The tech revolution at Wotif is now complete. New owner Expedia last Wednesday replaced the infamous pricing and availability matrix with a standard display.
It’s safe to say no tears were shed but it’s a significantly symbolic move – Wotif now lacks quirks and looks like any well-funded modern website.
No doubt it also works a whole lot better with the migration to the Expedia tech platform now complete.
The net result is that, combined with a fresh logo, Wotif’s whole look and feel is completely different.
Much cleaner and quieter. Cools greens.
And while some may be nostalgic about the matrix, it was actually an impediment to the company moving forward on the tech front and had to go.
Hopefully this is now the end of a process that began more than 18 months ago, well before Expedia bought the company.
Traditional Matrix display:
New Display:
Home page, one year ago:
New home page:
I disagree about how the availability matrix was old-fashioned. For anyone with any sort of flexibility with either their check-in date or duration of stay, the matrix allowed one to see, at a glance, what was available and how one could tailor their stay to fit in with availability. Imagine if you are looking at staying at a hotel for any weekend in a particular month. With the new interface, you will have to re-enter your dates 4 or 5 times to check, whereas with the matrix, you could see instantly, or click the next arrow for the next fortnight. Much simpler.
After all, what is wrong with the matrix? Many airlines use a similar layout for flight availability, and many on-line accommodation booking systems, like those from SiteMinder (The Booking Buton), V3Travel, etc, use a matrix.
Have to agree with Jamie on this. Whilst the back-end tech and home page may have been well overdue for a refresh, the grid/matrix was fantastic for a fast comparison of pricing across multiple dates & properties. Doing so on the new layout is a pain in the rear. A Wotif tab open next to a Jetstar or Virgin tab with their pricing grid allowed for a fast search of the best value days to travel. Maybe NeedItNow and LastMinute will pcik up some traffic?
With the matrix gone, what’s left to differentiate Wotif from Expedia? And with Expedia+ just launched, I’d never open Wotif anymore. (Ignoring the fact that I tend to book direct anyway!).
Jamie, I believe the issue is that Wotif is now owned by Expedia which wants everything on a single tech platform – the matrix apparently didn’t work on that level. Regards, Martin Kelly
I guess this is what happens when administrators as opposed to entrepreneurial types run the show.
After starting to use it for the first time last week, I complained to wotif and said they’d lost me, not because of nostalgia, but because the matrix had allowed for simple comparison of prices i.e. around 20 hotel options on one screen without scrolling. The new version has 4 options! Doh! And in my view, it’s now as boring all the others. So I just went and booked a vacation rental instead!
Admittedly the matrix couldn’t work in the world of Adaptive sites i.e. web and mobile needed to be two different codes bases.
My feedback to wotif was to give customers the option to toggle between a matrix and the standard list. Like on Momondo for flights, you can toggle between a single leg timetable display and return tkt display.
oh well – C’est la vie. Keep the good work up!
I strongly disagree with this article. The old old matrix showed multiple properties over multiple date. Wotif has gone the generic path and is now just like any other accommodation search engine. very disappointing. Trivago will now become my search of choice. RIP the real Wotif.
I wont be using Wotif anymore. It use to be easy to compare rates. I had to book some corporate travel the other day and used Quickbeds instead.
The Matrix allowed comparison so easy, it now takes up so much time. Also appears the Twin Share classification is no longer used, again making things difficult
New wot if layout is just terrible. Time consuming and difficult to see what is available over extended period of time in any city/ town.
Will be searching for another accommodation site which picks up the old wot if site.
I hate this new display, I much preferred the old layout so I could compare rates across dates since I’m flexible with my leave time. This new layout means I wont be using Wotif to do my booking anymore.
Martin, did you regularly use Wotif yourself? I am yet to meet any regular user who doesn’t hate the new site. It was the easiest, clearest, way on the web to book rooms. A little bit of net surfing and you will see the backlash, and how wrong your Expedia press release is . Tears are being shed, actually.
What’s worse? This puff piece or the new Wotif website?
The old Wotif was actually great. The matrix was infamous how exactly? Maybe because it allowed customers to make genuine comparisons in a timely manner instead of wading through unwanted results.
If the object of the Expedia’s takeover was to keep Wotif users well it’s doomed to fail but if it was just to take out a superior competitor then it is a success. Either way I won’t use Wotif again.
Another thing if you change your location from Australia on your browser using for example Hola with Chrome often you’ll find you are charged less by comparison websites.
100% fail! Wotif… please listen to the vast majority that find the new site a step backwards in customer experience….
At least give us the olde matrix as a view option to the default view.
I’m looking for a quick weekend away…. by the time I search the site now, the weekend will be here and gone… oh well… wot-ever!