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In the last week, BusinessWeek and the Associated Press have taken on the same task that this blog took on weeks ago: rating the travel aggregator sites, Kayak, Mobissimo, FareChase, SideStep, etc., for their usefulness in conducting airfare searches. (You think Anick Jesdanun of the Associated Press and Sarah Lacy of BusinessWeek read this site? Hi guys!)

Note that I went the next step and also reviewed aggregator hotel searches… Let’s see if they follow suit and do the same!

(snideness: off)

AP’s Jesdanun agrees with my assessment of Kayak as the superior airfare search, but BusinessWeek’s Lacy downplays Kayak and instead favors SideStep for its downloadable toolbar “big brother” feature. This is a reason NOT to like SideStep if you ask me. I just don’t trust these browse-along features to protect my privacy. Call me paranoid.

In aggregator news, Mobissimo has in recent weeks made some improvements, broadening the number of sites they search (and pitching the means by which they conduct their searches.) Their recently launched India-based site is a big move. But I still just don’t like their user interface, their comparative lack of information, or their lack of controls. It’s getting better, but it’s not there yet.

tags: travel | travel planning | metasearches | journalists stealing story ideas from bloggers | Kayak | Mobissimo | Farechase | Sidestep