Get away with Google Flights • Hacker News Board

Re: Get away with Google Flights

#51

Post by kylec » Wed, Feb 25, 2015, 4:33 PM UTC

dheera wrote: post #33

Awesome. I can never understand what antiquated database and UI the other flight reservation websites are using. Simple database queries take 10+ seconds, and then you have to click N more times to get the taxes included. Why can't I query for SELECT * FROM tickets WHERE sqrt((destination_latitude-desired_latitude)^2 - (destination_longitude-desired_longitude)^2) with proper geoindexing and sharding this query should…

This is a good presentation about the complexities in creating and pricing itineraries:

http://www.demarcken.org/carl/papers/ITA-software-travel-com...

Most companies don't want to take on this complexity, so they outsource it. The companies that provide this service, like ITA, tend to charge more money for more expensive queries, like multi-day searches, so most online search companies will only let you do the cheaper kinds of searches.

Re: Get away with Google Flights

#52

Post by GotAnyMegadeth » Wed, Feb 25, 2015, 4:34 PM UTC

Minor complaint: the first thing I tried to do was try to find a flight from anywhere in the UK to anywhere in Slovenia. Whilst it lets me be vague about my destination, it doesn't seem to about my starting point... Skyscanner lets me do this

Re: Get away with Google Flights

#53

Post by dheera » Wed, Feb 25, 2015, 4:37 PM UTC

kylec wrote: post #51

dheera wrote: post #33

Awesome. I can never understand what antiquated database and UI the other flight reservation websites are using. Simple database queries take 10+ seconds, and then you have to click N more times to get the taxes included. Why can't I query for SELECT * FROM tickets WHERE sqrt((destination_latitude-desired_latitude)^2 - (destination_longitude-desired_longitude)^2) with proper geoindexing and sharding this query should…

This is a good presentation about the complexities in creating and pricing itineraries: http://www.demarcken.org/carl/papers/ITA-software-travel-com... Most companies don't want to take on this complexity, so they outsource it. The companies that provide this service, like ITA, tend to charge more money for more expensive queries, like multi-day searches, so most online search companies will only let you do the cheap…

I wonder if it would be viable to start an airline whose business model is "simple pricing". Just forget ITA altogether, sell tickets directly, and have the pricing model extremely simple. Like, total price = C/(time to departure) for some constant C, and use machine learning, or just a simple PID feedback loop on revenue to set C in order to be profitable.

Re: Get away with Google Flights

#54

Post by toyg » Wed, Feb 25, 2015, 4:38 PM UTC

dheera wrote: post #33

Awesome. I can never understand what antiquated database and UI the other flight reservation websites are using. Simple database queries take 10+ seconds, and then you have to click N more times to get the taxes included. Why can't I query for SELECT * FROM tickets WHERE sqrt((destination_latitude-desired_latitude)^2 - (destination_longitude-desired_longitude)^2) with proper geoindexing and sharding this query should…

> changing the language and country of the website changes ticket prices

That's a feature. Nothing will cost the same if you buy it in Nairobi or in London, because price is a function of demand.

Re: Get away with Google Flights

#55

Post by dheera » Wed, Feb 25, 2015, 4:41 PM UTC

toyg wrote: post #54

dheera wrote: post #33

Awesome. I can never understand what antiquated database and UI the other flight reservation websites are using. Simple database queries take 10+ seconds, and then you have to click N more times to get the taxes included. Why can't I query for SELECT * FROM tickets WHERE sqrt((destination_latitude-desired_latitude)^2 - (destination_longitude-desired_longitude)^2) with proper geoindexing and sharding this query should…

> changing the language and country of the website changes ticket prices That's a feature. Nothing will cost the same if you buy it in Nairobi or in London, because price is a function of demand.

So we need an API to search all the languages and countries, pay in the appropriate currency, abstract this "feature" away along with the language barrier, and give me the lowest price. I hope Google will do that. :)

Re: Get away with Google Flights

#56

Post by smackfu » Wed, Feb 25, 2015, 4:46 PM UTC

jrockway wrote: post #49

smackfu wrote: post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

All sorts of fun games on ITA. Another good one is to set very long connection times, to get a 23 hour stopover in an interesting city for free.

It's not always a scam to do this; Cathay Pacific seems to give you a discount if you spend a day in Hong Kong.

Right, that is a definite feature of some fares. They allow a free stopover at their hub if you want. Given that, almost all fares allow a 23 hour connection without it having to be programmed into the fare.

And I didn't mean it was a scam, more like a cool hack.

Re: Get away with Google Flights

#57

Post by imjk » Wed, Feb 25, 2015, 4:48 PM UTC

There are sites dedicated to scouring and curating the best deals found using the ITA Software Matrix. http://Theflightdeal.com is the best that comes to mind. http://PointsBuzz.com also aggregates the various different sites focused on flight deals and maximizing frequent flyer points for the most worthwhile trips.

Re: Get away with Google Flights

#58

Post by joelbrewer01 » Wed, Feb 25, 2015, 4:48 PM UTC

I've used Google Flights before, but I almost always end up flying Southwest, which doesn't disclose their prices to aggregators. Does anyone know if Google has tried to strike a deal with them? If anyone could, I imagine it would be Google.

Re: Get away with Google Flights

#59

Post by jonknee » Wed, Feb 25, 2015, 4:54 PM UTC

radiorental wrote: post #32

Don't know where they're getting their data from. Boston-dublin in Oct is over $1300 on google flight with Aerlingus Same flight directly on the airline's website is $940. Good luck with that, Google.

Though I see $550 round trip tickets on Delta, so there's that.

Re: Get away with Google Flights

#60

Post by RogerL » Wed, Feb 25, 2015, 4:56 PM UTC

radiorental wrote: post #32

Don't know where they're getting their data from. Boston-dublin in Oct is over $1300 on google flight with Aerlingus Same flight directly on the airline's website is $940. Good luck with that, Google.

I just tried SFO to Mexico City. $447 on Google ($427 with a 12 hour layover), vs $352 on Kayak, and $338 on priceline.