I go to the online app to see what seats are available. It’s nice that they have a seat map, and they helpfully mark out my seat for me. 

And then I scroll down to the bottom of the page

And there are no seats.

There are NO seats available on the ENTIRE plane.

So why even show me a seatmap? Just tell me that there are no seats available to choose from.

Instead, you make me waste time, and waste your own server cycles.

I had a computer science teacher in high school who would have a field day with this example of bad design.

Round the World Ticket( courtesy of thewidewideworld on flickr)

I have written several times about the inefficiency of the modern airline industry, and here is one more reason that I feel the airline industry needs to reinvent itself.

It’s called a “Round the World Ticket”.

It allows you to fly around our circular world, visiting places along the way. You have to keep going in one direction, can’t backtrack and have to end up where you started.

The problem with this product is the insane amount of time required by the airline to maintain it. Customers have to call a dedicated airline center, spend about an hour buying the ticket, and airlines inevitably end up selling their most expensive products (such as tickets to Easter Island) for a pittance.

The sheer number of rules, regulations and options on this product make it difficult to maintain. Examples: It is available in three mile sizes (29000, 34000 and 39000 miles) except when it’s not (Continent system).

Business class seats sell for 2x economy, when in reality they should sell for 4-7x economy. Starting your trip from Western countries (where there is most demand) is more expensive than “poorer “ countries, like Sri Lanka(where there is no demand). But, even if you are an American or a Brit, you can buy a ticket that starts your travel in Sri Lanka.

As with most products of a complex nature, people find ways to game the system, as shown on this Wikitravel guide.