Should be possible; we won't know exactly what each airline considers the exact mileage, but we can could the great circle distance.
Even a generic calculator like webflyer.com 's version would work, just to at least get a rough idea. If someone needs to measure to a mile, they can probably confirm it with other sources, but I was thinking in general terms.
hipmunk: Why do you code EVA (BR) as a *A carrier? I thought that they only announced their application, not that they were accepted.
We don't. Unless you specifically instruct Hipmunk to hide all flights besides your preferred alliance, we still show other alliances' options if they have better schedules or fares.
With the unfortunate end of ITA matrix1, I was realived to hear that Hipmunk launch a similar version with the added benefit of a link to purchase tickets. Is there a way to do multiple city searches. For example in ITA we could have done JFK;BOS;MIA in the search city parameter so it would look for flights departing either JFK, or Boston or Miami. Any way to do this in Hipmunk. Also hoping that you will one day add the ability to do fare bucket levles such as ITA's /f bc=X
I tried a couple of different things. I tried FRA;LHR;BUD;MAD (semicolons between each city) and it said "those airport are too far apart" I also tried as I would in ITA JFK;BOS;MIA::AA+ and it said "that might be broken, or a little to complex" What is the correct syntax for doing a range of cities for the destination or origin? Is there a help page which lists sample commands that one could use? Suggestion for syntax?
Aha! We currently don't support searches from airports in different timezones. In the second case, just use commas instead of semicolons.
Just another vote for fare class search to be added... If you guys get this, you'll be the only way for people to reliably book SFO-ORD in W class online for DEQM.
It looks encouraging so far but to make Hipmunk into the killer tool we need, more work needs to be done on the search facilities: search by fare basis (already suggested) search by booking class (already suggested) target specific flights (e.g. BA115) within a date range to check availability multiple sectors - at least 4 required (already suggested) combining multiple sets of search criteria like those above wider timeframes for searching flights (see below) support for all the options that ITA Software Route Language supports. These include codeshare, minconnect (which can force fares to be shown that allow stopovers using e.g."minconnect 1440") and connection points. While keeping the simple point to point search box Hipmunk needs an "advanced interface" where the search can be expanded to include this additional data. And wider data entry boxes. The advanced data then needs to be transferred e.g. to Orbitz so that flights can be booked. Let me try to explain why the advanced search facilities are so important. Firstly, no one else is offering this in a user friendly manner. The new ITA Matrix is impossible to use for advanced searches in the way that the old Matrix could be used. However, the old Matrix was not user friendly. Hipmunk can make itself the leader by combining an easy to use simple search and, behind it, powerful yet user friendly search facilities - both leading to a way to book the tickets. If Hipmunk offers this, word will spread: I take long distance flights, often stopping over at intermediate points and returning after some weeks or months. I do not necessarily know on what date I will return, so I want to pick a return date well in advance when seats are available at a low fare. Some flights operate only weekly or twice weekly; in July/August seats are hard to find. The default search is biased to find the cheapest fare from each carrier. This is not always appropriate. The lowest fares often allow no stopovers or changes, but that's not apparent. If I am flying long distance I might be combining business or pleasure in two or three places. I need a ticket that's changeable or it may be that the cheapest class is full on certain dates on one or more sectors so I want to choose other dates. So ... restricting the search to + or - 2 days is often almost useless. It needs a flexible period of up to at least 15 days or preferably 1 month, otherwise irregular or weekly flights are not detected. Many trips and departures are quite flexible. One can argue that complex searches use too much data, but so do repeated searches ending in nothing suitable. The end goal should be targeted searches leading to results and bookings. I'll give you an example. Right now I am trying to travel on AlItalia to Beirut, via Rome. The cheapest fare, which is the only one on AlItalia that's shown by Hipmunk, allows no changes. I don't know how long I am going to stay in Beirut so I need a changeable ticket ... but there is no way I can tell Hipmunk to show me a higher fare. Hipmunk links to Orbit to book the flights but only right on the very last page is there an option to show the fare restrictions and it offers a ticket that cannot be changed, whereas for some €80 more I know I can buy a changeable ticket. Yet I have no way to purchase this ticket online. This stuff matters! By all means PM me and I shall be happy to explain anything further.
Wow, thank you for your thorough suggestions! We know we've got a long way to go before being the frequent flyer's go-to tool, but this is super useful in guiding our work.
It would be great if we can search weekends (like kayak) with options like friday pm to monday am, friday pm to sunday pm etc. That can be more generic as well like search for flights leaving every monday for the month of may and returning some other day.
You can already do a calendar search for, say, a two night trip +/1 one day. I actually think this is better than a weekend search since it includes all the weekends in a month AND lets you know if it might be worth it to take an extra vacation day and leave on Thursday because the fare is $200 less. A true weekend search a la Kayak is unnecessarily restrictive in my opinion, and I have never used this feature on Kayak. The only problem is you can't use advanced routing language with a calendar search, but depending on the market this may not be an issue. You can always restrict the airlines displayed once you reach the results page.
I need to get down to this part of MP more often ... did not know there was a Hipmunk forum! Have happily been on Hipmunk for well over a year now and find the graphical interface the best thing out there.
I agree with that. I signed up with Hipmunk quite some time ago, but just haven't used it. Today, I'm feeling my way around the Hipmunk matrix, learning, and making mistakes, as I go, but learning. I found a fare on UA with 3 connections, ie, more miles and segments, at a better price than on the UA site. Not easy routing to OGG from PIA.
