You might notice that things look a little different up top on the blog. That’s because it’s a big day here at Cranky Flier and Cranky Concierge. After 10 years (you believe I’ve been writing this blog since 2006?), we’ve finally introduced a new logo. But that’s just a small piece of what’s happening.
Now I know what you’re thinking. When will all the airplanes have the new livery? Oh wait, I have no airplanes. But after 10 years, it seemed like it was time to update things. While the logo is changing, fear not. My post illustrations will remain as amateurish and terrible as always.
The logo change is actually a byproduct of a much bigger change over at Cranky Concierge. Yes, that has a new logo, but it’s much more than that.
Today we’re introducing a brand new website at Cranky Concierge that replaces the one I built from scratch back when we started in 2009. We had long outgrown that website, and we now have one that looks far more professional. It’s also way more functional. We were lucky enough to snag Mike Sharer, Senior Front End Developer for the National Hockey League, to build this for us. He does work under 29degre.es, and he’s put together something great for us. Our Office and Technology Manager Dave Junco deserves a ton of credit for managing the entire process from start to finish.
So what’s new besides a complete refresh? There’s now a calculator on the site so people can punch in what they need and get a quote for our services. And that quote is going to be different than before thanks to a new pricing structure. Payments are also handled directly by our site (securely, of course) instead of sending customers off to Paypal.
It used to be that our pricing included up to 4 people traveling together. Now it’s all per person. That means in most cases, single travelers will pay less than they did before. Meanwhile groups of people will end up paying more. Here’s how it’ll work.
- When you sign up with us a week or more in advance of your domestic travel, flight monitoring will be $10 each way per person and flight planning will be $20 each way per person.
- When you sign up with us a week or more in advance of your international travel, flight monitoring will be $25 one way per person and flight planning will be $35 each way per person.
- If something has already gone wrong and you need urgent assistance to fix it, the fee will be $100 per person.
There will be additional charges for additional services.
- Sign-ups within 1 week of travel: $25 per group
- Award travel (use your miles or upgrades): $75 per person
- Changes (when you have us make your changes for you): $30 per person
- After hours service (outside our regular hours of 6a to 7p PT Monday through Friday): $100 per group
But you don’t really need to remember any of this. The calculator on the site will handle that for you.
We started working on this idea last July, and we’ve been busting our butts ever since then to make sure we got it right. Hopefully you agree that we did. If you find any bugs while you’re playing around, please send those over to cf@crankyflier.com. We know there are some, and now we just get to knock them out as quickly as possible.
In the meantime, I hope it’s not too hard to get used to the new logo. Despite the change, it’s business as usual on the blog. I’ll be back tomorrow with a post as always.
18 comments on “Introducing The New Cranky Concierge Website and a New Cranky Logo”
As an aviation enthusiast, I don’t think I’m allowed to like any branding changes — I think it looks great, though. The Concierge website is quite the upgrade. Well done, Brett.
Thanks Axel!
I cant belive i’ve been reading this blog since 2008
I know, what Jeremy said … time does fly when you’re having fun. looks good.
Looking forward to seeing the new Web site. And as a big hockey fan, it is very cool you got the NHL’s Senior Front End Developer to work for you!
Very cool looking site, much more professional looking (but also a lot less airline dork looking !). Well done ! And I also like the per person price which is fairer to a family of 5 for example, than your previous big steps pricing !
I have a few comments :
– the order in which you list your services on the home page and on the Service description page is not the same. I get why (horizontal vs vertical presentation and a desire to promote the service you’d prefer to sell first), but I still don’t like it.
– the “services” page needs to be thought over a bit more : there are a lot of small details which, probably could be better presented. One that comes immediately to mind is the “All Services include” at the far bottom on the page that most people will not see when they choose their package, couldn’t you link to it by a simple phrase included in all services. I also don’t like the “Plus all services included in Flight Monitoring” without a link taking me directly there (even if its just a scroll down away).
– small business page should include a contact form right there : customers are (often) lazy !…
Feel free to email me if my comments are not clear enough !
Good luck with this new business start. Hope it will boost your business.
Thanks for really poking around here Christophe. It really helps us. The learn more button problem has been fixed. That was ugly, but it’s ok now.
The small business info was put in to be “good enough” for now with plans to overhaul it. We definitely need to improve that one, and we will. Your feedback helps there too.
The “Learn more” button at the bottom of the home page doesn’t work.
Thanks for the feedback Chris. This is now fixed. If you see anymore bugs. Please forward them cf@crankyflier.com
Hey Brett,
The UI on the concierge signup process is fantastic! Nicely thought through and implemented.
Jason
This blog is consistently great and the new logo is just fine, even if I have a problem with iconic aircraft having two, not four engines!
Of course, my severely challenged brain always wants to put an “e” before the “y” in “Cranky.” And, a “y” instead of an “i” in “flier!” I’d also like to abbreviate Brett Snyder but, well, you don’t deserve that!
JayB – The good news is that even if you type crankyflyer.com, you’ll still get to the right place.
Hey Cranky,
The radio buttons under flight planning went a little wonky when I changed my options around.
The website looks great though! I wish you all the best. I read your blog more than the bible.
Oops, I meant flight monitoring. Flight monitoring radio buttons went wonky.
EC – Got it. Our tech guy says he has a fix.
I have a very serious question. Is the new logo on the merch?? I need to buy another 3XL t-shirt and yours fit beautifully on my curvy body.
is that your kids on one of the pictures at the top of the screen? a nice personal touch – I like it. And then I got distracted by the Embraer in the background – is that a United Express plane with the tail logo wiped out, or is that one of the weird skywest (or whoever) house color planes with a plain blue tail?
Tharanga – Sure is. This was taken at Indianapolis Airport over a year ago so they’re a lot bigger now. As for the Embraer, it is a United Express aircraft that I just scrubbed. Thought it better to have no recognizable marks on any of the airplanes in the header. (You can see the other airplane is a US Airways aircraft, but the logo isn’t really visible.)