Flightfox, your thoughts?

[Boris spatsky]

Liam

Is it a US based website? Or Aus? Seems very Us centric. Just an observation.

My only feedback so far - some of the bids seem so ridiculous that it is not funny - are people deliberately making false bids to get the finders fee? How do you police that?

For example there is a Europe to Japan in J fare - the cheapest i could find was about 3k, the cheapest two bids Re $900 which is impossible in J.

 

[LiamR]

Liam

Is it a US based website? Or Aus? Seems very Us centric. Just an observation.

My only feedback so far - some of the bids seem so ridiculous that it is not funny - are people deliberately making false bids to get the finders fee? How do you police that?

For example there is a Europe to Japan in J fare - the cheapest i could find was about 3k, the cheapest two bids Re $900 which is impossible in J.

Australian founders and currently based in Australia, however a large group of customers are form the US.

I've discussed our procedures for detecting fraudulent entries earlier in this post. We've had people accidentally enter wrong prices ($120 instead of $1,200) or people giving Y prices for a J flight. But I haven't heard of getting any fraudulent entires yet.

 

[MrHyde]

Hi Liam,

A few more feedback points.

1) I noticed the win rate addition - very nice. However, I have an issue with the calculation as I believe it is incorrect. It assumes that a contest only has three states - Open, Finished and Awarded and the win rate is calculated based on Awarded. However, I have noticed that some Finished contests are refunded. These will never go into Awarded state and as such they are not counted in the win rate.

2) I would like to receive an email when someone else posts a flight option to a contest that I have entered in. This could be implemented as a profile setting as not everyone would want to get spammed.

3) On the main contest listing and/or in the Dashboard, I would like another column that shows what my cheapest entry was so that I can see quickly which contests I am still leading and which contests I have been overtaken by others. At the moment, I am pretty much having to click into each contest to see what my status is.

Cheers,
MrHyde

 

[LiamR]

Hi Liam,

A few more feedback points.

1) I noticed the win rate addition - very nice. However, I have an issue with the calculation as I believe it is incorrect. It assumes that a contest only has three states - Open, Finished and Awarded and the win rate is calculated based on Awarded. However, I have noticed that some Finished contests are refunded. These will never go into Awarded state and as such they are not counted in the win rate.

Hmm. I'm not quite sure what the go is here. I'll ask and report back when I know more.

 

[tgh]

I started a competition.
Elected for the premium fee.
Received a few questions about routing etc.
Received ONE entry.. that tried to be helpful..but really didn't address my needs.
Asked FF to consider not awarding a fee because it hadn't worked.

FF offered to start another comp and to "incentivise" it.
I said thanks but no thanks .. I have moved on .. they immediately refunded my fee.

Summary .. It seemed like a good idea .. but I should have read the preamble more carefully.
This clever structure isn't likely to attract experts when the comps are challenging and the starter clearly knows many of the options.
This clever structure is a bit pointless for someone who already knows his or her way around the web and flight search engines.

It should be a great idea for the target demographic.. time and information poor flyers who want someone else to do the leg work.

I thought I was probably blowing my dough ..c'est la vie... but the follow up and the service was outstanding.. good luck FlightFox

 

[LiamR]

I started a competition.
Elected for the premium fee.
Received a few questions about routing etc.
Received ONE entry.. that tried to be helpful..but really didn't address my needs.
Asked FF to consider not awarding a fee because it hadn't worked.

FF offered to start another comp and to "incentivise" it.
I said thanks but no thanks .. I have moved on .. they immediately refunded my fee.

Summary .. It seemed like a good idea .. but I should have read the preamble more carefully.
This clever structure isn't likely to attract experts when the comps are challenging and the starter clearly knows many of the options.
This clever structure is a bit pointless for someone who already knows his or her way around the web and flight search engines.

It should be a great idea for the target demographic.. time and information poor flyers who want someone else to do the leg work.

I thought I was probably blowing my dough ..c'est la vie... but the follow up and the service was outstanding.. good luck FlightFox

Glad to hear although we couldn't help you find a flight, you were taken care of. If you don't mind me asking, which contests is yours?

We've recently been keeping an eye on contests with less than three entries, and trying to throw some publicity towards them. As a rule of thumb, the more discussion and interaction going on between the customer and Flight Experts, the better the outcome for all.

Let me know if you want to try Flightfox again in the future, and I'll see if I can work out a special deal for you.

 

[LiamR]

1) I noticed the win rate addition - very nice. However, I have an issue with the calculation as I believe it is incorrect. It assumes that a contest only has three states - Open, Finished and Awarded and the win rate is calculated based on Awarded. However, I have noticed that some Finished contests are refunded. These will never go into Awarded state and as such they are not counted in the win rate.

Hmm. I'm not quite sure what the go is here. I'll ask and report back when I know more.

I've followed up with MrHyde directly, but I thought I'd let the rest of the AFF community know...

We've now updated the win/loose ratio to clearly display contests that have been refunded.

Without trying to sound like a spam email or annoying popup. MrHyde is now $200 richer after winning one of the major contests on Flightfox. Although I hear his wife has already claimed the prize money.

 

[ReLoad]

Given the new forum feature (i am loathed to call anything an "enhancement" these days) Have they cut your cheese LiamR?

 

[LiamR]

Given the new forum feature (i am loathed to call anything an "enhancement" these days) Have they cut your cheese LiamR?

It's not my idea and I'm not running Flightfox, I'm just an employee. However, I was quite shocked to see that appear on AFF, to say the least.

 

[Moopere]

I assumed there was a tie-in of sorts ... obviously I was wrong.

 

[clifford]

It's for the brain dead.

 

[MEL_Traveller]

It's not my idea and I'm not running Flightfox, I'm just an employee. However, I was quite shocked to see that appear on AFF, to say the least.

I admit I thought the two were related! However - healthy competition is always good.

 

[moa999]

Some positive press, and money in the bank...
Lauren takes flight with $800,000 backing

Also explains the US focus... thats where the money is..

 

[orangehenry]

I've had both a positive and negative on flightfox.

My postive experience was excellent. I was looking to book a SYD-SIN-CPH-HEL-PVG-PEK-SYD in QF/*O J. My inital quote from TAs and my own searches yielded something around the $15k mark. My flight expert was able to find some slightly different routing (mainly flying via HEL not LHR, which during the Olympics is fine with me!) and get the price down to just under $10k. Well worth the the $49 investment!! And the dialouge with the flight expert was excellent - very helpful.

I've more recently asked for some help putting together a SR using YUPP fares (AA) in the USA. Unfortuantely none of the flight experts seemed to "get" the concept. I'd specified how many SC I wanted to gain, what airlines etc.. and then had recommendations that included UA/AL or that were on AA but didn't earn anywhere near the right number of SC. That was dissapointing as I was hoping that the experts might have more experience with US routing than I do.

I think it's a great concept - especially for complex multi-city routings. I've since signed up as an expert - it seems like a great way to kill a few hours in a lounger (or in-flight wifi where available!)

 

[smit0847]

I think this is a great concept linking those with tricky travel plans to those who have the knowledge, interest and time to help. I could see semi-retired/retired ex-WP FFs spending an enjoyable hour each evening tinkering around with random itineraries. The flat fee is clever - IMO travel agents are usually just out for their commission.

 

[david-au-2000]

FlightFox scores $800k backing

From Lauren takes flight with $800,000 backing

This Aussie start-up "connects a global network of flight booking experts (about 500 so far) with those seeking flights. Unlike travel agents, which earn commissions from travel providers, Flightfox experts get paid a flat fee by the traveller, and only when they find them the best deal".

FlightFox has now raised $800,000 in venture capital "and been accepted into the most prestigious start-up accelerator in the world." Always good to hear a local success story especially one which leverages the knowledge and expertise of frequent flyers!

Do any AFF members contribute to FlightFox as 'experts'?

 

[AaronBradford]

Re: FlightFox scores $800k backing

I'm a new 'expert' on there - there's also a thread started my LiamR on it: http://www.australianfrequentflyer....discussion/flightfox-your-thoughts-37141.html

 

[Moopere]

I must be at the wrong stage of life for this ... or something. Much as I do enjoy finding my own routing, I'd struggle I think to find a lot of leftover time to help unknown folks at $49 flat total fee.

I haven't really thought it through I suppose, I'm happy to spend quite some time on behalf of friends and family doing this, and will spend more than 3 seconds if I think I can help someone on this forum too ... but being paid, in this fashion, somehow flips the switch in my brain and makes it commercial, and $49 is not going to excite or motivate me.

 

[MrHyde]

I've enjoyed flightfox quite a bit so far. I've been on there for about two months or so and have earned more than $2000. I remember orangehenry's request and did find a routing giving $4.9/SC, but didn't post it as I was not sure what the end destination was supposed to be. I meant to ask, but got distracted with something else.

Flightfox has its target audience and it has its niche where it works well. It does not work well where the contest holder knows how to use the internet to find the best deals, like some of us on this forum.

 

[LiamR]

Flightfox has its target audience and it has its niche where it works well. It does not work well where the contest holder knows how to use the internet to find the best deals, like some of us on this forum.

Its like trying to sell a oil change to a mechanic.