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Fly to 6 Continents in Style

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Re: Fly to 6 Continents in Style

#21

Post by todsul »

brk wrote: post #15
todsul wrote: post #3

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Hi rj, Here are the details for the economy itinerary, which was $1730 for 6 Continents. We're working with the expert of the business class itinerary to see what details he's happy for us to post. JFK 18-Oct-2012 GEO 18-Oct-2012 Delta (New York, US to Georgetown, Guyana) GEO 25-Oct-2012 JFK 25-Oct-2012 Delta (Georgetown, Guyana to New York, US) JFK 14-Nov-2012 TXL 15-Nov-2012 Air Berlin (New York, US to Berlin, Germ…

So, this requires essentially being gone for 4 continuous months in order to get these prices? I'm not sure how amazing that is really. That's also 4 months of living on the road, hotels, meals, etc. If you wanted to visit all 6 continents, it seems like you could do it for a cheaper overall rate by just book 6 individual flights over time taking advantage of various promotions.

4 months traveling the world, having to eat "meals"... sounds terrible! :)

Re: Fly to 6 Continents in Style

#22

Post by greyboy »

patdennis wrote: post #4

Six continents for what I spend per month on rent? Pretty amazing. Even at three grand it would be a great deal... This seems like a useful service. I wonder how often it produces results this good.

Well, unless you are living, eating and travelling on each continent for free over the 6 months, it's going to cost much more than the stated price.

Re: Fly to 6 Continents in Style

#23

Post by todsul »

rm999 wrote: post #17
todsul wrote: post #3

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Hi rj, Here are the details for the economy itinerary, which was $1730 for 6 Continents. We're working with the expert of the business class itinerary to see what details he's happy for us to post. JFK 18-Oct-2012 GEO 18-Oct-2012 Delta (New York, US to Georgetown, Guyana) GEO 25-Oct-2012 JFK 25-Oct-2012 Delta (Georgetown, Guyana to New York, US) JFK 14-Nov-2012 TXL 15-Nov-2012 Air Berlin (New York, US to Berlin, Germ…

Very cool, but I'm not clear who your site targets. That price is amazing but the itinerary involves a lot of flying around on terrible airlines. I usually have a lot of restrictions: I want to fly on these dates, with the fewest travel hours possible, on good, dependable airlines. How much leeway is in there to save money?

Less leeway, but flightfox is about saving you time and money. Even if you build a 6-continent itinerary with a lot of restrictions, it will take many hours. The tips and tricks the experts provide, even for getting on better airlines or other perks, really comes in handy. There are of course sometimes we just can't help. That's normally with simple itineraries and inflexible flyers.

Re: Fly to 6 Continents in Style

#24

Post by todsul »

corin_ wrote: post #18
todsul wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Hi corin_5, coincidentally we're working on improved date flexibility right now. You'll be able to specify before/after and many more day period options. We're doing the same for passenger type. Not just adults, but students, infants, etc. We can't enable public viewing because the experts don't want to divulge their most prized tips and tricks to the wider public. This is their livelihood, and we are mostly holding…

Another piece of flexibility feedback - wildcard destinations, for finding a decent priced holiday (obviously with some guidance on rough location). I guess this is possible from the competition you just ran, but I must have missed the option. As to the reasons for not enabling public viewing... as you've publicly shared here on HN, could you not at least share that much on the site? Alternatively could you not offer…

Great point re destinations. You can actually do wildcard destinations right now, but it's just not obvious. We have an autocomplete function on the airport box, but you can enter anything you want. As you'll see on the RTW contests, we just entered "Round the World" for 'from' city and "6 Continents" for the 'to' city.

That said, we need to make this more obvious and probably tease out more adventurous use of this feature. Thanks for the feedback.

Re: Fly to 6 Continents in Style

#25

Post by todsul »

corin_ wrote: post #10
todsul wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

And here are some of the details of the business class itinerary for $3,630. Keep in mind that a similar itinerary from the same expert came in at $2569. That itinerary didn't win because we couldn't verify it online. The expert suggested it required a quick phone call. Los Angeles LAX to Sydney SYD Sydney SYD to Bangkok BKK Bangkok BKK to XXX XXX to XXX XXX to Cairo CAI Cairo CAI to London LHR London LHR to XXX XXX…

Not personally interested in that deal, but wondering: what would it take to get that trip. Could create a contest, but would it need paying more than the minimum fee to get that same deal? Do some experts not get out of bed for less than $x?

To get the business class itinerary, it would take a significant finder's fee. If you are seriously interested in an itinerary like this, please email us, team at flightfox.com and we'll work directly with you. Like we mentioned in the post, this would be an unforgettable trip without a doubt.

Re: Fly to 6 Continents in Style

#26

Post by brk »

todsul wrote: post #21
brk wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So, this requires essentially being gone for 4 continuous months in order to get these prices? I'm not sure how amazing that is really. That's also 4 months of living on the road, hotels, meals, etc. If you wanted to visit all 6 continents, it seems like you could do it for a cheaper overall rate by just book 6 individual flights over time taking advantage of various promotions.

4 months traveling the world, having to eat "meals"... sounds terrible! :)

Well, it is for almost anyone with a halfway decent/steady job.

What I'm saying is that it's kind of impractical for a lot people. I would expect a "contest" like this to have a winning result that was a little more practical from a total travel time perspective, or at the very least have 2 winning options, one for "Total trip time of 2 weeks or less" (granted this might have to be 3 or even 4 weeks if you're going to be spending at least 12 days away anyway) and one for "Lowest cost overall regardless of duration".

Re: Fly to 6 Continents in Style

#27

Post by grecy »

patdennis wrote: post #4

Six continents for what I spend per month on rent? Pretty amazing. Even at three grand it would be a great deal... This seems like a useful service. I wonder how often it produces results this good.

I drove from Alaska to Argentina in 22 months, and my expenses on the road were identical to what they had been for the previous two years going to work every day.

It's very common to go traveling the world for basically the same amount of money you spend just going to work.

http://theroadchoseme.com/the-price-of-adventure

Re: Fly to 6 Continents in Style

#28

Post by todsul »

ashbrahma wrote: post #19

If I am interested in the business class itinerary - do I have to recreate the entire contest or is there a chance I can jump on this deal by paying the same finders fee?

Hi ashbrahma, please email us at team at flightfox.com if you're interested in this specific itinerary and we can help you get booked. Alternatively, if you're after something similar, but equally adventurous, also get in contact and we can work with you to post a new contest.

Re: Fly to 6 Continents in Style

#29

Post by brk »

todsul wrote: post #16
brk wrote: post #11

OK, I don't get it (granted I didn't spend a ton of time reading through all the details). What I was hoping for is some way I could book the "winning" itinerary through some means. I was ready to buy 2 of the business-class trips instantly, but it seems this is more of a "bragging" site (in a good way), showing how cheaply you've managed to book a given itinerary?

Hi brk, This was an in-house contest to test the skills of our experts. You can absolutely put up a similar contest to receive similar results. Love the idea about being able to book other flyers' itineraries. We're in a heavy product dev phase, so I'll share it with the team. Yes, in one sense we are bragging what real travel experts can do. The premise of Flightfox is, especially for high-value trips, you should le…

OK, thanks for the explanation.

So, how exactly would I use the site for my benefit (honest question from someone who books about 50-70K flight miles per year)?

Re: Fly to 6 Continents in Style

#30

Post by brk »

todsul wrote: post #9
rjsamson wrote: post #2

So this is pretty cool and everything, but the frustrating thing for me is I would love to see the itineraries that won, but I keep getting greeted with a "only the contest owner can view flight details." I'd love to see this opened up - I think it would build a lot more trust in their platform.

And here are some of the details of the business class itinerary for $3,630. Keep in mind that a similar itinerary from the same expert came in at $2569. That itinerary didn't win because we couldn't verify it online. The expert suggested it required a quick phone call. Los Angeles LAX to Sydney SYD Sydney SYD to Bangkok BKK Bangkok BKK to XXX XXX to XXX XXX to Cairo CAI Cairo CAI to London LHR London LHR to XXX XXX…

So who are these "experts"? Travel agents? What is the motivation to them to keep certain details secret?
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