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Google is shutting down the QPX Express API for airfare data

news.ycombinator.com

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Re: Google is shutting down the QPX Express API for airfare data

#181

Post by mgkimsal »

htrp wrote: post #177
s17n wrote: post #134

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Google is definitely interested in "paid businesses". What they aren't interested in is businesses under a billion* dollars. *Made up and likely exaggerated number

Actually true... Google had amazing robot grasper arms once upon a time. These were much better than anything that was in industry. The team got killed because it wasn't a "toothbrush test" business

i'm curious why google (and other large companies like that) might not try to sell those sorts of tech internal-startups to other industry players. possibly a lot of hassle, no doubt, but... tens of thousands of man hours and research just get shelved because "toothbrush test" (then... why were some of these obviously-not-toothbrush ideas being pursued in the first place) and no one else gets to benefit?

Re: Google is shutting down the QPX Express API for airfare data

#182

Post by bovermyer »

pc86 wrote: post #165
bovermyer wrote: post #164

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Cute language. So just to be clear, you're putting Google ahead of North Korea, ISIS, et al on the list of threats to humanity?

I think it's odd to even include ISIS on any list of "threats to humanity." How many orders of magnitude could more damage could Google do by accident compared to ISIS?

In this context, I intended "threat to humanity" to mean "a clear and present danger to the safety and security of human beings."

ISIS very intentionally kills people opposed to its goals. Google, by comparison, does not.

Whether Google is the origin story of a 1984-like dystopia is another question entirely.

Re: Google is shutting down the QPX Express API for airfare data

#183

Post by bovermyer »

lightbyte wrote: post #167
bovermyer wrote: post #164

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Cute language. So just to be clear, you're putting Google ahead of North Korea, ISIS, et al on the list of threats to humanity?

How is ISIS top 2 on your list of threats to humanity? They are at best a regional threat. Google can do considerably more damage on a global scale.

The two examples I gave were not the top two, nor in any particular order.

However, they do make a practice of killing people, which Google does not.

Also, the elimination of a minor API is hardly a globally-damaging action.

Re: Google is shutting down the QPX Express API for airfare data

#184

Post by [deleted] »

i_cant_speel wrote: post #123
lotyrin wrote: post #38

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Reminds me of my time spent being a customer to a real estate MLS. When industries traditionally rented access to information asymmetry, even if those rents have since diminished, there's a lingering cultural momentum not to "show your hand" by playing nice with information (in addition to these not being organizations with the insight and incentives aligned to be attractive or conducive to IT competence).

I deal with MLSs regularly as part of my current job and this was the first thing that popped into my head when I read the parent comment. They are hell to deal with and we would pay a good amount of money to anyone who could standardize all of them and feed them to us in a consistent format. Half of the time I spend debugging is on figuring out what is going wrong with different MLSs.

[deleted]

Re: Google is shutting down the QPX Express API for airfare data

#185

Post by tonfa »

arcticbull wrote: post #137
tonfa wrote: post #75

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I also use routing code to force long layover (e.g. go from Europe to SF via London, and spend the night in London to visit friends, on the same ticket).

Theoretically you can still do that with the multi-city search tool on Flights. It should consolidate back down into a single fare if stopovers are permitted.

Nice, good to know!

Re: Google is shutting down the QPX Express API for airfare data

#187

Post by sctb »

bovermyer wrote: post #164
rdslw wrote: post #160

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Reminds me a few google employers posts on HN responding to the usual 'google closes products often': we dont, and we never closed a business products, only unimportant consumer ones. Yeah, sure. Google is heading Microsoft 199x way - fastly becoming public enemy no 1.

Cute language. So just to be clear, you're putting Google ahead of North Korea, ISIS, et al on the list of threats to humanity?

Good heavens, this is exactly the kind of thing the guidelines refer to here:

> Eschew flamebait. Don't introduce flamewar topics unless you have something genuinely new to say. Avoid unrelated controversies and generic tangents.

https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html

Re: Google is shutting down the QPX Express API for airfare data

#188

Post by cpeterso »

mgkimsal wrote: post #181
htrp wrote: post #177

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Actually true... Google had amazing robot grasper arms once upon a time. These were much better than anything that was in industry. The team got killed because it wasn't a "toothbrush test" business

i'm curious why google (and other large companies like that) might not try to sell those sorts of tech internal-startups to other industry players. possibly a lot of hassle, no doubt, but... tens of thousands of man hours and research just get shelved because "toothbrush test" (then... why were some of these obviously-not-toothbrush ideas being pursued in the first place) and no one else gets to benefit?

TIL Larry Page's "toothbrush test" for acquisitions: "Is this something you will use once or twice a day, and does it make your life better?"

http://www.businessinsider.com/larry-page-toothbrush-test-go...

Re: Google is shutting down the QPX Express API for airfare data

#189

Post by anticodon »

DannyB2 wrote: post #178
anticodon wrote: post #174

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why is North Korea a threat to humanity?

A possibility exists that North Korea might be able to bait someone into a nuclear war.

I think this is highly unlikely. There's simply no point. NK needs nuclear weapons to stave off possible US invasion. They are not crazy people. Crazy people can't create nuclear weapons just to randomly kill people for no reason.

Re: Google is shutting down the QPX Express API for airfare data

#190

Post by dagoban »

vbo wrote: post #156
wbeckler wrote: post #82

Earlier quoted context omitted.

For anybody looking for an alternative, there is Fareportal, which has a full featured API for flights with both search and booking ability. https://www.fareportallabs.com/Home/DownloadDocs#0 I'm happy to answer questions as I'm helping several companies switch over to Fareportal at the moment.

Looks good. I researched flight data suppliers & GDS companies recently for a side project and found them either very expensive (QPX falls in this category - having to pay several cents per query makes it virtually impossible to do anything creative) or lacking coverage for LCCs in Europe, which is my target market. So naturally I'm quite impressed with Fareportal and will give it a try. I did do a quick search on Ch…

If you are looking for API access for LCCs, check out http://www.azair.eu/ They are the best, they have availability + pricing + schedule +... data from every LCC that is out there in Europe. I use their regular website myself for all travels within Europe when flying LCCs since they show you split ticketing options as well as do a real search when you enter lets say, from France to XXX (for all airports). Skyscanner does promote the "take me anywhere feature" but it doesnt show you any real availability data, only displays flights other people have searched for.

I also got an email the other day from http://mystifly.com which also promotes LCC but I haven't tested them yet.

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