Phocuswright: Options Away takes people’s choice accolade

A website that allows customers to hold flight prices while they shop and is backed by Iglu.com bosses scooped a prestigious award at this year’s Phocuswright conference.

A website that allows customers to hold flight prices while they shop and is backed by Iglu.com bosses scooped a prestigious award at this year’s Phocuswright conference.

Options Away, which is currently working with Expedia in the US and Hipmunk, uses technology from the financial sector to allow customers to hold prices.

The seats themselves are not held, as a travel agent would, but customers are able to lock in the price they see for a period of time for a small fee.

The firm is backed by Richard Downs, Iglu founder and chief executive, and Martyn Williams, Iglu and Options Away chairman. It won the People’s Choice award at Phocuswright.

Also a winner in this year’s Phocuswright Travel Innovation Summit Awards was big data performance marketing platform bd4travel, founded by Andy Owen-Jones, former TravelTainment chief executive. It took the Brand USA Marketing Innovation award.

Both firms had pitched their ideas during the first day of the conference in Los Angeles this week.

In the emerging firms category the winner was PassportCard International, a new travel insurance provider based in Israel that promises to always pay out to claimants at the point they need the money.

The full list of winners and shortlisted firms are:

The Travel Innovation Summit People’s Choice Award

Runner-up: Nor1

Winner: Options Away

The Travel Innovation Summit Category Awards

Startup category

Finalists: TableGrabber
TripScope
VacationFutures

Runner-up: TableGrabber

Winner: VacationFutures

Emerging category

Finalists: Distil Networks
Mozio
Options Away
PassportCard International

Runner-up: Options Away

Winner: PassportCard International

Established category

Finalists: Amadeus
Nor1
Worldmate Inc.

Runner-up: Amadeus

Winner: Worldmate Inc.

Brand USA Marketing Innovation Award

Winner: bd4travel GmbH

General Catalyst Award for Travel Innovation

Runner-up: Mozio

Winner: PassportCard International