Hipmunk
Encyclopedia
Hipmunk
is an online consumer oriented travel company, headquartered in San Francisco, CA. It was co-founded by Adam Goldstein
and Reddit
co-founder Steve Huffman
in 2010.
The company addresses visual organization of flight search results. It received increased media attention when Google
announced its flight search service
in September 2011.
Hipmunk presents search results in a timeline, based on time of day, on one page. Moreover, the search engine ranks the flights by price, schedule, and "agony", a score based on factors such as duration of the flight and number of stops. The search engine offers its own ranking of hotels. The results can be filtered by “Price”, “Reviews”, and even “Ecstasy”. Aside from hotels, the service looks up airbnb
results and sorts relevant train routes provided by Amtrak
.
The search engine redirects users to Orbitz to purchase flight tickets. In the case of American Airlines, which does not provide its flight data to Orbitz, Hipmunk redirects users to the airline's website. Southwest Airlines
also does not provide its fares to Hipmunk.
The company makes money by collecting commissions for directing flight and hotel purchase traffic to airlines, hotels, and other travel-search sites. For example Orbitz pays Hipmunk its standard rate of $3 per flight sold.
's Summer 2010 class. Alexis Ohanian joined the team days before the launch. At this time, Hipmunk relied on Orbitz
to get its flight data, but in November 2010, the company signed a deal to use ITA Software's QPX Solution. Currently, all the major U.S. travel search engines, such as Kayak
, FareCompare
, Bing
, and TripAdvisor
, are powered by ITA.
In February 2011 Hipmunk introduced an iPhone app, followed by an iPad-dedicated app four months later. Time magazine included Hipmunk in its list of "The 50 Best Websites of 2011"
Hipmunk is programmed using Python
and Tornado and rents infrastructure from Amazon EC2
In August 2011, Hipmunk passed one million. search queries per month.
.
Hipmunk
Hipmunk is an online consumer oriented travel company, headquartered in San Francisco, CA. It was co-founded by Adam Goldstein and Reddit co-founder Steve Huffman in 2010.The company addresses visual organization of flight search results...
is an online consumer oriented travel company, headquartered in San Francisco, CA. It was co-founded by Adam Goldstein
Adam Goldstein (author)
Adam Goldstein started his own online software company, GoldfishSoft, at age 14 and began writing alongside David Pogue for The Missing Manual series at the age of 16...
and Reddit
Reddit
reddit is a social news website where the registered users submit content, in the form of either a link or a text "self" post. Other users then vote the submission "up" or "down," which is used to rank the post and determine its position on the site's pages and front page.Reddit was originally...
co-founder Steve Huffman
Steve Huffman
Steve Huffman is a web developer and co-founder of reddit. More recently, he has co-founded the airfare search site Hipmunk. He graduated from the University of Virginia in 2005 with Alexis Ohanian to start Reddit in Medford, MA after taking funding from Y Combinator.-References:...
in 2010.
The company addresses visual organization of flight search results. It received increased media attention when Google
Google
Google Inc. is an American multinational public corporation invested in Internet search, cloud computing, and advertising technologies. Google hosts and develops a number of Internet-based services and products, and generates profit primarily from advertising through its AdWords program...
announced its flight search service
Google Flights
Google Flights is an online flight booking service which facilitates the purchase of airline tickets through third party suppliers.-History:In April 2011 the Federal government of the United States approved Google's $700 million purchase of ITA Software...
in September 2011.
Hipmunk presents search results in a timeline, based on time of day, on one page. Moreover, the search engine ranks the flights by price, schedule, and "agony", a score based on factors such as duration of the flight and number of stops. The search engine offers its own ranking of hotels. The results can be filtered by “Price”, “Reviews”, and even “Ecstasy”. Aside from hotels, the service looks up airbnb
Airbnb
Airbnb is an online service that matches people seeking vacation rentals and other short-term accommodations with those with rooms to rent, generally private parties that are not professional hoteliers. The site was founded in August 2008 by Brian Chesky and Joe Gebbia. In July 2011, the company...
results and sorts relevant train routes provided by Amtrak
Amtrak
The National Railroad Passenger Corporation, doing business as Amtrak , is a government-owned corporation that was organized on May 1, 1971, to provide intercity passenger train service in the United States. "Amtrak" is a portmanteau of the words "America" and "track". It is headquartered at Union...
.
The search engine redirects users to Orbitz to purchase flight tickets. In the case of American Airlines, which does not provide its flight data to Orbitz, Hipmunk redirects users to the airline's website. Southwest Airlines
Southwest Airlines
Southwest Airlines Co. is an American low-cost airline based in Dallas, Texas. Southwest is the largest airline in the United States, based upon domestic passengers carried,...
also does not provide its fares to Hipmunk.
The company makes money by collecting commissions for directing flight and hotel purchase traffic to airlines, hotels, and other travel-search sites. For example Orbitz pays Hipmunk its standard rate of $3 per flight sold.
History
Hipmunk launched in August 2010 after Steve Huffman and Adam Goldstein had been working together for nearly three months during Y CombinatorY Combinator
Y Combinator is an American seed-stage startup funding firm, started in March 2005. Y Combinator provides seed money, advice, and connections at two 3-month programs per year...
's Summer 2010 class. Alexis Ohanian joined the team days before the launch. At this time, Hipmunk relied on Orbitz
Orbitz
Orbitz Worldwide, Inc. is an Internet travel company headquartered in the Citigroup Center in Near West Side, Chicago, Illinois. Through its primary web site Orbitz.com, Orbitz Worldwide enables travelers to research, plan and book a broad range of travel products, facilitating 1.5 million flight...
to get its flight data, but in November 2010, the company signed a deal to use ITA Software's QPX Solution. Currently, all the major U.S. travel search engines, such as Kayak
Kayak.com
KAYAK is a technology company providing online travel tools through its global family of websites and mobile applications. Started by cofounders of Expedia, Orbitz, and Travelocity, KAYAK allows users to compare information from hundreds of other travel websites in one display when booking travel...
, FareCompare
FareCompare
FareCompare L.P. is a privately-owned company which provides plane tickets, airfare, air travel planning tools, and travel advice services. The company's primary product is FareCompare.com, an airfare comparison shopping site. It also offers online group travel booking services...
, Bing
Bing
Bing is a web search engine from Microsoft.Bing may also refer to:* An onomatopœia of a bell sound* Bing cherry, a variety of cherry* Bing , Chinese flatbread* Bing , a German company that manufactured toys and kitchen utensils...
, and TripAdvisor
TripAdvisor
TripAdvisor.com is a travel website that assists customers in gathering travel information, posting reviews and opinions of travel-related content and engaging in interactive travel forums. It is part of the TripAdvisor Media Group, operated by Expedia, Inc. TripAdvisor is a pioneer of...
, are powered by ITA.
In February 2011 Hipmunk introduced an iPhone app, followed by an iPad-dedicated app four months later. Time magazine included Hipmunk in its list of "The 50 Best Websites of 2011"
Hipmunk is programmed using Python
Python (programming language)
Python is a general-purpose, high-level programming language whose design philosophy emphasizes code readability. Python claims to "[combine] remarkable power with very clear syntax", and its standard library is large and comprehensive...
and Tornado and rents infrastructure from Amazon EC2
Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud
Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud is a central part of Amazon.com's cloud computing platform, Amazon Web Services . EC2 allows users to rent virtual computers on which to run their own computer applications...
In August 2011, Hipmunk passed one million. search queries per month.
Demographics
Hipmunk has a worldwide audience of 130,000 visitors per month according to DoubleClick Ad Planner. They generate around 900,000 page views. The median Hipmunk user is a male, 35-44 years of age, has a Bachelor's degree, and is making a middle-range income of $75,000-$99,000. According to the report, the top audience interests are venture capital, development tools, and travel agencies and services, suggesting a computer savvy demographic and culture.Hipmunk Me
In his role as marketing director, Alexis Ohanian directed the Hipmunk Me project, which allowed Facebook fans to request hand-rendered Hipmunkifications of their profile photo. During this campaign, the company’s Facebook fan base grew by more than 500 percent.