8 ms·
Maybe a good idea, but the site does a bad job of selling it. The front page starts with a big rant about how bad existing airlines are. That's not how you sel
by tlb 9y ago
Maybe a good idea, but the site does a bad job of selling it.
The front page starts with a big rant about how bad existing airlines are. That's not how you sell things. You should focus on what you do, which is SFO-LAX flights through private terminals on a monthly subscription.
The private terminal is a huge win -- it saves a good hour on travel. But that's buried in the FAQ. You should redesign so that all of the following are on above the fold on the home page:
- SFO-LAX
- Monthly subscription $79/6 flights
- Private terminal
- Book online last minute
Don't pretend to be a full-service airline except in the fine print it says only SFO-LAX. SFO-LAX is exactly what thousands of people need. For people who need something else, you shouldn't lead them on (but you should let them give you their email address and desired routes so you can let them know when you add them.)
- dannyminutillo 9y agoThanks for the great feedback. This was our site's first draft so we really appreciate your comments. We'll definitely update it and keep your points above the fold on the homepage. We weren't aware that the private terminals are such an appealing feature to people, but that aspect has been a feature that we've been receiving a lot of positive feedback about so we appreciate you pointing it out. Thank you again and we'll make those changes by tomorrow.
- jedanbik 9y agoBlog link is dead.
- dannyminutillo 9y agoSorry about that, we're in the process of fixing the site now.
- downandout 9y agoAlso the site is effectively broken on iPad, in both landscape and portrait. Something funky with your layout makes most of the objects appear half offscreen to the sides.
- dannyminutillo 9y agoSorry about that, we're working on fixing the site now.
- muninn_ 9y agoIt not only saves time, but it conveys importance and eliteness - access and precious time. I don't mean that in a bad way, I think it's a good thing.
- hirsin 9y agoMinor optimization for the phone image? Have it show the next flight that could reasonably be booked if I had the app installed, rather than one from 2017. As in, if you had this app, you could be on the (it's 2.05 right now) 2:30 pm flight, just press this button. Helps drive the immediacy and ease home.
- dannyminutillo 9y agoYep, great idea. We were actually thinking about an interface like that. Thanks for the feedback
- hedgehog 9y agoCan you do BFI<->SFO?
- desdiv 9y agoTo save you guys a Google: >Boeing Field, officially King County International Airport (IATA: BFI), is a public airport owned and operated by King County, five miles south of downtown Seattle, Washington.
- ghufran_syed 9y agoMaybe have a calculator on the website that lets you put in the start and end of your journey, tweak things like how far in advance you want to arrive at the airport with some set minimum (e.g. need to arrive at sfo at least 1 hours before), then can compare your offering vs the standard home-sfo-lax-end destination. it's the kind of info most people would have to piece together with Google maps, having it in the site would be pretty easy to do, and where there is a big time saving, becomes a pretty strong motivator to "sign up now"
- zachlatta 9y agoWow, I was super confused until I read this comment. I also didn't realize this included a private terminal. I thought this was just a way to book last minute fares without surprises, which didn't really make sense because I just checked and it's cheaper to book a round trip from SFO - LAX leaving any time this week with the airline ($117 on United vs. $156 w/ you).
- dannyminutillo 9y agoThe private terminal aspect is why we charge a little more than other airlines' lowest fares. It looks like we need to do a better job of highlighting the private terminal feature on our site. Thanks for the great feedback.
- jmishler 9y agolooks like you guys are working on some improvements for this great idea. what platform are you using to manage the recurring billing part?
- dannyminutillo 9y agoWe're using stripe
- walshemj 9y agobut presumably with much less waiting around?
- dannyminutillo 9y agoYes, exactly. Just arrive 15 minutes before departure time.
- walshemj 9y agoAh just like the good old days on the BA LHR to EDI route run up to the counter whack the card down and wait less than 30 mins for the next flight. Just time for a cheeky pint as the lounge next to the boarding way had a bar.- the afternoon cream teas where nice as well.
- jtchang 9y ago100% agree on the messaging here. Is it use it or lose it type flights? I didn't even notice the private terminal stuff (didn't get that far). I thought it was some type of group buying thing on big carriers like Delta, etc. Private terminal is a huge win. I know some friends who want to live in LA but work remotely in SF. 1-2 flights a month in a private terminal for this pricing seems like a steal especially when you can shave off terminal/travel time at big airports. This could be awesome for companies and employees. I could see a company having a remote employee in LA but wanting have a face to face meeting in the next 24 hours. Tickets would be super expensive but if you had a plan like this you could just fly them in fast. And if you needed more flights you could always book commercial.
- fludlight 9y agoA corporate plan for x flights per month without a named passenger would be interesting, too. This would be useful for companies with employees in both cities who occasionally need to meet face to face with the other team. It would certainly be easier, faster, and probably cheaper than the cluster that arranging corporate travel currently is.
- dannyminutillo 9y agoWe're currently speaking with companies about something similar to this.
- fludlight 9y agoI noticed in your FAQ that you are flying Bombardier regional jets, which "are the same planes that are used by United Express, Delta Connection, and American Airlines". There was a big stink* a few years ago about the big airlines using new pilots on regional routes and paying them so little that many were on food stamps. I don't want to put my life in the hands of someone who is worried about where their kids' next meal will come from. What is the starting salary for your pilots? * https://www.wimp.com/michael-moore-pilots-on-food-stamps/ https://www.wimp.com/michael-moore-pilots-on-food-stamps/ https://www.reddit.com/r/flying/comments/1wxkki/pilots_on_food_stamps/ https://www.reddit.com/r/flying/comments/1wxkki/pilots_on_fo... https://blogs.wsj.com/corporate-intelligence/2014/02/12/flying-your-plane-living-on-food-stamps/ https://blogs.wsj.com/corporate-intelligence/2014/02/12/flyi... https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/23265283-pilots-on-food-stamps https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/23265283-pilots-on-food-...
- nolok 9y agoWhat does a "private terminal" mean ? Or rather, in what precise way is it better ? I have a vague idea of what it can provide but I'm not sure how it can shed up to an hour of time. Does it include a dedicated secrity and immigration service (so no gigantic lines) ?
- dsr_ 9y agoNo TSA security. No big-airline check-in lines. Immigration doesn't apply on domestic flights anyway.
- iancarroll 9y agoThe site says the terminal still has TSA security, which makes sense, these aren’t exactly private jets.
- StillBored 9y agoWhich is a bit curious as it sounds like a GA terminal, which generally just have a guard who keeps random people from walking around on the tarmac. But i'm guessing they are trying to be in the grey area between being a charter and being a full blown commercial airline service with a regular schedule, requiring them to use the normal passenger terminals (and lease/buy gate space/etc).
- dannyminutillo 9y agoA private terminal is a smaller terminal in a different location than the main terminal. The private terminals are used for private planes. We don't fly private planes. We fly regional planes, however, they still meet the size requirements to take off and land at private terminals. There are never any lines and they have their own security system. So you can show up 15 minutes before the flight and still make it.
- gaadd33 9y agoIs this the Private Suite at LAX?
- nightbrawler 9y agoLooks like some older iteration located here which does a better job presenting what they are trying to sell and how it's better https://www.jumpdrive.io/index.html https://www.jumpdrive.io/index.html
- dannyminutillo 9y agoYep, we have two different landing pages live. Trying to get our copy right
- siddharthdeswal 9y agoReiterating problems in the existing way of doing things is a fairly well known method of getting interest and buy-in from prospective customers, so I think the initial rant might actually be connecting with people.
- dannyminutillo 9y agoWe just wanted to highlight the way the airline industry currently operates and how bad things are.
- fiatjaf 9y agoI disagree about the rant. I like when sites explain how and why they're different and better than the traditional services.