The Flipkart-owned travel platform has entered the holiday packages category, bringing flights, hotels, activities and transfers together in one itinerary that travellers can customise to suit their plans. The idea is fairly simple. Instead of booking a fixed package and making your holiday fit around it, Cleartrip lets you start with an expert-planned itinerary and make changes along the way. Travellers can switch hotels, modify activities or change flights while keeping the overall structure of the holiday intact.
Gaurav Patwari, Chief Business Officer, Air at Cleartrip, said the new offering is aimed at travellers who want some professional help with planning without giving up control over their trip.
The company is also adding human support to the booking process. Travellers can speak with a holiday expert while planning, get help with destination choices and understand how the different parts of the itinerary fit together. Once the booking is confirmed, the experience continues through a live itinerary. Travellers can access information such as driver details, vouchers and day-wise plans in one place. Cleartrip is also offering round-the-clock support during the trip, which could be useful when plans change after you have already left home.
Pricing is another part of Cleartrip’s pitch. The company says its scale, along with its association with the Flipkart Group, gives it access to supplier pricing and inventory across flights, hotels and experiences. The idea is to pass some of that value on to customers through the pricing and flexibility offered with its packages.
There is also a Price Beat Promise for travellers looking for additional reassurance. If the same itinerary is available elsewhere at a lower price, Cleartrip says it will beat that price, subject to the applicable terms.
The holiday package launch fits into Cleartrip’s larger plan to become a more comprehensive travel platform. Until now, travellers could use the service for individual bookings across flights, hotels and other transport options. Holiday packages add another layer by bringing several parts of a trip together.
For travellers, the more interesting bit may be the balance between convenience and control. A package can save time, but a fixed schedule does not always work for every traveller. Being able to start with a ready itinerary and then change the parts that do not suit you could make the format more practical for families, couples and groups planning a holiday.
Cleartrip, which launched in 2006 and became part of the Flipkart Group in 2021, says holiday packages are now available across popular destinations. For travellers who like having the big pieces of a holiday sorted before they leave, but still want a say in what those pieces look like, this could be a useful addition to the booking mix.
