I could go into detail how being able to have a dozen tabs open almost always gives a better result than simply picking the first flight on google flights. But let's assume there's no difference:
Do you really want to use a phone's on-screen keyboard to type in your family's passport details, address, then credit card numbers, then review all of this to ensure your $2000 purchase doesn't have any typos or mistakes? If you have the choice to use a real computer for this, then why not? It's not like booking a big trip is something you do while sitting on a bus.
Then of course there's accommodation, itineraries, visas, trip research...
Apparently the anxiety of making big purchases on phones is only a thing for the millennials and not really a thing for the younger generation.
I’m wondering what the sample size is for this assessment. I know gen z people that don’t buy stuff on Amazon out of anxiety, let alone booking a 4 figure flight.
Let’s not forget that a plurality exists.
Which it should be noted, may not even have a laptop. Probably not a desktop even.
Old-ish data, but US Census states that 81% of American households have at least one laptop or desktop. Tablets at 61%.
https://www.census.gov/newsroom/press-releases/2024/computer...
> Probably not a desktop even.
I'd be more surprised if they had a desktop than a laptop.
Gaming PCs are very often desktops, though I think those tend to be used more like consoles nowadays, not general purpose computers.
My anecdata is that the households I know that have desktops are gamers, yes, but:
- the desktops in question tend to be "exclusively" used by one member of the household
- the desktop owners usually also have a laptop
- the desktop-owning households are well in the minority of households I know
just for the record, I completely agree that _research_ is way easier on a computer.
But i take issue with this concern:
> Do you really want to use a phone's on-screen keyboard to type in your family's passport details, address, then credit card numbers, then review all of this to ensure your $2000 purchase doesn't have any typos or mistakes?
My iphone (safari) auto-fills almost all of those details. It’s also likely that semi-frequent travelers have an account with the airline in question, so passport and TSA precheck info is pre-saved too.
It’s simply a non-issue in my experience.
Yeah non issue for frequent travel people. If you only travel 2x a year always with different airlines then it’s a hassle.
My personal experience is that Chrome on my PC is more reliable/predictable than Safari on my iPad.
Now I am wondering if this is Safari/Chrome thing and not a mobile/desktop thing.
Certainly if the autofill doesn't work and I do need to to type it in, the PC is way easier. I'm thinking international travel for 5 people - all my responsibility and I don't want to get held up half way across the world when no one has slept for a day, work visas beign contingent on correctness, etc.
Indeed. I often complete purchases via mobile because the experience is better. For example, using Apple Pay. The ability to have details auto-fill works on desktop, but it works far better on mobile I find.
The idea of manually typing any of this stuff in is very old fashioned.
I bought a Tesla in 2018 on my phone, only ever having seen one, and without ever having driven one. In a quiet/stalled moment while traveling.
But that says 1000% more about impulsivity coming to my rescue, with reckless disregard for the risk of regret at the first sign of boredom, than any trust in mobile interfaces.
I didn't (and would never) book the trip that cost a fraction of that on a phone or pad.
> Do you really want to use a phone's on-screen keyboard to type in your family's passport details, address, then credit card numbers, then review all of this to ensure your $2000 purchase doesn't have any typos or mistakes?
Not only do they type it in, they let them save their information...