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Google Flights will now tell you when fares will increase

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Re: Google Flights will now tell you when fares will increase

#101

Post by rconti »

rconti wrote: post #99
dice wrote: post #49

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>I almost never use anything other google flights when searching for a ticket. The UI is just so much better and easier to use than the ridiculous bloated crap that most travel sites are Funny, I was just thinking of how dissapointing the Google UI was: it took me three clicks and two page loads to see where and for how long a layover was. Have you tried Hipmunk[0]? Their interface for flight listings is the best I'v…

Yeah. I've never used Google flights. I always use Hipmunk. Off to check out Google Flights for a trip I'm about to book.

To reply to myself, yeah, Google Flights UI leaves a lot to be desired vs Hipmunk. The visualization of flights and layovers on Hipmunk is vastly better.

I like how prominent Google Flights makes the layovers in text form, but it's not visual, and you can't sort by agony.

These days I pretty much only fly nonstop or the shortest possible route if a layover is absolutely necessary. Looking at flights right now, the cheapest flight SFO-Frankfurt is 15h of travel and goes through Dallas (!!) vs 10h of travel for the nonstop. No-brainer, especially when you factor in getting on and off the planes, the risk of missed connections, etc.

Re: Google Flights will now tell you when fares will increase

#102

Post by CPLX »

solaarphunk wrote: post #61
dmbaggett wrote: post #57

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Fares and rules come from ATPCO ( http://atpco.net ). Flights come from OAG ( http://www.oag.com ). Seat availability requires data directly from the carrier, usually via a live query to the carrier's reservation system. The GDS companies get this data from these sources and then in turn provide (crappy) APIs for customers to use to query it. In general, if you're doing bookings you can get small amounts of the data…

Thank you for building ITA Matrix - it is amazing tool and I don't know what I would do without it.

A strong second to that, literally my favorite web tool in existence.

Re: Google Flights will now tell you when fares will increase

#103

Post by jsnell »

auvi wrote: post #90
dmbaggett wrote: post #57

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Fares and rules come from ATPCO ( http://atpco.net ). Flights come from OAG ( http://www.oag.com ). Seat availability requires data directly from the carrier, usually via a live query to the carrier's reservation system. The GDS companies get this data from these sources and then in turn provide (crappy) APIs for customers to use to query it. In general, if you're doing bookings you can get small amounts of the data…

If you don't mind sharing, does ITA/Google Flights still use Common Lisp for the backend?

It does.

Re: Google Flights will now tell you when fares will increase

#104

Post by forgotpwtomain »

dice wrote: post #78
waqf wrote: post #63

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What are you talking about? The layover info in Google Flights is right there in the right-hand column of the results list, "1h 48m in IAD". I don't see how it could appear any sooner unless it telepathically, I mean, machine-learningally knew your destination and dates before you entered them.

Hm, yes in the case where there's only one layover it does say where and for how long. It doesn't show you that detail for 2+ layovers, and it doesn't show you what the length of the legs are or the local arrival/depature times on the comparison screen.

It takes one click to unroll the flight details which show the layovers and arrival-departure times. The fact that hipmunk doesn't have a monthly calendar with prices makes it significantly worse than google flights for me.

Not to mention a few other missing features, such as google's explore nearby destinations map, which is very handy.

Re: Google Flights will now tell you when fares will increase

#105

Post by brettproctor »

dmbaggett wrote: post #57
karakal wrote: post #23

I'm curious, how does one gain access to flight schedules/fares? Is this something that anyone can get their hands on and create a service (complexity aside), or do you need some sort of license that costs thousands of dollars? Does each airline have their own way of exporting this data? Is there a single entity that aggregates from all of them? How does the actual data look like? (Is it a dump every X hours, or some…

Fares and rules come from ATPCO ( http://atpco.net ). Flights come from OAG ( http://www.oag.com ). Seat availability requires data directly from the carrier, usually via a live query to the carrier's reservation system. The GDS companies get this data from these sources and then in turn provide (crappy) APIs for customers to use to query it. In general, if you're doing bookings you can get small amounts of the data…

Do you know how expert flyer works under the hood? Always been curious about their credit model. Are they charging per query since they're paying per query to the GDS companies?

Re: Google Flights will now tell you when fares will increase

#106

Post by babuskov »

bluedino wrote: post #98
dmbaggett wrote: post #57

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Fares and rules come from ATPCO ( http://atpco.net ). Flights come from OAG ( http://www.oag.com ). Seat availability requires data directly from the carrier, usually via a live query to the carrier's reservation system. The GDS companies get this data from these sources and then in turn provide (crappy) APIs for customers to use to query it. In general, if you're doing bookings you can get small amounts of the data…

30M LoC sounds insane - what is the main reason behind there being so much code?

Java boilerplate? Just kidding. :)

Re: Google Flights will now tell you when fares will increase

#107

Post by overcast »

rconti wrote: post #101
rconti wrote: post #99

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah. I've never used Google flights. I always use Hipmunk. Off to check out Google Flights for a trip I'm about to book.

To reply to myself, yeah, Google Flights UI leaves a lot to be desired vs Hipmunk. The visualization of flights and layovers on Hipmunk is vastly better. I like how prominent Google Flights makes the layovers in text form, but it's not visual, and you can't sort by agony. These days I pretty much only fly nonstop or the shortest possible route if a layover is absolutely necessary. Looking at flights right now, the ch…

I think Hipmunk wastes a tremendous amount of space, in a project timeline type view that is just plain unnecessary. Google Flights, is a simple list, with filters, and it's fast. The calendar view with the pricing is ridiculously helpful.

Re: Google Flights will now tell you when fares will increase

#108

Post by JonoBB »

I love the interface of Google flights, but I can usually find cheaper tickets elsewhere (usually on skyscanner). I've no idea how ticket pricing works and why one site can be so much cheaper than others, but skyscanner is usually 15-20% cheaper on international flights for me.

Re: Google Flights will now tell you when fares will increase

#109

Post by cbr »

Quinner wrote: post #93
cbr wrote: post #62

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'd be very surprised if Google Flights wanted Southwest to pay for inclusion. It already lists Southwest flights with a note "Prices are not available for: Southwest. Flights with unknown prices are at the end of the list." Instead it really sounds like it's Southwest not wanting it to be easy for people to comparison shop. (Disclaimer: I work for Google, on an unrelated project.)

Google hooks into the systems that want Southwest to pay, it's not directly making that decision.

Even then, though, I'd still be very surprised if Google would respond to an offer of seat availability data from Southwest with "sorry, we won't let people search it unless you pay us".

Re: Google Flights will now tell you when fares will increase

#110

Post by arghimonmobile »

cbr wrote: post #64
bluetidepro wrote: post #26

I've searched with Google Flights a few times, but they are consistently more expensive than the flights I find with other services (Hipmunk, specifically). Has anyone else noticed this before, too? Does anyone know why the prices would be that much different? For the searches I've done, Google Flights is close to $150 more than what Hipmunk shows. Does Hipmunk maybe just have some sort of promo or lower price that G…

Are you finding the same specific flights have different prices on the two services, or are you finding that Hipmunk is able to find flights that Google doesn't? (Disclaimer: I work for Google, on an unrelated project.)

Since you've said it many times this thread, I'm taking the bait: I believe you mean "disclosure".
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