Monarch Airlines Website Ranked Number One For Usability

Monarch has been ranked number one for website usability and service for booking flights online, according to the latest research into travel purchasing by eDigital Research. 

The airline topped a list of 11 flight operators including British Airways, Virgin Atlantic, Jet2 and Ryanair in a mystery shopping survey of 51 travel websites.

Monarch’s performance also catapulted the airline into 7th overall in the travel industry survey, up 10 places on its position in November 2010, and a significant improvement since 2009, when eDigital ranked the airline in 32nd place.

Ian Chambers, e-commerce manager at Monarch said: “We’ve been rising up the league in this benchmark survey and it is really good, independent recognition of the improvements we’ve made to the monarch.co.uk website.”

Monarch completed a total redesign and overhaul of its website at the start of 2011 and has seen monthly flight bookings increase by 22 per cent and improved its conversion rate of website visitors by 25 per cent.

The airline has also grown the number of passengers choosing pre-allocated seats online by 22 per cent, while those requesting extra legroom is up by 18 per cent.

“Our approach was to improve the user’s experience when booking a flight; making what can be a complex process simpler and more transparent” Chambers added.

The website’s improved performance was down to the introduction of a “dynamic running total panel” which gives a complete breakdown of each flight component selected and changes to the flights display with a 5-day and monthly view highlighting the most economical options.

“Improved usability should naturally increase conversion, as long as the pricing is competitive,” he said. “We focused on simpler data entry and support information such as more transparent pricing and clearer benefits to increase the up-sell of flight extras like meals, bags and seats.”

The website’s flight and passenger account management screens have also been revamped. “We’ve even improved the facility of managing customer bookings in the event of crises, such as the volcanic ash cloud from Iceland last year,” added Ian Chambers.