Flightfox: Cheaper flights!

upandcumming · 14-02-2012 3:23am #1

Flightfox is a new website that basically outsources your search for flights.

It averages over $350 in savings per journey.

For $29 you put in your departing city and your destination and the dates required. Then you let other people compete to find cheap flights.
One great thing is that you can put in that your flight must have complimentary drinks or something silly and because it is actually people searching for you.
You can have a one day, three day, or five day contest and the person that finds you the best and cheapest fare wins the contest. They get the money.

And if you're not totally happy they refund you in full.

Don't know if this is a BA exactly, but summer holidays need booking soon!

scudzilla · 14-02-2012 3:47am

So you pay somebody else to find a flight for you?? Bit like a travel agent then

buyer95 · 14-02-2012 3:51am

scudzilla wrote: »

So you pay somebody else to find a flight for you?? Bit like a travel agent then

What makes this gimmick worse is that the poster is feigning to be a customer when he/she is obviously an employee of this website

upandcumming · 14-02-2012 4:09am

buyer95 wrote: »

What makes this gimmick worse is that the poster is feigning to be a customer when he/she is obviously an employee of this website

I actually saw it on lifehacker.com. If you had bothered to look at my post history you would have a clue. Obviously.

Regardless, I have no use for it now, but I will be using it for when I'm in the US.

buyer95 · 14-02-2012 4:13am

upandcumming wrote: »

I actually saw it on lifehacker.com. If you had bothered to look at my post history you would have a clue.

Regardless, I have no use for it now, but I will be using it for when I'm in the US.

In any case you presented your post in a manner which screamed of you being an employee of said company. If you made an effort and said " I stumbled across this and thought I should let people know " well still I would have been a doubting Thomas, but you must admit that post reeked of pre-emptive advertising

MaceFace · 14-02-2012 8:26am

For 29 quid, someone will go to kayak.com and run a search?
I don't understand this OP.

Padraig Mor · 14-02-2012 9:54am

buyer95 wrote: »

What makes this gimmick worse is that the poster is feigning to be a customer when he/she is obviously an employee of this website

Yeah, because shills are well known for registering two years in advance and putting up nearly 1000 posts before lauching their clandestine advertising blitz.....:rolleyes:

connundrum · 14-02-2012 10:50am

If you give me €15 I'll look for things for you.

Now that, my friends, is a bargain.

nice1franko · 14-02-2012 11:23am

Check out http://www.flightscanner.net

Great site for finding cheap and alternative flights.

(It's not my site. It's not an affiliate link. It's free. etc etc)

sbsquarepants · 14-02-2012 11:32am

upandcumming wrote: »

Flightfox is a new website that basically outsources your search for flights.

It averages over $350 in savings per journey.

For $29 you put in your departing city and your destination and the dates required. Then you let other people compete to find cheap flights.
One great thing is that you can put in that your flight must have complimentary drinks or something silly and because it is actually people searching for you.
You can have a one day, three day, or five day contest and the person that finds you the best and cheapest fare wins the contest. They get the money.

And if you're not totally happy they refund you in full.

Don't know if this is a BA exactly, but summer holidays need booking soon!

So for $29, it does what skyscanner and a host of others do for free?
Are you sure this is a bargain??:D

You are? Ok, i'll take two please!

nice1franko · 14-02-2012 11:40am

How it Works?
You start a new contest and commit a finder's fee ($29)
Flight hackers* compete to find you the best and cheapest flights
You book a flight, award the winner and fly for less!

* and by "Flight Hackers" we mean people who use flightscanner.net

Kajor · 14-02-2012 12:58pm

nice1franko wrote: »

Check out http://www.flightscanner.net

Great site for finding cheap and alternative flights.

(It's not my site. It's not an affiliate link. It's free. etc etc)

I second this site (www.skyscanner.ie is the link I use, same site though)

It's great to be able to look at all the flight options, then go ahead and book them yourself on the airline websites. Why you'd go through an agency is beyond me.

NeVeR · 14-02-2012 1:30pm

lets see if it works. I'm running a test.

Feidhlim · 14-02-2012 1:41pm

Is this specialised for the US market?

Will there be as much savings for us Euros?

upandcumming · 14-02-2012 2:15pm

I had my doubts but lifehacker are a well regarded site so I thought it wouldn't be any harm in putting it up here too.

And the figures they reportedly save is worth the $29 in my opinion. Plus, I don't have to go looking for myself.

POKERKING · 14-02-2012 2:58pm

upandcumming wrote: »

I had my doubts but lifehacker are a well regarded site so I thought it wouldn't be any harm in putting it up here too.

And the figures they reportedly save is worth the $29 in my opinion. Plus, I don't have to go looking for myself.

Yeah i did a test seems like the saving is >$29 could be worth it and takes a lot of the hassle out of it.....nice little idea all the same whoever came up with it.

ElNino · 14-02-2012 4:37pm

It looks interesting. You put up details of the best flights and price that you have found and if someone can't beat those by $29 then you can get a refund. Therefore you have nothing to lose really assuming it is straighforward to get a refund. And they have example non-US flights on their site.

discombobulate · 14-02-2012 5:21pm

Also they say money back if your not happy so i'm sure if its the same price you receive as you get through skyscanner or the likes then you can complain and get it back

RandolphEsq · 15-02-2012 12:46am

They are a middle man between myself and an airline. How can they save me money? The only way I could see them saving me money would be if a flight was scheduled to depart an airport very soon, and the airline were hoping to fill it, they would give Flightfox specific permission to fill the seat at a knock down price. Otherwise I can only see Flightfox, not as a scam, but as a way to prey on the gullible.

moodrater · 15-02-2012 1:19am

Haha everyones a genius if it was as simple as skyscanner.ie off ye go and collect your $29 by submitting flights.

Flights are like hotels they vary vastly in price depending on the channels you go through. How do you plan to check business, first class prices with skyscanner.

Heres a challenge take this flight as an example and see what price you can get on skyscanner. http://flightfox.com/contest/1113

umpsfar · 15-02-2012 2:34am

i spent 2 hours today trying to beat a few of these,and more time googling the site, i could only equal some of the offers, but couldnt match later/better offers,
between now and the end of 2013 im going to have to spend 1800 on flights , i could even throw in a few stop off's once i clear hotels on other islands.
oh i got the groupon"[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]"Caribbean Sands: Seven Nights in Antigua For Two Adults and Up to Two Children for EUR 148.34"[/FONT]
22yoyos is feck all, whats that? just over 1% of my flight cost.
thanks upandcumming
the rest of yous, shame.
lets see, brother inlaw is a pilot, 2 friends work in the airport. can i get cheaper flights than some 21 year old in a travel agents ? u tell me.
i only know one trick of the trade(when u book).& frequent flyers in america probably know more than
http://lmgtfy.com/?q=cheap+flights

:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D

Nok1a · 15-02-2012 1:23pm

umpsfar wrote: »

i spent 2 hours today trying to beat a few of these,and more time googling the site, i could only equal some of the offers, but couldnt match later/better offers,
between now and the end of 2013 im going to have to spend 1800 on flights , i could even throw in a few stop off's once i clear hotels on other islands.
oh i got the groupon"[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]"Caribbean Sands: Seven Nights in Antigua For Two Adults and Up to Two Children for EUR 148.34"[/FONT]
22yoyos is feck all, whats that? just over 1% of my flight cost.
thanks upandcumming
the rest of yous, shame.
lets see, brother inlaw is a pilot, 2 friends work in the airport. can i get cheaper flights than some 21 year old in a travel agents ? u tell me.
i only know one trick of the trade(when u book).& frequent flyers in america probably know more than
http://lmgtfy.com/?q=cheap+flights
:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D

will they cover all your flights between now and the end of 2013 for a single fee of $29.

Where it would worry me is when you actually make the booking. Who do you give your credit card / id details to?

Feidhlim · 15-02-2012 1:30pm

RandolphEsq wrote: »

They are a middle man between myself and an airline. How can they save me money? The only way I could see them saving me money would be if a flight was scheduled to depart an airport very soon, and the airline were hoping to fill it, they would give Flightfox specific permission to fill the seat at a knock down price. Otherwise I can only see Flightfox, not as a scam, but as a way to prey on the gullible.

I would assume they have agreements with several airlines that allows them preferential rates if they land business.

Lets hope it takes off

Sky is the limit

OK, I'll stop

umpsfar · 15-02-2012 3:29pm

Nok1a wrote: »

will they cover all your flights between now and the end of 2013 for a single fee of $29.

Where it would worry me is when you actually make the booking. Who do you give your credit card / id details to?

@Nok1a only time will tell.
i'm only talking about antigua and back(must book by end of 2013), i cannot get it less than +600 each, im also hoping to go the Dominika island since im in that neck of the woods,
i'm just a wary as most ppl here about this site, but its a good idea.
one of the ones i was looking at yesterday was 7,555 dollars, stipulations where: business class from boston to zurich 3 day trip, no stops, leaving in ten days time.
only two airlines came up i couldnt beat the Ops price, but someone got 6k,

ElNino · 15-02-2012 5:34pm

I don't think you would book your flights through them. The winner would tell you how/where to book the flights amd you would book directly.

I saw a post elsewhere that somebody put up a group booking for 19 people and a travel agent with spare capacity on a charter flight answered and saved them $500 per head. The whole idea has a lot of potential. Time will tell how it works out.

vicwatson · 15-02-2012 6:26pm

Where's the bargain alert exactly? :rolleyes:

conor052001 · 16-02-2012 1:32pm

scudzilla wrote: »

So you pay somebody else to find a flight for you?? Bit like a travel agent then

buyer95 wrote: »

What makes this gimmick worse is that the poster is feigning to be a customer when he/she is obviously an employee of this website

vicwatson wrote: »

Where's the bargain alert exactly? :rolleyes:

with attitudes like this its a wonder anyone posts anything around here

the op has openly stated that he doesnt know if its a ba but it might help with someone booking holidays...
if it doesnt apply to you, dont use it?

Nok1a · 16-02-2012 1:36pm

umpsfar wrote: »

@Nok1a only time will tell.
i'm only talking about antigua and back(must book by end of 2013), i cannot get it less than +600 each, im also hoping to go the Dominika island since im in that neck of the woods,
i'm just a wary as most ppl here about this site, but its a good idea.
one of the ones i was looking at yesterday was 7,555 dollars, stipulations where: business class from boston to zurich 3 day trip, no stops, leaving in ten days time.
only two airlines came up i couldnt beat the Ops price, but someone got 6k,

ive no interest in your holiday plans

nice1franko · 16-02-2012 2:36pm

conor052001 wrote: »

with attitudes like this its a wonder anyone posts anything around here

the op has openly stated that he doesnt know if its a ba but it might help with someone booking holidays...
if it doesnt apply to you, dont use it?

No one's slating the OP. It's just that if someone posts something that may/may not be a BA then there's often a discussion as to the merits of it - and that is a good thing.

For example, there's been BA's about cheap antivirus software which are always followed with suggestions for free alternatives.

Take no offence OP. Nothing's directed at you - it's all just about the service in question!

RandolphEsq · 16-02-2012 6:53pm

ElNino wrote: »

I don't think you would book your flights through them. The winner would tell you how/where to book the flights amd you would book directly.

I saw a post elsewhere that somebody put up a group booking for 19 people and a travel agent with spare capacity on a charter flight answered and saved them $500 per head. The whole idea has a lot of potential. Time will tell how it works out.

Ah I see what you mean. That's actually a pretty good idea if enough people get involved in it. Obviously if your flights are above, say, €200 it is an even better idea.

amdublin · 16-02-2012 9:38pm

Feidhlim wrote: »

I would assume they have agreements with several airlines that allows them preferential rates if they land business.

Lets hope it takes off

Sky is the limit

OK, I'll stop

The only way is up :pac:

nxbyveromdwjpg · 17-02-2012 10:16am

skyscanner is ****e, it's good for letting you know when some (not all) flights are on and giving you a decent estimate but I can always beat it with a lot of googling and research.

Momondo.com is the best of them probably.

mirm · 17-02-2012 11:12am

nm wrote: »

skyscanner is ****e, it's good for letting you know when some (not all) flights are on and giving you a decent estimate but I can always beat it with a lot of googling and research.

Momondo.com is the best of them probably.

momondo.com just gave me a price of €375 for cork/london flight and skyscanner gave me €142

Momondo.com seems pretty ****e

RandolphEsq · 17-02-2012 1:10pm

You're all pretty sh**e!

subway · 17-02-2012 1:19pm

ElNino wrote: »

I don't think you would book your flights through them. The winner would tell you how/where to book the flights amd you would book directly.

I saw a post elsewhere that somebody put up a group booking for 19 people and a travel agent with spare capacity on a charter flight answered and saved them $500 per head. The whole idea has a lot of potential. Time will tell how it works out.

that one sounds like a shill post...
a travel agent, books 19 flights, at a discount of $9,500 for a whopping $29 fee?

the idea behind the site is actually quite good, but value is probably only found in the high end flights. i would use it if i was going somewhere further than europe, definitely

umpsfar · 17-02-2012 1:39pm

subway wrote: »

that one sounds like a shill post...
a travel agent, books 19 flights, at a discount of $9,500 for a whopping $29 fee?

the idea behind the site is actually quite good, but value is probably only found in the high end flights. i would use it if i was going somewhere further than europe, definitely

http://www.startupsmart.com.au/success-stories/meet-the-startmate-class-of-2012-part-one/201201315233.html
"It costs $30 to use the service. At the moment, we are trying a different models for the finder’s fee, such as 10% of a certain price saving."
i dont know if they have implemented this yet but that'd be 1k to the winner.

galwayjohn89 · 17-02-2012 3:45pm

mirm wrote: »

momondo.com just gave me a price of €375 for cork/london flight and skyscanner gave me €142

Momondo.com seems pretty ****e

Ye they were €100 more expensive then skyscanner for me as well.

Strangely, Air Canada via continental.com was the cheapest by a long way for me and they didn't appear in any of the search comparision sites.

dvpower · 17-02-2012 10:44pm

Vuzuggu wrote: »

Ye they were €100 more expensive then skyscanner for me as well.

Strangely, Air Canada via continental.com was the cheapest by a long way for me and they didn't appear in any of the search comparision sites.

Air Canada do Cork/London?

galwayjohn89 · 17-02-2012 11:28pm

dvpower wrote: »

Air Canada do Cork/London?

Nope was for Dublin -> Vancouver -> Orlando -> Dub

ShadowLFC · 19-02-2012 1:54am

Just thought id let ye know i tried it out and all i got was a $35 saving on a flight from dub to las vegas which wasn realy a saving!

I requested my money back and they returned it no questions asked and said that the next time i wished to use the service that they would pay the finders fee!

So now i have a new "contest up" which they paid for. It didnt appear to work, the first time anyway, but great Customer Service.

kleefarr · 19-02-2012 1:58am

Why pay when there are so many free ones out there..

www.skyscanner.net

No charge.

ShadowLFC · 19-02-2012 2:12am

kleefarr wrote: »

Why pay when there are so many free ones out there..

www.skyscanner.net

No charge.

Thats true i found a cheaper flight on skyscanner than the one flightfox gave me at the end of the contest, but i am going to america in the summer and the chance to save $360 was worth a shot, also the money back guarantee didnt hurt.

Ill see what my next contest brings up

Flightfox: Cheaper flights!

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