Post: #1

I was just thinking about a biz idea for some of the younger guys out there:

Create a "travel agency" of sorts for "International Playboy" types like myself.

One of the biggest hurdles for me is to plan my trips.

Search for flights? I hate doing that.

Searching for 6 hours for an apartment in the best part of town? I don't have time for that noize.

Figuring out the nightclubs? Give me a little head start.

(Hell, this could even be expanded to generating some online girl leads for the cat a head of time. Sort of like "E-Pimping". I wouldn't be interested in this part, but I am sure some might.)

I just need someone to piece this sh*t together for me.

Hell, 90% of the info and data sheets you can put together you can probably get from this site. (You probably want to give Roosh a cut of the action though).

If I told someone my dates and country and they came back to me with:

1. A sick apartment in the dopest part of town
2. A list of nightclubs and nights
3. Best plane ticket options
4. Other good Data Sheet info

I would pay for it.

I think there could be a biz here. Sure you are not going to be the next Foursquare or Groupon, but hell, it could def generate some walking around money. (Plus, you would learn tons).

Especially if the information was legit, and vouched for by others well respected G's.

Maybe the market would be super small. I don't know.

Mixx, would you pay for this?

Houligan Harry?

Post: #2

Interesting idea, looking forward to seeing some answers. I imagine the majority on here wouldn't pay for someone to work out that info for them as it's easily gleaned by reading a few topics on here or asking some questions. Not so say many others wouldn't pay for a similar service though.

Post: #3

Interesting idea, I like it.

G, do you intend to make the publicity explicitly aimed for men in this niche? I have a feeling that if its the case, the travel agency (even though it could generate good income) would have a certain kind of 'frown upon'. Or is it just me?

Post: #4

I would pay for that info. Planning trips constantly is a part-time job. And even after all the research it's still hit or miss until you get there and figure shit out.

Post: #5

(01-04-2012 07:19 PM)FretDancer Wrote:  Interesting idea, I like it.

G, do you intend to make the publicity explicitly aimed for men in this niche? I have a feeling that if its the case, the travel agency (even though it could generate good income) would have a certain kind of 'frown upon'. Or is it just me?

I didn't come up with this as a thing for me to do, I came up with the idea because it seems like it would offer a solution.

I would be a client. And I thought it could get the gears turning of some of the younger cats on here.

That being said, I guess it could be for others outside of this "niche", I guess it would be up to whoever got it up and running.

(01-04-2012 07:35 PM)hun73r Wrote:  I would pay for that info. Planning trips constantly is a part-time job. And even after all the research it's still hit or miss until you get there and figure shit out.

Yeah, and I personally cannot stand searching for flights on the internet, and waiting for those travel sights while they are thinking.

Makes me want to stab myself in the eyeball with a Kershaw Leek Knife.

And then you don't know if you over paid or you could have got a better route.

Bottom line is, I don't have time for that crap. So that kind of data is worth spending money on for someone like me.

I know plumbing and I can change out a sink and garbage disposal, but you are tripping if I am still going to do that myself these days.

Post: #6

If your going for comfort and know when and where you want to go, http://www.hipmunk.com is awesome and simple. It's a tech community darling. Hipmunk also has a one month search.

If you want to explore a bit, kayak.com has an awesome map interface to show flights from a certain airport to the rest of the world and the prices: http://www.kayak.com/explore/. You'll quickly know which routes are cheapest and when. Huge Airport/City -> Huge Airport/City is always the cheapest, and flights to continental flying centers are the cheapest out of those usually. For europe it's london, north america is NYC on the east coast and LAX on the west coast and Seoul/Narita/Shanghai in east asia, Kuala Lumpur/Bangkok in South East Asia. I don't know what it is for the rest of the world.

Those are the only two websites I use. When I'm SEA I just use their low cost carriers and be done with it. AirAsia $50 one way flights to various countries is really common.

Post: #7

(01-05-2012 12:46 AM)ersatz Wrote:  If your going for comfort and know when and where you want to go, http://www.hipmunk.com is awesome and simple. It's a tech community darling. Hipmunk also has a one month search.

If you want to explore a bit, kayak.com has an awesome map interface to show flights from a certain airport to the rest of the world and the prices: http://www.kayak.com/explore/. You'll quickly know which routes are cheapest and when. Huge Airport/City -> Huge Airport/City is always the cheapest, and flights to continental flying centers are the cheapest out of those usually. For europe it's london, north america is NYC on the east coast and LAX on the west coast and Seoul/Narita/Shanghai in east asia, Kuala Lumpur/Bangkok in South East Asia. I don't know what it is for the rest of the world.

Those are the only two websites I use. When I'm SEA I just use their low cost carriers and be done with it. AirAsia $50 one way flights to various countries is really common.

Good tips.

I have looked at that hipmunk site before and didn't get it at all.

I just checked it again, its kind of confusing (I am admittedly very low tech).

Does it pretty much pull up the best deal possible?

Can you break it down a little?

Post: #8

On it. Give me three days to write a business plan and get things rolling.

Post: #9

Whats a good price to charge in you alls opinion>

Post: #10

undefined

Post: #11

(01-05-2012 01:49 AM)thegmanifesto Wrote:  

(01-05-2012 12:46 AM)ersatz Wrote:  If your going for comfort and know when and where you want to go, http://www.hipmunk.com is awesome and simple. It's a tech community darling. Hipmunk also has a one month search.

If you want to explore a bit, kayak.com has an awesome map interface to show flights from a certain airport to the rest of the world and the prices: http://www.kayak.com/explore/. You'll quickly know which routes are cheapest and when. Huge Airport/City -> Huge Airport/City is always the cheapest, and flights to continental flying centers are the cheapest out of those usually. For europe it's london, north america is NYC on the east coast and LAX on the west coast and Seoul/Narita/Shanghai in east asia, Kuala Lumpur/Bangkok in South East Asia. I don't know what it is for the rest of the world.

Those are the only two websites I use. When I'm SEA I just use their low cost carriers and be done with it. AirAsia $50 one way flights to various countries is really common.

Good tips.

I have looked at that hipmunk site before and didn't get it at all.

I just checked it again, its kind of confusing (I am admittedly very low tech).

Does it pretty much pull up the best deal possible?

Can you break it down a little?

Hipmunk sorts flights in various ways, but what's special about hipmunk is that it sorts by 'agony'. Basically it tries to find the easiest, shortest flight without it being too expensive from top to bottom, something that you'd probably appreciate with your schedule. When you do a search, it shows flights on a time chart, so it's obvious at a glance when and how long each flight will be. It lets you easily select each leg instead of combining them all, and highlights the cheapest flight in blue.

Goes like this:
Put in your flight details, choose your outgoing flight (click on a flight bar), choose your return flight, click buy for $XXX on XXXX. You'll then go to another website that will go through all the billing and paperwork.

I think what you want basically is the Player's Flight Agent/Concierge.

Here's an example where the cheapest flight also happens to be the least agonizing one, but it's also air china. If you want to avoid air china, you can go pay $200 more and go with hawaian and leave at 9:30am vs 1:00am.
http://www.hipmunk.com/#!SFO.MNL,May04.May22

Here's one from LAX to Montreal. You can pay $200 more and save 2 hours and fly direct. Or you can go with the first choice, which sounds pretty reasonable comparing.
http://www.hipmunk.com/#!LAX.YMQ,May04.May22

Or you can save another $200, fly to BVT and drive 2 hours to montreal with a rental car:
http://www.hipmunk.com/#!LAX.BTV,May04.May22

Another thing the concierge can do is check which seat is the best on the airplane your flying on (seatguru.com) and choose it for you.

Post: #12

I would DEFINITELY pay for a service like this!

I don't like "shopping around" for the best deals when I'm in a new city, I want to settle in as fast as I can and get on with experiencing whatever the city has to offer and get on with what I planned on going there to do.

Example: I landed in Bogota Tuesday night, thankfully I have a close friend to show me around and help me find a language school and apartment. So we went to the first school to check it out, its nice (good teachers, modern building, in a cool part of town, activities, etc) and my friend asks "well its nice but do you want to check out some other ones?" fuck no, I gave them my Visa and paid for two weeks on the spot.

Same deal with the apartment, we went to look at one last night, my friend thought it would be good because it was near the school and it was "cheap", it was a fucking dump! Then we went and looked at another one today (found it thanks to Mixx!) and it was nice (more expensive at around $950 USD), again my friend asks if I want to "look around" fuck no, I paid for it on the spot and I will move in tomorrow.

So, for me anyway, I'm not a "high roller" or a ballin' big spender but I'm not a penny pinching backpacker (I had my days as one of those!) and I don't mind spending a few bucks to get nice things, quick and easy!

This is a niche market that needs to be tapped, hopefully I can find someone to help me out when I hit up other Colombian cities such as Medellin and on the Caribbean coast!

Post: #13

I do things like this for my buddies out of the kindness of my heart, to think there are strangers out there that would put money up for it...going to direct my friends to this thread next time they hit me up for travel info and I reply with a dollar amount...

Post: #14

Well, there your go young G's.

I just gave you a biz idea and your first three clients.

No excuses.

Post: #15

Good idea. When you travel fast you end up spending a large percentage of time booking for the next city.

Post: #16

After lurking a bit, I found this.

Anyone would like to help me start this up? I only have internet on my phone, but I would love trying this out with some members on here.

Post: #17

I live in Santiago. Guys used to email me all the time, asking me to show them around and help them out. We would go out for a beer and when the check came for the beers, they would always look the other way. Too cheap to pay for a beer.

Best times I had when traveling to another country, is always when I know someone there.

Post: #18

Rosca, 100 percent down for that PM me your skype info and we can have a chat about starting this up asap.

Post: #19

I'd also be interested in a service like this....

Post: #20

How would you market this without either attracting sex tourists or being branded a sex tourist?

Post: #21

(06-06-2012 09:27 PM)WesternCancer Wrote:  How would you market this without either attracting sex tourists or being branded a sex tourist?

Well during the Skype meeting between Prodigy and I, we've decided to give the service to the forum members first. We have to please the pond before we can please the ocean my friend. We'll think of the larger market after after we've gained experience with the small market (the forum).

We're still in the works on how we're going to execute the service, but I can say that the price of our service will be really affordable.

50 dollars. Tips will be gladly appreciated!

Post: #22

This reminds me of those Big Game lodges in the midwest where rich folks pay local hunters to line up their ducks for them, so to speak. There's a market for this sort of thing for a young entrepreneur.

Post: #23

I would definitely like to get in on a hustle this. I've been traveling around for the last couple months. and have figured it it out all the ins and outs of traveling. Finding the cheapest most efficient way to get around.
Where to stay ect.
I got a deal on an apartment next to an embassy in budapest just last week for 20usd a night.
.. almost to the point that I hate having to give my friends help cause they have no sense of direction.

hell even my moms best friend, who is a travel agent says I sometimes get a better deal than she can work out.

I think the best way to handle this would be to flat rate for the work such as information and a small commission off of the logistics.
Example 20 dollars initial but if the flights or purchases are high dollar 5 percent.

Everything can be negotiated though.
The best opportunities always boil down to how flexible you are on dates to how much you want to budget.

either way this sounds like and interesting idea. Considering next month I'll be state side and back to a boring life for a while.

Just send me a pm or say something here

Post: #24

PMed you about it Source. I'm feeling pretty good about this little business thing. We need your experience at this shit man.

Also props to G for throwing the idea out there.

Post: #25

(06-07-2012 10:19 AM)Rosca Wrote:  PMed you about it Source. I'm feeling pretty good about this little business thing. We need your experience at this shit man.

Also props to G for throwing the idea out there.

See now this is a kid who is going places.

He has Respect.

Here is another idea for you:

You might want to include services, like sending people things from America ie American smokes, medicine, vitamins etc that are difficult to get in other countries.

Just an idea.