What has Zuji done to their booking engine???

[Arthur Hodgson]

They added lots of amazing new features so they now do exactly the same as everyone else, meanwhile they have taken away one of the key features that differentiated them from the competition.

Ah yes, but they now charge you more for the privilege (at least 1% more)

 

[stryker]

Of course, I expect that everyone is aware that it was only the Australian Zuji website that was gutted. The other Zuji's are still in the old (good) format.

The Australian website also seems to not allow bookings commencing anywhere other than in Oz (even though it suggests that you can nominate a foreign start point). Try it and see. Doesn't find any flights for me.

The greed of this company, in blatantly trying to fleece Australian travellers (who do seem to be a pretty easy target) is just palpable. Hopefully it will backfire on them.

They've obviously lost any business I might have put their way in the future (and I have used Zuji on occasion in the past).

 

[JohnK]

BTW, Expedia came absolute last in my quest for the cheapest fare when I searched. They didn't even offer close to the fare I found (were about $200 off the mark). Don't know what GDS they use, but it didn't help them win a sale...

I am not defending Expedia in any way but it still pays to browse their website when comparing airfares as I have seen a cheaper airfare on their website on a number of occassions.

I really do not like the new Zuji interface. Very hard to use and does not appear to be practical.

 

[StevePER]

Just got an email today advising that Zuji Singapore is being "upgraded", presumably in the same way as Australian Zuji.

 

[docjames]

They've obviously lost any business I might have put their way in the future (and I have used Zuji on occasion in the past).

Well they've lost mine - i used to use them all the time but the new interface is too hard so i'm using expedia and others.

 

[straitman]

Well they've lost mine - i used to use them all the time but the new interface is too hard so i'm using expedia and others.

Quite simply, I have not used them since they made the changes.

 

[clifford]

Just got an email today advising that Zuji Singapore is being "upgraded", presumably in the same way as Australian Zuji.

And you can bet that the HK website will be the last domino to fall (in the near future).

Well done Travelocity. You have tried very hard to dumb us down, and we won't forget it

 

[auriga]

just tried the SG zuji site--- still seems the same as before.

 

[StevePER]

just tried the SG zuji site--- still seems the same as before.

The email from Zuji suggests it will be "enhanced" tomorrow.

 

[auriga]

The email from Zuji suggests it will be "enhanced" tomorrow.

I see.... I was hoping it had already been enhanced.

 

[thegurio]

That thing that really annoyed me about Zuji was that off the bat they seemed realy cheap but then sneakily added the taxes when at the final part of the booking, so since i worked that out they got nothing from me and will continue to recieve the same...

 

[Mal]

Just got an email today advising that Zuji Singapore is being "upgraded", presumably in the same way as Australian Zuji.

Yep, just checked it a few mins ago. The coughpy website style has now infected the .sg website.

Hong Kong's website is still the old version ... for the moment.

 

[MelUser]

I have complained to Zuji over phone and in an email about the new website but I have never received a response.

They took away the ability to look for hotels with certain features.

They took away the ability to view air fares over a date range.

They referred to changes as 'improvements' to which i said that generally an improvement involves adding to or growing something, not taking away features. I don't know who is behind ZUJI but the people I have dealt with have little understanding and no power to do anything.

 

[straitman]

I've just sent off an email also so will be interested to see if I get a response. :-|

 

[oz_mark]

I have complained to Zuji over phone and in an email about the new website but I have never received a response.

They took away the ability to look for hotels with certain features.

They took away the ability to view air fares over a date range.

They referred to changes as 'improvements' to which i said that generally an improvement involves adding to or growing something, not taking away features. I don't know who is behind ZUJI but the people I have dealt with have little understanding and no power to do anything.

Zuji is owned by Travelocity which is owned by Sabre. Travelocity certainly offer more options for US based travel - not sure why they don't offer it outside the US.

 

[GDSman]

Zuji have 'enhanced' the sytem to use Travelocity's engine. I guess this is possibly an example of a global organisation looking to homogenise its offerings for obvious reasons to the possible detriment of a regional market's preference. I would expect that this will be the norm for every global travel distributor and may provide local players with their best differentiation opportunity - however there aren't many of them around and they're competing against some heavy hitters.....
I sympathise to those of you who have lost previously loved functionaility but somehow doubt that it will return. In the meantime if you do not feel that the globals meet your requirements I would recommend supporting the locals - BestFlights, WebJet, etc....
(Disclosure - I am now an ex-GDSman so can comment objectively!)

 

[Mal]

It's now over 3 months since the original change, and I can't see any improvement in the website functionality. I think it's just about a lost cause.

I've migrated over to Expedia , travel.com.au and Webjet these days for my searches. Each have good pricing at times and some good features, but none is clearly a leader. Each also have their bad points (eg sometimes excessive fees, missing flight options and other pricing quirks)

 

[jpk]

Zuji is pretty much un-useable now. Even for simple routings it often fails to show flight options I know do exist, and can find on other websites. I can understand wanting to globalise their methods, but surely someone is responsible and answerable for regional ops - if their sales drop significantly it would be interesting to know how they explain that internally!

 

[pauly7]

Zuji is pretty much un-useable now. Even for simple routings it often fails to show flight options I know do exist, and can find on other websites. I can understand wanting to globalise their methods, but surely someone is responsible and answerable for regional ops - if their sales drop significantly it would be interesting to know how they explain that internally!

Do you think the average punter would realise though?

 

[Mal]

Do you think the average punter would realise though?

That's the issue. Average Joe User doesn't normally care about fare conditions (and wouldn't normally choose a flight that $5 more - even though the $5 extra flight is refundable, but the other flight is fully non-changeable), and isn't going to look for fare conditions to work out whether it credits to a FF scheme.

They are also easily wowed by fully inclusive packages (eg the "add hotel" options, regardless of the value), and even tourism add-ons like a 3 day Disneyland pass, or a 1/2 day tour of the city.

I have many friends like that, and while I can try and let them know some of the potential issues (eg, no refund on a package deal if they have to try and cancel with some online booking places, sometimes able to get hotels or flights cheaper through the native websites, tickets available cheaper through certain other websites), a lot of them tend to see holidays as something you book all together at once.

The Zuji revamp plays directly into this market. Funnily enough, they are also the market that makes Fright Centre so successful...

Somehow I don't think savvy travellers make any online booking site successful, or a travel chain successful - which is a pity really. Most of the travel agents dumb down to the lowest common denominator and actively market towards them.