Travelers Are Looking at Hundreds of Websites Before Booking a Trip

There are plenty of debates about whether it is better to book flights on your phone or on your laptop. But no matter what device you are using, you’re likely encountering true chaos either way. A recent study from Travelport revealed that 58 percent of travelers find the number of choices when booking travel to be completely overwhelming.

The company’s “Difficult to Compare” report took a look at just how much choice consumers (that’s us) are faced with when it comes to actually booking those trips we have been planning. According to the report, since 2010, the offerings from the world’s most popular 250 airlines have expanded from 500 to 10,000 different product options. Those product options include variations on “premium economy,” bundle offers, various upgrades, and add-on experiences.

With all of these options, and the endless quest to find the “best deal possible,” Americans specifically are spending a ton of time comparing and researching before they book a trip. According to an Expedia study, American travelers are visiting up to 277 web pages before they book , versus the global average of 141 pages. This translates to Americans spending up to 524 minutes looking at travel content, compared to the global average of 303 minutes, before booking. Back in 2013, Americans were looking at up to 38 websites before booking.

While all of this data is intended for industry executives and marketing professionals, it tells us, the average consumer, some important information as well. First of all, the act of booking is a total chore. Things aren’t just one price. Depending on where you book, you might be losing money on junk fees or bad intel. It requires a pretty ridiculous amount of diligence to feel like you aren’t being taken advantage of by these huge corporations and the many third party sites that make them money.

The second important thing it shows is that, for better or worse, the frantic, stressful experience of booking a hotel or flight isn’t a you problem. You don’t lack some sort of travel super power because you’re getting confused by the differences between “basic,” “basic economy” and “basic economy plus.” There just didn’t used to be that many options. As much as airlines insist that customers prefer “a la carte” style booking, it doesn’t actually seem to be as popular with people who are looking to book a flight where they won’t be treated like cattle by underpaid and understaffed employees.

Jacob Stern dove into the phenomenon regarding hotel booking and junk fees for The Atlantic back in 2023. He detailed the absolutely absurd experience of trying to nail down the best price and then booking that hotel at that “discounted rate.” The whole experience will “leave you questioning what is true and what is false,” Stern wrote. “It will beat you down until, at a certain point, you won’t even care. You’ll just want to be done already.”

Some of this has been addressed by proposed federal legislation—the Federal Trade Commission proposed a ban on junk fees on platforms like travel booking sites and concert ticket platforms back in October 2023. But even with potential federal regulation on the extra fees that someone can rack up booking through certain websites, that only tackles a portion of the overall nightmare experience.

A larger problem that’s harder to tackle is what the end result for endless booking options will mean for everyone—is this a bubble that will burst? Do you just need to sit down and prepare to spend hours simply trying to get reservations for trips you’ve already planned and prepared for? Is the only way to cut through the garbage and jargon being able to pay top prices for more efficient service?

Until it’s resolved, Thrillist will keep providing the tips and tricks to best intuit this unwieldy booking industry.