Clarifying a fare upgrade to boost sales

The challenge

Millions of lastminute.com customers choose between Basic and Flexible fare each month. The fare offer cards did little to explain what either option included or what changing plans would cost. Around 30% left checkout at this point, making fare selection an important place to investigate.

Flexible fare sold especially well when travel plans were uncertain in 2020. That success made the business cautious about changing it, so I needed evidence that clearer choices could improve the experience without putting sales at risk.

How I made the case

I proposed a phased roadmap to grow Flexible fare sales and improve checkout conversion. We would start with a smaller change to the fare design, measure whether clearer information helped customers choose, and use that evidence to make the case for a broader redesign.

That first change gave the team confidence to go further. I then led additional research and design iterations around the benefits, fees, and comparison details travelers needed to make a choice.

30%

sales lift

conversion gain

81%

guest satisfaction

Role

Design Lead covering Product Strategy, UX Design, Research, Usability Testing. Launched in 2024

The solution

Put benefits and costs together

Each fare now explains what travelers get and what they would pay to change their plans. Research on the original version showed that people wanted both pieces of information before choosing.

Write for the decision travelers are making

Flexible fare speaks to people who want room to change plans. Basic makes the lower price and its conditions clear for people who are comfortable committing to their dates.

Let people compare the details

The Compare Fares dialog groups terms by benefit and lets travelers who need reassurance find the details they need. In later research, travelers used it to resolve specific doubts before selecting a fare.

Outcome and lasting change

The staged work increased Flexible fare sales by 30% and checkout conversion by 4%. It also exposed a process problem: legal drove our copywriting process, leaving no room for user input. We moved toward guidelines that let the team test clearer language while retaining the required terms.

Giving travelers confidence to change flights online

Self-service, post-booking travel