Predicting Airfares for Cheaper Travel

[Valerie S. Johnson]

By Valerie S. Johnson

If you travel, you probably are familiar with websites like Travelocity and Orbitz which search for your desired flights by schedule and price. It’s certainly an easier method than checking each carrier’s individual website.

The problem is that when you purchase your ticket, you never know if the fare is going to go up or down later. Airfares are not necessarily lowest when booked far in advance. Last minute seats may be the cheapest, or they may be the most expensive.

To counter this uncertainty, try your search on Farecast.com. Not only will it display available flights, it will also predict whether the best current fare is going to increase, decrease, or stay the same. Like stock tips, the results indicate whether you should buy now before fares rise, or wait. A graph displays the airfares over the past ninety days. Because the system relies on patterns of past prices, the results also include a prediction factor, expressed as a percentage based on the site’s track record for similar predictions for the market searched. The company claims its predictions are 70-75% accurate.

Farecast.com may help you find a better deal on your airfare by buying at the most strategic time. Of course, it can’t tell you whether your baggage is going to get lost.

[librarylady]

Thanks for that info. I flew a lot last year and was very happy with Travelocity booking, but this sound even better.