Having regularly used similar websites to get great deals during my stay in the US, I was happy to see MakeMyTrip and its ilk starting off in India. My personal experience with the website and their call center executives has been pleasant, with the representatives coming across as efficient and professional. The long wait times during busy slots are again a problem, like with any other call center. An auto response system to prevent loading the system with mundane queries would be a good addition. Besides booking flight tickets and other services, I once had to cancel a hotel booking I had made. The credit card charge reversal got delayed due to a human error at their side, but to their credit, the representative followed through and made sure the refund reached me.
As the website gains credibility and acceptance, users should be able to get better deals. Currently however, the Kingfisher + VISA deal (20% cashback) seems the only noteworthy one. Otherwise, same fares can also be booked from the airlines’ own websites. Their branding efforts in print and media should get them there soon. The real utility of MakeMyTrip is noticeable when trying to book a complicated trip - multiple airlines (e.g., when there is no direct flight), hotel and taxi. You can do this all from a ’’single window’’, without having to run/browse around to get the information required to compare various options.
Existing competition like TravelGuru.com and travel sub-portals of established players like Indiatimes, Rediff etc. should keep MakeMyTrip on its toes in terms of customer service. T
ravelocity has recently announces plans to expand in India, which also should soon entice its other competitors like Orbitz, Expedia etc to follow suit, once internet penetration in the country expands the market to support multiple operators. All this competition can only be good for the consumer! The days of unscruplous/inefficient small time ’’travel agents’’ seem to be about to end.