAll has been around since 1998 helping folks plan long-term trips, so take advantage of over 15 years of expertise with this feature.
To use this feature on Indie, build a route and search fares to receive a price, click “select” to get to the Flight Availability Picker page, then simply click the Submit your route for advice button and fill out the form. A BootsnAll team member will respond within 24 hours.
Crowdsourced route feedback
All travelers using Indie will have access to the experts at BootsnAll, but now you can submit your route to Trips, a new crowdsourced function of the website. Trips allows you to share your route and ask specific questions for our community of knowledgeable and experienced travelers to comment on.
Live chat and phone
There is a live chat option in the bottom right corner of all pages on Indie. Use this function to get immediate assistance with your route and trip planning. Travelers can also call the phone number (located at the bottom of each page) for help.
Post-sale support
Long-term flight planning can be a complicated process, and you never know what can happen with airlines and certain flights. Emergencies happen, a storm can strike at any time, and flights can be delayed or canceled.
Our customer service team will be there with you every step of the way and be your advocate with the airlines should something go wrong with any of your flights. We also realize that changes sometimes have to be made, for whatever reason, and we’re there for you when something unexpected pops up.
Improving the traveler experience
We want you to enjoy using Indie. It should be a fun planning tool, so we are constantly working on ways to make your experience better.
- What good is a multi-flight search engine if you have to wait forever to see results. The speed of Indie is at least 10% faster than 1 year ago.
- Indie now works on touch-screen devices like smartphones and tablets.
- Payment can be made by Visa, Mastercard, American Express, Discover, and wire transfers
What would you like to see next on Indie? Comment below to let us know.
If you’re ready to make 2014 the year you finally take that big trip, become a BootsnAll Member today – it’s free!