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I make $8k/year sending cheap flight alert emails

phillyflightlist.com

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Re: I make $8k/year sending cheap flight alert emails

#31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It just takes too much time and effort to keep it up for multiple audiences. It’s not automated — it’s all about the curation. There are plenty of similar sites that cover many more airports though

I'm sure it could easily be automated with Python/Django and periodic scraping tasks and then ramped up for the rest of the US.

You must work with clean data sources. :)

Re: I make $8k/year sending cheap flight alert emails

#32
post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If a bag of quality beans is $15 and you go through one a week, you’re most of the way there.

How big is this $15 bag of coffee that you finish in a week? Here in New Zealand a standard 200g bag of beans from a good roastery is no more than $10 NZD, about $6 USD.

In my area, the cheaper end of quality beans is roughly $1/1oz, so 200g would be $7 (Though, I find beans are usually sold 12oz (340g) per package). Personally, a 12oz bag last me roughly 2 weeks, but I only drink 1 cup per day.

Re: I make $8k/year sending cheap flight alert emails

#34
post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I seriously doubt most people spend $1000/year on coffee. Many, maybe, but definitely not most .

If a bag of quality beans is $15 and you go through one a week, you’re most of the way there.

I don't doubt that some people will spend as much, that's not hard. My point is that most definitely don't. Most people don't buy $15 bags every week. Hell, instant coffee is something like 20% of the whole market by revenue, and considering how cheap it is compared to quality coffee, I think there are more people who drink Folgers than those who spend $1000/year on coffee.

Re: I make $8k/year sending cheap flight alert emails

#35
post #18
post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I seriously doubt most people spend $1000/year on coffee. Many, maybe, but definitely not most .

Probably not globally but if you restrict your focus to working age adults in America (the people who might be using this service) then it is not far off . The average American does spend about $1000 on coffee per year[1], which is probably where the author is getting this figure. The caveat is of course that this skews to fancy drinks with sugar injections and whipped cream, but close enough. https://www.renolon.com…

I think those figures are wrong. Here's another source, suggesting the spending is $250 per capita, and 90% of that spending is out of home. This necessarily implies that people who spend more than a few hundred dollars per year on coffee beans, like some replies suggested, are a tiny minority.

https://www.statista.com/outlook/cmo/hot-drinks/coffee/unite...

Re: I make $8k/year sending cheap flight alert emails

#36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It just takes too much time and effort to keep it up for multiple audiences. It’s not automated — it’s all about the curation. There are plenty of similar sites that cover many more airports though

I'm sure it could easily be automated with Python/Django and periodic scraping tasks and then ramped up for the rest of the US.

This is the naive approach you would do 15+ years ago.

Then things got way better with real browser engines like Webkit that could understand Javascript. That was something that I've personally hacked together as a contractor for an anti-piracy customer using Python, Webkit and Qt framework (PyQt) in around 2009. Shortly after some nice libraries in node/js came out like Phantom.js which would make this much better.

If I were to do this today, I'd use Playwright.

Re: I make $8k/year sending cheap flight alert emails

#37
post #13

I'm pretty sure Scott's Cheap Flights[1] makes a good deal more. It's going to be hard to have a big enough audience if you limit yourself to only one city. [1] https://scottscheapflights.com/

This service was pretty sweet until around when the pandemic hit and then they stopped serving flights that didn't originate out of the USA which was really annoying. I don't know if they brought that back up yet but it was enough for me to give the service up. Is there anything comparable?

You'd think that this is the kind of thing which would be insanely easy to automate.

Re: I make $8k/year sending cheap flight alert emails

#38

Most people spend $3 per day on coffee, so why not $3 per month for the heads up on flights that are hundreds of dollars off regular fares? I dont find the comparison very compelling. If I can save more per year than I pay, it's a good deal. In that vein, I'd like to see how my travel habits could be accommodated by the info the newsletter provides. If I believe it's a fit, I'd happily pay the money.

Most people spend $3 per day on coffee, so why not sell them coffee?

Sorry, could not help myself :-)

Re: I make $8k/year sending cheap flight alert emails

#39
post #3

Article title is inaccurate: this project gets 8K in revenue per year but has almost no profit.

That sounds like an investment opportunity for SoftBank. https://www.standard.co.uk/business/softbank-record-20-billi...

Tiger Global would be in a very close running for biggest losses

https://www.forbes.com/sites/brandonkochkodin/2022/11/08/mor...

Re: I make $8k/year sending cheap flight alert emails

#40
post #13

I'm pretty sure Scott's Cheap Flights[1] makes a good deal more. It's going to be hard to have a big enough audience if you limit yourself to only one city. [1] https://scottscheapflights.com/

This service was pretty sweet until around when the pandemic hit and then they stopped serving flights that didn't originate out of the USA which was really annoying. I don't know if they brought that back up yet but it was enough for me to give the service up. Is there anything comparable? You'd think that this is the kind of thing which would be insanely easy to automate.

I’ve seen a few companies come and go in the last few years who tried to automate it and failed. It seems people are really paying for the sense of curation and review, since what makes something a “good deal” can’t always be measured by a computer. Or maybe people just like their flight alerts wrapped in a friendly and helpful tone, and the tech gurus who can program it aren’t adept enough at copywriting. I’m just thinking out loud. I’m curious to hear others thoughts on programmatic vs human selected
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