Why We Abandoned Crowdsourcing
flightfox.com
Why We Abandoned Crowdsourcing
1–10 of 57 posts
Re: Why We Abandoned Crowdsourcing
#2Good to see that crowdsourcing, one of the darlings of web commerce, is getting exposed for what it is: Cheap and crappy. The web capitalists loved the idea of labor competing against itself, maximizing value for the customer and minimizing labor costs. I.e. free work by 90% of the labor.
Good luck with the new system! Although you're doing it for practical reasons, I still applaud you moving away from this practice.
Re: Why We Abandoned Crowdsourcing
#3I've been a huge FlightFox fan and used them for several big (and complicated) trips - they've gotten me spectacular deals each time. This was all in the competitive phase, btw - haven't tried the new format yet.
One thing I just saw -- they dramatically raised the price if you're doing a "miles flight" -- it's now $99. I suppose I understand the thought process -- if you're not spending $$ on the flight, you're more willing to spend $$ on the consultation?
But honestly it makes me less-likely to use them. I use miles on some flights precisely because I DON'T want to spend any cash. Adding $100 in cash to the cost of the trip feels counter-productive.
Anyway, still a fan of the service, even if I've been priced out of using it :/
Re: Why We Abandoned Crowdsourcing
#4I've been a huge FlightFox fan and used them for several big (and complicated) trips - they've gotten me spectacular deals each time. This was all in the competitive phase, btw - haven't tried the new format yet. One thing I just saw -- they dramatically raised the price if you're doing a "miles flight" -- it's now $99. I suppose I understand the thought process -- if you're not spending $$ on the flight, you're more…
Thanks nlh. First, thanks for the feedback on the pricing. We're talking about the miles product right now and will update it very soon. The high price was to account for most miles trips being fairly complex, but we'll segment a little more and offer you much better pricing.
UPDATE: just spoke to the experts and made it $69 for now. We'll change the pricing to be +$19 to use miles, but that'll take a little time. Reason it's more is that the experts have a few tricks that take considerable time.
Great to hear you received value with the competitive format. We still have the top 0.3% of experts from the previous system, they just get paid more and can spend a lot more time on your trip now. But we'll keep analyzing and make sure it's working well.
Re: Why We Abandoned Crowdsourcing
#5Good to see that crowdsourcing, one of the darlings of web commerce, is getting exposed for what it is: Cheap and crappy. The web capitalists loved the idea of labor competing against itself, maximizing value for the customer and minimizing labor costs. I.e. free work by 90% of the labor. Good luck with the new system! Although you're doing it for practical reasons, I still applaud you moving away from this practice.
Hey aridiculous, we really wanted the economics of the competitive format to be fair. We got to the point where our experienced experts were winning 30-50%, so for them it wasn't so bad. Customers sometimes complained about "only" getting 2 or 3 experts, but we quickly realized it was better for everyone, including the customer.
It's a bit like being a software consultant. Most clients don't pay enough for you to do your absolute best work. That's what happened in the contest format. The best experts didn't make enough to do their best work. With the current format, we see them really sinking their teeth into big trips and having fun.
Re: Why We Abandoned Crowdsourcing
#6Has anyone tried FlightFox? I wonder if it's worth using for simple flights like NYC-Paris or NYC-SF.
Re: Why We Abandoned Crowdsourcing
#7How does FlightFox makes money? Given that both the expert and FF needs a cut, how does this scale?
Re: Why We Abandoned Crowdsourcing
#8I don't understand the pricing.
Is it say 29 dollars to consult for me, then another unknown dollars for the fare, or is that 29 dollars all inclusive or per leg?
Re: Why We Abandoned Crowdsourcing
#9Has anyone tried FlightFox? I wonder if it's worth using for simple flights like NYC-Paris or NYC-SF.
hi coco,
It's definitely better for longer trips, but NYC-Paris is a good one for us because I know our experts have a few tricks up their sleeves with this route.
I often fly Montreal-SF so can also comment on NYC-SF. If you just want the cheapest economy flight AND you have checked bags, no, don't use Flightfox. However, if you have carry-on, then our experts can help.
It gets much more interesting if you want to fly this route in business. I've done it a few times in business for about economy prices (usually a little less). It involves a few little tricks and a slightly complex booking, but for those who do it often, it can reduce the pain of 12 hours in econ. I usually only go to SF for a day or two, so being more relaxed has a noticeable affect on my time there and proceeding. It's not always available, but I'm usually pretty flexible.
Re: Why We Abandoned Crowdsourcing
#10Has anyone tried FlightFox? I wonder if it's worth using for simple flights like NYC-Paris or NYC-SF.
I used it a 1.5 years ago, during the competitive phase, for a two destination trip on a different continent. I came away not entirely thrilled by the results of the experts. After paying the fee, what they found was slightly cheaper than what I was able to do independently, but had a funkier itinerary that didn't justify the slight price reduction (that may have been actually offset by the cost of using the service).
That said, I did receive tremendous feedback from Todd. Reading this post has me reassured that he and his team are on the right track.
My wishes—
I wish I had the money and time to seek out such types of fares/trips more often so that I could try the service again. I may have one such trip coming up but I still feel reluctant paying a fee up front for what might not turn into anything.
I wish FlightFox/someone would offer services to deal with the airlines' kerfuffle on multi-destination, multi-carrier flights. I swear, if you have to deal with any inconveniences in a situation like this, it is 100% "Hi, this is ABC Airlines, you'll have to call XYZ Airlines as this leg of the trip is under their control" and vice-versa.