Hipmunk for iPhone – Review
Category: Travel
Price: Free
TiP Rating: 4/5
Release Date: Updated July 9, 2011
Current Version: 1.1.2
Seller: Hipmunk
Rated: 4+
Requirements: Compatible with iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad. Requires iOS 4.0 or later.
Link to app
App Store Description: Hipmunk takes the agony out of flight search. With Hipmunk you’ll see all the relevant flights on a timeline, helping you visualize the right choice. Unlike every other app out there, Hipmunk doesn’t just show you the cheapest flight first — the app instead sorts by “agony,” which incorporates important factors like how long you’ll be traveling and how many stops you’ll make.
Summary: Hipmunk makes searching for and booking a flight easy. Find and compare all available flights to your destination and book right from your phone.
Review: Making any kind of travel arrangements is usually a headache, but Hipmunk does its best to be a fun service. I really like how clean the app is. To get started, enter your starting point by city, airport name or airport code, followed by your destination and departure and arrival dates. You can also choose between coach, business and first, as well as select the number of people traveling. Once all your information is entered, tap on search for flights. Hipmunk shares fun travel tips while flights are being searched for.
Hipmunk displays a colorful timeline of all available flights, each one on a separate row showing cost, departure and arrival times and the name of each carrier. Tapping on the row will expand it slightly to show both the departure and arrival time, as well as the duration of the trip. While expanded, you can also tap on the arrow to the right, which will reveal even more information, including airline and flight number. Results, by default, are sorted by agony, which takes into account the price, number of stops and length of trip. The easiest flights are at the top. You can also sort by price, departure time or by length.
Once you’ve found a departure flight, tap on the price tag to the left and continue looking for your return flight (if applicable). Once both flights have been chosen, you can choose to email the booking link to yourself, or book directly through either that airline or Orbitz. You can also finish directly from your computer by visiting Hipmunk’s website and entering the code you see on your app. Every search is saved so you can easily return to it. For quicker access, you can also tap “last search” on the homescreen instead of scrolling through the list of searches.
I really love the way Hipmunk displays its information. It shows all important details at the same time in an easily digestible format. I’ve used the app for many searches and haven’t noticed any glitches. If you’re a frequent desktop Hipmunk user, you’ll feel pretty at home while using their app. If you’re new, I recommend giving it a try.
