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Show HN: Cheaper flights when flying multiple destinations by route optimisation

skysave.co

31–40 of 90 posts

Re: Show HN: Cheaper flights when flying multiple destinations by route optimisation

#33
post #30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The other question is: What does this do that Google Flights doesn't do? I haven't yet seen what it is that makes this different - I feel like I'm missing something.

If you're flying to multiple destinations it matters which destination you visit first, which one second and so forth. SkySave tells you which route is the cheapest. For example, it can be a lot cheaper to fly London -> New York -> Miami -> Los Angeles -> London than if you were to go to LA first and then Miami. Does that make more sense?

OK, that really wasn't clear, so here are some specific suggestions:

The video under the white text often makes it difficult to read the catchphrase. I'd suggest editing the video to reduce the brightness by 60% (No doubt others will disagree);

The text at the top does not, to me, communicate this idea that you are choosing multiple destinations, and that the site will try all the orderings to find the optimal itinerary;

It says:

Discover the cheapest route to fly for your next holiday

You are using the word "route" in a way that doesn't communicate to me the idea you've mentioned above;

It says:

If you're visiting multiple destinations it can be on average 30% cheaper to fly a specific route as opposed to others

Again, you're using the word "route" in a very odd way.

So, concrete suggestion to highlight the problem, I'd say something like:

You choose the places to visit - we'll arrange your itinerary to minimise the costs.

Re: Show HN: Cheaper flights when flying multiple destinations by route optimisation

#34
"Flying short" or "Hidden City" is another tactic. Airlines don't like it, but it's not illegal. Can't check bags, and you may not want to associate your frequent flyer account.

That is, sometimes it's cheaper to book a flight with a connection, say LAX->ATL->MIA, and get off in ATL, than it is to pay for LAX->ATL.

I think skiplagged.com does this. Are you trying these as well?

Re: Show HN: Cheaper flights when flying multiple destinations by route optimisation

#36

Is it safe to have that apiKey parameter in your 'book' links? That just jumped out at me. It looks like a cool project; good luck!

That's a 'short' API key, it's not the full one. It's their public variant. Thank you though!

Re: Show HN: Cheaper flights when flying multiple destinations by route optimisation

#37
post #29

Really good idea! But maybe think about replacing the 4MB background video with a static image or something. It felt a bit overpowering for me (moves too fast) and it also doesn't scale right with the viewport leaving white text on a white background.

Agreed about the video. To much going on and moving to fast. Slow it down.

just fully remove the background video. I have a powerfull desktop and a good internet connection, it feels really sluggish.

I just disabled autoplay (disable autoplay extension for chrome, media.autoplay in about:config for firefox). What a pain.

Re: Show HN: Cheaper flights when flying multiple destinations by route optimisation

#38
post #23

site is unusable on mobile (Brave browser) i see white text with shadows on white background and there are three identical fields for Days, no idea what is their meaning, i guess duration of trip, but not sure why there are three of them

Try it now! We put out an update that makes it A LOT better.

Re: Show HN: Cheaper flights when flying multiple destinations by route optimisation

#39
Hi,

I tried : Lyon, France as Home (2017/05/02 as start date) Tokyo Narita, Japan (7 days) Osaka Kansai International, Japan (14 days) Noumea Tontouta, New Caledonia (14 days)

This told me that "Something went wrong! No valid route could be found for these destinations, please try another destination"

I added Paris, France with "0 days" as it's a typical stop when flying international from Lyon.

This gave me a result, but the first stop is Noumea and it says "$false - BOOK". The other destinations have a real price.

My route is weird though, does not seem very optimized (I fly around the world once, from France to New Caledonia and back, before going to Japan, which is on the way), but I guess that's another problem!

Re: Show HN: Cheaper flights when flying multiple destinations by route optimisation

#40
post #34

"Flying short" or "Hidden City" is another tactic. Airlines don't like it, but it's not illegal. Can't check bags, and you may not want to associate your frequent flyer account. That is, sometimes it's cheaper to book a flight with a connection, say LAX->ATL->MIA, and get off in ATL, than it is to pay for LAX->ATL. I think skiplagged.com does this. Are you trying these as well?

That works until your flight is overbooked or cancelled and you fly instead LAX -> DEN -> MIA.
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