Orbitz announced today a re-launch of the popular Orbitz Flights, Hotels, Cars for iPhone App, adding major speed improvements, powerful sort and filtering capabilities and new mapping tools that better highlight exclusive, mobile-only hotel discounts. The completely rebuilt Orbitz app is the only fully native, streamlined in-app search and book experience for flights, hotel rooms and car rentals. The new Orbitz app is available for free from the App Store on iPhone and iPod touch or at: http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/orbitz-flights-hotels-cars/id403546234

A consumer usability study also released today found the newly updated Orbitz Flights, Hotels, Cars for iPhone App to be the fastest and easiest way to search and book an entire trip among leading travel apps, mobile websites and desktop sites tested. In the new study, consumers were able to search and book an entire trip (three separate bookings for a flight, hotel room and car rental) in just over seven minutes, twice as fast as the average of all other competitors tested. 

Findings from the study by the Atmosphere Research Group and C+R Research include:
*  The Orbitz app is more than twice as fast as all other iPhone competitors and also faster than competing Android, iPad and desktop experiences tested
*  100% of consumers successfully completed the study tasks on the Orbitz app compared with an aggregate 40% failure rate on competitor experiences
*  92% of participating consumers gave the Orbitz app a positive review versus 30% for competitive search and booking experiences
*  Orbitz commissioned Atmosphere Research Group, a travel and technology research firm, and C+R Research, a marketing research firm to conduct a first-of-its-kind study. In the study, 25 online travel bookers who own smartphones were asked to search and book a flight, hotel room and car rental using a pre-defined set of vacation components for a weekend getaway in Hilton Head, SC utilizing a variety of methods including smartphone apps, mobile websites, tablet apps, and desktop experiences.  Each study participant was tasked with booking the same itinerary on the Orbitz app and at least one competing experience. For more information on the study’s methodology and results, download Atmosphere Research Group’s Study and Results Analysis and C+R Research’s Methodology Report.

“The test scenario, which was carefully selected in order to be fair to each competing solution, represented consumers searching, selecting and booking a real-life vacation that included a flight, hotel room, and car rental,” said Jeffrey Breen, analyst for the Atmosphere Research Group. “As I observed more than eight hours of testing, I was struck by the ease of use for the new Orbitz iPhone app and how study participants were able to maneuver through the booking process so quickly. There was simply no peer for the seamless, integrated shopping experience on the Orbitz app, and the overwhelming results from the usability tests speak for themselves.”

“Mobile commerce is skyrocketing, with nearly 6 million consumers using mobile devices to shop for travel on Orbitz in May 2012 – more than double the number in May 2011. During this period of tremendous growth, consumers have consistently shown us they value two things out of mobile solutions: saving time and saving money,” said Chris Orton, president of Orbitz.com. “Scoring 4.5 out of 5 on speed and stability evaluations validates that the Orbitz app, which was completely built in-house, overwhelmingly delivers on the consumer’s need to save time in a way that leaves our competition in the dust. We’ve also developed new mapping tools in the app that will help consumers easily navigate to mobile exclusive hotel deals ensuring we satisfy their need to save money while on-the-go.”

Highlights of the new and improved Orbitz app:
*  Unrivaled speed: Search and book flights, hotels, and rental cars with 1-tap access to recent searches, an intuitive calendar for selecting travel dates, auto-suggest options when entering city/airport names, powerful sorting and filtering capabilities and a single-screen booking process.
*  Easy access to exclusive mobile-only hotel discounts: The new map interface makes it even easier to find Orbitz Mobile Steals, exclusive mobile-only discounts of up to 65% off tonight-only and future hotel stays in over 200 popular destinations worldwide.
*  Convenient travel tools: Sign-in with your existing Orbitz.com account to access previously stored information and travel preferences including name, credit card number, billing address, seating preferences and frequent flyer programs; get easy access to itineraries even when there’s no internet connection; add trips to iCal on your iPhone or iPod touch; and get one tap access to flight status and gate change information.