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Launch HN: Solve (YC S17) – We Save International Travelers Hours of Time

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Re: Launch HN: Solve (YC S17) – We Save International Travelers Hours of Time

#171

Post by andr »

kirillzubovsky wrote: post #170

This all sounded incredibly like a very San Francisco first world problem, until I thought of one use case for which you could be incredibly useful - old grandparents who don't speak the language traveling internationally on their own. I know mine are always afraid to travel because there is no one to help them on connecting flight to go cross customs on arrival. $300 to help them move doesn't sound all too bad, when…

A good solution for grandparents is to ask for wheelchair service. It is usually free and they'll get whisked from the checkin desk all the way to the baggage claim on the other end. If they don't like the idea of sitting in a wheelchair, they can just walk next to the agent.

Re: Launch HN: Solve (YC S17) – We Save International Travelers Hours of Time

#172

Post by wapz »

StavrosK wrote: post #120
ransom1538 wrote: post #55

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In Rome buying a sim is a total gamble -- many times they don't even work. I learned to buy the sim, then literally STAND in the same line and install it into my phone. (When I do this the staff at these stores start to get nervous.) If it doesn't work - I hand them back the sim and explain it doesn't work on my phone. They then take my receipt, type something into their computer, restart the phone and explain how it…

Are there people who take the SIM and leave? I always assume everyone stuck around until data was okay on the phone, since sometimes it needs activation, sometimes it needs settings, etc.

In Japan you can buy it at the convenient stores and the "mini" electronic store (haneda) at the airports. Switching sims, setting up the APNs, and the NO REFUND AFTER OPENED on the sticker make people buy it and jump on the bus or train to downtown tokyo (where you have 45mins ~ 1.5 hours to burn anyways).

Re: Launch HN: Solve (YC S17) – We Save International Travelers Hours of Time

#173

Post by realdlee »

gordon_freeman wrote: post #156
JimDabell wrote: post #7

One of the first things I do when I arrive in a new country is pick up a local SIM card so I can use my phone without roaming charges. Sometimes this is nice and simple where you just walk to a booth in the airport and pick one up, other times it's a real hassle, having to hunt around for a local shop and fill in personal information on sign-up. Have you considered providing local SIM cards as part of your service?

Why don't you switch to Project Fi? It's a network service from Google in USA which has coverage in lot of other countries internationally. Disclaimer: I am just a happy Fi customer

+1 for Project Fi for international travel. Terrible for calls in the US, but great for international travel.

Re: Launch HN: Solve (YC S17) – We Save International Travelers Hours of Time

#174

Post by wapz »

Pamar wrote: post #126
JimDabell wrote: post #7

One of the first things I do when I arrive in a new country is pick up a local SIM card so I can use my phone without roaming charges. Sometimes this is nice and simple where you just walk to a booth in the airport and pick one up, other times it's a real hassle, having to hunt around for a local shop and fill in personal information on sign-up. Have you considered providing local SIM cards as part of your service?

If you (or anyone else) has to travel to Japan I endorse https://www.rentafonejapan.com/ - they will have the phone or cell modem delivered to your hotel and you can drop it to the reception or in a mail delivery box on your way to the airport.

At either of the airports you can buy a sim card to use in your phone for internet (and use google voice for outgoing calls). They are sold at convenient stores (only the tourist ones like at the airport) and the electronic shops (the temporary sim cards are only sold at the tourist ones). Haneda airport has a bic camera mini.

Re: Launch HN: Solve (YC S17) – We Save International Travelers Hours of Time

#176

Post by anovikov »

deepGem wrote: post #31
JimDabell wrote: post #7

One of the first things I do when I arrive in a new country is pick up a local SIM card so I can use my phone without roaming charges. Sometimes this is nice and simple where you just walk to a booth in the airport and pick one up, other times it's a real hassle, having to hunt around for a local shop and fill in personal information on sign-up. Have you considered providing local SIM cards as part of your service?

This is a huge pain in many of the airports that I have travelled. In fact, you'll even get ripped off at some. For example Rome. We paid 50 euros for a supposedly Schengen wide 1GB plan but as soon as we left Italy that SIM was useless. So yeah, I'd definitely pay someone if they can just hand me a SIM at a nominal price as soon as I walk out of immigration/baggage claim Singapore has done this in a great way. As so…

Why do you even need to buy SIMs? Are international plans that pricey in the U.S.? Here in Europe they are quite affordable, my Czech 'connect for good for abroad' is $0.35 per MB which is enough in most situations.

Re: Launch HN: Solve (YC S17) – We Save International Travelers Hours of Time

#177

Post by greggman »

deepGem wrote: post #159
Pamar wrote: post #126

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you (or anyone else) has to travel to Japan I endorse https://www.rentafonejapan.com/ - they will have the phone or cell modem delivered to your hotel and you can drop it to the reception or in a mail delivery box on your way to the airport.

Man, Japan is way ahead of the rest of the world, when it comes to certain aspects of convenience.

And way behind in others. Sims are way over priced. 1Gig is $30 vs say Singapore 7Gig for $20 or Turkey, 15Gig for $15

As another example even though > 40% of users don't have a landline more often than not you can not call a Japanese toll free number (0120) from a cellphone.

There's also the issue that unlike the USA where you can't tell from the phone number if it's a cellphone or a landline, in Japan you can. Cellphone numbers start with 070, 080, or 090 where as landlines start with different prefixes. Because of this you're judged based on your number. A person or company without a landline is judged to be less trust worthy than one with. Oh, and landlines require $700 to start (though that may have been finally fixed)

Re: Launch HN: Solve (YC S17) – We Save International Travelers Hours of Time

#178

Post by greggman »

kenbaylor wrote: post #157
JimDabell wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

From what I hear, Fi is by no means perfect, it's only available for a few phone models, and I'm not from the USA anyway.

Once Google Fi is activated, it can work on iPhones and other devices. I use it all the time when traveling. Data-only SIM cards are free on Fi, (with no monthly recurring fee) so you can roam on multiple devices and only pay a very low fee ($10/gig) for what you use.

?? I thought Project FI had a min $20 a month basic rate. Looking at the site it certainly looks that way. Is there a way to have a Project FI account and no monthly fee if not used?

Re: Launch HN: Solve (YC S17) – We Save International Travelers Hours of Time

#179

Post by JimDabell »

anovikov wrote: post #176
deepGem wrote: post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is a huge pain in many of the airports that I have travelled. In fact, you'll even get ripped off at some. For example Rome. We paid 50 euros for a supposedly Schengen wide 1GB plan but as soon as we left Italy that SIM was useless. So yeah, I'd definitely pay someone if they can just hand me a SIM at a nominal price as soon as I walk out of immigration/baggage claim Singapore has done this in a great way. As so…

Why do you even need to buy SIMs? Are international plans that pricey in the U.S.? Here in Europe they are quite affordable, my Czech 'connect for good for abroad' is $0.35 per MB which is enough in most situations.

The average web page size is now almost 3MB [1]. At that rate, it costs about a dollar to load a single web page and about $350 to download a gig of data. That's not affordable, especially when you can get the same service at a fraction of the cost by buying a local SIM. For instance, it costs $5 for 4GB of data in Cambodia. It would cost you $1,400.

[1] http://httparchive.org/interesting.php

Re: Launch HN: Solve (YC S17) – We Save International Travelers Hours of Time

#180

Post by airza »

shawnsheikh wrote: post #70
bluesign wrote: post #47

First of all this is a great service, and congratulations on the launch. But... After checking I am a bit disappointed: - Istanbul: $235.00 Not including "Fast Track Immigration/Customs" for 2 passengers you can get local fast track card (I think it is around $500 for a year) which grants fast track on immigration/customs and also for all security checkpoints for 2 pax - Amsterdam: $345.00 Includes fast track vs Priv…

Hey there! We're still working on the wording and how we're crafting the message, but where we say we include Fast Track Immigrations and Customs we have access to a dedicated fast track line or the diplomat line. For airports where it says does not include, we usually have an expedited immigrations/customs. Another agent will go stand in line a head of time and you can cut in with them, or they'll know the immigrati…

So in schipol, you want someone to pay you 300 dollars and then awkwardly cut into one of the huge lines at immigration? Or is this for customs, where there is no line?
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