The Trip Board is a listing of all the upcoming trip requests made by Members. If a Member has an outstanding trip request on the board, the results will be filtered and sorted according to the closeness of the match to their trip request. For example, another trip request on the same day from the same departure airport to the same arrival airport as their own will rise to the top. Icons will indicate the points of similarity. When a Member sees another trip on the Trip Board that is similar to theirs, they can easily attach their request to that one with a single click.
When trips get attached in such a manner on the trip board, visual cues indicate to others that this is a trip that is forming. Since all flights must be at least 70% booked, there will need to be anywhere from two to five parties on any given trip. So trips that already have two or more parties attached are more likely to reach the confirmed status.
Following is a mockup of how a typical Trip Board might appear based on a given trip request:
Joining a Flight
When Members see a trip that is a close match for their own plan, they can tentatively join the flight by clicking the blue button associated with the trip. Completing the form to join a flight does not immediately commit the Member to the flight. But it does show the Member’s interest in joining the flight so other Members may coalesce around a developing flight. They will state their preferred arrival time, which may or may not be the same as the current scheduled time. The preferred arrival times of all Members will be averaged to find consensus.
Flexibility
Members can also indicate their flexibility around the departure and arrival times. As noted in the Rewards Program section, Members receive mileage awards when they adjust their schedules around other Members. This is the mechanism whereby that is tracked.
Probability
Members don’t have to make a firm commitment to the flight immediately. But in terms of calculating the probability that a flight will be booked, the Member’s probability is added to the calculation of the overall probability.
For example, a given flight might have a party of 3 that is 100% sure to be able to go on this flight. Another party of 2 is 90% sure, and a party of 4 is 75% sure. The calculation is:
3 x 1 = 3
2 X .90 = 1.80
4 X .75 = 3
Total = 7.8 passengers ‘booked’
This is not the metric that determines whether a jet is booked, but rather that determines the probability of flying as shown in the left icon of the Trip Board.
Special Needs
Members will also note any special needs they might have at this point so it can be factored into the aircraft selection.