Softwr

Travel · head to head

Hopper vs Travelport Smartpoint

Hopper logo

Hopper

Travel

Travel booking app known for price prediction and paid Price Freeze and cancellation add-ons

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Travelport Smartpoint logo

Travelport Smartpoint

Travel

Travelport GDS booking desktop for travel agents, now on version 12

From
On request
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Only Hopper has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
  • Each has a real cost: Hopper add-on products like Price Freeze and Cancel for Any Reason are priced to be a meaningfully profitable part of the business, and taking them on every booking can offset much of what the price prediction tool is meant to save.; Travelport Smartpoint travelport retires older Smartpoint versions on its own schedule, and agencies that do not track release notes can lose sign-on access to Travelport+ or Apollo with little warning.
  • They diverge on capability: Hopper covers Price prediction, Travelport Smartpoint covers Graphical and cryptic modes.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 1 September 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Hopper and Travelport Smartpoint actually diverge.

Attributes where Hopper and Travelport Smartpoint differ
AttributeHopperTravelport Smartpoint
Starting priceFreeOn request
Pricing modelFree to book, paid add-ons for price freezing and cancellation flexibilityquote
Free tierYesNo
PlatformsiOS, AndroidWindows, Web

Identical on both: user rating (Not yet rated), category (Travel).

What each one covers

Drawn from each product's published feature list. An absence here means we hold no record of it - not that the product lacks it.

Only in Hopper

  • Price prediction
  • Price Freeze
  • Cancel/Change for Any Reason
  • Price alerts
  • Hopper Homes and Car
  • Carrot Cash

Only in Travelport Smartpoint

  • Graphical and cryptic modes
  • Multi-GDS content
  • Smartpoint Cloud
  • Automation scripting
  • Marketplace distribution
  • Queue and PNR management

What people use each for

The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.

Hopper

  • A traveller wanting data-driven guidance on whether to book now or wait for a lower pricenot Travelport Smartpoint
  • Someone wanting to lock in a fare for a few days while confirming travel plans without fully committingnot Travelport Smartpoint
  • A traveller who wants flexible cancellation on an otherwise restrictive farenot Travelport Smartpoint
  • Someone comparing predicted price trends before choosing travel datesnot Travelport Smartpoint

Travelport Smartpoint

  • A retail agency already on a Travelport segment agreement needing the current supported desktop versionnot Hopper
  • A TMC running mixed cryptic and graphical booking teams on one workspacenot Hopper
  • An agency migrating from an older Smartpoint build after Travelport retired 8.1 to 9.1not Hopper
  • A consolidator wanting Apollo, Galileo or Worldspan content behind a single agent interfacenot Hopper

Where each one falls short

Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.

Hopper

  • Add-on products like Price Freeze and Cancel for Any Reason are priced to be a meaningfully profitable part of the business, and taking them on every booking can offset much of what the price prediction tool is meant to save.
  • Price predictions are probabilistic and can be wrong, so buy-or-wait guidance is not a guarantee that a price will actually move as predicted.
  • The prominent placement of paid add-ons during checkout has drawn criticism as pressuring users into purchases they may not need for every trip.
  • Customer service for booking issues has been a recurring complaint, particularly for itinerary changes on cancel or change protected bookings.
  • Hopper's own Carrot Cash rewards currency is only redeemable within the app, so it has no value outside future Hopper bookings.

Travelport Smartpoint

  • Travelport retires older Smartpoint versions on its own schedule, and agencies that do not track release notes can lose sign-on access to Travelport+ or Apollo with little warning.
  • Pricing is never published and is folded into a segment incentive agreement, so two agencies of similar size can be paying materially different effective rates with no way to compare.
  • Cryptic command knowledge is still needed for a meaningful share of servicing tasks, so a newly hired agent takes months to reach full productivity.
  • It is a Windows-weighted desktop product, and agencies wanting fully remote or Mac-based teams need Smartpoint Cloud or virtual desktop infrastructure to compensate.
  • Switching to Sabre or Amadeus means retraining staff on a different command language and renegotiating a separate incentive deal, which locks agencies into their existing GDS relationship longer than pure product quality would justify.

Pricing, plan by plan

Hopper

Free
  • Standard bookingFree
    • No fee beyond the fare or room price itself
  • Price Freeze$undefined/per booking
    • Fee varies by fare and freeze duration, charged in addition to the eventual ticket price
  • Cancel/Change for Any Reason$undefined/per booking
    • Add-on fee charged at checkout, priced as a percentage or flat amount depending on the fare

Travelport Smartpoint

On request
  • Travelport Smartpoint$undefined/year
    • Usually bundled into a GDS segment agreement
    • Distribution and version entitlement managed per country via the Marketplace
    • Segment incentive payments to the agency

Which should you pick?

Choose Hopper if

  • You need price prediction.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on iOS, Android.
  • You also want price freeze.
Hopper review

Choose Travelport Smartpoint if

  • You need graphical and cryptic modes.
  • You work on Windows, Web.
  • You also want multi-gds content.
Travelport Smartpoint review

Questions people ask

Is Hopper or Travelport Smartpoint better?
Neither clearly leads. Hopper starts at Free and Travelport Smartpoint at On request, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Hopper or Travelport Smartpoint?
Hopper has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at Free for Hopper and On request for Travelport Smartpoint.
Does Hopper or Travelport Smartpoint run on more platforms?
Hopper runs on iOS, Android. Travelport Smartpoint runs on Windows, Web.
Can I use Hopper for free?
Yes. Hopper has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. Travelport Smartpoint starts at On request.
What is Hopper best used for?
Hopper is most often used for a traveller wanting data-driven guidance on whether to book now or wait for a lower price, someone wanting to lock in a fare for a few days while confirming travel plans without fully committing, a traveller who wants flexible cancellation on an otherwise restrictive fare, someone comparing predicted price trends before choosing travel dates. Of those, a traveller wanting data-driven guidance on whether to book now or wait for a lower price and someone wanting to lock in a fare for a few days while confirming travel plans without fully committing are not what Travelport Smartpoint is typically brought in for.
What can Hopper do that Travelport Smartpoint cannot?
Hopper covers Price prediction, Price Freeze, Cancel/Change for Any Reason, Price alerts. Travelport Smartpoint covers Graphical and cryptic modes, Multi-GDS content, Smartpoint Cloud, Automation scripting.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Hopper: Is Hopper free to use for searching and booking?

Yes, the base booking has no extra fee; Price Freeze and cancellation flexibility are separate paid add-ons.

Travelport Smartpoint: Do we pay a separate licence fee for Smartpoint?

Usually not directly. It is typically bundled into a GDS segment agreement in which Travelport pays incentives per booked segment.

Hopper: How accurate is Hopper's price prediction?

It is based on historical fare data and gives a probability-based recommendation, not a guarantee; predictions can be wrong.

Travelport Smartpoint: What happened to older Smartpoint versions?

Travelport retired versions 8.1 through 9.1 as of 30 April 2026; agencies must be on Smartpoint 12.0 to keep signing on to Travelport+ or Apollo.

Hopper: What does Price Freeze actually do?

It locks a displayed price for a fee for a set number of days, letting you decide later without committing to the full purchase immediately.

Travelport Smartpoint: Is there a browser version?

Yes, Smartpoint Cloud runs in a browser for agents without a managed Windows desktop.

Share

Related pages

More on Hopper

More on Travelport Smartpoint

Keep looking

Other head to heads