Fare Today, Gone Tomorrow
I was reading the New York Post on the subway a couple of weeks ago and saw this small blurb about a new airfare website that not only tells you the lowest fare for a particular route, but also tells you if the fare is expected to go up or down in the coming weeks. Pretty cool, I thought. And then promptly left the newspaper on the subway and forgot the name of the site. Luckily, I wasn’t the only person who thought it was pretty cool, subsequent articles about the site, Farecast.com, ran in the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal.
When I finally checked out the site, I was very impressed. Although it’s still in beta and only offering information on fares originating from Boston and Seattle and arriving in major domestic markets (about 65 of them), and still has a few kinks to iron out, I could see the site’s potential. It’s easy to use and has the familiar navigation of other top travel sites such as Sidestep (my fave) and Orbitz. You plug in the “To” and “From” and your dates and the lowest fares for top airlines, with times and stops, are displayed with an easy-to-read fare predictor (for the graphically challenged) – buy now or wait – and a historical fare chart. You can sort by number of stops (which is important to me since I typically only travel non-stop in the US), departure times or prices. Farecast.com does not sell the tickets, but connects you to the airline or travel site that does.
I did find that once you’re connected to the airline site, the fares and times do not always match what was quoted on Farecast.com. Apparently the Farecast folks are aware of this as well as other glitches (such as not always displaying all itineraries or lowest fares). On their “Beta Limitations” page, they warn users about these and other issues and vow to resolve them soon. If they do, I’m sold.
Nick adds: The Farecast CEO — Hugh Crean — is an old war-buddy of mine from our previous lives working for “big corporate.” So, a personal congrats to Hugh on the launch of Farecast!
