Might build a seatguru/seatexpert/seatmaestro/seatplans alternative
Feb 23, 2014, 8:11 am
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Sep 2010
Location: SEA
Programs: AS 75KG, UA G, SPG P75, HH G
Posts: 17
Might build a seatguru/seatexpert/seatmaestro/seatplans alternative
Hey Everyone - I have a ton of seatmaps (700ish) from a social app side project I was working on a year or two ago that I decided to scrap, and since I'm growing tired of spending 25 minutes searching on 10 different sites to find the seat that will be the best for me, I was thinking about creating an up-to-date and perhaps more accurate seat_____ alternative.
1. Is this something people would use, or am I the only one who wants a one-stop shop for this info? It'd obviously be free, and no ads. I would probably pick an airline or two to launch with and work out the kinks (DL, UA?), then bring everything else in.
2. What are some of the features you'd like to see? I have some ideas but I want to know what other frequent flyers think before I start coding so I don't under/overdo it.
3. Do you care how accurate the map is? I personally would prefer to have more accuracy in terms of the actual seats and placement of bulkheads etc., but perhaps a basic representation is all that's needed, or even preferable.
Any feedback/ideas would be much appreciated!!
1. Is this something people would use, or am I the only one who wants a one-stop shop for this info? It'd obviously be free, and no ads. I would probably pick an airline or two to launch with and work out the kinks (DL, UA?), then bring everything else in.
2. What are some of the features you'd like to see? I have some ideas but I want to know what other frequent flyers think before I start coding so I don't under/overdo it.
3. Do you care how accurate the map is? I personally would prefer to have more accuracy in terms of the actual seats and placement of bulkheads etc., but perhaps a basic representation is all that's needed, or even preferable.
Any feedback/ideas would be much appreciated!!
Feb 23, 2014, 12:02 pm
#2
Join Date: Nov 2010
Location: NYC
Programs: AA EXP, Hilton GLD, Marriott Plat, NEXUS/GE
Posts: 2,872
I see two problems with many of the existing seat sites:
- Woefully out of date seat maps, particularly as airlines add new aircraft.
- No information about which variant of a plane you're going to be flying. It's not very helpful to me to see 6 versions of the 777 for United if I can't figure out which one I'm going to be on. Even if I know I'm up front, how do I tell that I'm in the two cabin international version (i.e., PMCO) instead of the two cabin domestic version without resorting to looking at United.com's seat map?
Feb 23, 2014, 12:02 pm
#3
Join Date: Jun 2005
Location: YYC
Programs: Hilton Diamond, Hyatt Diamond, Accor Diamond, SPG Gold, Fairmont Premier, Club Carlson Gold
Posts: 326
I would be interested to see what you could come up with but could you elaborate on what SeatGuru and the other sites don't provide? SeatGuru always seems to have the information I need but perhaps I'm not as picky as some travelers?
Feb 23, 2014, 1:45 pm
#4
Join Date: Feb 1999
Location: San Jose, California, USA
Programs: AS 100K, UA MM, AA MM, IC Plat Amb, Marriott Gold, Hilton Gold, Hyatt Explorist
Posts: 3,146
I'm one of those people who spend a lot of time researching seating options. I find SeatGuru and SeatExpert to be lacking, but I use them because they're better than nothing. These are a few of the issues I have with these sites:
(1) There are often several possible seat maps, and it's time-consimuing to determine which seat map applies. I usually have to log into ExpertFlyer, pull up the seat map for the flight, and try to compare the seat maps to find a match. It would be great if this could be determined automatically.
(2) The information about specific seats is often wrong, but there is no quick and easy way to suggest corrections to SeatGuru and SeatExpert.
(3) SeatGuru/SeatExpert don't contain all the information I'd like to know about a seat. They cover the basics, such as legroom and recline, but I find myself keeping my own personal notes about individual seats. As a result, I have remember to cross-check my personal notes against the info online.
As one example, I am often hot on planes, yet there are certain seats on planes where the air vents are misaligned and can't be pointed toward my face. I have kept notes on this for myself, but if users could contribute and display comments on each individual seat, this would allow me to later find all user feedback (including my own) in one place.
(4) I use plane-specific threads on FT to supplement the information from SeatGuru and SeatExpert, but it's a chore both to find the correct thread and to search the dozens of posts within it to find information about a specific seat.
In summary, these are the features I'd like to see:
(1) Automatically determine the specific seat map for a specific flight.
(2) Easily submit corrections to structured information about a seat (pitch, recline, power outlet, etc.)
(3) Easily make unstructured comments for a specific seat and view comments for a specific seat and the seats of the same type (window, aisle) and in the same row and cabin. (For example, if I hover over seat 30A, it should display comments about this specific seat as well as comments that apply to all seats in row 30, about all the window seats on the plane, and about all the economy seats on the plane.)
(1) There are often several possible seat maps, and it's time-consimuing to determine which seat map applies. I usually have to log into ExpertFlyer, pull up the seat map for the flight, and try to compare the seat maps to find a match. It would be great if this could be determined automatically.
(2) The information about specific seats is often wrong, but there is no quick and easy way to suggest corrections to SeatGuru and SeatExpert.
(3) SeatGuru/SeatExpert don't contain all the information I'd like to know about a seat. They cover the basics, such as legroom and recline, but I find myself keeping my own personal notes about individual seats. As a result, I have remember to cross-check my personal notes against the info online.
As one example, I am often hot on planes, yet there are certain seats on planes where the air vents are misaligned and can't be pointed toward my face. I have kept notes on this for myself, but if users could contribute and display comments on each individual seat, this would allow me to later find all user feedback (including my own) in one place.
(4) I use plane-specific threads on FT to supplement the information from SeatGuru and SeatExpert, but it's a chore both to find the correct thread and to search the dozens of posts within it to find information about a specific seat.
In summary, these are the features I'd like to see:
(1) Automatically determine the specific seat map for a specific flight.
(2) Easily submit corrections to structured information about a seat (pitch, recline, power outlet, etc.)
(3) Easily make unstructured comments for a specific seat and view comments for a specific seat and the seats of the same type (window, aisle) and in the same row and cabin. (For example, if I hover over seat 30A, it should display comments about this specific seat as well as comments that apply to all seats in row 30, about all the window seats on the plane, and about all the economy seats on the plane.)
Feb 24, 2014, 6:54 am
#5
Original Poster
Join Date: Sep 2010
Location: SEA
Programs: AS 75KG, UA G, SPG P75, HH G
Posts: 17
Thanks for the feedback! I'll try to hit everyone's comments so far...
mikew99 and FlyerChrisK both pointed out that you don't know which version you're on when you search on seatX. This was my first inspiration for building something; I find it very frustrating when I'm booking on a DL 752, for example -- I think there are 10 different versions of that aircraft circulating. I have access to APIs that I can cross reference to determine which version you're on if you search by flight # and date (or city pair and date). So problem solved there. I wonder if it would be possible to get the tail numbers so that different versions of a hard product could be flagged.
mikew99 brings up another key feature I would add: tagging seats with both structured and unstructured user-supplied data and updates. The structured data points seem pretty obvious to me, and if I miss anything someone can point it out when using the beta version (hadn't actually thought about the gaspers, that's a good one!).
As for plane-specific threads on FT, I also use these, and I think I have a way to let people share this info per the above. If people use the site and post similar comments/info, then we won't have to dig through FT to read about individual seats.
FlyerChrisK: by accuracy I mean placement and sizing of seat and cabin elements. Getting to 100% would be difficult, but passing experienced human eyes over a map would go a long way. Take the seatguru DL 764 map - it's missing a galley and two closets at the front of the J cabin, and it misses the staggered nature of these seats on the right side (the odd rows are next to the windows, not the evens).
llcooljayce: the above should explain a few ways that this site would be different from seatX. another key differentiator would be that the maps would all be up to date, and since this has become a weird obsessive hobby of mine (as is flying the latest hard products on various airlines), I would happily keep this updated.
mikew99 and FlyerChrisK both pointed out that you don't know which version you're on when you search on seatX. This was my first inspiration for building something; I find it very frustrating when I'm booking on a DL 752, for example -- I think there are 10 different versions of that aircraft circulating. I have access to APIs that I can cross reference to determine which version you're on if you search by flight # and date (or city pair and date). So problem solved there. I wonder if it would be possible to get the tail numbers so that different versions of a hard product could be flagged.
mikew99 brings up another key feature I would add: tagging seats with both structured and unstructured user-supplied data and updates. The structured data points seem pretty obvious to me, and if I miss anything someone can point it out when using the beta version (hadn't actually thought about the gaspers, that's a good one!).
As for plane-specific threads on FT, I also use these, and I think I have a way to let people share this info per the above. If people use the site and post similar comments/info, then we won't have to dig through FT to read about individual seats.
FlyerChrisK: by accuracy I mean placement and sizing of seat and cabin elements. Getting to 100% would be difficult, but passing experienced human eyes over a map would go a long way. Take the seatguru DL 764 map - it's missing a galley and two closets at the front of the J cabin, and it misses the staggered nature of these seats on the right side (the odd rows are next to the windows, not the evens).
llcooljayce: the above should explain a few ways that this site would be different from seatX. another key differentiator would be that the maps would all be up to date, and since this has become a weird obsessive hobby of mine (as is flying the latest hard products on various airlines), I would happily keep this updated.
Nov 10, 2014, 8:56 am
#6
Join Date: Jul 2014
Location: TPA
Programs: UA GS; Marriott Titanium / LT Plat
Posts: 658
Did you ever build this?? I just started using some of the various sites outlined above and echo others comments - there is room for improvement.
Nov 13, 2014, 2:19 pm
#7
Original Poster
Join Date: Sep 2010
Location: SEA
Programs: AS 75KG, UA G, SPG P75, HH G
Posts: 17
I stalled for a while because of other stuff I needed to work on, but I'm pretty close to finishing the back end and should have something up within the next two months or so. First up will be about 100 common airlines, then as I travel more I'll add less common or more regional ones like Drukair, Cape Air, etc. Once it's live I'll post here in the tools forum.
I certainly welcome any feature requests or feedback on the ideas here!
I certainly welcome any feature requests or feedback on the ideas here!
Last edited by Optional; Nov 19, 2015 at 5:15 pm
Nov 16, 2014, 2:09 pm
#8
Join Date: Sep 2007
Programs: DL Silver, AS MVP, UA Silver, HHonors Diamond, Marriott Plat, SPG Plat, National Exec Elite
Posts: 3,883
My biggest complaint with SeatGuru right now is that when I search by date+airline+flight, the aircraft returned is wrong about 50% of the time, which leaves me manually matching the config to the seatmap on the airline's seat selection page. If you can find a way to get the aircraft correct based on date+airline+flight, I'd probably be a user.
Nov 18, 2014, 2:01 am
#9
A FlyerTalk Posting Legend
Join Date: Sep 2009
Location: Minneapolis: DL DM charter 2.3MM
Programs: A3*Gold, SPG Plat, HyattDiamond, MarriottPP, LHW exAccess, ICI, Raffles Amb, NW PE MM, TWA Gold MM
Posts: 100,409
I'd like more specific information about bulkhead seats: hard versus soft wall (and hence underseat storage), foot wells, cutouts, etc.
Dec 6, 2014, 2:54 pm
#10
Original Poster
Join Date: Sep 2010
Location: SEA
Programs: AS 75KG, UA G, SPG P75, HH G
Posts: 17
@IsleOfMan -- I've noticed this problem with seatguru as well. My date/airline/flight search should be accurate with my current dataset, but if after spot testing it doesn't appear to be then I have another data source to ping to make sure it is.
@MSP -- I think that's a good idea because for me personally it will make or break a flight selection on AS if I think it's a soft vs hard bulkhead and I'm in F vs Y respectively. I'll drop in a way to specify bulkhead type and underseat storage availability, and people will also be able to make such notes in a text field.
Update: I've built a way to create seat maps via a nifty drag and drop tool, and I'm looking for 1-3 volunteers/testers interested in building some initial maps and giving me feedback. It's currently a pretty abstract representation of an aircraft fuselage, but I'll make it look good later. Maps be for whatever airline/aircraft you want, and the ideal scenario would be a plane you know well and can find a carrier-produced seat map for online.
If you're interested please PM me for details.
@MSP -- I think that's a good idea because for me personally it will make or break a flight selection on AS if I think it's a soft vs hard bulkhead and I'm in F vs Y respectively. I'll drop in a way to specify bulkhead type and underseat storage availability, and people will also be able to make such notes in a text field.
Update: I've built a way to create seat maps via a nifty drag and drop tool, and I'm looking for 1-3 volunteers/testers interested in building some initial maps and giving me feedback. It's currently a pretty abstract representation of an aircraft fuselage, but I'll make it look good later. Maps be for whatever airline/aircraft you want, and the ideal scenario would be a plane you know well and can find a carrier-produced seat map for online.
If you're interested please PM me for details.
Nov 12, 2017, 1:33 pm
#12
Original Poster
Join Date: Sep 2010
Location: SEA
Programs: AS 75KG, UA G, SPG P75, HH G
Posts: 17
Finally found some time to get this thing going: seatlink.com
US airlines are pretty much done, but I've got a ways to go converting old image files to what you see on the site (maybe 750 of 1,500 or so total aircraft are done). I had originally wanted everything to be user editable a la wikipedia, but not sure there are enough people out there to collectively contribute and maintain accuracy.
Interested in feedback from fellow frequent flyers, what's useful/useless, what you would like to see, etc.
US airlines are pretty much done, but I've got a ways to go converting old image files to what you see on the site (maybe 750 of 1,500 or so total aircraft are done). I had originally wanted everything to be user editable a la wikipedia, but not sure there are enough people out there to collectively contribute and maintain accuracy.
Interested in feedback from fellow frequent flyers, what's useful/useless, what you would like to see, etc.