Ask HN: My side project. Is it useful? • Hacker News Board

tomelders wrote: post #34

jonpaul wrote: post #30

I really love the idea. But it couldn't find any routes between OMA and CUN. Is this for direct flights only?

yup, but the data is from 2009. This is just a prototype really.

Even if it is just a prototype, it's looking good so far.

Re: Ask HN: My side project. Is it useful?

#66

Post by deathmatch » Sun, Sep 18, 2011, 3:36 PM UTC

dagw wrote: post #42

culturestate wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

FWIW, Orbitz will allow you to search for flights by city names rather than airport codes. I'm not sure how it decides what airports serve a given city, though.

Maybe Orbitz works better in US, but I just tried it with a small selection of English towns and it basically failed spectacularly. flightm8 on the other hand would happily tell me the nearest airport to Leatherhead and Whitby.

Agreeing with this. Flightm8 seems like it could be much more versatile.

Re: Ask HN: My side project. Is it useful?

#67

Post by ghostshield11 » Sun, Sep 18, 2011, 3:44 PM UTC

tomelders wrote: post #13

ckluis wrote: post #11

Hipmunk's visualization is pretty badass... BUT it's one airport to one airport. If you could draw lines from each starting point to each ending point with a price range of the flights available then you are solving a different problem. You are visualizing that the trip from Tampa to Hawaii could be much cheaper if I drove to Orlando. If that 2 hour drive saves me $500 per ticket then it might be worth it. Just a tho…

If I were to pick it up again, that would be the plan. However, the big roadblock is that the data for times and prices if very very expensive. And I simply don't have the resources to pay for it.

Maybe you could try Kickstarter or something like that?

Re: Ask HN: My side project. Is it useful?

#68

Post by tealtank » Sun, Sep 18, 2011, 3:49 PM UTC

You should keep working on it. You've done great so far.

Re: Ask HN: My side project. Is it useful?

#69

Post by cosmicman » Sun, Sep 18, 2011, 3:58 PM UTC

ShaneOG wrote: post #4

Definitely. I think it's a much needed service, particularly within Europe.

Europe seems like it's almost the perfect market for something like this.

Re: Ask HN: My side project. Is it useful?

#70

Post by gildedsuit » Sun, Sep 18, 2011, 4:04 PM UTC

Sukotto wrote: post #46

Great idea, I think it could be really useful. I'd like it even more if you decrease the focus on the giant map and instead have a little form like +--------------------------------+ | Leaving from: ______________ | | | | Going to: ______________ | | | | [Show me] | +--------------------------------+ Let me put in, for example, Vancouver, Canada and New York City Show me a mini map for my end points and let the rest…

I'm much on board with this idea.