Go back to my INLS 102 page Nan Wang
INLS102 Dr. G. Newby nanwang@email.unc.edu
Assignment of Apr 22: E-commerce Apr 25, 2002

Buying an airticket online

E-commerce: The development of the Internet brought us a new form of commerce: Electronic commerce. Electronic commerce or e-business covers the range of online business activities for products and services, both business-to business and business-to-consumer, through the Internet. Compared with the traditional commerce, e-business has many advantages both for consumers and for producers. E-commerce is undoubtedly a convenient way of purchasing and selling, using which people could save much time and effort.

It is especially very convenient for people to reserve an airticket or a hotel online, so for this assignment the Goal is:

To buy a round-trip airticket from RDU to Beijing online (with the same departure and return Dates for one adult).

 

Comparison of websites:

I selected three wide-used websites for purchasing airtickets and will evaluate their functions of different aspects.

1. 4 Cheap Airline Tickets & Low Discount Airfares:

4 cheap

 

2. Airtickets:

airtickets

 

3. Northwest Airline:

northwest

 

Criteria:

1. Overall visually appealing and information organization:

4 Cheap Airline Tickets & Low Discount Airtickets Northwest Airline
There are some nice pictures and the information is well organized. The home page is very beautiful with the pictures of some famous places of the world; the information layout is tidy and clear. Not very appealing because of too small fonts are used; while the inforamtion is well organized.

2. Is the interface user-friendly?

4 Cheap Airline Tickets & Low Discount Airtickets Northwest Airline
Not very friendly, you have to find the airticket section in another page by yourself. Yes, easy to use. Yes, easy to use.

3. Easy for searching:

4 Cheap Airline Tickets & Low Discount Airtickets Northwest Airline

Not very easy to search the tickets because you have to find the "air" page first, then input the departure and arrival cities, click on "Go!"; you will be led to another page where you should select the dates and other information, then "Go!" again; finally you will get the information of several tickets options.

There are 3 page changes here.

Not easy at all!

After you input all the information, including your name, email, and phone number, you will only receive this:

"YOUR REQUEST HAS BEEN PROCESSED
You will receive your quote within 24 hours. Thank you for using Air Tickets"

So you cannot get the information immediately.

 It is very easy for searching. You just need to input the two cities and select the dates, click on "searching flights", all the options will be listed there, but it will take about 10-15 seconds for the searching process.

4. How many choices are provided?

4 Cheap Airline Tickets & Low Discount Airtickets Northwest Airline
7 options. 0 currently. 5 options.

5. Price and additional charges:

4 Cheap Airline Tickets & Low Discount Airtickets Northwest Airline

Prices range from $1500 to $4878.50;

A processing fee of $10 will be charges per ticket.

 No price is provided. Prices range from $1706.5 to $1711.

6. Payment: Is there a limitation for Credit Card type?

4 Cheap Airline Tickets & Low Discount Airtickets Northwest Airline
Master, Visa, Discover, American Express, and some others. We don not know. Master, Visa, Discover, American Express, and some others.

7. Security and privacy:

4 Cheap Airline Tickets & Low Discount Airtickets Northwest Airline
Checkout on secure server. None. Northwest Airlines uses Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) encryption technology and Private Communication Technology (PCT) security standards supported by Microsoft Internet Explorer 3.0 and 4.0 and other popular browsers to protect your online transactions.

8. Shipping of product:

4 Cheap Airline Tickets & Low Discount Airtickets Northwest Airline
Most domestic US and some international airlines use electronic ticketing. If an airline uses an electronic ticket, you will not receive a paper ticket. However, if paper tickets are necessary, shipping charges will apply.
We don not know. E-tickets are not available for this flight.
Your ticket will be delivered in 7 business days at your address with no charge.

9. Post-selling services:

4 Cheap Airline Tickets & Low Discount Airtickets Northwest Airline
Good. We do not know.. Good.

10. Overall evaluation (percentage of satisfaction):

4 Cheap Airline Tickets & Low Discount Airtickets Northwest Airline
75% 40% 85%

 

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