Farecast, the web site which lets you see if airfares are headed lower or higher, has introduced another very useful feature: A way to lock into a low price.
VentureBeat is one of the few places you can try this out (see details below).
Let’s say you’re planning a trip, say to Kansas on Dec 5, and Farecast shows a low price of $210 and further, predicts prices are going to drop over the next few days.
Now, rather than waiting, you can buy something called a “Fare Guard,” which lets you lock into any subsequent price drop automatically. Initially, the product will come at a promotional price of $1, but later might be priced around $10. Once you buy the Fare Guard, you have seven days to buy the actual ticket. If the price does drop, you get your savings. If it goes up, unexpectedly, you can buy the ticket, and Farecast will refund you the difference — so you win either way.
Farecast VP of marketing Mike Fridgen said the company is offering the service because it is confident about its own predictive skills. He notes that no other travel service offers such a service.
For now, Farecast is publicizing the limited test through three news sites, with VentureBeat being one of them.
VentureBeat readers can go to the FareGuard promo site.
You can access it with the following login:
username:venturebeat
password:fareguardtest
This company is quickly becoming the Zillow of the airline ticket industry — shaking things up in a large industry by doing things very differently. Fridgen says the site also wants to introduce a “Schmuck Guard” down the line, which would let you guard your price when Farecast predicts prices are going up. This way, you buy your ticket, and if they go down, Farecast would pay you the difference. Here’s our previous coverage of the company.
4 Trackbacks
9:09 am
Farecast « Technically Speaking said:
[...] Techically Speaking, a decent site that will probably go under; it seems all the useful ones do unless they get big money! What it comes down too? You have sites like diggnation on top. [...]
8:04 pm
Upgrade: Travel Better » Blog Archive » Fare guarantee? Farecast lets you insure its fare predictions said:
[...] So how does the new insurance/guarantee work? Much like buying a stock and purchasing a put option to protect you in case of a drop in the price, Farecast will sell you a “policy” when they predict the price will drop or hold steady. (If they predict the price will rise, then presumably you’ll be buying the ticket anyway. VentureBeat explains: Let’s say you’re planning a trip, say to Kansas on Dec 5, and Farecast shows a low price of $210 and further, predicts prices are going to drop over the next few days. Now, rather than waiting, you can buy something called a “Fare Guard,†which lets you lock into any subsequent price drop automatically. Initially, the product will come at a promotional price of $1, but later might be priced around $10. Once you buy the Fare Guard, you have seven days to buy the actual ticket. If the price does drop, you get your savings. If it goes up, unexpectedly, you can buy the ticket, and Farecast will refund you the difference — so you win either way. [...]
12:43 am
A low price lock-in for airfares | The Travel PR Blog said:
[...] It’s not enough to show the lowest airfare. To succeed in the online travel business, a supplier needs to persuade you that you really don’t need to go anywhere else to check the competition. People don’t just want bargains; they also don’t want to waste time comparison shopping. Farecast has just introduced a new feature called FareGuard. According to VentureBeat, once you spot a low price which Farecast thinks will drop lower, it lets you lock into any subsequent price drops. Once you buy the Fare Guard, you have seven days to buy the actual ticket. If the price does drop, you get your savings (Farecast sends you the difference). If it goes up, unexpectedly, Farecast lets you buy at the original price — so you win either way. [...]
10:11 pm
startupulse.com » Blog Archive » Farecast said:
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