State Of The Passrider Flight Schedules

Kerwin McKenzie Flight Schedule 26 Comments

So this past week have been a trying one to say the least. We worked hard at developing the next phase of the Flight Schedule application, but for some reason some of you don’t seem to like it :-).

 

The State Of The Passrider Flight

 

 

So, sorry about that.

 

It’s tough as we beta tested it for a few months and got no negative feedback, actually extremely little feedback at all. We posted the information here on the site, in our newsletter as well as on social media.

 

So we launched it and wham!

 

And yes, we did test it ourselves :-). But we don’t use it the way you do, we try to, and that is what we were trying to gather during the beta testing phase.

 

Unfortunately, making it correct is not a quick solution and we cannot simply revert to the previous desktop format. But rest assured we are working on making the current interface suit your needs.

 

Based on your feedback, we are looking at placing a Print button on the page so it will just print the schedule info (since that seems to be an issue) and we’ve removed the scrolling issue and have also fixed the excessive white space issue. go to https://www.passrider.com/reservations/advanced-search/.

 

Flight Schedule - Desktop Interface

 

​Each time we make changes on Passrider.com, we always get the question, why? As humans, we hate change, but usually our disgust does pass as the immediate issues are resolved. It’s just very painful in the early stages as something we know, trust and love has changed and so has our world.

 

So why did we make the changes? What do airlines change their livery when seemingly its fine?

 

In our case, as always, we want to provide you the best information going forward so this change is necessary as were previous changes. Just so you don’t think we did this to upset you, as I guarantee we did not, although it seems that way, here are some features of the new Application which are shrouded by the interface issues:

  1. You now have a seven-day window on a schedule; this is helpful for airlines who do not have daily service to a destination in case you are bumped and can’t make it out
  2. Now you can see the operating airline in case you don’t have any agreement with that airline which means you can’t ride that metal
  3. You can see interline options; i.e. a combination of different airlines to your destination. The default is not to show any interline options. Users have always asked how come I can see connections that involve one airline coming into Chicago and another leaving? So now you do.
  4. You can filter out codeshares if you so desire. The default is to not show codeshares. Remember we have different users, so we have to cater to almost everyone.
  5. A Via filter is now available so you can see only connections via a particular city
  6. And if you are a paid subscriber, you can now save you preferences (i.e. all the options on the flight schedule) and each time you are signed in, the system will remember your preferences. Pretty soon, as a paid subscriber, you’ll be able to email and/or export the schedule.

We have many users and each of you use the service in a different manner, so while you may not like how something looks or works as an individual, we have to look at it from the whole and try to please as many people as possible, even those who hate to give feedback and are always quiet.

 

We’ve seen comments about why is it taking so long and why do you have so many ads which clutters the site? I want to address these concerns.

 

At Passrider.com, we have a small team that makes it all work, ads are needed to ensure that we keep functioning. This is why I usually ask that you support our advertisers and also create additional functionality and services for Premium members. Some of you have done so and we appreciate it a lot.

Change is slow as with each change we have to test and release the change and then monitor your feedback as well. We know the service is important to you, so we are not sitting back and ignoring you. We are diligently working on every reported issue. When all you say is “its awful’ or “its horrible,” we hear you, but we can’t do anything with those comments as we need more detail. what is awful? How horrible is horrible? What are you trying to accomplish that you could before? What browser do you use? Do you have screenshots? Giving us any detail helps a very long way. And many of you have done this with your comments. So thank you.

I think one comment mentioned to remove the comment section, but then we would not be able to see your comments and neither would others, so its a double-edged sword. But it has us thinking about how we can allow you to give feedback and also see the schedules.

We could have decided to remove all comments, but that would help neither of us as from the get go, I always want your feedback and I continue to do so. You are a very vocal group and I appreciate that.

 

So to wrap up, we are working diligently to fix the issues, so keep checking back.  If you can’t see the desktop version properly on your mobile, try using the mobile version at http://mobile.passrider.com. And yes, we do realize that your mobile devices are not auto-sensing the mobile version and yes we are working on that.

 

Flight Schedule: Mobile Interface

 

If you have any additional comments, insights, issues, etc. please of course feel free to leave them below and we will addresses them.

 

We appreciate your continued support and your patience.

 

Kerwin
Passrider.com

Comments 26

    1. Post
      Author
  1. My biggest issue with the new schedule application is the duration column seems to be incorrect. I just did a search from MSP to MAF and it lists two flights leaving at the same time with a connection through IAH, one arriving 2.5 hours earlier with the same duration listed. Duration is a huge advantage to know! Maybe I am misunderstanding something.

  2. My biggest issue with the new schedule application is the duration column seems to be incorrect. I just did a search from MSP to MAF and it lists two flights leaving at the same time with a connection through IAH, one arriving 2.5 hours earlier with the same duration listed. Duration is a huge advantage to know! Maybe I am misunderstanding something.

  3. Hi kerwin
    new schedule format works just need a way to print that and select a size so I can put it in my pocket for quick reference on my commute days.  this allows me not to have to wait for a slow connection on dumbphone while trying to run for a plan B commuter flight. 

    1. Post
      Author
  4. Hi kerwin
    new schedule format works just need a way to print that and select a size so I can put it in my pocket for quick reference on my commute days.  this allows me not to have to wait for a slow connection on dumbphone while trying to run for a plan B commuter flight. 

  5. Why did you change the format to being so complicated?
    I can’t figure out what airline is what, It was WAY, WAY better before.

    1. Post
      Author

      Hi Greg,
      Thank you for your feedback.
      You can see above our rationale for making the changes.

      When you say you can’t figure out what airline is what; what exactly do you mean?

      The information you had before did not provide all the details that was needed as when you clicked on the flight numbers, you received an error. Please take a look at the current interface and let me know what about the old interface that you need that is not on this new interface. Yes, you now have airline code instead of the full airline name, but in order to give you a more compact interface so you can print on a pace, we had to go with just the airline code. The full airline name can be seen in the details section.
      We’ve even added a Print Schedule link.

      Kerwin
      http://www.Passrider.com
      http://www.Facebook.com/Passrider

  6. Why did you change the format to being so complicated?
    I can’t figure out what airline is what, It was WAY, WAY better before.

  7. Hi,
    Thanks so much for creating a flight schedule search tool,. It has been an incredibly helpful tool. 

    Unfortunately, whatever is going on now is broken! Every search I try just locks up my browser (ipad safari)
    It has been this way for several days.

    I previously loved the quick simple search. Two city pairs and go!
    Yes,  the new filters are in some ways helpful, but leave that for advanced searches. Especially if it is going to slow things down. When running between flights getting information fast is critical.

    Thanks 

    1. Post
      Author

      Hi Jack,

      Thank you for your feedback and your comments.
      We’ve had some issues over this week with the site being hacked, the flight schedule engine being down and trying to fix the interface based on user feedback.
      Our apologies for the inconvenience.

      All three items should now be rectified although we are still tweaking the interface. You should now see a Print Schedules button once you receive the schedule results. Let us know if that works for you.
      You can still enter your city pair and search, that has not changed; the new items are all defaults to the most commonly searched parameters, which is what it did before in the background. What is it that you have to change to get your search that you did not have to change before?

      Kerwin
      http://www.Passrider.com.
      http://www.Facebook.com/Passrider

  8. Hi,
    Thanks so much for creating a flight schedule search tool,. It has been an incredibly helpful tool. 

    Unfortunately, whatever is going on now is broken! Every search I try just locks up my browser (ipad safari)
    It has been this way for several days.

    I previously loved the quick simple search. Two city pairs and go!
    Yes,  the new filters are in some ways helpful, but leave that for advanced searches. Especially if it is going to slow things down. When running between flights getting information fast is critical.

    Thanks 

    1. Hi Jack,

      Thank you for your feedback and your comments.
      We’ve had some issues over this week with the site being hacked, the flight schedule engine being down and trying to fix the interface based on user feedback.
      Our apologies for the inconvenience.

      All three items should now be rectified although we are still tweaking the interface. You should now see a Print Schedules button once you receive the schedule results. Let us know if that works for you.
      You can still enter your city pair and search, that has not changed; the new items are all defaults to the most commonly searched parameters, which is what it did before in the background. What is it that you have to change to get your search that you did not have to change before?

      Kerwin
      http://www.Passrider.com.
      http://www.Facebook.com/Passrider

    1. Post
      Author
  9. The new site is extremely slow.  It’s painful.  Honestly, I can’t bear it.  Please don’t try to get too cute with it.  The simplicity is one of the best parts about this site, at least historically.  Now there is so much BS all over the screen – it’s a maze of garbage.  All I ever wanted was to see every flight between two cities and what airline is flying it.  Code shares are worthless.  The type of airplane the airline is using is nice to know.  “Nonstop”, “nonstop or one stop”, and “1+ stops” are the three options we’d like to be able to search, but honestly if all you had were nonstops, we could figure everything that we needed out with a little more time.  

  10. The new site is extremely slow.  It’s painful.  Honestly, I can’t bear it.  Please don’t try to get too cute with it.  The simplicity is one of the best parts about this site, at least historically.  Now there is so much BS all over the screen – it’s a maze of garbage.  All I ever wanted was to see every flight between two cities and what airline is flying it.  Code shares are worthless.  The type of airplane the airline is using is nice to know.  “Nonstop”, “nonstop or one stop”, and “1 stops” are the three options we’d like to be able to search, but honestly if all you had were nonstops, we could figure everything that we needed out with a little more time.  

  11. Is there a way to see all the destinations out of one particular airport? For example, I would like to know every flight leaving LGA on a certain day regardless of the destinations. 

    1. Post
      Author

      Hi Walt,

      Thanks for the comment.

      At the moment, no, but we are working on this. It will take a lot of resources especially for very large airports, so I have to think of how to get this done the most efficiently way without bogging down the servers.

      I am working on a list of destinations from each airport though, which we will have completed next week hopefully.
      This is a part of the Premium section of the site though.

      Thanks.
      Kerwin
      http://www.Passrider.com
      http://www.Facebook.com/Passrider

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