Tip For Finding the Best Airfare - Update!
About a month ago, we posted a Tip For Finding the Best Airfare, where we mentioned FareCast:
Now in beta, Farecast.com offers a proprietary system that provides "airfare prediction". The concept of using sophisticated data-mining techniques to predict whether prices for a particular trip are likely to go up or down over the next week seems ideal. However, the only departure cities you can currently search are limited to Boston and Seattle. Farecast has said that it should have most cities included by the end of the year. This really looks promising!
Great news! Farecast, as of August 21, 2006, is now offering airfare predictions for over 55 cities. So if you live in a major metropolitan area, this site is mostly functional compared to when they beta tested their product. Included in the latest update of the site is the ability to create an RSS feed of airfare predictions for a trip you are planning.
Check it out and let us know what you think!
Comments
I can attest that Farecast works well -- I used it to price out flights from Boston to California (while it was still limited to Boston and Seattle) and was able to get some cheap flights, about $129 each way, compared to more like $200 each way.
I reviewed the site and while I feel the ideas behind it have merit, it is still lacking in functionality in various areas and is not yet ready for the big time. It is still in beta, after all. The RSS function, however, is unique, and definitely puts it in its own category.
I just used for a trip from CA to NC. With the RSS feed, I was able to track a price drop from $240 to $215 R/T with ease.