10 must have features in every airline website

What are the critical features that are must have on an airline's website? I've compiled my list of top 10 features every airline website should have. Do check n let me know you think there're other critical features each airline website should have.

1 Ability to modify search and retry

Though this looks like an obvious feature, many airline websites miss it. While booking, customers often need to try different dates/destination etc. To facilitate this, an airline website should allow modification of previous search criteria, so that passengers can change only one or two attributes and trigger a fresh search. This is allowed on most airline websites- but websites of some airlines- like Srilankan, Fiji Airways etc don’t have this simple feature. Each time we have to start a fresh search by entering all attributes again, which is highly inconvenient. This could even be limitation of the platform used by airlines to book- like Amadeus.

2 Ability to locate all my bookings in one place

Once I login into airline’s website, I should be able to see all my current and past bookings. While this is allowed on many websites like AirAsia, Spicejet etc, on some websites seeing our own booking is a very complicated process- like on Jet Airways.com or on Srilankan. To see our booking we have to enter PNR, name, airport etc with exact precision and then retrieve- why not simply list all the bookings made with logged in user id? It is not convenient to store these elsewhere (like email) and copy paste them back into airline website.

Similarly if I made a booking without logging in or without specifying loyalty membership number, there should be an easy provision to add this booking to my account later. Missing basic functions like forgot password is also a turn off.

3. Ability to see fare calendar

Very crucial for budget travelers or holiday travelers who are flexible with date. If the fares on adjacent day is several thousand rupees cheaper, many are open to change their travel dates by a day or two. For this airlines should give an idea of how the fares are for rest of the days in the week/month.

Some airlines (like AirAsia) and OTAs show lowest fare right inside the calendar, which is even better.

4.View rates n make payment in a currency of choice

While most airlines allow payments in local currency, some websites like FlyScoot don't allow payments in local currency, show payments in USD. Even Srilankan used to charge in USD earlier but now they allow INR payment. If not all major currencies, at least currency of country in which they operate must be supported. Disadvantage of foreign currency payment is that banks charge an extra fee plus always use a conversion rate favorable to them, so we loose few extra rupees in the process.

5. Auto apply best possible offers
This issue I spotted in FlyDubai exclusively. There's a cheaper fare with 20 kg bag but default selection doesn't include this.

In some cases with Vistara/Jet I find that Premium economy is at times cheaper than Economy- booking system is smart to auto select such option, which is good.

6. Provide a hold function/free cancellation within 24 hours 
Jet Airways allows a 24 hour no questions asked cancellation policy. If you're not 100% sure (like you've to check with family etc) but don't want to lose out on the low fare you saw, then this is great option. All airlines should provide this.

Spicejet used to allow this earlier for free, now they are charging Rs 150 to retain the fare for 24 hours.

This feature is also useful if you do some mistakes- like selected wrong date or typo error in name etc.

7. Provide easy cancellation & swift refund
Cancellation is a simple & straight forward process on Jet Airways, Air Vistara etc. But extremely complicated in AirAsia [Detailed post here] and few other airlines. Cancellation and Refund process should be simple and fast enough.

8. Once origin is selected, show only destinations applicable to the origin.

AirAsia website does this brilliantly, but most airlines don’t. Once I select the origin city, show me only those destinations to which airline flies from origin city. Showing a city and then next screen saying No flights between the two cities is waste of everyone’s time. It is OK if flight is full or flight is not available on specific day, but otherwise make it simpler for end users.

Another variant of this feature is to enable only the dates on which flights operate between the two cities, which is also super convenient.

9. Support multi city booking or booking with long transit

Some websites make it very complicated/near impossible to book a ticket with a few days gap in between connections. Etihad, Srilankan etc facilitate this very smoothly. With few other airlines, it is nearly impossible- booking separate ticket often costs more money and complicates the process in case of delay/cancellation etc. Some airlines like AirAsia allow this only for AirAsia X long haul flights.

10. Don't add unsolicited add-ons. Don't try to trick me when I am trying to book
Auto including insurance, some charity, bags or other stuff I haven't asked for irritate me a lot. (For example, FlyScoot selects FlyBag option by default, which is some 50 to 100 USD extra one way compared to lowest fare shown- if you don't notice and you didn't need a check-in bag, you lose money) Don't force me to check every screen n opt out of unwanted stuff. Let me opt-in if I really need an additional service. Some websites show lowest fare in one screen, but auto select a slightly more expensive fare (like say one includes check-in bag etc)- this is also bad practice- passengers will feel cheated when they realize that they have been charged more or things they didn't ask were auto included.

Most websites add insurance n few other things by default- one should be careful as final price keeps going up at each stage due to these add-ons. Best is airlines to keep the original price throughout and let users add themselves if they need anything extra.

Do you have a feature in mind that airlines should include in their websites? Do comment below.