Hitlist

Hitlist operates as a mobile application-based platform focused on providing airline booking deals. The company was founded in 2012 by Gillian Morris. The idea for the app was born from Morris's own experiences as an avid traveler. While living in Istanbul, she would find cheap flights to encourage her friends to visit, which eventually grew into a time-consuming weekly task of sending out deals. This personal project highlighted a need for a more automated, self-service solution for flexible travelers.

Before entering the startup world, Gillian Morris cultivated a diverse background as a consultant, journalist, and educator, working in various countries including Turkey, China, the Gulf states, and Syria. This experience in emerging markets fueled her passion for entrepreneurship and private sector investment in the developing world. A Harvard University graduate, her work has appeared in numerous publications, and she has been recognized as a young leader to watch in the travel industry by PhoCusWright.

The Hitlist app functions by allowing users to create a list of desired destinations. Instead of requiring users to search specific dates, the platform monitors millions of flight prices and alerts them when a deal becomes available for one of their chosen locations. This model serves the flexible traveler who is open to traveling whenever a cheap fare appears. The app includes features like automatic notifications, a flight price tracker, and an itinerary planner. The company's revenue model is based on commissions from flight bookings, and despite the typically low margins and high data costs in consumer flight search, Hitlist became profitable and grew to over 1.8 million users without significant ad spending, relying heavily on organic, word-of-mouth growth.

The platform initially began as a more personal, one-to-one service before evolving into the self-service app. A key breakthrough came after being featured by The Next Web during the Web Summit conference, which significantly expanded its user base. Despite facing initial skepticism from investors, with Morris speaking to over 100 before securing her first one, the company successfully raised funding. Investors include notable figures such as the founder of JetBlue and the former Chairman of Orbitz. In 2016, TIME magazine named Hitlist one of the 50 Best Apps of the year.

Keywords: flight deals, travel app, airline booking, fare alerts, Gillian Morris, flexible travel, trip planning, flight price tracker, cheap flights, travel technology, mobile travel, airfare monitoring, travel deals, destination wishlist, organic growth, consumer travel, flight search, travel startup, fare notification, itinerary planner