We find flights nobody else does
Jul 2, 2015, 8:16 am
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Apr 2015
Posts: 14
We find flights nobody else does
Hello guys,
I am one of the co-founders of tripdelta (https://tripdelta.com) and realized this morning, that tripdelta has been mentioned on this forum in Budget Travel. I usually hang around Travel Tools, so I did not see it until this morning. So I thought I could move the discussion here?!
Just some words about tripdelta that help understanding what we do.
We are a flightsearch that uses machine learning to find flights. We analyzed a dataset of 1.5bn flight prices detecting patterns on how to achieve cost savings.
Using these techniques we are able to outperform the major flight searches in many many cases (by price). We always show a combination of the original search results and our tripdelta suggestions.
We have been around some German frequent flyer forums and used the feedback we received to work it into our website.
Now, we are highly interested in getting your feedback on the site and the results we present. What do you think? Do you have any feedback or suggestion what we could improve? We are highly interested in your opinion as it helps improving our site.
We have been working under the radar aside from a few press releases and before going into a major outreach, we hope to get your feedback.
Thanks to all of you in advance
I am one of the co-founders of tripdelta (https://tripdelta.com) and realized this morning, that tripdelta has been mentioned on this forum in Budget Travel. I usually hang around Travel Tools, so I did not see it until this morning. So I thought I could move the discussion here?!
Just some words about tripdelta that help understanding what we do.
We are a flightsearch that uses machine learning to find flights. We analyzed a dataset of 1.5bn flight prices detecting patterns on how to achieve cost savings.
- we split up known alliances and split connections if it makes more sense (Example1)
- we combine LCCs with normal carriers (Example2)
- we apply a smart near-by search (Example3)
- we split your ticket open-jaw style if it makes sense (Example4)
Using these techniques we are able to outperform the major flight searches in many many cases (by price). We always show a combination of the original search results and our tripdelta suggestions.
We have been around some German frequent flyer forums and used the feedback we received to work it into our website.
Now, we are highly interested in getting your feedback on the site and the results we present. What do you think? Do you have any feedback or suggestion what we could improve? We are highly interested in your opinion as it helps improving our site.
We have been working under the radar aside from a few press releases and before going into a major outreach, we hope to get your feedback.
Thanks to all of you in advance
Last edited by commaander; Jul 2, 2015 at 9:48 pm
Jul 2, 2015, 3:19 pm
#3
Original Poster
Join Date: Apr 2015
Posts: 14
My suggestions:
1. Gradient background is amateurish -- redesign it or just use plain white
2. "Smart nearby search" is not so smart -- see my example search of RDU-SZX
Clearly your engine thinks CLT is a viable alternative to RDU. It is not; the airports are 160 miles (2.5 hours) apart. HKG and SZX are more convenient but travel between the two requires a border crossing (with customs and immigration) which may be nontrivial; a US citizen, for example, needs a visa for SZX but not for HKG.
For the same search, Kayak returned higher prices, but more sensible alternate airports.
Finally, even if we accept CLT and HKG as alternates, your engine failed to return the lowest price.
1. Gradient background is amateurish -- redesign it or just use plain white
2. "Smart nearby search" is not so smart -- see my example search of RDU-SZX
Clearly your engine thinks CLT is a viable alternative to RDU. It is not; the airports are 160 miles (2.5 hours) apart. HKG and SZX are more convenient but travel between the two requires a border crossing (with customs and immigration) which may be nontrivial; a US citizen, for example, needs a visa for SZX but not for HKG.
For the same search, Kayak returned higher prices, but more sensible alternate airports.
Finally, even if we accept CLT and HKG as alternates, your engine failed to return the lowest price.
thank you for taking the time and looking at the site. Your feedback is greatly appreciated!
Without wanting to go into to much detail, these are our thoughts when it comes to airports:
- When a person flies for 10h+, he/she often has to drive to an airport that is >2h away anyway. If the particular suggested airport is interesting for you is up to you and can easily be filtered out (you can filter all airports). If the savings are significant, you might be willing to go the extra mile
- That being said we know that not all airport combinations currently make sense. If you're close to a border, or on an island (eg HAV), we might suggest an airport that does not make sense (in this case MIA). We are working on improving this.
We get our data as a mix of QPX and Skyscanner and some other aggregates. Unfortunately, we do not always have 100% accurate data (as in your example). Nevertheless I am certain, you will find more than enough flights where we beat Google / Kayak (see my links)
Our site currently works best with oneway or multistop flights, but our next iteration should increase our savings potential on returns flights.
We are a small team (3 people, 2 of them engineers) and a bootstrapped startup, so if you have an idea how we can improve the airport situations, we are open to suggestions
Thank you again and hopefully you give us another chance
Jul 2, 2015, 3:38 pm
#4
Join Date: Nov 2013
Posts: 4,374
As for airports and distance - the US IRS says it costs $0.575 to drive 1 mile. Maybe you could (if you don't already) incorporate this in your AI that determines whether a faraway airport makes sense.
Also, if someone has to drive 2 hours for a 5 a.m. departure, that person would likely drive one night before and stay in an airport hotel, further increasing the total cost of the trip.
Airport parking is another highly variable and possibly large cost. BMI and ORD are about 2.5 hours apart, but parking is free at BMI but at least $9/day at ORD. This may be worth considering in your search results.
As for airports on different islands - maybe tap into Google Maps API to see whether it's possible to drive between two airports? If you request driving directions between MIA and HAV on Google Maps, it will return an error.
Just some thoughts. I will certainly revisit Tripdelta in the future. Good luck with it.
Jul 2, 2015, 4:01 pm
#5
Original Poster
Join Date: Apr 2015
Posts: 14
Very impressive work for such a small group.
As for airports and distance - the US IRS says it costs $0.575 to drive 1 mile. Maybe you could (if you don't already) incorporate this in your AI that determines whether a faraway airport makes sense.
Also, if someone has to drive 2 hours for a 5 a.m. departure, that person would likely drive one night before and stay in an airport hotel, further increasing the total cost of the trip.
Airport parking is another highly variable and possibly large cost. BMI and ORD are about 2.5 hours apart, but parking is free at BMI but at least $9/day at ORD. This may be worth considering in your search results.
As for airports on different islands - maybe tap into Google Maps API to see whether it's possible to drive between two airports? If you request driving directions between MIA and HAV on Google Maps, it will return an error.
Just some thoughts. I will certainly revisit Tripdelta in the future. Good luck with it.
As for airports and distance - the US IRS says it costs $0.575 to drive 1 mile. Maybe you could (if you don't already) incorporate this in your AI that determines whether a faraway airport makes sense.
Also, if someone has to drive 2 hours for a 5 a.m. departure, that person would likely drive one night before and stay in an airport hotel, further increasing the total cost of the trip.
Airport parking is another highly variable and possibly large cost. BMI and ORD are about 2.5 hours apart, but parking is free at BMI but at least $9/day at ORD. This may be worth considering in your search results.
As for airports on different islands - maybe tap into Google Maps API to see whether it's possible to drive between two airports? If you request driving directions between MIA and HAV on Google Maps, it will return an error.
Just some thoughts. I will certainly revisit Tripdelta in the future. Good luck with it.