Startups

Through data analytics, this site says it can find the cheapest flights out of Philly

Wharton grad George Zeng cofounded Moonfish with an eye toward an “exploration-first experience.”

Moonfish uses data analytics to locate discounted airfare. (Photo by Pixabay user Free-Photos, used under a CC0 license)

A newly launched website called Moonfish pledges to help travelers find deeply discounted airfare flying out of their preferred airports — starting with Philadelphia International Airport.

Using information from flight tracker site SkyScanner and other data sources, Moonfish’s platform searches for deals like a $70 ticket to Pensacola, Florida, direct flights to Paris for under $500, and quick trips to Las Vegas for $100. Click a destination and the site will pick the cheapest dates and departure times for you based.

Cofounder George Zeng, a former Philly resident and Wharton School alum who spent four years at Facebook,  says the site can offer deeper discounts — up to 90%, he said — than what’s otherwise available by manually searching existing flight trackers.

“Most products answer these three questions: Give me an origin, destination and date; then tell me prices,” said Zeng, who left Facebook this year to cofound Moonfish alongside fellow ex-Facebooker Craig Campbell. “We’re building this product differently. We say: We have this flight data of every single flight around the world and we search that data from one origin airport, in this case PHL. We can then essentially sort them based on the biggest discounts.”

Answering the three classic questions like other sites do, Zeng said, detracts from offering consumers an “exploration-first experience” that focuses on the consumer’s own location. For now, the platform is only available for the Philly market, though eventually it plans to expand to other markets.

(While a student at Wharton, Zeng built and later sold a Dreamit-backed company called Aircare, a patient engagement platform.)

Moonfish must compete with multiple sources of cheap flights online, from the more established, trusted names like Expedia to popular discount sites like Scott’s Cheap Flights and SkyScanner itself. Zeng said Moonfish will look to compete by enhancing the customer experience, similarly to how Zillow or Trulia were boosters for online apartment hunting.

Before you go...

Please consider supporting Technical.ly to keep our independent journalism strong. Unlike most business-focused media outlets, we don’t have a paywall. Instead, we count on your personal and organizational support.

3 ways to support our work:
  • Contribute to the Journalism Fund. Charitable giving ensures our information remains free and accessible for residents to discover workforce programs and entrepreneurship pathways. This includes philanthropic grants and individual tax-deductible donations from readers like you.
  • Use our Preferred Partners. Our directory of vetted providers offers high-quality recommendations for services our readers need, and each referral supports our journalism.
  • Use our services. If you need entrepreneurs and tech leaders to buy your services, are seeking technologists to hire or want more professionals to know about your ecosystem, Technical.ly has the biggest and most engaged audience in the mid-Atlantic. We help companies tell their stories and answer big questions to meet and serve our community.
The journalism fund Preferred partners Our services
Engagement

Join our growing Slack community

Join 5,000 tech professionals and entrepreneurs in our community Slack today!

Trending

16 places to responsibly dispose of old electronics in Philadelphia

19 tech and entrepreneurship events to check out before the holidays

Expect high-speed internet at 100 Philly rec centers in 2025, Verizon says

Are digital navigators the answer to closing Philadelphia’s tech gap?

Technically Media