New airfare search website Jettzy is promising New Zealanders plane tickets at prices up to 15 percent lower than those on Webjet and Skyscanner.
Jettzy also says if offers 'market-leading customer service', with a call centre operating 24/7, unlike some of its competitors.
Although three random sample airfares Newshub looked at appeared to show Jettzy offering a 1 percent cheaper option or less than its competitors, its boss says travellers should be aware of hidden costs and dangers.
The website, owned by Tourism Integration Limited, says it achieves the lower airfares by using a unique algorithm. What that does, says Jettzy, is break through the way airlines often charge more for tickets based on where the customer is purchasing them from.
Tourism Integration Limited founder Peter Li says Jettzy doesn't have the hidden fees of some of its competitors and purchases made on it are safer.
"Webjet prices don't show the 'service fee' and 'price charges guarantee' until the point of payment. With those included, Jettzy's price on Newshub's Berlin example is $170 lower," Li told Newshub.
He also provided Newshub with an example of Christchurch-Moscow travel in October that was $400 or 17.5 percent cheaper on Jettzy than Webjet - $1584 versus $1922.
Jettzy targets the English-speaking market of New Zealand, but its algorithm is already being used on the established Feijipiao.co.nz, which targets the country's Chinese-speaking population.
The sample dates Newshub looked at for travel price checks are below (obtained via each website on April 10, 2019):
Auckland-Osaka return, leaving June 2 and returning June 28, 2019
- Jettzy - $1020.70 (one stop each way, flying Air China and Shenzen Airlines)
- Webjet - $1058 (one stop each way, flying Air China and Shenzen Airlines)
- Skyscanner - $1024 (one stop each way, flying Air China and Shenzen Airlines)
Wellington-London return, leaving August 1 and returning August 13, 2019
- Jettzy - $1875.03 (two stops each way, flying Virgin Australia)
- Webjet - $1897.39 (two stops each way, flying Virgin Australia)
- Skyscanner - $1786 (two stops each way, flying Virgin Australia)
Christchurch-Berlin return, leaving October 1 and returning October 26, 2019
- Jettzy - $1805.98 (two stops one way, three on the way back, flying Singapore Airlines and Eurowings)
- Webjet - $1923.89 (two stops one way, three on the way back, flying Singapore Airlines and Eurowings)
- Skyscanner - $1713 (two stops each way, flying Qatar Airways and Air New Zealand)
Jettzy's website includes the location of its Queen St office in Auckland, along with customer service numbers for Aotearoa, Australia, the UK, US, China and Japan.
Newshub.
