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On a wing and a fare
By Erin Peterson
For online bargain hunters, few things may be as frustrating as
trying to find the best deal on an airline ticket. With ticket prices
that can fluctuate hundreds of dollars in a few hours, getting a good
buy can seem more like an art than a science.
A new online site developed by entrepreneur Robert Metcalf,
flyspy.com, promises to take the guesswork out of airline ticket
purchases. And with the help of professors, graduate students, and MBA
students at the Carlson School of Management, he's been able to hone
his idea, use data more effectively, and create more opportunities for
profit.
Flying Straightforward
The concept behind Flyspy is straightforward: By showing all
available flights and prices to a specific destination during a 30-day
window, it offers users a way to make more informed decisions. Users
will know to pounce on a deal today, or wait a week to pick up a
bargain.
As Metcalf worked on his project, he came across the work of Alok
Gupta, now chair of the Department of Information and Decision
Sciences, and Nelson Granados, doctoral candidate, who had done work on
information transparency strategies for online travel sites. Metcalf
contacted them, asking for help as he developed Flyspy.
Gupta says the collaboration was a perfect fit. "Since Flyspy
provides an innovative way of providing more consumable information to
consumers, our research and results were of interest to Bob," he says.
"We could help apply academic research to real-world problems in real
time."
A case competition helps entrepreneur
Granados, now a faculty member at Pepperdine, saw the work as an
opportunity for students in his Information Technology Management class
to get experience working with an entrepreneur. He created a case
competition where students' input would be considered—and possibly
implemented—by Metcalf. Over several weeks, small teams developed plans
to squeeze every dime out of the data. With guidance from Metcalf and
Granados, the teams shaped plans to the needs and limitations of the
company. The winning team, consisting of students Martin Bonsager, Igor
Chechelnitsky, Spencer Helms, Ryan Kirvida, and Katy Olson, presented
their ideas to Metcalf.
While the students drew on their
own research and used information provided by Metcalf, some of their
best ideas came from their own experiences as (often frustrated) online
ticket buyers. One idea was to use historical price data in addition to
future price data. By seeing the ebb and flow of prices in the previous
year, site visitors can gauge when to buy a ticket. Knowing it's been
cheaper in the past to travel to Jamaica in July than February, for
example, could allow people to plan ticket purchases that will give
them the best possible deal.
"There's a seasonality in airfare destination prices, and a 30-day
window might not show the optimal time of year to go to a destination,"
explains Helms. "But if consumers can see every month of year, that
might help them out."
Another recommendation was to show data for flights to cities in
broad regional swaths, rather than a single destination, to appeal to
travelers looking for ideas. For example, someone starting vacation
planning might want to visit southern Europe, but not know exactly when
or where to travel.
Creating a travel center
"We hoped to turn Flyspy into more of a travel center so that
people could come there, do their browsing, and then buy a flight,"
explains Olson. "The more repeat visitors you get, the more advertising
revenue you gain."
As the online airfare market grows increasingly competitive, such
advantages could play a crucial role in determining the success or
failure of the fledgling company. One challenge of the project, say
group members, was learning to think smaller instead of bigger. "We had
grand ideas that would take a Microsoft-sized corporation to
implement," says Bonsager. "But [Metcalf is] not Microsoft, and he
needed things that were simple and straightforward to add."
Group members are eager to learn which features Flyspy actually
implements when it formally launches this fall. They are also grateful
for the experience of working with someone in the field. "It was
motivating to work on a case where we were actually working with the
owner, going through a process, and building a relationship," says
Kirvida. "There's a sense of ownership, and having this real-world
experience will pay off down the road."
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Ryan Kirvida