Cheapflights launches inspirational Chrome browser extension to revitalise Esc key

The free EscEscape extension pulls flights results based on the users nearest departure to a select range of short and mid-haul destinations Continue reading →

Cheapflights has launched an extension for users of the Google Chrome browser that initiates an automated nearby flight search when the Escape key on keyboards is tapped twice.

The free EscEscape extension has gone live in the UK, US, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa.

It pulls flights results based on the users nearest departure to a select range of short and mid-haul destinations offering the cheapest option for a weekend getaway in the next eight weeks.

Cheapflights’ managing director Andrew Shelton said the price comparison site wanted people to “rediscover their ‘Esc’ key” as a shortcut to “escaping for real”.

“We can spend hours every day tapping away at a keyboard, dealing with dozens of unread emails, thinking it’s Thursday when it’s only Tuesday.

“According to our research, that’s enough to drive half of us to search for flights when we’re at work. With EscEcape, we’ve made that much easier to do. We want this neglected keyboard function to become the biggest and most important key people tap each day.”

Initially the double tap on Esc will surface five destinations that are featured each day selected at random from the top 200 searched-for holiday hotspots on Cheapflights.

For the UK, US and Canada only those within a five hour flight time will be selected, for Australia and New Zealand it will be eight hours.

The results will open in a new browser tab and if the selection does not throw up anything of interest users can double tap Esc again to get another range of options.

The extension is available from the Chrome Web Store. Cheapflights also plans to release a version for Safari.