ConversionWax Playbook
Departure City Flight & Hotel Deals
Automatically show 'Flights from Chicago' or 'Hotels near LAX' based on visitor's detected location for immediate relevance.
Tactic Overview
Stop showing generic 'Find Flights' messaging. Greet visitors with 'Flights from Chicago' when they're in Chicago, 'Hotels near LAX' when they're in Los Angeles - creating instant local relevance that increases engagement and bookings.
Primary goal
Increase search engagement
Mechanism
Location-based messaging
Where it shows
Homepage hero, search widgets, promotional banners
Why This Works
The friction
A traveler in Seattle searches for flights on a generic booking site. The homepage shows 'Find flights worldwide' - forcing them to manually select their departure city from a dropdown. This extra step creates friction and reduces the likelihood they'll complete the search.
The unlock
When a visitor from Miami sees 'Nonstop flights from Miami to 100+ destinations' with Miami already pre-selected in the search form, they immediately engage. One OTA saw 37% higher search completion rates with departure city personalization.
Implementation Steps
10 steps
-
1Quick Win
Map major departure markets
Identify your top 20-30 cities with significant traffic. Focus on major metro areas and airport hubs.
-
2Quick Win
Create city-specific messaging
Write headline variations: 'Flights from [CITY]', 'Hotels near [AIRPORT]', '[CITY] to paradise' for each market.
-
3Quick Win
Set up location detection
Use ConversionWax to detect visitor city and automatically populate messaging and search fields.
-
4Quick Win
Pre-fill search forms
Auto-populate departure city in search widgets so visitors can start searching immediately.
-
5Medium Effort
Highlight local routes
Show popular routes from the detected city: 'Top destinations from Chicago: NYC, Miami, LA'.
-
6Quick Win
Add departure airport codes
Include familiar airport codes locals recognize: 'ORD', 'LAX', 'JFK' alongside city names.
-
7Quick Win
Create fallback for unknowns
For VPN users or undetected locations, show generic messaging with manual city selection.
-
8Quick Win
Test across geographies
Verify correct city detection and messaging displays in your top 10 markets.
-
9Medium Effort
A/B test city prominence
Test showing city in headline vs. just pre-filling forms to find optimal approach.
-
10Quick Win
Monitor search completion rates
Track if city personalization improves search-to-booking conversion by market.
Real-World Example
Scenario
A budget airline showed generic 'Find cheap flights' messaging to all visitors. Chicago traffic made up 18% of visitors but only 11% of bookings, with high bounce rates on the search page.
Outcome
After implementing 'Flights from Chicago' personalization with ORD pre-selected, Chicago visitor conversion increased 41%, bringing their booking share to 16.5% and generating $2.3M additional annual revenue.
Key Metrics to Track
Search Initiation Rate
Track % of visitors who start a search. Target: 15-25% improvement with pre-filled departure cities.
Search Completion Rate
Measure how many initiated searches result in viewing results.
Time to First Search
Personalized, pre-filled forms should reduce time to engagement.
Conversion Rate by Market
Monitor if underperforming cities improve with local messaging.
Common Pitfalls
Inaccurate location detection
VPNs and mobile networks can misidentify location. Always provide easy manual override options.
Ignoring connecting flights
Don't only show nonstop routes. Some visitors are fine with connections if the price is right.
Quick Reference
Best for
Airlines, OTAs, hotel chains
Effort level
Low
Time to results
1 week
Difficulty
Beginner