Introducing GetLost: Cheap Last-Minute Travel Experiences
Through our experience-focused flight deals, we want to make cheap on-demand travel a reality for everyone
Who Are We?
GetLost is a travel startup making on-demand travel possible for everyone at affordable prices. We will give our customers the ability to choose between different experiences for their trip (e.g. Beach destination, or National Park destination) and provide them with access to exclusive deals on flights, hotels, and activities for trips departing within the next 3 weeks. Through these experience-driven last-minute trips, we enable our travelers to explore new destinations on their own time without breaking the bank.
The Way that We Book Leisure Travel Is Broken
We have all been there: you want to get away “sometime soon”, but you can’t find cheap flights to somewhere interesting and convenient. Rather than pay airlines’ high prices at the last minute, you choose to stay home. We want to fix this problem and encourage everyone to travel, explore, and make the most of their free time.
To find cheap flights we must plan months in advance, while our ability to plan ahead is now measured in hours and days (or, at best, weeks). Whether due to the need and/or desire to change jobs more frequently, the shift towards more on-demand services, or something else, we no longer regularly make plans months in advance. This makes finding an affordable vacation challenging, even for the most savvy deal hunters.
Airline ticket pricing does not align with the lifestyle of the modern traveler, who plans days and weeks ahead. When they search for potential trips two weeks before departure, they find that the tickets are priced to reflect the most common reason for last-minute travel — business. These travelers are price-insensitive, since their companies will bear the cost of the tickets. Airlines recognize this and price their flights accordingly, raising prices in the 2–3 weeks before departure. For additional reading on how airlines price their flights, see this helpful detailed explanation¹.
An analysis of domestic flight prices across 2018 reflects this problem: While the “prime booking window” of 4 months to 3 weeks before departure can offer great deals, flight prices begin to rise sharply as the departure date approaches². Research has shown a 20–30% rise in prices when booking 14 to 21 days out, and a shocking 35–60% rise in prices when booked 1 to 13 days before departure². Hopper agrees, and suggests booking at least 25 days in advance for the best prices³.
While potential leisure travelers might want to take vacations, especially spontaneous or last minute ones, they ultimately decide not to travel because it is too expensive to do so at the last minute⁴. We want to change this unfortunate situation and inspire more people to travel on their own schedules.
We believe travel can (and should) be affordable and possible on-demand. By connecting price-sensitive leisure travelers with empty airline seats to attractive destinations, our goal is to change this unfortunate situation and inspire more people to travel on their own schedules. Instead of staying at home next weekend, travel with us!
Our Solution
GetLost specializes in trips less than 3 weeks before departure. You will get to pick your type of destination (e.g. Beach or Hiking & Adventure), but won’t know your exact destination until after completing the booking. You will be able to exclude destinations you don’t want to visit, pick your departure dates, and see weather and hotel details for all of the potential destinations. This allows airlines to ensure they are only offering the best deals to price-sensitive leisure travelers — you. The booking process will be fast and easy:
- Select dates, number of travelers, and departure city (e.g. Next Friday for 2 people from JFK)
- Choose your experience (e.g. Skiing, Beach Getaway, Big City, National Park, Foodie Adventure, US History, Hiking, and more)
- Let us know whether you want to exclude any potential destinations (e.g. You skied in Tahoe last year and want to try some new slopes)
- Book your flight and discover your destination. Receive a reference-sheet/crash-course on your destination to ensure you are prepared.
- Choose to add a highly-rated hotel to your trip at an exclusive discount, as well as any desired experiences, tours, rental cars, and other add-ons (we’ll offer suggestions here).
- Book your hotel and experiences and get ready to explore your destination!
By combining flights with hotels, rental cars, local experiences, and other travel services, we ensure that you receive an accurate all-in price for your trip, and that you have all the necessary tools and resources at your fingertips. We handle the planning and logistics, while you enjoy an affordable last-minute getaway to an awesome destination. We will start with roundtrip itineraries that stay within the US, and hope to expand quickly to tackle international markets soon. Check out a sample itinerary here.
Our trips will be available starting 3 weeks before departure, until the day before departure. Instead of expensive last minute flights, we will work with the airlines to secure large discounts on flights, making on-demand travel a reality.
How does GetLost offer lower prices?
Because many travelers are tied to a specific destination, they are unable to book a mystery destination deal for their travel needs (and must instead pay the higher last-minute prices). By making the destination unknown until after booking, we remove these destination-specific travelers from the equation. Now, airlines can once again offer cheap flights, selling last-minute tickets at a discount to leisure travelers through us, while still selling more expensive tickets to destination-specific travelers on public channels. Since airlines have lots of distressed inventory (according to US Department of Transportation data, there are over 250,000 seats a day in the US alone!⁵), mystery booking enables them to fill more seats while also maximizing the benefits for flexible leisure travelers — our customers!
Ready to Go?
We’ll be launching very soon. Please sign up for our newsletter on our website. You can also email us with any questions and suggestions at contact@flygetlost.com, follow us on Twitter, or like us on Facebook. We look forward to making on-demand travel a reality soon!
References
- What the Airlines Never Tell You About Airfares, CheapAir, 2016. https://www.cheapair.com/blog/what-the-airlines-never-tell-you-about-airfares/
- CheapAir.com’s 5th Annual Airfare Study Reveals the Best Time to Buy Airline Tickets, CheapAir, 2019. https://www.cheapair.com/blog/cheapair-coms-5th-annual-airfare-study-reveals-the-best-time-to-buy-airline-tickets/
- How Far in Advance Should You Book Your Flight?, Hopper, 2017. https://media.hopper.com/articles/how-far-in-advance-should-you-book-your-flight
- Customer interviews and market research
- Air Carrier Statistics, Department of Transportation, 2019. https://www.transtats.bts.gov/Tables.asp?DB_ID=111
