wrote in
:
Andrew Gideon wrote:
: Economically, it would make more sense for the listings to be free
: and the site to be available only to subscribers (or with a "value
: added" section available only to subscribers). Those that accrue the
: most value are paying for the site in that situation. More, there's
: no economic incentive that reduces the site's quality.
I sure hope not. It's pretty difficult to find good aviation
information without
paying a nominal but extremely annoying "subscription fee." From the
cheap-******* user's point of view, I *despise* having to pay for
nominal services for nominal costs... it's a matter of principle. If
they start charging a user subscription fee, then there will
immediately be 5-10 copycat sites vying for the $20/year users. It
nominalizes the system.
I'd venture to say that airnav is the de-factor standard for
cross-country
fuel-stop planning. Having a nominal listing fee for fuel price makes
good sense for FBO's... provided it's reasonable. If there's 10 sites
like it, they'll all suck. Darwin takes care, and airnav has "won."
-Cory
There is competition for AirNav's fuel price data base. Unfortunately, it
is currently a subscription service, but they intend to convert to a free
service if they can find a sponsor.
The service is Fillup Flyer Fuel Finder, http://www.fillupflyer.com
Although I use AirNav instead of Fillup Flyer, I did look into both
services several years ago. The major difference I noticed at that time
was that AirNav fuel prices were provided voluntarily by pilots who take
the time to report what they either pay or observe at an airport, while
Fillup Flyer called 6,000 FBOs every month.
Since the airports where I do most of my flying (San Francisco Bay area)
were very well represented in AirNav (most fuel prices were less than 30
days old and all FBOs seemed to be included), I never signed up with Fillup
Flyer, but did get some of their sample reports.
If AirNav stops listing ALL fuel prices and only lists those that
advertise, then their value will be diminished and it will be time to
revisit Fillup Flyer, especially if they become a free service to the user.
A quick look at Fillup Flyer web pages today showed that the current prices
are no membership & $10/report or $24.95 annual membership & $5/report.
This is using the internet. For a higher price per report, you can obtain
reports via fax or 800#.
--
Marty Shapiro
Silicon Rallye Inc.
(remove SPAMNOT to email me)
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