Canarsie

Three fellow FlyerTalk members and I have launched a new Internet web site called TruPri˘e at www.truprice.net.

The purpose of TruPri˘e is to be the curator of airline fees and making them transparent to the public, allowing passengers to calculate ancillary fees they expect to pay when traveling, instead of being surprised with the fees at the airport, thereby knowing what will be the true price of what they will pay for their flight itinerary overall. TruPri˘e is the world’s first Internet web site devoted primarily to ancillary airline fees, and we want to be the premiere Internet web site for that particular functionality.

As of now, TruPri˘e is still in its very early stages in its public beta phase and is simplistic in functionality and design, but we have a lot of plans in expanding the functionality and greatly improving the graphical user interface and appearance for this Internet web site. Some portions of TruPri˘e may not function properly and we realize that, but we hope you will be patient as we constantly improve the Internet web site and its functionality.

We have already invested an inordinate amount of time, effort and money into TruPri˘e and still have much more work ahead of us, but we could use the helpful feedback, constructive criticism and perspective of some of the most respected and traveled people in the world: FlyerTalk members.

As some of you may already know, I have always been adamant about FlyerTalk members helping, supporting and patronizing one another, even as far back as the year 2003 when I launched The FlyerTalk Business Exchange Forum thread. We even have an ongoing open communication with the creators of www.AutoSlash.com on how we can help each other succeed, and here is information about AutoSlash.

Now I am asking for your help in return by supporting TruPri˘e by giving feedback and spreading the word about it.

Additionally, we are in high-level discussions with several major companies who could become valuable corporate partners of TruPri˘e, although I cannot disclose their identities at this time.

Here are some links associated with TruPri˘e:

• The Internet web site of TruPri˘e
• The working public beta Internet web site of TruPri˘e
• The official weblog of TruPri˘e
• TruPri˘e video promotions
• TruPri˘e facebook Internet web site
• TruPri˘e twitter Internet web site
• TruPri˘e LinkedIn Internet web site
• Washington Post article, which states that “when it launches, TruPrice will almost certainly change the way we buy airline tickets.”

Please do not hesitate to ask whatever questions you may have about TruPri˘e or contact me for further information.

Before anyone asks about the ethics of me posting this thread on FlyerTalk, while he does not officially endorse TruPri˘e nor is affiliated with it in any way whatsoever, Randy Petersen kindly and graciously gave me his blessing to launch this thread when I asked him about it in person back in April, as well as asked for his valuable advice and input. Thank you for all of your assistance, Randy Petersen. I greatly and truly appreciate it.

Let the feedback begin. We are listening!

Thank you in advance for your assistance.

Global_Hi_Flyer

So far, it looks good, and serves a badly needed segment of the pricing equation.

Will work with it a little more going forward & offer more concrete suggestions. The immediate one that comes to mind: if there's a way to tie it into a pricing engine it would be automagic and even better.

On my wish-list is a similar function for car rentals and hotels (including local taxes). IMHO, the issues with car rental fees/local taxes and local hotel taxes are even more annoying and imbedded than the airline fees. Granted, it's much harder to do with hotels because of all the local tax rates, but gosh, it would be so nice to know whether you can cut the hotel taxes/fees substantially by staying in the next town over.... or cut the rental car fees by using an off-site office (5 minute ride on DC metro to save $50 in airport rental car taxes is worth it....).

cordelli

A minor thing, but instead of starting defaulting to a dozen or more airlines, which to me was way too many, I would default to none and let people choose the airlines they were interested in. It clogged up the screen very fast when they were all there, and it was a pain to deselect the ones I didn't want to see.

It would also be good if the sub categories of things were in alpha order when it makes sense for them to be so, like the sporting goods section. Makes things easier to find.

Blind Squirrel

We are currently in phase two of our rollout. Phase three will allow fare and schedule information for true one-stop shopping. We are moving rapidly in that direction and hope to have that functionality in the near future. And we are on the same wavelength about hotels and rental cars...also, cruise lines, rail travel, and ticket resellers are on the horizon. Thanks for the feedback. Keep feeding the blind squirrel.

Blind Squirrel

Thanks for the feedback. We will consider defaulting to no airlines, but that adds additional clicks for the user. As feedback continues to roll in, we'll adjust as we see our customers opine on a global level. As for alpha ordering, yes, that makes sense under the sub-groups.

sbm12

Can you have the entries with variable pricing show a range rather than the low-end number? The UI isn't so great at indicating that there really is a range there.

I also think that some of the numbers are potentially misleading. Calling a meal on UA $5 is a tough one. ditto for calling WN's same-day standby policy free when one is actually responsible for the fare difference. I'm not sure that there is a great way to represent variable pricing in such a tool but the numbers really are variable and stating them as not could lead to trouble down the road.

Blind Squirrel

We have a dashed line below fees that are variable and for consistency's sake we opted to list the cheapest of the range. We have been given feedback that those fees with variation must be more prominent and we will fix that issue. And as far as WN, there is no "fee" for standby. With many airlines, there is the fare difference that is charged, but there is also typically a standard fee regardless of the fare difference. Just like with sporting equipment. On some carriers, there is no additional fee, but oversize and overweight may apply. This is captured in the hover boxes. What we're trying to capture is an apples to apples fee comparison. Thank you for the constructive feedback. It is welcomed always.

swag

Initial thoughts after a quick look:

- On the display grid, you use airline logos. Some (CO, DL) may be unfamiliar and not immediately recognizable to the less experienced traveler.
- Could you find a way to allow the user to specify elite status when selecting an airline and to adjust the fees accordingly?
- Likewise, maybe add options on the search to indicate domestic vs international, class of service, or other variables that may affect the fees?
I

sbm12

Which is fine except that when the range is quite broad, say $9 to $149 for UA E+, seeing $9 there isn't actually all that useful for comparing numbers, even with the extra text in the mouseover.

Not really. The airlines that let you standby for a fee generally don't also charge the fare difference. I cannot think of any that do, actually. The odds of being able to walk up to a WN gate and get on an earlier flight for no cash out of pocket are pretty low in most cases. Perhaps a * or some verbiage to explain that would suffice. The WN policy is definitely different from most other carriers. But there are often still costs associated with taking a different flight.

Ditto for suggesting that the $10 pre-boarding fee on WN is akin to an assigned seat (but somehow not an assigned exit row seat).

CO's exit rows do have a charge since those are also their ELR seats. And most of their bulkheads are ELR seats now as well. And they have Stirrings cocktails now that they charge $9 for ($6 for the booze and $3 for the mixer).

The US entry for pets in cabin has a note about pets in the hold and conflicting information on the pets in the hold section.

Blind Squirrel

Not really. The airlines that let you standby for a fee generally don't also charge the fare difference. I cannot think of any that do, actually.

The language for most airlines is that a seat must be available in the fare class that was purchased or that the itinerary must be identical. While this sentence is confusing, I'm interpreting it to say that any additional fare on US Airways will be charged in addition to the $50 change fee. From US' website: This lower confirmation fee replaces the usual $150 change fee, plus any differences between your old fare and new fare, for non-refundable tickets.

Blind Squirrel

The US entry for pets in cabin has a note about pets in the hold and conflicting information on the pets in the hold section.

Here's is US's policy, as confusing as it may seem: Pets in cargo compartment

For the safety of your pet, US Airways does not accept any animals in its cargo compartments.
Exception cities

US Airways accepts dogs, domestic cats and birds as checked baggage on nonstop US Airways Shuttle flights in the BOS/DCA/LGA markets only. Connections are not permitted. The customer must travel on the same flight. Customers should advise US Airways when they wish to transport a pet as checked baggage on a US Airways Shuttle flight.

Blind Squirrel

The airline logos are described by hover boxes. While some travelers may be unfamiliar with the logos, we think the combination of hover boxes and logos should address any unfamiliarity. General international fees are in the works, but destination-specific international fees will be integrated in phase III where TruPrice will actually allow you to search for fare and schedule information. We are building out to include elite status.

sbm12

The US line says that the $50 replaces the $150 plus fare difference. In other words the $50 overrides the fare difference. CO's does, too, though you may have to stand-by rather than confirm immediately depending on which classes are available when you make the request. Again, I cannot name an airline that charges a fee for standby/SDC that also charges the fare difference.

Yeah, but read what your site says. For US on in-cabin pets it says "US Airways accepts dogs, domestic cats and birds as checked baggage on nonstop US Airways Shuttle flights in the BOS/DCA/LGA markets only. Connections are not permitted." For checked pets it says not available with no details of the exceptions.

Kiwi Flyer

Nice site. Here are some comments.

Agree with point made earlier about deselecting the default all is annoying. I'd default to none and perhaps have a button for "select all airlines".

Is there an easier way to bring the fare in from another site/window than typing them all?

Fare seems to allow $ and multiples of 10c only.

Ability to exclude certain fees on specific airlines (eg ones waived due to elite status) would be very handy. Eg if I want to see baggage fees because I only get them waived on UA, US & CO then I have to do the maths myself.

An extra column showing difference relative to either cheapest airline or selected one would be handy and would save effort when doing multiple fare searches. (Eg I need United to be $x cheaper than Delta in fare in order to make up the difference in fees.)

Blind Squirrel

And they have Stirrings cocktails now that they charge $9 for ($6 for the booze and $3 for the mixer)[/URL].

For quality and consistency, we only post fees for which there is an actual link to a reference provided by the airline. Here is the current link to CO's beverages: https://www.continental.com/web/en-U...virtual_expert

Once the link is updated, we will show the new drink pricing.

Thank you.