What I Built
FlyNext is a travel booking platform I built for my final CSC309 project at UofT. Users can search flights and hotels in real-time, make bookings, and manage their trips. Hotel owners get a dashboard to track bookings and revenue.
Our team started with 3 people but one dropped the course halfway through. Despite this, we finished in the top 4 out of 150+ groups and got 108% on the project.
Features
The app handles the full booking flow - search, book, pay, and manage cancellations. I integrated external APIs for live flight/hotel data with autocomplete search. Users get PDF invoices and email confirmations. The hotel dashboard shows analytics and lets owners manage inventory.
I added JWT authentication, dark/light mode toggle, and made it fully responsive. The booking system supports partial cancellations and refunds.
Tech Stack
Built with Next.js and TypeScript on the frontend, PostgreSQL for the database, and Docker for deployment. Used external APIs for flight/hotel data and implemented RESTful endpoints for all the booking logic.
What I Learned
This was my first full-stack project, so I had to learn everything from database design to API integration pretty quickly. I used ChatGPT and Claude to help debug issues and understand new concepts, which sped up development a lot.
Managing Git workflow with a smaller team taught me about project scope and prioritizing features. The tight deadline meant I had to pick up new frameworks fast while keeping the code maintainable.
Results
Getting top 4 recognition was unexpected, especially after losing a team member. The project proved I could build something substantial from scratch and adapt when things don't go as planned.