The 4 winners.

The landing pages actually worth stealing from.

Winner #1: southwest.com

southwest.com/en/flights/flights-to-orlando

Flights landing page example from southwest.com
  1. 1

    What gets in the way

    Full menu above the search box

    The header links to hotels, cars, vacations, cruises and more. A fare shopper has six other places to go before searching.

  2. 2

    What works

    City and fare in the headline

    The headline says ‘Southwest® flights to Orlando starting at $59’. A traveler comparing fares sees the city and a price straight away.

  3. 3

    What works

    Destination already filled in

    The TO field shows ‘Orlando, FL - MCO’. The traveler only has to add where they fly from.

  4. 4

    What works

    Fare card for each departure city

    Each card has a departure city, a fare like ‘$59*’, ‘Seen: 16 hrs ago’ and a Book now button. A traveler finds their own city without running a search.

  5. 5

    What gets in the way

    Travel guide text below the fares

    The page has paragraphs about airports and ‘How to Find Cheap Flights to Orlando’. A fare shopper scrolls past them to reach the next search box.

What to try

Fare card for each departure city

Make a card for each city your buyers fly from, with the fare and a Book now button. Southwest lists Atlanta, Houston Hobby, Milwaukee and more.

See the original page

Winner #2: flybreeze.com

flybreeze.com/shopping/en-us/flights-from-tampa-bay-fl-to-myrtle-beach-sc

Flights landing page example from flybreeze.com
  1. 1

    What works

    Both cities and a fare in the headline

    The headline says ‘Breeze Flights From Tampa Bay, FL to Myrtle Beach, SC From $69*’ with the price in blue. A traveler sees the route and the fare at once.

  2. 2

    What works

    Both cities and dates already filled in

    The search box has Tampa Bay and Myrtle Beach in it, with dates. A traveler can press Search without typing.

  3. 3

    What works

    Fare for each month with a Seen time

    Three month tabs show ‘from $69*’ and a line like ‘Seen: 23 hrs ago’. A traveler with flexible dates can pick the cheap month.

  4. 4

    What works

    Bar chart of fares by day

    The chart shows a fare for every day from 10 Oct to 9 Nov, with ‘$69’ marked. A traveler can see which day is cheapest.

  5. 5

    What gets in the way

    Weather block above the flight deals

    The page has a week of weather for Myrtle Beach above the flight deals. A visitor who wants a fare scrolls past it.

What to try

Fare chart for flexible buyers

Show the fare for each day on a chart and mark the lowest one. Breeze marks ‘$69’ so a flexible traveler picks that date.

See the original page

Winner #3: asaptickets.com

asaptickets.com/go/flights-manila-rt-gn?msg=3

Flights landing page example from asaptickets.com
  1. 1

    What gets in the way

    Voucher countdown above the fare

    The top strip says ‘Get your free $30 voucher’ beside a countdown clock. The clock is above the fare and the phone number.

  2. 2

    What works

    Big phone number with an arrow

    The number ‘1-650-263-1714’ is in large red type and a hand-drawn arrow points at it. A traveler who would rather talk knows where to call.

  3. 3

    What gets in the way

    Quote form asks for ten details

    The form has trip type, cabin, travelers, two cities, two dates, email, phone and name. Some visitors leave before they finish it.

  4. 4

    What works

    Old fare crossed out beside the new one

    The page shows ‘$565’ with ‘$865’ crossed out and ‘Save up to 50% OFF!’. A traveler sees what the discount is worth.

  5. 5

    What works

    Trustpilot score under the fare

    The line ‘Excellent 4.8 out of 5’ with the Trustpilot logo is right under the price. A traveler who doesn't know the agency sees a rating next to the fare.

What to try

Old fare crossed out beside the new one

Show the price you came down from. ASAP Tickets crosses out $865 beside $565 so a buyer sees the saving.

See the original page

Winner #4: aa.com

aa.com/en-us/flights-to-san-juan

Flights landing page example from aa.com
  1. 1

    What works

    Fare in the headline

    The headline says ‘American Airlines flights to San Juan from $207*’. The city and a price are in the first screen.

  2. 2

    What works

    San Juan already in the search box

    The TO field shows ‘SJU - San Juan (SJU), Puerto Rico’. The traveler only has to add where they fly from.

  3. 3

    What works

    Fare cards with an Updated time

    Cards list Miami at $207* and Chicago at $262*, each with an ‘Updated’ time. The time tells a traveler how fresh the fare is.

  4. 4

    What works

    Fare table by city and dates

    A table lists city, dates, fare and a Book now button for each trip. A traveler can compare dates without running a search.

  5. 5

    What gets in the way

    Generic tips for cheap flights

    The tips are ‘Book early’, ‘Be flexible with dates’ and ‘Travel off-peak’. They fit any route, so a buyer learns nothing about this trip.

What to try

Update time on every fare

Write when each fare was last updated, like ‘Updated: 20 hours ago’. A traveler who has watched prices change trusts a dated fare more.

See the original page

What the 4 winners do.

  1. Show a fare in the first screen

    4 of 4

  2. Fill the destination in the search box

    3 of 4

  3. Show when the fare was seen

    3 of 4

  4. Make a fare card for each city

    2 of 4

Wildcards.

Pages that break the playbook in interesting ways.

Wildcard #1: kiwi.com

kiwi.com/en/cheap-flights

Flights landing page example from kiwi.com

The search: flights barcelona to dublin

Sponsored kiwi.com

Flights from $9

  1. 1

    What it gets wrong

    Menu links to cars and hotels

    The header has Cars, Hotels, Magazine, Extras and Last minute next to Flights. A paid click has five other links to leave by.

  2. 2

    What it gets wrong

    Ad shows a fare, headline has none

    The ad said ‘Flights from $9’. The headline reads ‘Find cheap flights to any destination’ with no price in it.

  3. 3

    What makes it work

    Trust line under the headline

    Under the headline is a line about millions of users and a ‘Kiwi.com Guarantee for stress-free travel’. A stranger gets reasons to trust the site early.

  4. 4

    What it gets wrong

    Search box starts from Nottingham

    The search was ‘flights barcelona to dublin’. The From field is Nottingham and the To field is empty.

  5. 5

    What makes it work

    Photo cards with a from price

    Cards like London to Cork show ‘from £16’. A visitor with no fixed route can see where a low fare goes.

What to try

Put the ad's fare in the headline

If the ad says ‘Flights from $9’, put that fare in the headline. The visitor then sees the same promise on the page.

See the original page

Wildcard #2: alaskaair.com

alaskaair.com/atmosrewards/content/credit-cards

Flights landing page example from alaskaair.com

The search: alaska air credit card

Sponsored alaskaair.com

Alaska Air® Credit card | Now Atmos™ Rewards Ascent card

  1. 1

    What it gets wrong

    Account security strip above the offer

    The top strip says ‘enable multifactor authentication’. That is for a current member. A new applicant has no use for it.

  2. 2

    What makes it work

    Bonus points in the headline

    The headline says ‘Earn up to 70,000 bonus points with Atmos™ Rewards Visa® cards’. A visitor sees the size of the offer first.

  3. 3

    What makes it work

    Ad's card is first, marked Most popular

    The ad named the Atmos™ Rewards Ascent card. It is the first card on the page, with ‘Most popular’ above it.

  4. 4

    What it gets wrong

    Headline says 70,000, first card says 50,000

    The first card says ‘Earn 50,000 bonus points’. The headline is for up to 70,000, which is the offer on the other two cards.

  5. 5

    What makes it work

    Apply now button on every card

    Each of the three cards has an ‘Apply now’ button under its offer. A visitor ready to apply doesn't need to scroll.

What to try

Apply now button inside every card

Put the button under the offer on each card. Atmos has one on all three cards.

See the original page

Wildcard #3: aircanada.com

aircanada.com/en-us/flights-to-europe

Flights landing page example from aircanada.com

The search: airfare to london from toronto

Sponsored aircanada.com

Book Flights to London | Great Fares With Air Canada

  1. 1

    What makes it work

    Hero photo of a European town

    The photo shows a hillside town with red roofs above the search box. It shows the kind of trip the fares are for.

  2. 2

    What it gets wrong

    Search box has no cities filled in

    The From field says ‘Input origin’ and the To field says ‘Input destination’. The search was ‘airfare to london from toronto’, so the traveler types both.

  3. 3

    What it gets wrong

    Headline says Europe, no city

    The headline says ‘First come, first charmed in Europe’. It doesn't name London or Toronto, which the search did.

  4. 4

    What makes it work

    Three buttons under the headline

    The buttons are ‘Our offers for Europe’, ‘Our European destinations’ and ‘Fly to Europe in comfort’. A visitor picks fares, places or cabin.

  5. 5

    What it gets wrong

    Fare cards start from New York

    The first cards are New York to Tel Aviv and Los Angeles to Munich. A traveler flying from Toronto doesn't see their city.

What to try

Fill the cities from the search

Put the city from the search in the From and To fields. Here both fields are empty.

See the original page

The copy bank.

Headlines

  • “Southwest® flights to Orlando starting at $59”

    southwest.com

  • “Cheap Flights to Manila”

    asaptickets.com

  • “American Airlines flights to San Juan from $207*”

    aa.com

Offers

Trust

Next steps

3 pages that waste the click.

  1. canada airline

    Empty search box, then a list of links

    A visitor who searched ‘canada airline’ gets empty From and To fields and links like ‘Flights from Boston’. There is no fare in the first screen.

    • Empty formThe From and To fields say ‘Input origin’ and ‘Input destination’.
    • No fare‘Take off to Canada’ is followed by city links with no price.
    • Link listFive ‘Flights from’ cities are each a link to click before any fare.

  2. flights to sicily italy

    Privacy pop-up covers the first screen

    The ‘Privacy settings’ box is open over the page when it loads. A visitor who searched ‘flights to sicily italy’ has to answer it before reading anything.

    • Pop-up first‘Privacy settings’ is open before the page can be read.
    • Italy pageThe page says ‘Flights to Italy’ and the search was for Sicily.

  3. flight usa to india

    Text about Mumbai before any fare

    The first block is ‘Book your flights to Mumbai right away!’ and paragraphs of text. The search was ‘flight usa to india’ and the first screen has no fare.

    • Pop-up first‘Privacy settings’ is open over the page on load.
    • Text wallParagraphs about the trip, the app and a seat upgrade come before any fare.
    • Mumbai onlyThe page is for Mumbai and the search was for flights to India.

What we learned.

  1. Put a fare in the first screen

    Southwest's headline says ‘starting at $59’ and Breeze shows ‘$69*’ in blue. American Airlines puts ‘from $207*’ in its headline.

  2. Show when each fare was seen

    Southwest's cards say ‘Seen: 16 hrs ago’ and American Airlines' cards say ‘Updated: 20 hours ago’. Breeze marks its month tabs with ‘Seen: 23 hrs ago’.

  3. Fill in the cities for the buyer

    Southwest has ‘Orlando, FL - MCO’ in the TO field and American Airlines has San Juan in its search box. Breeze fills in both Tampa Bay and Myrtle Beach.

The bottom line

The airline pages here that win show a fare in the first screen, fill in the cities and say when the fare was seen. The losers send a search for one place to a privacy pop-up, a list of links or a page about a whole country.

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