6 ms·

Travel Search Site Hipmunk (YC S10) Cuts Yahoo Deal

99 points by goldfish 12y ago

karambahh 12y ago
Yeah for Hipmunk, Capitaine Train and others. They are providing a very efficient, no fuss, travel booking experience. Historic players like Amadeus or DBahn (not to mention SNCF...), beware, these guys are rocking your world even more than you may be suspecting...
- smcl 12y ago
  I'm not sure they need to beware - DB\SCNF aren't really competing with the likes of Capitaine Train. If you buy a ticket from Paris to Lyon with CT for example - you're still getting the same SNCF train ticket and they'll get a giant chunk of that money (I have no idea what sort of referral CT get). I suppose its in these rail companies' best interests that someone puts together a nice interface for their ticket systems.
  - karambahh 12y ago
    Except Capitaine Train had to go (almost? can remember the details) to court in 2009 to gain access to SOCRATE, the SNCF booking system. Capitaine is competing with Voyages SNCF and SNCF themselves. They both operate and sell tickets. (And VSC see themselves as competitors to SNCF, which is kinda schyzophrenic if you ask me). Now that they have set a precedent, Lyria and the likes opened their booking plateforms to Capitaine. But, still, you get odd looks if you try to exchange a CT ticket at a counter "how, that's a travel agent ticket, we don't support those" "well, yes you do, just type this booking number and you'll be able to deliver me another ticket, trust me" ;-)
forrestthewoods 12y ago
I've used Hipmunk several times. The interface is fantastic. The ipad app is also great. It does immensely suck that you leave Hipmunk to actually buy the tickets. I had to redo my entire search and purchase because the Safari view of Delta's website in the ipad Hipmunk app crashed. I also had to recently buy my cross-country Christmas tickets through Expedia. For whatever reason Expedia had far, far better selection and prices. Usually Hipmunk is great but in this case it wasn't even close. That's definitely made me slightly wary of it for the future. All things said it's great. Can't wait to see where it is in a few more years.
- deleted 12y ago
  [deleted]
- philip1209 12y ago
  I had the same issue with buying tickets. Whichever site it sent me to lacked a "known traveler number" section, so I ditched to go to the airline's site.
- jakozaur 12y ago
  Unfortunately got similar experience. Love searching on hipmunk, but got a few times problem with buying tickets there, so I redo my searches at other website.
  - spez 12y ago
    Hmm, that shouldn't be the case. If you try again and feel like helping us out, feel free to email the discrepancy to support@hipmunk.com. Sometimes there is an explanation (e.g. the flight doesn't exist, or has a 30hr layover), and other times we don't have the flight, in which case we want to alert our providers to fix it.
- whopa 12y ago
  I try Hipmunk every so often, the last time being about a month ago. Every time, Kayak shows more flight options for the same query than Hipmunk, and often cheaper ones. I don't get it, they both use ITA on the backend. I'd use Hipmunk more often if they actually fulfilled their functionality promise as an aggregator. A pretty UI isn't enough.
  - maxerickson 12y ago
    Kayak has additional data sources. I don't know the details, but the additional sources is clear enough. This lists a whole bunch: http://www.tnooz.com/article/kayak-to-google-bring-it-on/ http://www.tnooz.com/article/kayak-to-google-bring-it-on/
    - jeffbr13 12y ago
beartime 12y ago
flights.google.com >
maxerickson 12y ago
Given the founders, it's fun to contemplate Hipmunk as an anti-reddit, where a successful visit is probably brief and directly generates revenue.
- spez 12y ago
  Yes, I often muse about this
- nighthawk454 12y ago
  Also with a successful Yahoo deal.
ASquare 12y ago
I have a simple question: Why are sites like Hipmunk, Kayak etc called "travel search" sites? Travel is far more than booking flights, hotels, cars, cruises and vacation packages At best sites like this are booking sites for xyz but I have a heard time reconciling the appropriateness of "travel search" What am I missing?
- chris_j 12y ago
  What other aspects of travel are you thinking of?
  - nck4222 12y ago
    Searching for a destination was the first thing that came to my mind after reading the parent comment.
    - ASquare 12y ago
      exactly - there's actual destination research which is distinct from booking. Things like local transportation info/getting around, what to do, where to party, safety info, visa info - and on and on.
- calbear81 12y ago
  Because these sites and ours (room77.com) are MetaSearch sites, we search prices from multiple sources and aggregate the information (inventory, content, prices) into one place. Booking sites like Expedia and Priceline are considered OTAs (Online Travel Agency) since they are the entity that sells you the actual inventory whereas metasearch scours the market for the best prices.
  - ASquare 12y ago
    Understood. To me "travel search" implies everything to do with travel including destination research and more. So whether it's metasearch or OTAs - ultimately the focus is on booking something (is that a correct statement to make?) To me travel - and certainly travel search should mean more than that
7Figures2Commas 12y ago
> Although Hipmunk has raised $40 million in venture capital funding — $20 million of it in May from Oak Investment Partners and others — it decided not to lavish it on television advertising like competitors “because that means going head-to-head against companies spending hundreds of millions a year.” > Mr. Goldstein would not discuss specific financial terms of the company’s deals with Yahoo and Yelp, but said they would participate in the benefits Hipmunk received — commissions, usually — when one of its users booked a flight or hotel through a travel partner. Hipmunk's position in such a competitive market is not enviable. These types of revenue sharing deals often look very attractive on paper because they don't require much if any capital, but they can be disastrous and far more costly in the long run. In a good outcome, you frequently end up with a handful of partners who drive most of your business, effectively own many of the customers they send you, and have a permanent claim on a substantial portion of your margin. Put simply, these deals tend to defer the hard costs associated with customer acquisition but also drive them up.
- shostack 12y ago
  In some cases the amount of leverage these sources of customers have over you can be crippling as well. The other factor that I feel doesn't get brought up enough is the attribution piece. How much did they REALLY contribute to bringing a customer vs. all your other marketing efforts, brand awareness that has built up over time, etc.? In the worst cases, some partners can just be parasitic and leech off bottom of the funnel traffic to maximize their return and minimize their risk. The trick is finding the right balance between all those efforts which requires data, flexibility, and trust between all parties in the relationship.
ape4 12y ago
I would like to see an option to avoid stopovers in countries you specify... as an agony avoidance option.
andrea_s 12y ago
I'm not sure there's a point in using anything but Google Flights, to be honest... But in my experience hipmunk is among the best in the rest of a very crowded pack.
merrillii 12y ago
Being able to sort flights by "agony" was pure genius! There are so many times when I'll gladly pay $20 more for an easier flight plan.

99 points by goldfish 12y ago

Yeah for Hipmunk, Capitaine Train and others. They are providing a very efficient, no fuss, travel booking experience. Historic players like Amadeus or DBahn (not to mention SNCF...), beware, these guys are rocking your world even more than you may be suspecting...

smcl 12y ago
I'm not sure they need to beware - DB\SCNF aren't really competing with the likes of Capitaine Train. If you buy a ticket from Paris to Lyon with CT for example - you're still getting the same SNCF train ticket and they'll get a giant chunk of that money (I have no idea what sort of referral CT get). I suppose its in these rail companies' best interests that someone puts together a nice interface for their ticket systems.
- karambahh 12y ago
  Except Capitaine Train had to go (almost? can remember the details) to court in 2009 to gain access to SOCRATE, the SNCF booking system. Capitaine is competing with Voyages SNCF and SNCF themselves. They both operate and sell tickets. (And VSC see themselves as competitors to SNCF, which is kinda schyzophrenic if you ask me). Now that they have set a precedent, Lyria and the likes opened their booking plateforms to Capitaine. But, still, you get odd looks if you try to exchange a CT ticket at a counter "how, that's a travel agent ticket, we don't support those" "well, yes you do, just type this booking number and you'll be able to deliver me another ticket, trust me" ;-)

forrestthewoods 12y ago

I've used Hipmunk several times. The interface is fantastic. The ipad app is also great. It does immensely suck that you leave Hipmunk to actually buy the tickets. I had to redo my entire search and purchase because the Safari view of Delta's website in the ipad Hipmunk app crashed. I also had to recently buy my cross-country Christmas tickets through Expedia. For whatever reason Expedia had far, far better selection and prices. Usually Hipmunk is great but in this case it wasn't even close. That's definitely made me slightly wary of it for the future. All things said it's great. Can't wait to see where it is in a few more years.

deleted 12y ago
[deleted]
philip1209 12y ago
I had the same issue with buying tickets. Whichever site it sent me to lacked a "known traveler number" section, so I ditched to go to the airline's site.
jakozaur 12y ago
Unfortunately got similar experience. Love searching on hipmunk, but got a few times problem with buying tickets there, so I redo my searches at other website.
- spez 12y ago
  Hmm, that shouldn't be the case. If you try again and feel like helping us out, feel free to email the discrepancy to support@hipmunk.com. Sometimes there is an explanation (e.g. the flight doesn't exist, or has a 30hr layover), and other times we don't have the flight, in which case we want to alert our providers to fix it.
whopa 12y ago
I try Hipmunk every so often, the last time being about a month ago. Every time, Kayak shows more flight options for the same query than Hipmunk, and often cheaper ones. I don't get it, they both use ITA on the backend. I'd use Hipmunk more often if they actually fulfilled their functionality promise as an aggregator. A pretty UI isn't enough.
- maxerickson 12y ago
  Kayak has additional data sources. I don't know the details, but the additional sources is clear enough. This lists a whole bunch: http://www.tnooz.com/article/kayak-to-google-bring-it-on/ http://www.tnooz.com/article/kayak-to-google-bring-it-on/
  - jeffbr13 12y ago

beartime 12y ago

flights.google.com >

maxerickson 12y ago

Given the founders, it's fun to contemplate Hipmunk as an anti-reddit, where a successful visit is probably brief and directly generates revenue.

spez 12y ago
Yes, I often muse about this
nighthawk454 12y ago
Also with a successful Yahoo deal.

ASquare 12y ago

I have a simple question: Why are sites like Hipmunk, Kayak etc called "travel search" sites? Travel is far more than booking flights, hotels, cars, cruises and vacation packages At best sites like this are booking sites for xyz but I have a heard time reconciling the appropriateness of "travel search" What am I missing?

chris_j 12y ago
What other aspects of travel are you thinking of?
- nck4222 12y ago
  Searching for a destination was the first thing that came to my mind after reading the parent comment.
  - ASquare 12y ago
    exactly - there's actual destination research which is distinct from booking. Things like local transportation info/getting around, what to do, where to party, safety info, visa info - and on and on.
calbear81 12y ago
Because these sites and ours (room77.com) are MetaSearch sites, we search prices from multiple sources and aggregate the information (inventory, content, prices) into one place. Booking sites like Expedia and Priceline are considered OTAs (Online Travel Agency) since they are the entity that sells you the actual inventory whereas metasearch scours the market for the best prices.
- ASquare 12y ago
  Understood. To me "travel search" implies everything to do with travel including destination research and more. So whether it's metasearch or OTAs - ultimately the focus is on booking something (is that a correct statement to make?) To me travel - and certainly travel search should mean more than that

7Figures2Commas 12y ago

> Although Hipmunk has raised $40 million in venture capital funding — $20 million of it in May from Oak Investment Partners and others — it decided not to lavish it on television advertising like competitors “because that means going head-to-head against companies spending hundreds of millions a year.” > Mr. Goldstein would not discuss specific financial terms of the company’s deals with Yahoo and Yelp, but said they would participate in the benefits Hipmunk received — commissions, usually — when one of its users booked a flight or hotel through a travel partner. Hipmunk's position in such a competitive market is not enviable. These types of revenue sharing deals often look very attractive on paper because they don't require much if any capital, but they can be disastrous and far more costly in the long run. In a good outcome, you frequently end up with a handful of partners who drive most of your business, effectively own many of the customers they send you, and have a permanent claim on a substantial portion of your margin. Put simply, these deals tend to defer the hard costs associated with customer acquisition but also drive them up.

shostack 12y ago
In some cases the amount of leverage these sources of customers have over you can be crippling as well. The other factor that I feel doesn't get brought up enough is the attribution piece. How much did they REALLY contribute to bringing a customer vs. all your other marketing efforts, brand awareness that has built up over time, etc.? In the worst cases, some partners can just be parasitic and leech off bottom of the funnel traffic to maximize their return and minimize their risk. The trick is finding the right balance between all those efforts which requires data, flexibility, and trust between all parties in the relationship.

ape4 12y ago

I would like to see an option to avoid stopovers in countries you specify... as an agony avoidance option.

andrea_s 12y ago

I'm not sure there's a point in using anything but Google Flights, to be honest... But in my experience hipmunk is among the best in the rest of a very crowded pack.

merrillii 12y ago

Being able to sort flights by "agony" was pure genius! There are so many times when I'll gladly pay $20 more for an easier flight plan.