How Much Does it Cost to Launch a Travel App Like Hopper?

In this era of modernization, innovations keep attracting people and will continue to do so. Consumers these days look for something new and, at the same time, ease of doing their work, which is why businesses are working hard to provide the best and creativity to their customers with time.

If we talk about the travel business, new trends for booking hotels or flights keep coming. Also, there are many mobile apps or websites that help you book a hotel or flight at lower prices, just like a hopper.

A Hopper-like app helps you book a flight or notify you not to hire that cab and earn millions of dollars just by doing this. Isn’t it unbelievable?

Until now, you might have heard about different mobile applications that help you sell products or services, but today there are mobile applications that help customers to spend less or not.

If you have plans to develop the travel booking app and want to know more about the Hopper app, let’s discuss this further in this blog.

It’s not difficult to create an app like Hopper. All you require is the right tech stack and a professional development team. We’ll discuss the operation of the Hopper app and the process for creating an app like Hopper in this blog.

What is Hopper, and how does it work?

Hopper is a mobile app for booking flights and hotel forecasting prices using artificial intelligence and advises app users on the best times to book rooms or flights. These forecasts assist customers in choosing the ideal time to plan their trip and book the best prices.

All users need to add their vacation destination, the dates they desire to travel, and the number of travelers, much like any other travel app and the app predicts the best deal using this data using AI.

What makes the hopper app unique among others?

The key difference between the two is that Hopper uses a variety of data points to forecast the price. The app analyzes historical data, latest trends, and upcoming events to estimate the cost.

Its main benefit is the mobile app’s ability to check costs and advise users on whether to book their trip now or wait for it to become more affordable. Additionally, it enables customers to anticipate fare increases and modify their travel plans accordingly.

Why develop an app like Hopper in 2022?

The travel industry is the biggest in the world. As per the report by Statista, the global travel and tourism industry will reach $8.97 trillion, and due to the higher awareness about different travel destinations in blogs, advertisements, vlogs, etc., more and more people are now willing to spend money on travel.

Also, these days, people are traveling more than ever after the pandemic, which has led to an increase in users of travel apps, and major players are gearing up for all the advantages they can get.

Here are a few advantages of developing an app like Hopper

• Better user experience

• You get to know your visitors & their preferences

• Get instant feedback from users

• Increase in profit.

• An excellent method for luring users or clients

• Provides access to Maps, Time Tables, and more information

Boost customers’ experience

Users use the app to enhance their trip experience as they search for landmarks, explore parks and gardens, and book hotels and flights within a single click.

Attract visitors

Mobile apps provide various information to users, like destinations, hotel views, what type of activities they can do, how much the total package cost, etc., to attract users and increase visibility and the number of visitors.

Get immediate and direct feedback from users

A mobile travel app can provide direct consumer feedback. Responding to customer comments and inquiries will help in preventing app issues. Nowadays, almost all travelers prefer to read travel site reviews before deciding on a vacation spot.

Online booking service

Travelers use mobile travel apps to book hotels, travel packages, and other tourism-related services. Using an app, travel companies get the chance to provide users with online services round the clock in a simple and convenient way.

Provide access to timetables, maps, and other information

You can give your visitors access to maps, timetables, and other information via the app. Travelers can autonomously manage their travel arrangements and access real-time pertinent information. You can also alter routes in real-time, give promotions, and make a schedule.

Boost your earnings

The provision of goods and services via a mobile application establishes a new sales channel where the travel agency offers special discounts, promotions, and sales, eventually boosting earnings.

Know your visitors’ preferences

A mobile travel app can help you learn more about your customers and the industry. Your app can offer crucial information and reports on things like preferences, demographics, and interests while assisting you in evaluating the ability of your content to enhance your brand, the user experience for visitors, and more.

How to develop a hopper-like app?

The very first step is market research and knowledge about the target audience

Hopper is a very novel concept, and its USP is the innovative approach it offers to users, that is, to save users money that too on travel. Similarly, you must have an original idea before developing an internet travel app, or you can play with this idea.

Once it’s done, you must look for your target audience. Understand their requirements, like who your customers are and what they do, then classify them into different groups to better meet their demands. Thus, look for solutions to address their issues and develop the app.

You may then build the framework for your application using this data. In order to test your idea and gather input from early users, you may also go with developing a Minimum Viable Product.

Make a plan for monetizing your travel app

Once you know about your customers and what solutions you want to provide to them, it is time to determine how your app will generate revenue. To get the answers, you need to forecast the features the users like to pay for and take advantage of their wants by meeting their convenience demands.

For instance, applications like Hopper use a commission model to monetize the app. The hopper app earns $5 for each ticket and receives a 1-4% commission from the airlines. Fortunately, there are several monetization techniques you may implement for your online travel app.

Various types of business models include:

• Paid: Users need to pay the subscription fee to use your app.

• Freemium: Users can use your app without paying anything, but they have to pay if they want to use additional features.

• Advertisement: You can earn money by displaying ads in your mobile applications, but ensure the ads will not annoy your customers.

• In-App purchase: You can sell products or services through your app to customers.

Hire an experienced mobile app development company

This is a crucial phase because you will need to hire an app development company experienced in developing a similar mobile app, a knowledgeable app developer who can assist you in creating what you want and adding features per your requirements. Therefore, take your time and look for the best development company.

Before contacting any development companies, you must finalize the development idea and features you want to add to your app. In the long term, developing app development phases will also enable you to save time and money. Additionally, it will help you avoid misunderstandings and better understand the app development process.

Ongoing support and maintenance

After your app is released, you must continue to support and maintain it for your users. This entails introducing fresh features, addressing issues, and offering customer service.

Additionally, you must monitor your app’s performance to ensure it is functioning properly. For that, you must regularly update and maintain your app to guarantee its success.

How to develop a Travel App that will stand out in front of your customers?

Developing a seamless customer experience and providing a feature-rich app to your customers that makes your user’s life is the key to surviving in the industry.

The features may vary depending on your app’s business model. Here are a few musts features to consider of a travel mobile application:

Registration: The three main criteria for registration are adaptability, dependability, and simplicity (removing any extraneous procedures) (offering several registration options).

Profile: The obvious step following registering is to create a user account. Personal information about the user is contained in a profile.

Filters: The filter feature of Hopper has both hotel and flight options. Users can select whether they want to look for a one-way or round-trip ticket when it comes to prices. Additionally, they may specify whether they want to see all available alternatives or only the lowest prices and whether they want to see flights with criteria like price, reviews, and amenities.

Customized Booking Experience: Nowadays, Travelers expect highly customized online travel experiences, which very few businesses can provide. However, to offer customers smooth travel experiences and stand out in the market, travel businesses adapt to new technology quickly.

Affordable Travel: People these days are time and money conscious. As a result, they favor affordable travel options over pricey ones, So apps like Hopper must cater to the demands of all types of travelers.

You can achieve this by letting your client look for affordable options for lodging and transportation, letting them discover local foods and attractions and the local climate before traveling.

Maps: Users using the map function can view hotels’ locations and nightly rates on a map. Users can find out more about the hotel’s location in relation to other lodging options.

Artificial Intelligence: Implementing technologies like ML, AI, AR/VR, and others will be crucial if you want to differentiate your app from your competitors. You can use AI to integrate chatbots to give your customers round-the-clock service. You can either use a ready-made bot or spend money creating your own. Thus, AR and VR technology can help customers to virtual tour locations or hotels they want to visit.

Payment gateway: If your users cannot make hotel and flight reservations using the app, it won’t be a complete travel solution. You will require a safe payment gateway allowing your customers to pay in multiple ways; in addition to credit and debit cards, they must have access to user e-wallets.

Notification: Push notifications are a useful tool for communicating with people and have a variety of uses. However, you can use notifications as a powerful marketing tool, especially for apps like Hopper.

How much does it cost to develop an app like Hopper?

The cost of developing a like hopper for flight and hotel booking depends on various factors like features, app design, tech stack, the hourly rate of your development team, app complexity, time frame, etc.

But the main factor that influences app development cost is developers’ hourly rate, which depends on their location. For example, an application that costs more in the US will cost less in India as a professional development company’s hourly rate is quite low.

Here are the development rates per country:

India: $10-$70/hour

Australia: $50 to $160/hour

USA/Canada: $50 to $250/hour

Eastern Europe: $20 to $150/hour

Conclusion

You must understand the user’s viewpoint to develop an app like Hopper, as users nowadays prefer a well-designed, user-friendly, and efficient app. So, work on the forecasting method, as is the key feature. On the technical side, you must have a thorough knowledge of the operation and application of the algorithms.

A mobile app development firm may work wonders for your app; thus, hiring skilled developers and designers’ teams and cutting-edge equipment is best to guarantee quality.

The development team you choose must be knowledgeable about the recent technologies and trends to develop an innovative, responsive, and scalable app.

Get in touch with us immediately if you want to create an app like Hopper but are unsure where to begin. Our team of specialists will work with you to fully grasp your needs and produce an ideal app for your company.