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Nice idea. How will you get people to come to you for each flight since you have the disadvantage of not being part of the purchase flow? Maybe integration with email so you can suggest insurance for each new flight that the customer has booked?
@hey_arne Hi Sarah... great suggestion. Ultimately we want to be a "check-the-box" everywhere airline tickets are sold. Today we operate as a stand-alone website, but we're looking to form partnerships so customers can purchase our services even more quickly and easily. Email is another great way of interacting with potential customers who are traveling, but most people have concerns about privacy. We're still exploring ideas and are open to suggestions!
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As a frequent flyer, this can be an incredibly useful tool to have as some sort of "insurance" in case current flights were to be delayed or canceled. Although I imagine it would be very difficult, I wonder if Freebird could be integrated into the actual buying stage of airline tickets? Will be keeping an eye out for this!
@remmeltvantol Great question. We want to help travelers have better travel experiences. In order to pursue our mission, we focus on providing value while our users are on their trip, rather than competing to acquire them before they travel. It allows us to align ourselves with customers and be a trusted resource, rather than just another transaction website.
@ethanzbernstein Thanks for your answer. So aren't you afraid that the KAYAK's and Hipmunk's will add this as an additional service to their costumers? Anyways I really like the product.
@remmeltvantol We have built a sophisticated risk model that helps to dynamically price Freebird for customers on a flight-by-flight basis based on the underlying riskiness of the flight (the fixed-price promotion is temporary). We think we are uniquely positioned to take this approach. Thanks for the questions Remmelt.
I imagine an option where I could buy this for everyone coming to an event would be great.. For example, someone can't afford to buy 100 RT flights to their wedding, but they could afford $2k to make sure every guests arriving flight worked out and if they needed last minute rerouting, etc. it didn't disrupt the event.
I could see you integrating with event ticket sales sites as an upsell. "Flying to see Phish in NYC for New Years? Try Freebird."
I invested in this company because during my 7 years working on the sales team at Facebook I was traveling to see advertising clients 100+ days per year and always ran in to delays and cancellations (especially in the winter since I was living in NYC and Boston). Most airlines will only allow you to re-book ON THEIR OWN flights if your original flight has a travel interruption (cancellation or long delay). Because I had to wait for the next flight from the same airline, the soonest I could get to my designation was usually much later in the day or, more likely, the NEXT day. I loved the Freebird idea when I first learned about it because there is likely another flight on a DIFFERENT airline going to your destination sooner than when you would be able to get there on your original airline. So, if my United flight is cancelled, I can just use Freebird to walk over to the Delta terminal and hop on the very next flight without needing to buy another full priced ticket.
@kevincolleran Thanks Kevin... we're excited to have you as an investor! Although we never like to hear travel horror stories, it's what keeps us motivated. Our mission is to empower travelers to have better travel experiences.
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At first I thought I was buying 'credits' for using against flight delays at any point (I was hoping it'll be a monthly/annual subscription model of some kind). Turns out you need to specify your itinerary and this is essentially tied to just that itinerary.
Pretty much a gamble (much like insurance like @iambarronroth mentioned) but I like how it doesn't throw 100 clauses that would not allow you to use it - like rain/maintenance/other factors in delays etc.
the numbers must make ridiculous sense or else they are going to just lose money while giving their early adopters free flights. I can't imagine this being a bootstrap-able/cash flow positive startup like the jet's of the world until ridiculous numbers of customers. nothing against the service though!
on second thought, the margins/referral fees on last minute bookings may be so ridiculous that their "cost per rebooking" isn't actually that exorbitant. hope it takes off... =p
@taylorhou Hi Taylor. We bootstrapped this business for months, actively selling our product, before raising money. Keep in mind, the current pricing is only a winter promotion. Following the promotion, we will be dynamically pricing Freebird on a flight-by-flight basis, based on the underlying riskiness of each flight. There is a lot we still need to figure out, but early signs are positive.
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