Fly.com was a flight metasearch engine that compared hundreds of sites for the cheapest flights online then displayed the results in one coherent list. In this original Fly.com review, we compared the results of Fly.com against some of the other popular flight aggregators on the market at the time including Skyscanner, Kayak, Momondo, Hipmunk and Mobissimo and more.
A Short History of Fly.com
Fly.com was launched as part of the Travelzoo brand in 2009. Travelzoo is a deals publishing website that sources travel and entertainment offers.
Fly.com was launched to compete with another very popular flight search engine – Kayak. They aimed to make flight search simple, fast and uncluttered and with such a short and catchy domain were able to dent the online flight search space in a relatively short space of time.
In this historical review of Fly.com, we examine some of its pros and cons and how its results compared with some of the leading meta-search engines online at the time.
Fly.com Review – A Historical List of Pros and Cons
Pros of Fly.com
Fast and comprehensive flight search
Fly.com’s flight search engine was fast and comprehensive and searched both long haul and budget airlines for millions of flight routes. They had bespoke sites for the US, UK, Canadian and German markets and often found deals that other search engines missed.
Fare matrix calendar
Fly.com would show you a matrix of calendar fares if another user had searched for your route before and found cheaper flights on surrounding dates. This handy feature could save serious money if you were lucky.
Simple and clean site design
The design of the site was very simple and easy to use. Results were displayed in an Expedia style matrix which let you see the airlines, stops and prices at the top of the page. Filters on the left-hand side of the flight results enabled you to narrow down flight options by airline, provider, arrival/departure times and stops quickly and easily.
Cons of Fly.com
Sometimes the flight was unavailable
Occasionally a flight listed on Fly.com was unavailable. This is a problem encountered by meta-search engines. Because so many sites are being searched at the same time a price that is no longer available can occasionally be put on show.
The fare calendar was limited
The site did not show flexible flights on every single flight route. The fares were dependent on other users who had searched for that flight route before and found cheaper deals on surrounding dates to yours. This meant the tool was not as comprehensive as some others on the market.
Not always the cheapest
We compared Fly.com to many of the other flight search engines online and found that it did not win every single time. Sometimes Kayak came out on top, whilst other times it was Skyscanner, Momondo, Hipmunk, Google Flights or Mobissimo.
Historical context: These observations come from our original review. They are not a new price comparison or a current ranking of the services named.
Alternatives to Fly.com
If you previously used Fly.com, these services offer alternative ways to compare flights today. Compare the total price, baggage allowance, flight times and booking conditions before deciding.
Skyscanner
Compares flights from airlines and travel providers. Its Everywhere search is useful if you are flexible about your destination.
KAYAK
Searches flight offers from multiple airline and travel sites, allowing you to compare options for your route.
Momondo
Searches hundreds of flight sites and lets you compare flight prices and journey options.
Google Flights
Offers another way to search and compare flight options for your chosen route and dates.
FlightsFinder
Our search engine enables you to compare multiple flight comparison sites from one dashboard, including Skyscanner, KAYAK, Momondo and Google Flights.
Compare Flight Search Engines Side by Side
The best way around the shortcomings of any single search engine is to compare it side by side with other search engines. Our search engine enables you to do that in seconds.
Simply go to our flight finder – fill out your details – then compare search engines side by side – including Skyscanner, KAYAK, Momondo, Google Flights and more.
In our experience, this is a useful method of checking whether you can find a cheaper flight online. Always confirm the final price with the booking provider before you pay.
Historical source: Travelzoo’s Fly.com launch announcement, 9 February 2009.
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