Tech Savvy Student Finds Flight Deals for Strangers for Free on Reddit

Nicholas Doyle, who is studying computer science at Cornell, is using his tech skills to help total strangers to find the cheapest flights via Reddit. He does not accept payment for his help; rather, he simply asks that users “think about doing something nice for someone else” in return.

An Internet do-gooder is using his tech savvy to help strangers find cheap flights online, The Cornell Daily Sun reports. Nicholas Doyle, a computer science major at Cornell’s College of Engineering, is using his skills to help members of the public find bargain fares via Reddit.

What’s more, it appears that Doyle refuses payment for his services; rather, he simply asks that those he has helped go on to offer assistance to other users in need. Posting with a username of “delta777er” on a frugal Reddit board earlier this month, Doyle wrote, “I will find you cheap flights (again) for free. All I ask is that you think about doing something nice for someone else :)”.

Prior to reaching out to Reddit users, Doyle had only used his interest in aviation and computer skills to plan hypothetical travel itineraries. But as Doyle told the outlet, “I realized instead of doing random destinations, I would help out strangers a little bit. It seemed like it would be a little bit more helpful.”

So far, Doyle has found a number of flight deals, including the likes of a $400 round-trip to Japan and a $250 return fare to Ireland. He’s also been asked for his assistance in helping users to make their way from all corners of the globe; Doyle has helped posters find cheaper fares from Australia to Utah, Cairo to London and from Seattle to Alaska.

His assistance has garnered him plenty of praise from the site and Doyle’s post has received approximately 500 replies. One user was quoted by MarketWatch as saying, “…I think it is great that you are doing this for the people who are having a hard time doing it for themselves.”

Commenting on his thoughts behind his initial post, Doyle told the website in an interview, “It was actually kind of fun seeing this post reach a lot of people…I thought that was really fun, and it’s cool how aviation connects everyone.”

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