The bad news for hipmunk is it wasn't that much of an improvement over actual travel sites. I never had that much trouble using Expedia and I already know how to purchase my ticket right on the site. So there wasn't much reason to use Hipmunk in the first place.
This Google search interface is pretty nice, and makes a lot more sense than Hipmunk did.
Really? Google gives you a sort-able grid which doesn't seem that helpful to me.
Hipmunk gives me a "heat map" style presentation which I can understand multiple factors at once without scanning text:
Color = carrier / layovers
Line length = total travel duration
Timeline position = flight start/end time
Ordered by Agony (or whatever)
I can take one quick look and grasp all the flights without a second thought. In my opinion, Hipmunk's UI is genius where Google's looks like a school project.
This Google search interface is pretty nice, and makes a lot more sense than Hipmunk did.