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Launch HN: Solve (YC S17) – We Save International Travelers Hours of Time

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Re: Launch HN: Solve (YC S17) – We Save International Travelers Hours of Time

#61

Post by krmmalik »

I've been dreaming of a service like this since last year. Im travelling to Malaysia in a couple of weeks from Heathrow and would love to get through security faster. I paid $8 (approx) to get through security faster at Luton airport when i was travelling to Amsterdam and i loved it. But unfortunately such a service is not available at Heathrow unless i buy business class or have an executive club membership.

$225 is rather pricey for me. Its a bit beyond my budget, but id happily pay $60ish to get through security/customs faster on my out to Malaysia from Heathrow if it was possible in anyway. If anyone from Solve is reading this please let me know if you can do something for me?

Re: Launch HN: Solve (YC S17) – We Save International Travelers Hours of Time

#62

Post by jpalomaki »

avitzurel wrote: post #53
venning wrote: post #22

Off-topic, but how expensive are five-letter, English word .com domains right now? I don't see new companies with domains that are small-ish words very often.

For a service like this. Domains mean nothing. If they spent more than the price of a .com domain it's a mistake. For consumer facing product, they find you one of two ways. 1. Social (Paid ads) 2. Google search (Paid ads) I am not talking about viral products or brands, I am talking about the average service (like this one). I saw many companies do this mistake, some paid 10K some paid 2m<, all made a mistake IMHO.

Think also about customers who have seen already seen your ad or read about the company somewhere, but did not have immediate need for the service back then. Good and simple domain name might help the end up to the web page right away. If they need to Google, they are exposed to all your competitors.

Re: Launch HN: Solve (YC S17) – We Save International Travelers Hours of Time

#63

Post by jpalomaki »

nathan_f77 wrote: post #26
shawnsheikh wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Exactly what tintor is saying. We have access to special lanes including fast track lines, pilot/crew lanes, or the diplomat lines. In other cases, our agents are able to simply walk travels to the front of the immigrations/customs lines.

Wow, how did you do that? Do you have deals with every airport, and part of the cost is paying for the faster line? I've been through a priority queue in business class, but this sounds like a much cheaper option if you just want to fly economy. I will definitely try this out on my next trip.

Did not really think about this before, but if airlines are able to purchase this service for their business class customers, then other companies can certainly do it as well. For example Norwegian has an option to purchase access to priority security check on certain airports in their mobile app.

Actually a bigger business opportunity might be to sell the "pass the queues" access on the fly (without pre-booking). In most cases I would be a bit hesitant to spend money on these in advance, but if things don't go as planned I might be interested in paying to speed things up.

Re: Launch HN: Solve (YC S17) – We Save International Travelers Hours of Time

#64

Post by krmmalik »

bluesign wrote: post #47

First of all this is a great service, and congratulations on the launch. But... After checking I am a bit disappointed: - Istanbul: $235.00 Not including "Fast Track Immigration/Customs" for 2 passengers you can get local fast track card (I think it is around $500 for a year) which grants fast track on immigration/customs and also for all security checkpoints for 2 pax - Amsterdam: $345.00 Includes fast track vs Priv…

I have the same issues. Its incredibly pricey and lounge and fastrack access isnt guaranteed.

Re: Launch HN: Solve (YC S17) – We Save International Travelers Hours of Time

#65

Post by binxbolling »

bluesign wrote: post #47

First of all this is a great service, and congratulations on the launch. But... After checking I am a bit disappointed: - Istanbul: $235.00 Not including "Fast Track Immigration/Customs" for 2 passengers you can get local fast track card (I think it is around $500 for a year) which grants fast track on immigration/customs and also for all security checkpoints for 2 pax - Amsterdam: $345.00 Includes fast track vs Priv…

I'm interested in Amsterdam too, but $345 is essentially 34.5% of the price of my direct flight. For many US folks $345 is going to be more than 50% of the ticket... Just way too hard to justify, even to an employer.

And frankly, the 5% discount they're throwing out is more insulting than offering no discounts at all.

Edit: I think to further clarify, the problem is that this seems most useful to casual/recreational travelers, but at business traveler pricing. E.g. if I fly to Amsterdam frequently for business, I'm not likely to need help navigating Schiphol AND you're competing with Privium (cheaper, more benefits). If I fly to Amsterdam as a tourist, I need the help but am unlikely to find the price appealing. IMO Solve is better off targeting casual travelers at a much cheaper cost and leave the business travelers to the clubs & memberships they already belong to.

Re: Launch HN: Solve (YC S17) – We Save International Travelers Hours of Time

#66

Post by mwest »

JimDabell wrote: post #7

One of the first things I do when I arrive in a new country is pick up a local SIM card so I can use my phone without roaming charges. Sometimes this is nice and simple where you just walk to a booth in the airport and pick one up, other times it's a real hassle, having to hunt around for a local shop and fill in personal information on sign-up. Have you considered providing local SIM cards as part of your service?

This is much less of a pain since EU roaming charges ended on 15 June 2017.

"Roaming charges end on 15 June 2017. Europeans travelling within the EU countries will Roam Like at Home and pay domestic prices for roaming calls, SMS and data."

https://ec.europa.eu/digital-single-market/en/policies/roami...

Happily using my UK SIM and data plan while traveling through several EU countries.

Re: Launch HN: Solve (YC S17) – We Save International Travelers Hours of Time

#67

Post by clamprecht »

It's a good idea, and it reminds me of "handlers" in the general/business aviation world. When you land, they expedite your fueling, customs, immigration, overfly permits, flight planning & routing, and more.

Back to normal travelers - I wish there were a free wiki that covered all this, since it seems like it's just a matter of having the right information. Like knowing which office to go in, what forms to have ready, etc. I guess it'd be more targeted towards casual travelers who won't pay $200 for this kind of service.

Re: Launch HN: Solve (YC S17) – We Save International Travelers Hours of Time

#68

Post by shawnsheikh »

cushychicken wrote: post #60
JimDabell wrote: post #7

One of the first things I do when I arrive in a new country is pick up a local SIM card so I can use my phone without roaming charges. Sometimes this is nice and simple where you just walk to a booth in the airport and pick one up, other times it's a real hassle, having to hunt around for a local shop and fill in personal information on sign-up. Have you considered providing local SIM cards as part of your service?

Great idea. I still haven't figured out a surefire way to do this for China travel.

We have an awesome offering at a good amount of China airports, we'd love to help! We're are also actively decreasing prices in China this month, so be on the look out :)

Re: Launch HN: Solve (YC S17) – We Save International Travelers Hours of Time

#70

Post by shawnsheikh »

bluesign wrote: post #47

First of all this is a great service, and congratulations on the launch. But... After checking I am a bit disappointed: - Istanbul: $235.00 Not including "Fast Track Immigration/Customs" for 2 passengers you can get local fast track card (I think it is around $500 for a year) which grants fast track on immigration/customs and also for all security checkpoints for 2 pax - Amsterdam: $345.00 Includes fast track vs Priv…

Hey there! We're still working on the wording and how we're crafting the message, but where we say we include Fast Track Immigrations and Customs we have access to a dedicated fast track line or the diplomat line.

For airports where it says does not include, we usually have an expedited immigrations/customs. Another agent will go stand in line a head of time and you can cut in with them, or they'll know the immigration officer and simply walk you to the front. It's true for all airports we service except for the US airports.

We've found that a good amount of families and the elderly benefit from the meet and assist. We also have a fair amount of high profile clients that want to avoid the paparazzi.

We consider our agents problem solvers. For example, we had a client leave his phone and passport on the plane in Singapore. The agent ran back, talked to the airline staff, got onto the plane to grab the passport and phone and was back in 5 minutes.

Lastly, our agent syncs up with the driver or helps you buy a train ticket which has been a huge value for our clients. Basically not having to think about how to leave the airport - our agents are taking care of everything for you.

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