Native (beta)

@andrewhyde where were you traveling? How fast was their response times?

@chrismessina I was traveling (Baja). They were quick to confirm that they were on a task and completed all of them within an hour. It was a lot of the travel trudge tasks and they did them all. Now using them for future trip research and booking.

@andrewhyde awesome. Interested to give them a go!

@chrismessina @andrewhyde I wonder what "difficulty level" were the tasks and what type of arrangements make people confident that they can't accomplish those on their own.

@devontivona A few questions: a. Pricing is it 10 (or later 20) per month with a minimum monthly/annual commitment or is it month to month? b. Is there a cap of any kind (eg the number of searches you'd do for trip research/prior to booking) c. Why would someone choose your service if they have a World/World Elite MasterCard which gives them access to the Mastercard Concierge Travel App (https://itunes.apple.com/app/id8...) + other benefits/discounts for around the same annual cost as yours? (Same question for Visa Signature card holders who have access to complimentary travel concierges via phone, not an app).

@devontivona love this and something we've been thinking about for some time. are you guys connecting to any GDS providers to pull inventory for hotels and flights or simply acting as a personal conceirge for travelers via a human touch?

@anujadhiya Hi Anuj! a. For PH'ers, the price is $10 a month for life, with no annual commitment (month to month). When we officially launch, the service is $20 a month. b. No cap, we are happy to help with as much travel as you can stand! c. We have found that these card perk programs (World Elite, Amex Centurion, Visa Signature, etc.) don't have nearly the local and travel expertise that makes this type of product useful. We are building a global network of personal travel assistants, who can tap into our growing content database of accommodations, local recommendations, travel tips, etc. Additionally, we have API integrations with 100+ amazing travel products, which help us deliver an incredible experience for our users. These partners help us provide a higher quality and more diverse offering than CC concierges. For CC companies, their concierge service is a perk designed to increase spending, meaning it doesn't get nearly the attention that we give our core product. Because our users pay us, providing an incredible travel experience for them is our top priority. Thanks for the questions!

@daveambrose Hi Dave, we do not currently integrate with any GDS providers—we want to make sure we structure that relationship in the correct way, considering the strange position that these providers hold in today's world of direct-to-consumer booking sites like Kayak and Expedia. To be frank, I'd like to see us doing far more automation with regards to booking in the future. Today, when we receive an itinerary request we programmatically check 50+ consumer booking sites and send the request to a network of travel agents. We compare these offerings and deliver the best to the user. We hold an interesting middle-market position; today, consumers can either do all the logistics themselves using internet tools, or they can spend a lot on travel agents (who have specialized and raised prices to compete). We sit right in the middle of these offerings, and we can appropriate the best of both to build our product. I'm not entirely convinced that a GDS integration is our best option—but who knows! It is still early days for us. Do you have thoughts or experience with GDS providers?

@devontivona how are you building out your agent pool? Are you subcontracting this work, or are you hiring your own workforce? I'm curious what this kind of work pays, and how you recruit for this kind of position. Consider my curiousity piqued!

@tectonic they are updating that. I think $20 was the public price point and $10 for early customers.

@tectonic After launch the service will be $20/mo, but we are offering $10/mo for life for users who join us for the private pre-launch.

@devontivona thanks! do you help with "travel" inside the city where I live too? Like, finding restaurants, etc.?

@tectonic We can definitely help with recommendations inside cities. We don't distinguish between cities you are visiting and your home city, so we would be happy to help you find hidden gems around you.