Industry veteran launches new boutique OTA

Jeff Klee, co-founder and CEO of online travel agency CheapAir, says he can now admit something he has said internally for years: He hates the name “CheapAir.”

That disdain has driven his decision to focus more of his energy - and more of his company’s product development and marketing resources - on his other brand, business travel management platform AmTrav.

“We ended 2019 where 70% of our volume came from the corporate side. That is a giant shift from about five years ago when we were about 90% consumer,” Klee says.

“And part of it is because I’ve been reluctant to pour resources into a brand name I hated.”

But Klee says he doesn't want to give up on operating a B2C brand, in part because it provides an opportunity to test new features with customers, which can be too disruptive for the road warriors that rely on the consistency of AmTrav.

To solve that dilemma, Klee is now launching a third brand, Qtrip, a consumer site built on the framework of CheapAir and that will eventually replace it entirely.

However, with more than 30 years in the travel industry, Klee says he’s launching this new site with prudence.

“We're not under any illusions. We're not going to be the next Expedia. What we are trying to do is create a product that a subset of travelers - those who are a little more discerning and care more about value than price - will love, kind of a boutique OTA,” Klee says.

“Can we find those travelers and make our product compelling enough to make them loyal customers? It won't be easy, but we're going to try.”

Part of that acquisition strategy will, of course, involve pay-per-click ads. But Klee says Qtrip will be cautious - “we are in this business to make money ... we are not going to go crazy spending” - and prioritize product development over marketing. 

“You can either have a really great product that people genuinely love and be successful because of that, or you can be really great at marketing with an average product and be successful because of that. Frankly I think most OTAs that are out there that have been successful have taken the latter approach,” he says.

“We’re more about trying the former. But the, 'If you build it, they will come’ philosophy doesn’t work. So you clearly need some of both.”

Klee says Qtrip will differentiate itself by the value it offers beyond surfacing the lowest fares, starting with features that have already existed on CheapAir such as the Next Generation Storefront display, a U.S.-based personal travel advisor assigned for each booking and a range of payment options that includes cryptocurrency.

Next, Qtrip will focus on adding elements to appeal to business travelers who do their own bookings - something Klee says just wouldn’t fit with the CheapAir brand - including the ability to generate an expense report in the platform, the ability to add corporate discount codes for flights, hotels and car rentals and easy access to past trips and invoices.

“From a product standpoint, we tell ourselves all the time that if we can't deliver a better experience than Expedia and Google, why bother? Google, in particular, is a phenomenal product. We won't be better than they are for everyone,” Klee says.

“But for a subset of travelers, especially those who want to comparison shop not just the lowest-priced options but also whatever buy-ups exist, we think we will have some appeal.”