4 ms·

Honestly I would still rather call a real human to book plane tickets. In fact I would pay a premium for it. This stopped happening because humans are expensiv

Honestly I would still rather call a real human to book plane tickets. In fact I would pay a premium for it. This stopped happening because humans are expensive, not because typing numbers into a 2 inch touchscreen keyboard is actually a better experience.

yazaddaruvala 10y ago
You dismiss the notion that price is "part of the user experience". If I can do something myself, in 5 mins, inconveniently, for free. Or spend 5 mins on a phone call, waiting for a human to do the same thing, for $10. I would call the latter a poor user experience.
grahamburger 10y ago
I'm sure you recognize this, but your opinion is far from universal. I have a few friends who share your opinion and it's certainly valid, but I have many more friends who are much happier to book a flight / pay a bill / shop for insurance etc. on a higher bandwidth medium than a phone call. (Myself included) There are still instance where the company really screws up their UX to the point where a phone call is preferable but it's becoming much less common in my experience.
- ams6110 10y ago
  I think what GP is referring to is calling someone and saying "book me through to San Francisco on the 20th. I need to be there by 11:00am. Bye." That's what we mean by "calling someone to book a flight" i.e. an agent who will take your request and do the legwork. Not simply talking to someone at a call center and dictating everything you'd otherwise be typing into an online form.
  - dpark 10y ago
    That service is available. You can get virtual assistants to do this. You can get a credit card that offers this kind of concierge service. If you claim that this is the experience you want and that you are willing to pay for it, but you're still booking your flights on Expedia, then either you're lying to yourself or you're just not willing to pay enough.
    - deleted 10y ago
      [deleted]
  - jdbernard 10y ago
    I've had access to this kind of service in the past and even then often I prefer to do it online myself, especially if I'm paying for the tickets.
spacehome 10y ago
Call me. I'll book your flights for a premium.

yazaddaruvala 10y ago

You dismiss the notion that price is "part of the user experience". If I can do something myself, in 5 mins, inconveniently, for free. Or spend 5 mins on a phone call, waiting for a human to do the same thing, for $10. I would call the latter a poor user experience.

grahamburger 10y ago

I'm sure you recognize this, but your opinion is far from universal. I have a few friends who share your opinion and it's certainly valid, but I have many more friends who are much happier to book a flight / pay a bill / shop for insurance etc. on a higher bandwidth medium than a phone call. (Myself included) There are still instance where the company really screws up their UX to the point where a phone call is preferable but it's becoming much less common in my experience.

ams6110 10y ago
I think what GP is referring to is calling someone and saying "book me through to San Francisco on the 20th. I need to be there by 11:00am. Bye." That's what we mean by "calling someone to book a flight" i.e. an agent who will take your request and do the legwork. Not simply talking to someone at a call center and dictating everything you'd otherwise be typing into an online form.
- dpark 10y ago
  That service is available. You can get virtual assistants to do this. You can get a credit card that offers this kind of concierge service. If you claim that this is the experience you want and that you are willing to pay for it, but you're still booking your flights on Expedia, then either you're lying to yourself or you're just not willing to pay enough.
  - deleted 10y ago
    [deleted]
- jdbernard 10y ago
  I've had access to this kind of service in the past and even then often I prefer to do it online myself, especially if I'm paying for the tickets.

spacehome 10y ago

Call me. I'll book your flights for a premium.