Bob Geldof has criticised rival on-line travel agencies Expedia and Travelocity for being too slow – as his own travel site crashed on the first day of going live.
The former Boomtown Rats frontman said the Microsoft-owned Expedia site and Sabre’s Travelocity took far too long to display air fares but as he prepared to show off his own travel site, deckchair.com, it failed. The crash was put down to an overload of hits on the site after the blaze of publicity it received on its first day.
Geldof decided to create the site after becoming frustrated when he tried to find a suitable deal to take his family on holiday to Florida.
He has used cash from his Planet 24 television production company for the venture.
Speaking at its launch in central London, he said: “I tried different travel agents and got different prices so I used the Internet on sites like Expedia and Travelocity. I still had zero information 3hrs later. It took nine pages to get through all the rubbish such as registration and advertising. It was just hopeless and I ended up paying too much for a flight.
“With deckchair.com you log on and it asks you where you want to go and when and then tells you the cheapest fares on offer.” Geldof said fares are up to 70% cheaper than published fares.
Expedia UK manager James Vaile admitted users did have to register before using the site but claimed it was necessary for booking purposes and all on-line agency sites needed the same information.
He added: “The easy-click purchase like deckchair.com’s is also there. We are delighted Bob has entered the market because it stimulates activity but with Expedia you can get more than just flights.”
A Travelocity spokesman said a flight was bookable within three clicks on the site and registration, which users have to do after three visits, was necessary for sending out tickets.
Geldof’s site uses Worldspan and also features consolidators including Golden Wings Tours and Globepost. It is planning to add charter flights, insurance, car hire and package holidays within the next 12 months.