5 ms·

Show HN: Flight Search on steroids: find better flights through Machine Learning

16 points by ThePhysicist 11y ago

dribel 11y ago
Hi I am Max. I am one of the co-founders of tripdelta. If you have any questions, feel free to get in touch. We are always happy about your feedback.
- ktsmith 11y ago
  It's a bit frustrating to search for flights to a specific airport and then to only receive results for a different but somewhat nearby airport. For example: SFO -> ONT or SFO -> SNA will only return results for SFO -> LAX
  - dribel 11y ago
    @ktsmith thanks for you feedback. Maybe we should clarify that . We have filter for that on the top to show only your "original results". Those show you only what you where looking for and no further suggestions
    - ktsmith 11y ago
      Sorry for the delayed reply. I tried the filter before I commented here and my results were exactly the same.
harryhunt711 11y ago
Just tried it and it did return some pretty good prices. Care to elaborate how it does that? Machine Learning could mean anything or nothing.
- dribel 11y ago
  @harryhunt711 Thanks for your feedback. To answer your questions. We use Apache Spark with a mixture of different algorithms to analyze over 1.5b flight prices and come up with millions of new routing possibilities. Meanwhile on every request our algorithm learns from past mistakes and corrects its decision based on new data
deleted 11y ago
[deleted]
noso 11y ago
Nice job! UI is very good!
- elmalto 11y ago
  Thank you! Glad you like it!
cneumann81 11y ago
Hm, so what's the difference between you and the other guys? Don't really get it. Any examples for additional savings I can get with you?
- dribel 11y ago
  @cneumann81 thanks for trying tripdelta. A few examples that might explain what we do differently. -We find hidden flights by combining rival airlines (https://tripdelta.com/results/SFO/LON/28-10-15 https://tripdelta.com/results/SFO/LON/28-10-15) -Our smart area search looks at every airport near your start and destination and checks every single combination to find better alternatives (https://tripdelta.com/results/FKB/BOH/01-10-15/ https://tripdelta.com/results/FKB/BOH/01-10-15/ ) -We split your return flights into open jaw tickets (https://tripdelta.com/results/SFO/YVR/11-09-15/YVR/SFO/13-09-15/ https://tripdelta.com/results/SFO/YVR/11-09-15/YVR/SFO/13-09... ) -Wanna do a short world trip? Better check this one out (https://tripdelta.com/results/SFO/BER/18-09-15/BER/DXB/25-09-15/DXB/BKK/02-10-15/BKK/SFO/09-10-15/ https://tripdelta.com/results/SFO/BER/18-09-15/BER/DXB/25-09...) I hope this explains what we do ;).. If you have any more questions, let me know
  - cneumann81 11y ago
    Interesting, but how does this translate into concrete savings for me? Any concrete examples?
    - elmalto 11y ago
      Of course. Look at the San Francisco to Vancouver (return) example: Regular: SFO - YVR: $385 Tripdelta: Oakland - Bellingham (two tickets): $164 You save $221 by picking two airports that are, by locals, considered good airports (I live in Vancouver, we all use Bellingham!) The great thing is: Even when you're not a local, you just enter Vancouver, and we know about it!
      - cneumann81 11y ago
        Thanks for pulling this out. Even though I assume this is a best case example, savings in that are interesting for sure. Will check you guys out for my next booking!
jakozaur 11y ago
Cool UI, tried it on my recent flight, but for my case I could find better deal on Orbitz. Example: WAW -> SFO (July 18, Aug 2) IMO best: WAW -> AMS -> SFO (14h25m), SFO -> CDG -> WAW (14h5m) 1256$ Your flights are a bit cheaper, but the shortest available outbound is 18h40m. Maybe you can tweak your algorithm to optimize for shortest flight for people willing to pay 5-10% more if that saves several hours.
- dribel 11y ago
  @jakozaur thanks for your feedback. We are always working on new features, trip optimization is high on the list! ;).
yodon 11y ago
I know naming startups and getting domains is hard, but Delta is the 2nd largest airline in the world [1]. Naming your air travel site TripDelta seems likely to raise some significant trademark issues. [1] https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/World's_largest_airlines https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/World's_largest_airlines
- elmalto 11y ago
  We talked to lawyers and think that tripdelta, as a combination of the (for us) important keyword trip and the math term delta to indicate savings, is a word creation in its own. Hope they’re right. Thank you for sharing your concerns

16 points by ThePhysicist 11y ago

Hi I am Max. I am one of the co-founders of tripdelta. If you have any questions, feel free to get in touch. We are always happy about your feedback.

ktsmith 11y ago
It's a bit frustrating to search for flights to a specific airport and then to only receive results for a different but somewhat nearby airport. For example: SFO -> ONT or SFO -> SNA will only return results for SFO -> LAX
- dribel 11y ago
  @ktsmith thanks for you feedback. Maybe we should clarify that . We have filter for that on the top to show only your "original results". Those show you only what you where looking for and no further suggestions
  - ktsmith 11y ago
    Sorry for the delayed reply. I tried the filter before I commented here and my results were exactly the same.

harryhunt711 11y ago

Just tried it and it did return some pretty good prices. Care to elaborate how it does that? Machine Learning could mean anything or nothing.

dribel 11y ago
@harryhunt711 Thanks for your feedback. To answer your questions. We use Apache Spark with a mixture of different algorithms to analyze over 1.5b flight prices and come up with millions of new routing possibilities. Meanwhile on every request our algorithm learns from past mistakes and corrects its decision based on new data

deleted 11y ago

[deleted]

noso 11y ago

Nice job! UI is very good!

elmalto 11y ago
Thank you! Glad you like it!

cneumann81 11y ago

Hm, so what's the difference between you and the other guys? Don't really get it. Any examples for additional savings I can get with you?

dribel 11y ago
@cneumann81 thanks for trying tripdelta. A few examples that might explain what we do differently. -We find hidden flights by combining rival airlines (https://tripdelta.com/results/SFO/LON/28-10-15 https://tripdelta.com/results/SFO/LON/28-10-15) -Our smart area search looks at every airport near your start and destination and checks every single combination to find better alternatives (https://tripdelta.com/results/FKB/BOH/01-10-15/ https://tripdelta.com/results/FKB/BOH/01-10-15/ ) -We split your return flights into open jaw tickets (https://tripdelta.com/results/SFO/YVR/11-09-15/YVR/SFO/13-09-15/ https://tripdelta.com/results/SFO/YVR/11-09-15/YVR/SFO/13-09... ) -Wanna do a short world trip? Better check this one out (https://tripdelta.com/results/SFO/BER/18-09-15/BER/DXB/25-09-15/DXB/BKK/02-10-15/BKK/SFO/09-10-15/ https://tripdelta.com/results/SFO/BER/18-09-15/BER/DXB/25-09...) I hope this explains what we do ;).. If you have any more questions, let me know
- cneumann81 11y ago
  Interesting, but how does this translate into concrete savings for me? Any concrete examples?
  - elmalto 11y ago
    Of course. Look at the San Francisco to Vancouver (return) example: Regular: SFO - YVR: $385 Tripdelta: Oakland - Bellingham (two tickets): $164 You save $221 by picking two airports that are, by locals, considered good airports (I live in Vancouver, we all use Bellingham!) The great thing is: Even when you're not a local, you just enter Vancouver, and we know about it!
    - cneumann81 11y ago
      Thanks for pulling this out. Even though I assume this is a best case example, savings in that are interesting for sure. Will check you guys out for my next booking!

jakozaur 11y ago

Cool UI, tried it on my recent flight, but for my case I could find better deal on Orbitz. Example: WAW -> SFO (July 18, Aug 2) IMO best: WAW -> AMS -> SFO (14h25m), SFO -> CDG -> WAW (14h5m) 1256$ Your flights are a bit cheaper, but the shortest available outbound is 18h40m. Maybe you can tweak your algorithm to optimize for shortest flight for people willing to pay 5-10% more if that saves several hours.

dribel 11y ago
@jakozaur thanks for your feedback. We are always working on new features, trip optimization is high on the list! ;).

yodon 11y ago

I know naming startups and getting domains is hard, but Delta is the 2nd largest airline in the world [1]. Naming your air travel site TripDelta seems likely to raise some significant trademark issues. [1] https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/World's_largest_airlines https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/World's_largest_airlines

elmalto 11y ago
We talked to lawyers and think that tripdelta, as a combination of the (for us) important keyword trip and the math term delta to indicate savings, is a word creation in its own. Hope they’re right. Thank you for sharing your concerns