Hipmunk Is Shutting Down: What Travelers Need to Know
After a decade of reshaping travel booking, Hipmunk has closed its doors. Explore what this means for loyal users, travel bookings, and the future of trip planning.
Hipmunk’s Shutdown: The End of a Travel Tech Era
On January 23, 2020, Hipmunk, the travel metasearch and booking site known for its innovative tools and devoted user base, officially ceased all operations. This news marked the conclusion of a decade-long journey for one of the most user-friendly and pioneering travel search engines of its time. The announcement from SAP Concur, which acquired Hipmunk in 2016, sent ripples through the travel community, especially among loyal fans who relied on Hipmunk’s unique approach to simplifying travel planning.
What Was Hipmunk?
Founded in 2010 by Adam Goldstein and Reddit co-founder Steve Huffman, Hipmunk quickly gained prominence by reimagining the online travel search process. Unlike conventional travel comparison sites, Hipmunk introduced an easy-to-use interface and innovative features designed to alleviate the ‘agony’ associated with searching for flights and accommodations.
- Metasearch Engine: Aggregated options for flights, hotels, and car rentals across numerous providers, including big names like Expedia, Priceline, and airline direct portals.
- “Agony” Sort Feature: Introduced a proprietary algorithm to sort flights not just by price, but also by overall travel time, layovers, and flight duration, offering a more passenger-focused look at trip convenience.
- User-Centric Design: Praised for its visually intuitive interface, including timeline views for itineraries and filters that made searching less stressful and more efficient.
The site rapidly built a fan base among frequent travelers and those looking for a smarter way to plan complicated trips.
Timeline: From Startup Sensation to Shutdown
| Year | Milestone |
|---|---|
| 2010 | Hipmunk founded by Adam Goldstein and Steve Huffman. |
| 2016 | Acquired by SAP Concur, a business travel and expense management provider, reportedly for $58 million. |
| Late 2018 | Co-founder Adam Goldstein leaves the company. |
| January 23, 2020 | Hipmunk shuts down, discontinuing website and app services. |
What Made Hipmunk Stand Out?
Hipmunk’s appeal went far beyond its striking chipmunk mascot and playful branding. Its core technological and design choices set new standards in the travel tech industry:
- Agony Index: The agony sort not only considered price but factored in flight duration, layovers, and arrival times, making it easier to avoid exhausting journeys.
- Visual Timeline: Clear graphical timelines of flights and layovers simplified complex itineraries, allowing travelers to identify the best trade-offs at a glance.
- Comprehensive Search: Hipmunk aggregated data from OTAs (Online Travel Agencies), direct airline sites, and lodging providers, meaning fewer tabs and less manual comparison.
- User Advocacy: Many users, including AFAR editors, expressed deep affection for the platform and credited it with revolutionizing solo and group travel planning.
Why Is Hipmunk Shutting Down?
The closure of Hipmunk can be attributed to several converging factors, reflecting both specific challenges and broader industry shifts:
- Post-Acquisition Strategy: After being acquired by SAP Concur, Hipmunk’s independent development slowed, with strategic priorities shifting towards integration with Concur’s corporate travel services.
- Intense Competition: The entry and dominance of major travel search engines and booking aggregators—such as Kayak, Google Flights, Skyscanner, and Expedia—made it difficult for Hipmunk to maintain market share.
- Revenue Challenges: Despite its influential design and loyal base, Hipmunk struggled to scale revenue and retain users at a level that would ensure its long-term viability.
- Failed Buyback Attempts: Reports indicate that Hipmunk’s co-founders attempted to reacquire the company, but SAP Concur declined their proposal.
What Does This Mean for Hipmunk Users?
If you relied on Hipmunk for travel planning or price comparisons, the shutdown brings several immediate consequences:
- Website and App Inaccessibility: After January 23, 2020, neither the Hipmunk website nor its mobile app are available for use.
- No Account Access: All user accounts, profiles, and personalized data have been deleted or rendered inaccessible.
- Existing Bookings Unaffected: Any reservations made after searching on Hipmunk remain valid because Hipmunk acted only as a search and referral platform. Travelers will not lose any bookings—they are handled by the original provider (airline, hotel, or car rental agency).
- No Booking Management via Hipmunk: Users must manage or modify bookings directly with the airline or hotel, as Hipmunk only facilitated searches and redirection to external booking sources.
For many, the loss is more about the distinctive search experience and convenience Hipmunk offered, rather than disruptions to actual travel plans.
What Should Former Hipmunk Users Do Next?
With Hipmunk gone, travelers looking for comprehensive, user-friendly trip planning have several alternative platforms to consider. Some recommendations include:
- Skyscanner: Well-known for exhaustive flights, hotels, and car rentals search with a straightforward interface and powerful filters.
- Google Flights: Quick, clean flight search and robust price tracking features.
- Kayak: Similar metasearch capabilities, including flight duration and layover filters.
- Expedia and Priceline: Major OTAs with extensive inventory and deals on flights, accommodations, and bundled packages.
- Momondo or Hopper: Emerging travel search tools with unique features, such as price predictions or visual fare calendars.
Travelers accustomed to Hipmunk’s agony sort may want to look for platforms that offer comparable features, such as advanced filtering by total journey time, stops, and layovers.
Hipmunk’s Legacy in the Travel Industry
Despite its closure, Hipmunk leaves an indelible legacy in the world of digital travel planning. Its innovative interface and commitment to reducing travel ‘agony’ pushed competitors to rethink how online booking could work, leading to:
- Better UX/UI Across Market: Many leading travel sites now offer visual timelines and more nuanced sorting tools inspired by Hipmunk’s pioneering design.
- Focus on Traveler Convenience: The notion that price isn’t everything—duration, layovers, and ease matter—has become a standard consideration for search engines serving frequent travelers.
- Proof of Startup Influence: Hipmunk demonstrated how startups can disrupt entrenched industries, setting new benchmarks even if long-term sustainability remains a challenge.
Expert and User Reactions
The news of Hipmunk’s shutdown sparked strong reactions among industry experts and everyday travelers alike. Many expressed nostalgia for a service that once made an arduous process enjoyable:
- Maggie Fuller, associate editor at AFAR, said, “I have deep love for Hipmunk and have been a loyal fan since the site’s early days. It launched right around the time that I was starting to travel on my own in earnest. I probably logged hundreds if not thousands of hours around that time on the search engine testing different airport combinations, dates, and trip lengths.”
- Other experts noted that Hipmunk’s demise is a cautionary tale about the challenges startups face in sustaining both innovation and profitability, especially in highly competitive markets.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Is my booking canceled because of the Hipmunk shutdown?
No. Hipmunk was an intermediary search service. Your actual reservations were made through airlines, hotel companies, or travel agencies. Those bookings remain valid and unaffected.
How can I retrieve booking information I previously accessed on Hipmunk?
You will not be able to retrieve any previous search data or booking summaries from Hipmunk. If you need information about an upcoming reservation, contact the travel provider (airline, hotel, etc.) directly.
What happened to my Hipmunk user account?
All Hipmunk accounts and profiles have been deleted or are no longer accessible due to the complete discontinuation of the website and app services.
Were Hipmunk’s features unique compared to other travel search tools?
Yes. Hipmunk stood out for its agony sort algorithm, visual timeline, and an intuitive interface that streamlined the travel planning process. Many competing platforms have since implemented similar features.
Will Hipmunk or a similar service return in the future?
There are currently no official plans for Hipmunk’s relaunch. The travel search industry, though, continues to evolve, and new services occasionally emerge with innovative features inspired by Hipmunk’s example.
What to Learn from Hipmunk’s Story
Hipmunk’s rise and fall illustrates both the potential and pitfalls of tech-driven disruption in the travel sector:
- Continuous Innovation Is Critical: Even remarkable design and technology must be paired with long-term vision for scalability and profitability.
- User Experience Drives Loyalty: Travelers flock to platforms that reduce friction and offer genuinely helpful features.
- Surviving Acquisitions: Being acquired can provide resources but may also shift priorities or dilute a brand’s original mission.
Moving Forward: Finding Your Next Travel Planning Tool
Although Hipmunk is gone, the need for efficient, transparent, and traveler-friendly booking tools is greater than ever. When choosing your next travel search engine:
- Look for features that match your priorities, such as flexible sorting by trip duration or price, clear visualizations, and integrated filters.
- Consider signing up for alerts and newsletters from major OTAs and metasearch sites, as many have implemented innovations first made popular by Hipmunk.
- Stay alert to new platforms and startups that may be the next big thing in travel tech.
Hipmunk’s closure signals the end of a unique era, but its innovations live on—both in the travel tech landscape and in the memories of those who valued smarter, less stressful trip planning.
