

Flightfox (YC S12) Raises $800k to Crowdsource Flight Search - todsul
http://techcrunch.com/2012/05/29/crowdsourced-flight-finder-flightfox-grabs-800k-in-angel-funding-joins-ycs-latest-batch/

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qeorge
It sounds like the basic idea is that these flights are there for the taking,
but the search engines to find them all suck, to the point that someone will
pay $40 to hire a flight search expert.

Some immediate concerns:

Is this really a problem that most people have? (i.e., do most people think
Kayak sucks _that much_?)

Even if they do, how often is this a problem? Once a year?

Are you cooked if Google finally makes a decent flight search engine?

Do the most frequent/valuable flyers even care? (business flyers who aren't
paying the fare anyway)

Your solution is full of friction and extremely slow (paying, waiting for
results, administering a contest, etc). This model works for 99designs because
hiring designers is even more annoying and unpredictable than running an
auction. Is flight search the same kind of problem?

The angle, of course, is that you can "resell" the surfaced deals. i.e., when
a good deal is surfaced you can promote it on your homepage, sell it to
others, and hopefully make a nice commission from the airline. I get that. I
just don't see enough people using the service to surface enough deals for
this kind of serendipity, and there's nothing to stop Kayak/Orbitz/etc from
scraping the deals you do find.

That said maybe you'll learn enough about 'why flight search sucks' that
you'll invent a killer new engine and get rich. But I don't think crowdsourced
deal finding for flights is a viable idea.

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todsul
Hey qeorge, thanks for the comments.

Flightfox exploits inefficiencies in algorithmic search using good ol' people
power. That means, for the most part, material savings of time and money.

Clearly we're not talking about 1-hour flights between US continental cities.
Instead, when you fly abroad, especially stopping in multiple cities, our
experts can save you hundreds or even thousands of dollars. They can make
better use of frequent flyer miles, get you into first class for the very
first time, construct RTW itineraries to places you never dreamed, and even
give you first-hand destination advice.

A recent NY Times article suggested almost 50% of people spend more than 2
hours finding flights, while 20% spend 5 hours. That survey was done in the
US, where there's a skew towards domestic. In our early research (and
experience living and flying throughout 6 continents), people absolutely
detest travel search. This is also why traditional travel agents are regaining
ground.

Flightfox, in its current form, is just the beginning. We thoroughly believe
that human interaction, and especially crowdsourcing, will regain popularity
in travel and flights. It's one of those industries where there's too much
inefficiency, wasted time, and latent value.

todd

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BrianGaffney
I used FlightFox for Melbourne to San Fran flights for a large group.

Saved several thousand dollars.

It's worth checking out, especially if you have a complex itinerary where the
flight algorithms actually know less than the flight experts.

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rmc
Slightly inaccruate title. Rather than "crowdsource flights" they want to
"crowdsource the finding of flight deals". Which is less exciting than
actually crowdsourcing flights.

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staunch
Crowdsourcing flights is called crowdsurfing but it only works for very short
flights and requires really loud music.

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marquis
I used this recently but was able to find a better deal myself using Matrix
[1]. I have another long-haul flight soon and will try again with Flightfox.
It may be that I'm just able to put the time in myself on finding the best
deal, or I just had better luck at the time - I needed something urgently. I
really want to see these guys succeed, I love the idea and hope they continue
to grow.

[1] <http://matrix.itasoftware.com>

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mertd
It seems like we have come a full circle to use travel agents in some form
again.

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revorad
When I first found out about Flightfox, I reached out to Todd for some advice
on a related idea I was working on. He immediately agreed to do a skype call
and was super helpful. Great to see them doing well!

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andrewyang
i heard about this site through some other startups and used it to get some
great prices on a recent long haul flight... great idea.

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jermaink
Well deserved, congrats to the Flightfox team!

