Inside Trip- Rating the airlines and flights

If you don't have the time to investigate the comfort, convenience and ease of taking different airlines or flights then Inside Trip can help you(even if you do have the time, it can help you! Inside Trip is a flight search engine that helps you quickly sort through all the fares by listing in numerical order(using there grading system of 1-100), thus showing you the "best" flights first and working their way down to the worst! This is a quick way to "research" your flights and choose the one that will be the most comfortable for you. Below is an outline of how the rating system works and there is a link to Inside Trip on the bottom of the page....

What is the TripQuality score and which factors go into the rating?

With each flight search, InsideTrip.com instantly provides a "TripQuality" rating that takes into account relevant travel needs that can materially affect a traveler’s journey. This score, based upon a 100 point scale, takes into consideration 12 travel "pain" points that are detailed below. Please note that InsideTrip applies different weightings to each when generating the TripQuality Score. For example, the ‘Number of Stops’ category is weighted higher than the ‘Lost Luggage Rank’ category. At this point, the weightings of these different factors are not customizable.

SPEED FACTORS

1. Number of stops: InsideTrip believes consumers prefer non-stop and one-stop flights and rates trips accordingly.
* Most preferable: Non-stops
* Least preferable: 2+ stops
2. Flight duration: InsideTrip dynamically compares airline flight schedules across the industry to score the elapsed time of an itinerary.
* Most preferable: In top 10% of fastest overall itineraries
* Least preferable: In bottom 50% of fastest overall itineraries
3. On-time performance: InsideTrip taps into the past 62 days of historical trends.
* Most preferable: Flights with greater than 80% on-time performance
* Least preferable: Flights with less than 50% on-time performance
4. Security wait time: InsideTrip provides information on the traveler’s potential security check time through sophisticated analysis of TSA airport data such as location of travel, time of day, day of week, airline, and more.
* Most preferable: Flights with historical average wait time of less than 5 min
* Least preferable: Flights with historical average wait time of greater than 12 min

COMFORT FACTORS

1. Leg room: InsideTrip provides data on the minimum available seat legroom of the aircraft for a specific airline on an itinerary.
* Most preferable: Aircraft with above average legroom (minimum of 33"+)
* Least preferable: Aircraft with below average legroom (less than 31")
2. Aircraft type: InsideTrip believes that travelers generally prefer larger jets and rates itineraries accordingly.
* Most preferable: Wide-body, jet aircraft
* Least preferable: Propeller-driven aircraft
3. Aircraft age: InsideTrip estimates the average age of the aircraft for a specific airline on an itinerary.
* Most preferable: Average aircraft sub-fleet age of less than 5 years
* Least preferable: Average aircraft sub-fleet age greater than 15 years
4. Historical airplane passenger loads: InsideTrip shares how full your flight may be based on market data from the previous year during the same month.
* Most preferable: For the same month last year, averaged less than 60% full
* Least preferable: For the same month last year, averaged greater than 85% full

EASE FACTORS

1. Connection time: InsideTrip helps alert travelers to the length of potentially short or long layovers.
* Most preferable: Domestic: 45 min to 90 min. Int’l: 90 min to 150 min
* Least preferable: Greater than 3 hours
2. Routing quality: InsideTrip determines the degree an itinerary routing is out-of-the way.
* Most preferable: Flying less than 10% "extra" miles than flying non-stop
* Least preferable: Flying 25%+ "extra" miles than flying non-stop
3. Lost luggage track record: InsideTrip knows how often a specific airline tends to lose luggage (based on the Department of Transportation historical data).
* Most preferable: US DOT airline ranking in top 3 of 20 US airlines
* Least preferable: US DOT airline ranking in bottom 14 of US airlines
4. Airport gate locations: InsideTrip knows both the departing and connecting gate locations and scores those itineraries that do not involve a bus/train higher.
* Most preferable: Walking to your departing or connecting gate
* Least preferable: Taking a bus/train to your departing or connecting gate

Can I customize my own TripQuality score?

Absolutely! Although the default TripQuality score uses all 12 factors, you can create your own custom score by using the TripQuality Dashboard at the top of the page. All you have to do is deselect those factors important to you and then click the Recalculate TripQuality button. The "TripQuality" rating can be recalculated instantly when a shopper selects the comfort features that are specifically important to them.

more info at Inside Trip