Template For Results Page of a New Travel Search Engine

UPDATE: We showed the designs during a development meeting, and the decision has been made to only show the inside price. Therefore, we no longer require the pricing for oceanview, suite, or balcony cabins.

We will also no longer require that the "pod" expand open to show more pricing from different websites. Instead, we would like to place the names of the alternate websites, with their lowest inside price, at the bottom of the pod. This is similar to how kayak.com displays alternate pricing for their hotels (if anyone wants to see an example).

Hello All!

We are a new travel company that is launching a meta-search site, à la kayak.com. Our focus will be on cruises, so we need a template that can incorporate all the necessary product information alongside search parameters, and with additional room for advertising space.

Our engine is going to allow users to dynamically refine their search results. Therefore, we need a clean, simple, fast-loading design to accommodate the AJAX functionality that will power the on-the-fly resorting of data.

As I mentioned before, kayak.com is the site we like the most. If you go to their cruise section and do a search, you'll see that their results page is a 3 column template with the search criteria on the side, the results in the middle, and ad space on the right. They also have room for one ad on the top of the page, and ads at the bottom.

We think this is the best and easiest way to present data to users, but if you have some totally new and awesome idea about how to arrange those elements, we are open to it!

Note: all of the "filters" on the left side of kayak will be the same on our site.

Additionally, we will need a layout for the individual result "pods". Again, the kayak ones are good, but we feel they could be improved upon.

We will be using all the "pod" elements that kayak is using EXCEPT for: ratings, itinerary, maps, stateroom pictures, and those 3 little icons they have on the right side of the pod. When the user expands the pod, the only thing they'll see is alternative pricing for other sites where they can purchase the same cruise.

We'd like it if the preferred supplier is more clearly highlighted in the top part of the pod. Also, if the "interior, oceanview, balcony" pricing could all be on one line, that would be great. A call to action button like "Go!" or "Purchase!" or something similar in the top part of the pod is a must.

Phew, I know that seems like that lot that I just typed up, but I wanted to try and be as specific as possible. If anyone has questions still, please, don't hesitate to ask!

We will be providing feedback for ALL designs submitted, however we will do them in bulk. So if you don't see something up right away for your design this weekend, never fear! Comments will be posted next week.

Thanks in advance to everyone who submits!

- Simple, clean, fast-loading
- Well organised and easy to read
- We are open to all colour schemes, as long as they don't distract from the results.
- We want a full screen width for browers that are set at a 1024x768 resolution

- Nothing cluttered or overly designed
- Nothing that makes it harder for the user to refine their results or understand how to refine their results