Flexible travel search tool uses natural language

When searching for airfares online, travellers are typically required to know ahead of time exactly where they’re going and when, and they must input those details in a specified way. Not so on Adioso, a site that uses natural language and allows for open-ended exploration. Now in beta, Australian Adioso is “a travel search engine for spontaneous and adventurous travellers,” in the words of its creators. The site’s natural-language search interface allows users to conduct searches in which both the date and the destination can be flexible, such as “San Francisco to NYC late October,” for example, or “Austin to anywhere under $200 next week.” They can also investigate trips to anywhere in a continent or region, such as “New York to Europe.” Adioso provides a routing engine that interconnects flights from low-cost airlines, so it also allows budget-conscious consumers to identify the lowest-cost route between any two places, domestically or internationally. Judging by all the ongoing efforts to refine travel search, it’s clear there’s still plenty of opportunity for both generalized improvement and niche variation. One to partner with, emulate — or be inspired by? (Related: More travel-route comparisons, now with CO2 effects — Trip-planning site helps find others to travel the world with — Travel agents bid on consumers’ dream trips — Event-driven travel search asks when, not where.) Spotted by: James B.