After Cleartrip, MakeMyTrip launches one-click flight booking facility InstaBook

NASDAQ-listed online travel services company MakeMyTrip has recently launched InstaBook to facilitate one-click flight ticket booking. Although the OTA had been testing and tweaking InstaBook for some time, the final version was released only on June 26.

In the last week of March, another OTA, Cleartrip, also introduced a one-click booking facility called Expressway, which allows a user to store his/her card details in the Cleartrip account in order to speed up the booking process.

Talking to Techcircle.in, Keyur Joshi, co-founder and chief commercial officer of MakeMyTrip, said, "InstaBook is part of our ongoing mission to reduce the effort involved as far as ticket booking goes, making it as easy and hassle-free as possible. The basic premise is quite simple – we have reduced the number of clicks it takes to make a flight booking.

"We are also in the final stage of integrating a couple of cool new features into InstaBook, which we believe, will be a huge step towards our end goal of a personalised and painless flight booking experience," he added.

How it works

Once you choose your flight, simply hit InstaBook. A registered user of MakeMyTrip can simply sign in, select traveller's details from a pre-stored list and enter the CVV number of the card (the details of which are already stored) for booking a ticket. All other details are filled in automatically. Moreover, benefits like loyalty points and attractive deal codes can be availed even when you are using InstaBook. Payback card holders can also earn points on these transactions. MakeMyTrip claims that transactions will be faster if you use a debit card or opt for net banking.

However, people who don't have accounts with MakeMyTrip, must create one and enter traveller & card details before booking their tickets. Once provided, these details will be saved for subsequent transactions.

InstaBook will certainly do away with the hassles of entering the card details and the passenger details every time a customer wishes to book his/her ticket. But it is bound to open the gateway for some security breaches. According to Joshi, "A user's credit card details are stored in an encrypted form and we comply with the most stringent security measures accepted globally. This means no one can access the crucial information. Also, the CVV and VBV numbers are not stored; so no one other than the genuine user can actually make a transaction."

The OTA also claims that the response has been great, even without any publicity and marketing. The traction has already exceeded the company's initial expectations.

"Several thousand people have already used this feature and it has helped them save precious time. In fact, this feature not only saves your time but also reduces your expenses. Airfares are dynamic and the charges keep increasing as seats get sold. So slashing a few minutes here and there can actually save you Rs 2,000-3,000," Joshi added.

(Edited by Sanghamitra Mandal)