Enlisting the crowds to help find the cheapest airfare

Australian Flightfox taps the crowds to save travelers an average of AUD 369 on their trips.

There’s a virtual sea of travel sites out there promising to find consumers the cheapest flights, but most rely on search engines to come up with their suggestions. Australian Flightfox, on the other hand, taps the crowds instead and says it saves travelers an average of AUD 369 on their trips. Users of Flightfox begin by creating a contest on the site for the trip they plan to take, including setting a contest duration of one to five days and committing a refundable finder’s fee of AUD 29. Once the contest is posted, Flightfox’s competing “flight hackers,” as it calls them, scour the web personally in search of the best and cheapest flights. With expertise in ways to cut fees, taxes and surcharges, among other strategies, participating hackers typically shave AUD 369 off of the price of the average trip, Flightfox says. When the user books their trip, the winning flight hacker gets awarded the fee promised up front. The crowds continue to provide a helping hand when it comes to an ever-increasing range of consumer needs. Where could the crowds find a better way in your niche or industry? Spotted by: Murray Orange