Travel Tools - 5/13: MileWise acquired by Yahoo and closed

Mod note: Discussion of closure is post 48 onward (http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/travel-tools/1248702-5-13-milewise-acquired-yahoo-closed-2.html#post20719193).

There's a new frequent flyer friendly search service out today called MileWise (https://secured.milewise.com/).

Like AwardWallet, you can enter in your frequent flier program credentials and it will scan your programs.

MileWise then allows you to search for flights and compare the costs and benefits of each (based on how much the ticket costs, your status, class of service, etc.), and will recommend which flight to take based on total value including miles earned.

Currently it is free.

I played around with it and so far it looks promising. Not all airlines and programs are implemented yet, so it is not a replacement for AwardWallet. It also doesn't support searches for premium economy. But it could make some mileage tasks easier.

Wondering what other people think of it?

Thanks for the update on the new service. I like awardwallet but I feel like they are not a complete service.

It looks like MileWise drew on Hipmunk's style for their inspiration. When I tried to search for flights they were not completed due to "trouble talking to the server". I guess it is just opening day glitches but I can not provide any user feedback yet.

I look forward to trying it out over the coming days.

Do you know if MileWise offers tracking of pending mileage?

So far really liking it. It is missing values for some things (my BA miles for example), wonder what is required to "value" those.

Also wondering if the values get more accurate over time.

My only beef right now is there doesn't seem to be a lot of customization. But love the idea!

They value your miles and points really high and that makes me happy. :-)

Also awesome that the co-founders are the ones in the chat when you have questions. Don't think that will last but pretty cool while it does.

Hmm, I saw the live help box the first few times I used the site but I can't find it anymore.

Anyway, I like this site a lot and the search is a very cool starting point for evaluating trip redemption options!

It's not a full fledged replacement for awardwallet though, as it doesn't support the broad account coverage that awardwallet has. It is missing a number of good travel point programs that should be evaluated in any kind of system like this, including penfed travel, capital one, etc. It also doesn't seem to be picking up my amex MR points.

Very cool site though, and I'm eager to try this out in the future.

Hey FlyerTalk!

Nick from MileWise here. Really appreciate the interest.

A couple people in here have mentioned AwardWallet -- we're actually working with them, so every program they support should be available in MileWise soon.

Also: yep we are the ones in the live help! We just switched the help over to only show up when you're logged in, traffic has been a lot to handle =)

Keep the feedback coming, we absolutely love hearing from you guys.

And feel free to startup a conversation in the live chat!

Hi Nick. Since you're working with AwardWallet already, would it make sense to either combine the services or to use the balances from AwardWallet inside of MileWise (by linking accounts maybe)? It just seems from the outside that adding all our accounts again, and you reusing AW's methods/technology, isn't the best use of time/resources. Anyways, that's the only reason I've hesitated to join -- I don't want to add all my account info again to yet another site.

I learned of milewise yesterday but postponed joining because of concerns regarding account setup. In order to make this work they need to know my FF#'s and password credentials. There seem to be risks in providing this and I don't see this addressed on the site.

Hi Nick. Since you're working with AwardWallet already, would it make sense to either combine the services or to use the balances from AwardWallet inside of MileWise (by linking accounts maybe)? It just seems from the outside that adding all our accounts again, and you reusing AW's methods/technology, isn't the best use of time/resources. Anyways, that's the only reason I've hesitated to join -- I don't want to add all my account info again to yet another site.

+1

If you already use another service like AwardWallet to manage your balances, re-adding them to MileWise can be a bit of a chore -- definitely something we've thought about.

The good thing is you can use the search functionality without necessarily adding all your programs -- you'll still be able to see available inventory across programs, fees / earned miles, etc -- we just won't be able to do great recommendations for you.

Then later you can add your programs when you're comfortable, or as we release features to make it easier (like just forwarding your monthly program statements to a special email address instead of entering username/pass..)

Wow - I'm really liking it thus far. It would be great if it could also:
1) search results for nearby airports as well.
2) run one-way searches
3) allow for Multi-City searches

Wow - I'm really liking it thus far. It would be great if it could also:
1) search results for nearby airports as well.
2) run one-way searches


Glad you're liking it!

You can actually run one-way searches by leaving the return date blank.

For nearby airports: we do support some metro area codes like NYC, WAS, etc.

As for multi-city...that's a bit more complicated =) But stay tuned!

Seems to me that as more publicly available services such as these appear, the more likely frequent flyer programs are going to continue to degrade.

Keep the feedback coming, we absolutely love hearing from you guys.

I really like the service, and look forward to getting to know it in the future.

One problem I noticed with the system:

I did a random search to Europe. It told me that the best match was a DL ticket for $875; however, there was an AF itin for $815. It said the DL was better because of the value of the miles earned. It didn't subtract any value for AF miles. What it failed to recognize/acknowledge is that I am AS MVPG; both itins were valid for mileage earning, and I would earn base miles + 100% bonus on each itin...clearly, the AF itin is a better value for me.

So, perhaps the database should eventually become more sophisticated, and ask me to identify my primary program, or even evaluate the itinerary under multiple optional scenario - i.e. this itin credited to DL, or to AS, etc.

Also, will there be a hotel search with point redemptions eventually? I would find this immensely useful!

One suggested itinerary included a 15 minute layover in AMS. I've never been there, but imagine it's a bit airport that would require more than 15 minutes to get to the connecting flight :wink:

Some of the itineraries that the site come back with are kind of odd, and don't really make sense.

Wichita, KS to Frankfurt, Germany Fri Nov 4, 2011
American ICT 5:55p DFW 7:15p 1h 20m 0 stops Flight 1349
5 minute layover in Dallas/Ft.Worth, TX (DFW)
American DFW 3:20p FRA 7:05a 8h 45m 0 stops Flight 70
Frankfurt, Germany to Wichita, KS Tue Nov 15, 2011
American FRA 10:30a DFW 2:40p 11h 10m 0 stops Flight 71
50 minute layover in Dallas/Ft.Worth, TX (DFW)
American DFW 9:30a ICT 10:40a 1h 10m 0 stops Flight 471

is what shows up in the pop-up box when you click on the "1" for a one-stop. But when you click through to the AA site, it shows:

11:25 AM
ICT

12:50 PM
DFW


70

Flight Details

3:20 PM
DFW

7:05 AM
FRA

Overnight flight or connection
Terminal change

20K

1349

5:55 PM
ICT

7:15 PM
DFW


70SAT NOV 5

Flight Details

3:20 PM
DFW

6:05 AM
FRA

Please note connection time
Overnight flight or connection
Terminal change

20K

1894

2:20 PM
ICT

3:40 PM
DFW


70SAT NOV 5

Flight Details

3:20 PM
DFW

6:05 AM
FRA

Please note connection time
Overnight flight or connection
Terminal change

20K

2023

11:25 AM
ICT

12:50 PM
DFW


70SAT NOV 5

Flight Details

3:20 PM
DFW

6:05 AM
FRA

as the options.

I just found MileWise a couple of days ago -- didn't realize it was brand new, as many of the admin replies on the forums date from 4 months ago. It looks quite promising.

ANC RED EYE touched on the issue of coordinating mileage valuations among the programs. It gets a little complicated, given the varying value of miles among different airlines, but for a start recognizing that miles earned on one airline will carry over to another program. I've been searching an international trip. AA is my primary program, but a routing on AY would net more EQMs and as such provide more value than a trip on AA (especially since the AY ticket is cheaper).

I look forward to seeing the site develop.

I've been trialing it the last two days. I really like the ease of searching for awards. In fact, fresh out of the gate I found an award I've been seeking for over two months. I called the airline immediately and secured it.

I would like the ability to set up my preferences before a search. For example, I might be specifically looking for using miles from UA. Yes, I can unclick a lot of boxes after the returns are in so this isn't a huge thing, it's a nice to have.

I'd like the ability to add additional members and track their award balances separately. AwardWallet allows me to do this very easily. This request IS a big thing for me.

FTers are really savvy about these things. Yet I can't find discussion about milewise before this thread. A press release came out the same day:

http://techcrunch.com/2011/08/17/milewise-launches-search-engine-for-frequent-fliers/

Thanks to falconred for bringing the site to our attention.

ANC RED-EYE:

Yep, good catch. Partner rules in general are something we haven't had a chance to do. Partner earning/redemption we know is incredibly important, but the scope of the problem is so large we had to push it out. We'll be rolling out alliance/partner/earning+redemption rule support as we can, most likely in phases based on popularity of program and ease of implementation.

Hotels: Definitely. There's massive value in hotel redemption (as you all probably know better than everyone).

Glad you're liking MileWise! Hope you stick around as we grow.

The support definitely helps keep us going on these Sunday afternoon feature-coding parties! (although the office beer supply helps too..)

I've been trialing it the last two days. I really like the ease of searching for awards. In fact, fresh out of the gate I found an award I've been seeking for over two months. I called the airline immediately and secured it.

AWESOME. Very cool to hear things like this -- glad you were able to get real immediate value.

As for being brand-new: We've been in private beta for about 5 months with a very small set of users, which generated a bit of discussion. But we've only been public since TechCrunch/LifeHacker picked us up last week. It's been exciting -- only a couple servers have melted so far :D

So far I like what I see haven't added all my accounts yet

Do you expect to add the ability to search for awards with bmi and Virgin Atlantic miles? If so, when?

Also, are you able to search for award availability using AA miles for a flight on which DragonAir operates? I checked a route on which I believe award space is available, and didn't find it with your tool.

Virgin Atlantic will most likely come before bmi. Because of the large number of airlines, we'll probably prioritize airline inventory based on how many people have added certain programs...soooo if you add your Virgin Atlantic account that's a good way to vote for getting the inventory up and running sooner ;-)

Unfortunately don't have award inventory for AA/DragonAir flights.

Unfortunately don't have award inventory for AA/DragonAir flights.

Should you want to add it in the future, you can find inventory using the AsiaMiles tool.

I imagine the flight data is an ITA feed, while the miles info is custom coded to scrape each individual program's site.

I'm getting a page not found error when I click on the signup link..

I'm confused why Award Wallet would work with you, seems like dilution of market share is the only benefit they'd get...unless you plan some larger merging of technologies.

I'm getting a page not found error when I click on the signup link..

Are you on IE7? Unfortunately a lot of JavaScript techniques we use to keep things fast as possible don't work in older browsers.

If possible, you may want to upgrade to Chrome, Firefox, or IE8/9.

(if you still run into trouble, email support@milewise.com)

Thanks, and yes, I'm on IE7. Unfortunately, due to my position, I can't upgrade to a newer version until we upgrade certain software. I will try it at home.

What an interesting service! Looking forward to tinkering around with it for some upcoming flights.

Do u currently already monitor for off peak miles rates through various programs automatically?

So far really liking it. It is missing values for some things (my BA miles for example), wonder what is required to "value" those.

Also wondering if the values get more accurate over time.

My only beef right now is there doesn't seem to be a lot of customization. But love the idea!


Hi,

This is Sanjay from MileWise.

Some programs' values are missing bc/ we haven't completed the required analysis (http://forums.milewise.com/topic/how-are-reward-program-values-calculated-1).

The values will be refined over time as we analyze more data and begin to further integrate your preferences, redemption behavior, and expectations (e.g., taking a trip to France in 1 year).

Also, soon we're going to let you input your own values. So, you should start to see more customization options ...

Please continue to leave feedback - it really helps us prioritize the feature roadmap.

What an interesting service! Looking forward to tinkering around with it for some upcoming flights.

Do u currently already monitor for off peak miles rates through various programs automatically?


Hi,

We actually just get the real-time availability and price every time you do the search. In the future, we'll also be checking the real-time pricing and alert you when your desired trips are available for good prices.

- Sanjay from MileWise

Interesting. MileWise found some award Business class award travel I've been looking for but haven't found even on DL's website.

MileWise folks, would you clarify if you are searching all alliance flights when we have miles on one partner? For example, if I have AA miles, are you searching CX, BA and LAN for availability?

I just did a one-way search for BOM-EWR in F on 24 Sept - MW came back with a $1615 fare in F - but guess what - all sectors in economy! :(

This is what I get:
No data received
Unable to load the webpage because the server sent no data.

MileWise folks, would you clarify if you are searching all alliance flights when we have miles on one partner? For example, if I have AA miles, are you searching CX, BA and LAN for availability?

We're not doing a search on all alliance flights. So if you've got United miles, we're not showing you flights on Star Alliance partners YET.

This is what I get:
No data received
Unable to load the webpage because the server sent no data.

You got us. UrbanDaddy featured us earlier today on their homepage and we were pretty swamped for a bit. Should be back to normal now.

I just read an article about MileWise in a recent issue of Enterpreneur mag: http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/222479

This is a very slick app, definitely the first MVC/Web 2.0 design I've seen in the mileage/award tracker space.

I have some feedback - When I entered my Delta info via MileWise it didn't work. I tried to sign in to Delta's site directly with the same info, still no luck. Then I noticed I had a trailing space on my FF# - I was pasting from a spreadsheet - and Delta wasn't removing it.

They should, I think, and maybe MileWise should as well. I'm a database guy, not a UX wiz, so I could be wrong. Just my two cents.

Awesome job on designing a very useful app!

This is a very slick app, definitely the first MVC/Web 2.0 design I've seen in the mileage/award tracker space.

I have some feedback - When I entered my Delta info via MileWise it didn't work. I tried to sign in to Delta's site directly with the same info, still no luck. Then I noticed I had a trailing space on my FF# - I was pasting from a spreadsheet - and Delta wasn't removing it.

They should, I think, and maybe MileWise should as well. I'm a database guy, not a UX wiz, so I could be wrong. Just my two cents.

Awesome job on designing a very useful app!

Thanks for the feedback! Glad you've found MileWise so helpful.

We should actually be removing whitespace from the username and password fields. Pasting FF# from Notepad/Excel/Google Docs is a really common case, so we'll get that fixed!

Hey everyone!

I'm interning at MileWise (http://www.milewise.com) this summer, and wanted to get some feedback on the recent changes and new developments recently rolled out on the website.

MileWise allows users to search for flights using cash, miles, and points, and helps to value different options while taking into account price, mileage balances, and elite status.

There was a thread (http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/travel-tools/1248702-milewise.html) last year about which generated a bunch of helpful, actionable feedback for the team, and a redesign with lots of additional functionality was launched last week.

For instance, MileWise now integrates with AwardWallet and no longer requires users to re-enter their mileage programs. Additionally, the WisePrice algorithm has been updated to ensure that distance flown, cabin, and class of service bonuses are accurately accounted for in valuation. The search engine now shows several partner redemptions, with many more on the way.

Also, a few other cool features such as Price Alerts and Trip Discovery were just added in. We'd love to hear your thoughts and look forward to incorporating additional feedback to make MileWise more useful. Thanks everyone!

Great site! Here's some feedback:

1) What do the color bubbles mean when doing price search? I assumed:
blue=cash,
purple="points but too many",
orange="points and available in account"?

2) Trip Discovery is nice, but I find it irrelevant. I get trip recommendations for 110000 starwoods points when I only have 30000 in my account.
What would be amazing is to instead discover trips given my current reward balance. In other words, "what is the best trip from NYC to South America given my current balances"

3) Similarly, for trip discover, it'd be great to isolate to a single airline and see what some of the best deals are. "What is the best deal from NYC to Europe given I have 90000 Delta miles".

4) Assume orange=redeemable, I noticed something. In one account I manage the miles of both myself and my wife. So right now I say have 40,000 united miles and my wife has 30,000. In flight searches, it indicates 65,000 mile flights that I can redeem (orange). It seems to be summing up all United accounts and considering THAT as redeemable. It should be only considering one account.

http://itasoftware.blogspot.com/2012/10/ita-by-google-and-milewise-let-you.html

Thanks! I just downloaded the Milewise app and started playing with it. Unfortunately, American and Delta are not allowing their flights to be listed, which does impact the app's usefulness. That's unfortunate.

Very interesting.

It shows a value per mile as well. My Chase Rewards are about $.01/mile while BA miles are $.03/mile. I'd value them exactly the opposite.

No surprise Delta doesn't list their flights: I'm pretty sure they don't want anyone to actually redeem them :)

Wow - I'm really liking it thus far. It would be great if it could also:
1) search results for nearby airports as well.
2) run one-way searches
3) allow for Multi-City searches

Superfly (http://www.superfly.com) supports all of the above. Come and visit, looking forward to your feedback.

Just made an announcement (http://www.milewise.com/index.html) on their website.

-S

We're proud to announce we've been acquired by Yahoo!

MileWise began almost four years ago with the goal of creating a simple, powerful product to help people save time and money.

While we've had setbacks along the way, we've been lucky to connect with an incredible community of fellow travelers, without whom we wouldn't have made it this far. To everyone who took MileWise for a spin: THANK YOU! You shared our vision of what MileWise could become, and generously donated your time and passion to making it a reality.

As part of the transition, the MileWise service will be shutting down. It's tough to say goodbye to something we've put so much time into. But we've tried to make it easy to take your data with you. We'll be sending everyone an email with instructions on exporting your data, and if you have any questions don't hesitate to email us.

The MileWise team will be joining the Yahoo! engineering team in NYC's Bryant Park office. We're thrilled to be joining such a talented group of inventors, and can't wait to get working on the next big thing coming out of Yahoo.

Again, we'd like to thank everyone who helped us along the way: our investors, our employees, our partners, and most importantly, our fellow travelers.

Vinay, Sanjay, and Nick

Why would Yahoo acquire them and immediately close the business?

Page is gone now. Hmmm...very interesting. @:-)

-S

Looks like Milewise has sold us. Am I wrong to feel used? Should I move to AwardWallet, or is there something else out there that won't do the same thing one day?


We're proud to announce we've been acquired by Yahoo!
MileWise began almost four years ago with the goal of creating a simple, powerful product to help you get the most value out of your rewards. Along the way, we’ve been lucky to connect with an incredible community of fellow travelers, without whom we wouldn't have made it this far. To everyone who took MileWise for a spin: THANK YOU! You shared our vision of what MileWise could become, and generously donated your time and passion towards making it a reality.
As part of the transition, the MileWise service will be shutting down. It's tough to say goodbye to something we've dedicated so much to. But we've tried to make it easy to take your data with you:
Follow this link to export your MileWise accounts details and passwords:
http://secured.milewise.com
You'll receive an email with an attached file containing your data, and instructions on how to use this file to migrate your accounts to AwardWallet, our recommended rewards management tool. If you have any questions or concerns, don't hesitate to email us at support@milewise.com.
For security purposes, we'll be deleting all data two weeks from today.
Again, we'd like to thank everyone who supported us along the way: our investors, our employees, our partners, and most importantly, our fellow travelers.
The MileWise Team

I guess I don't quite get it. Why sell to Yahoo if Yahoo wants to shut it down? Seems odd unless Yahoo is expecting to release some kind of new and improved product.

Yahoo bought the programmers, not the product.

drminn is correct. MileWise showed it could take a group of talented programmers and create something cool. That has nothing to do with whether MileWise was actually viable as a business. Apparently Yahoo! doesn't think it is. But it thinks their team works well together and can help Yahoo! with its own problems.

Why would Yahoo acquire them and immediately close the business?

Many different reasons...

http://pandodaily.com/2013/05/02/yahoo-nearing-deal-to-buy-travel-rewards-startup-milewise-according-to-sources/
http://skift.com/2013/05/09/yahoo-to-shutter-milewise-flight-search-service-and-hire-team/

Then why not sell the company to a different group of programmers or a travel company or whatever. I am a programmer and although milewise was a good site it wasn't something so out of the world that some other programmers could not take over.

I am really confused about this acquisition.

I am sensing there was something more behind that - either they were losing way too much money to not be attractive to anyone else or there was some legal issues or something..

Then why not sell the company to a different group of programmers or a travel company or whatever. I am a programmer and although milewise was a good site it wasn't something so out of the world that some other programmers could not take over.

I am really confused about this acquisition.

I am sensing there was something more behind that - either they were losing way too much money to not be attractive to anyone else or there was some legal issues or something..

Guys,

Yahoo bought the engineers and not the product. Nothing fishy. Yahoo often buys teams that have experience working together in a specific field.

If you need an alternative for reward management you can use Superfly.com. Full disclosure (I am the founder).