[simmosn]

My main gripe about the vast majority of travel websites is the complete lack of an "anywhere" option in the destination field. Sometimes I have a week off work, a set amount of cash and don't necessarily care where I go. I just want to see all possibilities for destinations/flights etc. I think SkyScanner is the only site I've seen this option on.

[joedev]

http://www.google.com/flights

Select: departure airport, departure date, and return date (optionally price range). Do not choose a destination.

See: a map of destinations with price labels shown for major cities.

Set: the max price and see possible destinations fade away.

Click: on a destination dot on the map and instantly get details of available flights.

All without pressing a single "submit" button and without entering a single destination.

[akx]

Trying to select Helsinki as departure airport: "Sorry, locations outside the US are currently not supported."

Ah well.

[tomhoward]

As another commenter mentioned, this is exactly what we're building at Adioso (YC W09).

It turns out it's very hard to do for reasons mostly to do with decades-old technology and business conventions in the travel industry. This is why it still barely exists, even though so many travellers want it.

But we're making good progress. Stay tuned.

[mtr]

Have you seen http://www.kayak.com/explore/ ?

[anamax]

> My main gripe about the vast majority of travel websites is the complete lack of an "anywhere" option in the destination field.

Next you'll be wanting "somewhere new" and "somewhere fun".

[simmosn]

"somewhere new" - sounds good, keep track of cities I've previously booked flights to and exclude these from my results

[viscanti]

"somewhere fun" sounds good too. It could keep track of your ratings of places you've been and recommend new places based on that.

[sjaakkkkk]

For people in Europe check http://www.qfly.com

[trin_]

oh yes! i just want to set a list of departure locations, a range of days (3-6) and a maximum cost. i dont care if i use the train a plane, a ferry or even a bus just get me somewhere interesting! :)

[ed209]

You should try http://adioso.com/

[batista]

My main gripe about the vast majority of travel websites is the complete lack of an "anywhere" option in the destination field. Sometimes I have a week off work, a set amount of cash and don't necessarily care where I go.

A "first world problem" if I ever saw one...

[scarmig]

Not to derail the thread, but I think the entire "first world problem" meme, though useful in that it reminds us of our relative privilege, isn't totally fair to either the people experiencing the problem or to the people solving it.

First world problems are still problems. And the existence of people experiencing much worse problems doesn't mean those first world problems are not worth solving. Indeed, virtually any problem could be considered not worth solving if you can identify anyone anywhere in the world in a worse off situation. Typing in a couple words and having a machine return documents automatically based on the input isn't a solution to a real problem, because people exist in East Palo Alto who are functionally illiterate. Finding a cure for Alzheimer's isn't a solution to a real problem, because a supermajority of people in Zimbabwe die decades before they might even get it. It's all a matter of degree.

And if you buy into market economics, it's not even clear that focusing on first world problems is a detriment to solving other problems. If the parent spends 10 minutes buying a plane ticket instead of 2 hours because of the implementation of an "everywhere" option, that creates a consumer surplus that could very well be worth a couple hundred dollars. Flyers can be routed to places on planes that are underutilized, reducing GHG emissions by a meaningful amount (which is incredibly valuable for residents of developing nations). Hundreds of thousands (millions? I don't know the market size) of person-hours could be saved. Some of that value inevitably would trickle down to people with graver problems.