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Why We Abandoned Crowdsourcing

flightfox.com

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Re: Why We Abandoned Crowdsourcing

#41

Post by todsul »

chx wrote: post #36

Disclaimer: I was a Flightfox expert. It was one of the best computer games I ever played and it occasionally paid me to play. (In a similar vein, Drupal development is the best MMO I could imagine -- the graphics surely leaves something to be desired but the social aspect is literally life changing and the quests keep you in flow.) I am not sure whether flight search in a crowdsource format could or should arise aga…

Hey CHX, apologies for the blunder with the emails. It was an honest mistake of not BCC'ing and certainly not deliberate. As you saw, a handful of people replied to the whole group and talked about cloning our product, which wasn't really in our interests. We don't get worried about that stuff, we were just a little sad we messed up for you guys.

Re: Why We Abandoned Crowdsourcing

#42

Post by bartkappenburg »

Very interesting read! Especially when we are almost ready (as in next week) to launch our own crowdsourced travel advice platform on http://www.voyando.com.

Let me share what we found during our test period.

We have no 'application process' for experts (flightfox has) which makes the 'crowd' somewhat smaller. In our experience this removal of the process increases the competition and the chances of a better outcome. Take stackoverflow for example: limiting it only to top-programmers would harm the concept. (i see SO as a crowdsourced programming advice platform :-))

Our platform supports more than just flights. We have hotels and complete trips as well. The philosophy of our platform is more on the convenient side of things instead of the 'hacker' mentality that FF has (no pun intended, FF is great for HN crowd I think). Our service could be used by your mom and dad.

Given the fact that we have no selection procedure of experts, a broader range of travel types and aiming to be a convenience service, we are convinced, also looking at our test phase, that crowdsourcing IS the right way to go for us. But hey, only time will tell and maybe you'll see a blogpost about our pivot in 18 months as well!

Congrats to FF for this pivot and the really great and open blogpost.

Re: Why We Abandoned Crowdsourcing

#43

Post by todsul »

OoTheNigerian wrote: post #35

So I am traveling to 2 continents in the next month (Including the US). Most likely a minimum of 3 cities. I have always wanted to use FlightFox but what is holding me back is the uncertainty of what I will get AFTER I have committed to pay. What happens if I want to change my flight? Cancel? With the existing travel agent model, I am certain stuff like this will be taken care of. When is the relationship over after…

Hi nigerian, apologies for the confusing pricing, we're working on that now. Anything more than one destination is multi-city. So your first example is just international, but the second eg is multi. Your second itinerary should be perfect for our guys.

Re: Why We Abandoned Crowdsourcing

#44

Post by chx »

todsul wrote: post #41
chx wrote: post #36

Disclaimer: I was a Flightfox expert. It was one of the best computer games I ever played and it occasionally paid me to play. (In a similar vein, Drupal development is the best MMO I could imagine -- the graphics surely leaves something to be desired but the social aspect is literally life changing and the quests keep you in flow.) I am not sure whether flight search in a crowdsource format could or should arise aga…

Hey CHX, apologies for the blunder with the emails. It was an honest mistake of not BCC'ing and certainly not deliberate. As you saw, a handful of people replied to the whole group and talked about cloning our product, which wasn't really in our interests. We don't get worried about that stuff, we were just a little sad we messed up for you guys.

I honestly say I liked this. I would've agreed to disclosing my address to the others to keep the experts together.

Re: Why We Abandoned Crowdsourcing

#45

Post by slaven »

I just wanted to say how slick their service is, I just used it earlier today and was paired with a very competent agent. I'm now waiting for the day Flightfox can take care of the whole thing, including booking a flight. There is a definite opportunity there!

Re: Why We Abandoned Crowdsourcing

#46

Post by misterbwong »

jdcryans wrote: post #15
nlh wrote: post #3

I'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…

(not a flightfox user but my 2 cents) Booking an award trip can be much harder to do unless you have an easy route like a domestic non-stop. The ITA matrix won't show you those flights, expertflyer.com used to be really useful but right now you can't get access to the United (and most of *A) data, some airlines have vague routing rules that may or may not play in your favor depending on which agent you talk to on the…

Being a bit of a miles guy myself, I agree with jdcryans. Most other award booking services charge ~150 per person so $69 (or even $99) is a great price.

That being said, the website doesn't really address the quality aspect of their award bookers. Extensive knowledge of routes/partners/tricks is essential to building a (good) award itinerary. I'd be hesitant to go with Flightfox even if it's a bit less expensive because a knowledgable award booker can mean the difference between getting an award and not going on the trip at all.

Re: Why We Abandoned Crowdsourcing

#47

Post by fibbery »

I tried flightfox when I was planning a vacation last year. I had thought it was more like taskrabbit where people would compete for the lowest price and was confused/disappointed when it told me I had to pick someone. Unfortunately none of the results seemed particularly promising.

In the end, either I should be working for flightfox or the service isn't as good as it should be, because the "expert" results were worse than what I found on my own... and I had the impression that the lack of competition was part of it.

Re: Why We Abandoned Crowdsourcing

#48

Post by prawn »

todsul wrote: post #22
bretthopper wrote: post #13

Your pricing/trips page ( https://flightfox.com/trips ) is really lacking some direction and information. I can easily see new Flightfox users being really confused. I was slightly confused and I've used Flightfox twice before. I would suggest carrying over the 3 steps graphic/info from the main page to the top of the /trips page. But more importantly, you really need a better breakdown of exactly what those prices a…

Hi brett, we're working madly on this now. We built the new version from scratch (very little in common), so we're a few-week-old startup all over again. We can imagine these products being their own page with details, testimonials, examples, etc. Something like http://elto.com , whereas our current page is more like the 99-designs one. Just wanted to mention, "clarifying" our products/pricing is priority #1.

Should that be something you work on before announcing the change? Seems quite critical to me.

Re: Why We Abandoned Crowdsourcing

#49

Post by njr123 »

jeremyt wrote: post #37
eddmc wrote: post #30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A lot of travel agents are genuine flight experts. If you don't believe that then you haven't spent much time with good travel agents. Also, it's not about the commissions. That went out with the '90's Source: I've worked in this field for 13 years now and sell a SAAS product to travel agents.

Okay then, how do I find a travel agent that will book me the cheapest flight to London for 50 bucks?

You don't need a travel agent for that, just use skyscanner or something. The case where a TA adds value is something like: 'I am going from Australia to Canada for work, and I need to visit a bunch of small towns that are only served by regional airlines, and I need to be there on these exact dates.'

Re: Why We Abandoned Crowdsourcing

#50

Post by prawn »

cocoflunchy wrote: post #6

Has anyone tried FlightFox? I wonder if it's worth using for simple flights like NYC-Paris or NYC-SF.

Yes, I was big on Flightfox when I heard about it and tried it for an international trip last year (Australia-Malaysia-France-Morocco-Italy-Switzerland-London-France-Malaysia-Australia). Paid for the top tier service but didn't end up using any of the results because I found a better and cheaper series of flights myself. I was a bit disappointed actually and went from telling everyone about it to not considering it since for other trips.
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