
Tripadvisor now lets users rate flights like hotels - uptown
http://qz.com/729968/you-can-now-rate-flights-and-airlines-like-you-do-hotels/
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ubernostrum
Rating flights is a very tricky business. Airlines already have some dodges to
get around automated reports of things like on-time percentages (for example,
if a flight is chronically delayed they can change its flight number and that
will wipe the performance history of the flight on several trackers).

And rating the aircraft itself is wading into really dangerous territory given
aircraft swaps and mixed fleets. For example, American's 777-200 varies
depending on refit status: some are 9-across in economy, but the new
configuration is 10-across with narrower seats. You wouldn't want to book
based on a review for the old config and wind up jammed into the new.

So while it's nice to offer as a gesture, I don't think it's going to be
particularly feasible/useful; the data curation necessary to make the reviews
accurate won't just be hard, it'll be essentially impossible.

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MichaelBurjack
Don't forget about SeatGuru
([http://www.seatguru.com](http://www.seatguru.com)), a TripAdvisor company,
which specializes in collecting and curating exactly this kind of data.
They're not exactly n00bs at this kind of thing…

~~~
ubernostrum
Seatguru can tell you "the 777-200 config version 1 looks like this", but _can
't_ tell you "the flight you're booking will have that aircraft in that
configuration". They can tell you that historically it often is that
aircraft/configuration, but that's not actually enough to project forward into
the future with full reliability.

And that's the hard part. It's even worse for the more common case of domestic
flights, because those get swapped way more often than long-haul
international.

~~~
jpalomaki
I have been hoping that EU would force airlines to disclose things like leg
space.

The market is not working from consumer point of view, becsuse you don't
really know what you are getting when booking the ticket.

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smokey_the_bear
I'd be interested in ratings for layover airports. The flight experience is
pretty similar. But layover airports with a little playground for the kids are
a huge bonus for me.

~~~
pavel_lishin
Also, airports with family restrooms and/or nursing rooms. Nothing is more fun
than enduring stares while I try to provide some semblance of privacy for my
wife at the gate.

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smokey_the_bear
Yes, I traveled alone with a 1 year old and 2 year old once, and at one
airport it was logistically impossible for me to go to the bathroom.

~~~
pavel_lishin
I guess in that position, I'd take them with me to the handicapped stall and
ask them to inspect the wall for a few minutes. :/

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webbore
This implies airlines compete on customer service, which, with very few
exceptions in niche areas, the most certainly do not.

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jpalmucci
False. Jet Blue is way better than United, for example.

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guinness74
But what percentage of passengers would fly Jet Blue over United at a more
expensive fare?

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dublinben
Enough passengers to fill every Jet Blue flight, apparently. The existence of
airlines that are not awful budget ones proves that plenty of consumers are
willing to pay more for quality.

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notahacker
The trouble with rating flights is that unlike hotels I can't imagine too many
people being minded to rate them unless they had a particularly unpleasant
experience

Can't help thinking that the TripAdvisor's existing qualitative data on seat
pitches from SeatGuru plus reliable statistical data on flight timings, and on
time performance is going to be more informative. Skytrax have been ranking
airline overall experiences for years as well.

~~~
davnicwil
> _I can 't imagine too many people being minded to rate them unless they had
> a particularly unpleasant experience_

This is true but is it really substantially less true for hotels, or other
businesses of any kind?

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notahacker
Hotels are differentiated in a way aircraft aren't, and people's hotel
experiences are often very pleasant

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kilroy123
To be fair, a flight can be a horrible experience do to other passengers, and
not the airline.

On average I think the experience at the airport is worse than the flight
itself.

~~~
xiphias
You haven't been on many cross-atlantic flights on economy seats if you think
so

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amelius
True. But it depends on your width/height.

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missn
Interesting develoment, seems similar to what APEX (Airline Passenger
Experience Association, an industry org consisting of airline companies) is
establishing: [http://apex.aero/2016/04/06/Official-airline-ratings-APEX-
an...](http://apex.aero/2016/04/06/Official-airline-ratings-APEX-announces-
potential-paxex-industry-game-changer)

Wonder who'll come out on top. From my understanding, the APEX one has an
Amazon-like 'verified traveler' system where only those who traveled on those
flights will get to rate them (though it might be limited to partner airlines,
not sure about the specific details).

(Full disclosure: Used to worked for an agency that did work w/ APEX)

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United857
The issue with flights is that things like weather or mechanical issues can
and do impact things, more so than hotels.

In addition, as frequent fliers can attest, the overall mood/personality of
the working crew often varies even on the same airline and route, and can make
or break the experience.

