I've used it twice. Once for a Seattle -> Berlin -> Munich -> Seattle trip. Another time for my honeymoon (Seattle -> Krabi -> Tokyo -> Seattle)

Both times I found business class tickets for not a crazy spread over coach retail and significantly below the business class prices I was finding on my own.

I've had great experiences both times. For complex / long haul flights where you want to find a cheap business class seat, I'd recommend them without question. I'm a big fan of flightfox.

I used it a 1.5 years ago, during the competitive phase, for a two destination trip on a different continent. I came away not entirely thrilled by the results of the experts. After paying the fee, what they found was slightly cheaper than what I was able to do independently, but had a funkier itinerary that didn't justify the slight price reduction (that may have been actually offset by the cost of using the service).

That said, I did receive tremendous feedback from Todd. Reading this post has me reassured that he and his team are on the right track.

My wishes—

I wish I had the money and time to seek out such types of fares/trips more often so that I could try the service again. I may have one such trip coming up but I still feel reluctant paying a fee up front for what might not turn into anything.

I wish FlightFox/someone would offer services to deal with the airlines' kerfuffle on multi-destination, multi-carrier flights. I swear, if you have to deal with any inconveniences in a situation like this, it is 100% "Hi, this is ABC Airlines, you'll have to call XYZ Airlines as this leg of the trip is under their control" and vice-versa.

Yes, I was big on Flightfox when I heard about it and tried it for an international trip last year (Australia-Malaysia-France-Morocco-Italy-Switzerland-London-France-Malaysia-Australia). Paid for the top tier service but didn't end up using any of the results because I found a better and cheaper series of flights myself. I was a bit disappointed actually and went from telling everyone about it to not considering it since for other trips.

hi coco,

It's definitely better for longer trips, but NYC-Paris is a good one for us because I know our experts have a few tricks up their sleeves with this route.

I often fly Montreal-SF so can also comment on NYC-SF. If you just want the cheapest economy flight AND you have checked bags, no, don't use Flightfox. However, if you have carry-on, then our experts can help.

It gets much more interesting if you want to fly this route in business. I've done it a few times in business for about economy prices (usually a little less). It involves a few little tricks and a slightly complex booking, but for those who do it often, it can reduce the pain of 12 hours in econ. I usually only go to SF for a day or two, so being more relaxed has a noticeable affect on my time there and proceeding. It's not always available, but I'm usually pretty flexible.