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>> not only does this not work but it is likely illegal under DOT in the US. Could you explain this a bit more? What law/regulation would make this illegal? A

by Ricapar 13y ago

>> not only does this not work but it is likely illegal under DOT in the US. Could you explain this a bit more? What law/regulation would make this illegal? As others have stated, the icon-heavy UI could use some work, but I'm having a hard time seeing how that could violate anything.

ramses0 13y ago
Preference-based display of flights (I'm thinking). Once upon a time, AA owned SABRE and all the flight information was in the one GDS (Global Distribution System). Then somebody at SABRE got the bright idea to preference the order so AA flights were always on the first page and all other airlines were on the second page. Most bookings were made from the first page. This was then made illegal and they said some gobbledy-gook like: "you can't preference the display, you have to show a reasonable number of flights, all in the same format, and sorted by time, price or duration". Or something. I can't find a reference to it, but it had to do with SABRE's virtual monopoly on global travel distribution (inventory, agents, etc) and regulation / de-regulation of the travel industry.
coldcode 13y ago
The DOT has tons of rules over how you show prices and other data about flights. They want the customer to know everything about what they are about to choose and make it difficult for anyone to sneak something in. Plus our lawyers are so scared of fines they go overboard to follow every exact rule. The DOT also loves to change the rules or their interpretation whenever they feel like it so it's a moving target. You can make it perfect then they change the rules and you get fined anyway. This means anyone who does booking is always on the lookout for potential fine issues and this makes innovation impossible. If you don't book the rules are not as bad. For example if we fail to show that a flight on one carrier is operated by a different one (very common for some routes) they can fine us tens of thousands for each one we get wrong. A very strong incentive to be careful!

by Ricapar 13y ago

ramses0 13y ago

Preference-based display of flights (I'm thinking). Once upon a time, AA owned SABRE and all the flight information was in the one GDS (Global Distribution System). Then somebody at SABRE got the bright idea to preference the order so AA flights were always on the first page and all other airlines were on the second page. Most bookings were made from the first page. This was then made illegal and they said some gobbledy-gook like: "you can't preference the display, you have to show a reasonable number of flights, all in the same format, and sorted by time, price or duration". Or something. I can't find a reference to it, but it had to do with SABRE's virtual monopoly on global travel distribution (inventory, agents, etc) and regulation / de-regulation of the travel industry.

coldcode 13y ago

The DOT has tons of rules over how you show prices and other data about flights. They want the customer to know everything about what they are about to choose and make it difficult for anyone to sneak something in. Plus our lawyers are so scared of fines they go overboard to follow every exact rule. The DOT also loves to change the rules or their interpretation whenever they feel like it so it's a moving target. You can make it perfect then they change the rules and you get fined anyway. This means anyone who does booking is always on the lookout for potential fine issues and this makes innovation impossible. If you don't book the rules are not as bad. For example if we fail to show that a flight on one carrier is operated by a different one (very common for some routes) they can fine us tens of thousands for each one we get wrong. A very strong incentive to be careful!