Sam Hollander ’22 (WSM/NEW) has been running his business remotely—and for him, that feels natural. Traveling has always been part of his DNA, and so has travel hacking. Those twin passions helped inspire his current company, Autopilot, a web-based service that helps travelers get the lowest fares for flights, even after tickets are booked. 

“The average traveler overpays on flights by about $1,500 a year,” says Hollander, who is CEO of Autopilot, which he co-founded with Zach Griff, a travel and aviation expert, senior reporter at The Points Guy and a travel influencer. “With Autopilot, you can book trips knowing that you’re going to get the best deal on the plane.”

Hollander has always been full of ideas. In high school, he started SPHMedia, where he created content for family special events and small mom-and-pop businesses. However, when he enrolled at Syracuse University, he didn’t major in entrepreneurship. Instead, Hollander chose a dual major in finance at the Whitman School of Management and advertising at the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications.

He quickly found a home at Syracuse University’s Blackstone LaunchPad, an innovation hub that fosters cross-disciplinary entrepreneurship. “The LaunchPad was the catalyst for me to create things that were scalable,” he says. “I’ve always wanted to start something and build my own destiny, and the resources and like-minded people at the LaunchPad helped point me in the right direction.”

Working with Linda Dickerson Hartsock, founder and former executive director of the LaunchPad, Hollander soon became the LaunchPad’s program manager and an entrepreneur-in-residence. While still in school, he tapped into its many resources and raised seed funding to create ShareClub, a company focused on building a symbiotic relationship between individual retail investors and public companies by providing retail investors with shareholder rewards. 
“The dream was to graduate college, start a business and make it happen,” he explains. As is the nature with startups, they’re high-risk, and some of the bets we took didn’t pay off with ShareClub,” Hollander says. “I’m really proud of what we built, but there was a point where we needed to move on to the next thing.”

The idea for Autopilot came from his passion for travel and self-taught skills of travel hacking. Hollander figured if he could find better prices for himself, he could create a business helping other price-conscious travelers do the same.
Autopilot secures the lowest fares—even if a ticket is already booked—and assists customers in getting airline credit if a price drops after purchase. Customers put their flight information into the website ( withAutopilot.com), and Autopilot’s technology tracks prices in real time, something most individuals or small to medium-sized companies simply don’t have the time to do. 

Autopilot primarily operates on a pay-as-you-go model, meaning customers only pay when Autopilot saves them money. The company take a 25% commission on the amount saved.

“Best of all, you only pay when you save,” says Hollander of the company’s commission-based fees. Autopilot also offers a Pro Tier that allows customers to track flights booked with points or credit card miles and set price alerts for upgraded seats (premium economy, business and first class). 

Enjoying the ability to work remotely from any location, Hollander is spending his time expanding the technology, marketing to new customers and continuing to add features in order to scale up the business. This includes developing a web and IOS app, adding more airlines and creating some proprietary technology. The company is currently testing a Beta version of software in the hotel space, too, that will allow customers to save money if a better room rate becomes available. 

“Entrepreneurship is a balance between focusing on making something happen and looking ahead for new opportunities,” he says. “It’s rewarding to see something I’m passionate ‘take flight,’ so to speak. It’s an exciting time, and I’m eager to see what’s ahead.”