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I like the idea, but airlines are notoriously scraper-hostile, so this might require active cat & mousing to sustain operations. I also like the one-hit pricin

I like the idea, but airlines are notoriously scraper-hostile, so this might require active cat & mousing to sustain operations. I also like the one-hit pricing idea, but it occurs to me that because it's bound to a single dep/arr pair, and for only one month, that it's probably not the ideal model for most people.

airninja 2y ago
Thanks for the feedback! Yeah, airlines are definitely tough when it comes to scraping, so I’m expecting a bit of a cat-and-mouse game with their anti-scraping measures. As for the one-hit pricing model, the idea is to keep it super simple and easy for people to sign up for alerts with minimal hassle. By sticking to specific origin/destination/month combos, I’m also trying to keep the scraping load manageable. I know it might not fit everyone’s needs right now, but it’s a start. I’m open to any ideas on how to make it better!
- quesera 2y ago
  I wish I had a suggestion on pricing. If I'm looking for a low-priced fare that would motivate me to travel, I am probably less picky about destination, and possibly about timeframe. I.e. there are a dozen places I'd love to go for fun if the opportunity presented itself. I'd even drive an hour or two to another departure airport, if it made sense. So that's a combinatorial explosion of dep-arr pairs. SFO-*, OAK-*, SJC-*, etc. At $5/pair/month, my example costs ($5*3*12==$180) per month, which I definitely will not spend. I don't want to limit my alerts, because the three departure origins are functionally equivalent for me, and the 12 arrival destinations are interestingly equivalent enough that I'd regret missing out on a less-obvious pair. ... It's entirely possible that I'm unusual in this. And I get that each pair is a new query/scrape for you. Although it seems likely that, at scale, you'll have enough people from an area that a lot of the pairs are duplicates across users, even considering flexible departure airports. Good luck, and I hope you'll share your scraping experiences. There are a lot of interesting stories to be told in that business.

airninja 2y ago

Thanks for the feedback! Yeah, airlines are definitely tough when it comes to scraping, so I’m expecting a bit of a cat-and-mouse game with their anti-scraping measures. As for the one-hit pricing model, the idea is to keep it super simple and easy for people to sign up for alerts with minimal hassle. By sticking to specific origin/destination/month combos, I’m also trying to keep the scraping load manageable. I know it might not fit everyone’s needs right now, but it’s a start. I’m open to any ideas on how to make it better!

quesera 2y ago
I wish I had a suggestion on pricing. If I'm looking for a low-priced fare that would motivate me to travel, I am probably less picky about destination, and possibly about timeframe. I.e. there are a dozen places I'd love to go for fun if the opportunity presented itself. I'd even drive an hour or two to another departure airport, if it made sense. So that's a combinatorial explosion of dep-arr pairs. SFO-*, OAK-*, SJC-*, etc. At $5/pair/month, my example costs ($5*3*12==$180) per month, which I definitely will not spend. I don't want to limit my alerts, because the three departure origins are functionally equivalent for me, and the 12 arrival destinations are interestingly equivalent enough that I'd regret missing out on a less-obvious pair. ... It's entirely possible that I'm unusual in this. And I get that each pair is a new query/scrape for you. Although it seems likely that, at scale, you'll have enough people from an area that a lot of the pairs are duplicates across users, even considering flexible departure airports. Good luck, and I hope you'll share your scraping experiences. There are a lot of interesting stories to be told in that business.