Escape Flight is a new travel site/service that flips the traditional model of planning and booking travel online. Rather than start with a destination in mind, Escape Flight asks the user what attributes they're looking for in a getaway. As their site descibes, Escape flight is 'a free service that has been specifically designed for people in big cities who need a last-minute getawar, but can't afford to do all the ground work themselves. We have created a one-stop, travel-agent-defying algorithm that considers; your personal interests, the weather, your preferred airport, flight times, potential destinations (...including how easy they are to reach), even if there is an event on you might like, and of course not forgetting the cost.'
This idea isn't necessarily new, in fact there was a great piece of Miami Ad School student work that was similar, but based strictly on the weather requirements of the traveler. I believe that I've also seen this sort of functionality buried in the booking options of other airlines sites. The point is that none of the major travel players are really thinking about how to meet the needs of the traveler in non-traditional ways. Escape Flight have brought the idea of interest/attribute based travel booking to the forefront in a both delightful and useful way. It's crazy to me that big travel brands or travel aggregators aren't leading the way in terms of providing this sort of functionality as it resolves an inherent tension in the current travel process as well as serving an unmet need for potential travelers.
Posted by: Reuben Halper
This idea isn't necessarily new, in fact there was a great piece of Miami Ad School student work that was similar, but based strictly on the weather requirements of the traveler. I believe that I've also seen this sort of functionality buried in the booking options of other airlines sites. The point is that none of the major travel players are really thinking about how to meet the needs of the traveler in non-traditional ways. Escape Flight have brought the idea of interest/attribute based travel booking to the forefront in a both delightful and useful way. It's crazy to me that big travel brands or travel aggregators aren't leading the way in terms of providing this sort of functionality as it resolves an inherent tension in the current travel process as well as serving an unmet need for potential travelers.
Posted by: Reuben Halper
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