Second Update: Hugh has given us unlimited invites (thanks Hugh!) and a process for making this easy. I’ll have this done asap.
Most likely you are painfully aware of how bizarre and seemingly inscrutable the pricing schemes are for airline travel. One day you might get a fare from SF to Boston for $400, the next it’s $335, and the day after that it’s $500. Why? Well, airlines have shitloads of data about historical pricing; they understand the supply and demand curves for every market, and they know when they need to sell more seats, boost margins, or compete to win business. They take advantage of all that data to push a price at you that suits them, and they’re very, very good at leveraging algorithms to drive maximum revenue. It’s frustrating as hell to use an online service like Expedia to try to beat the airlines at their own game – it simply isn’t the right interface. Not to mention, Expedia’s real customers are the travel companies – not you.
I got a chance to talk to Farecast founder Hugh Crean earlier last week, right before I penned this missive on not being able to do reviews. And in fact, this is not a review of Farecast, as much as I wish I had time for that. However, Hugh did spend a few minutes showing me around the site, and I found what it does really interesting, though for different reasons that perhaps others might.
You can sign up for the private beta on the homepage, it’ll be out later in the year. The basic premise is neat – Farecast pays attention to the market price of all airline fares out of particular cities (it only does Boston and Seattle for now) at all times (it uses an industry data feed that, unfortunately, does not include Southwest). It then uses this data to help forecast when the right time might be for you to buy your ticket (and get the best price). In short, it’s a rip off detector for flights. Farecast leverages the power of data to put you back in charge, or at least more in charge.
What Farecast does is shift the power of information back into the consumer’s hands, and that’s why I like it. I remember when the web was young and the first car buying sites were up and running. Dealers scrambled for that early business, and I bought two cars off the web by forcing dealers in the Bay Area to compete for my business. It really felt like the web was going to change the dynamic of who was in charge in a car buying transaction – because I could force dealers to their best price, I was always going to get the best price. It felt like this would be the model in most large transactions, like travel, loans, etc. Price would stabilize, and folks would differentiate on service, relationship, and approach.
But something funny happened on our way to internet mediated bliss: the big companies figured out how to game our demand. Dealers realized they can make more profit if they cooperate and withhold pricing information from the aggregators, and the aggregators got into bed with the supply side of the equation (if you think AutoByTel or Expedia is on your side, you’re kidding yourself). Nowhere is this more true that in how an airline prices its tickets.
I like how Farecast puts the consumer back in control of the data. The interface is very slick and the idea is quite promising. So I very much wish Farecast well, and I’d love to hear about other services which disrupt other markets where access to data is so one sided.
Hugh has given me 25 invitations to the private beta, if you’re interested, let me know in comments below.
Update: Hugh has emailed me and upped my invite limit to 150. But give me some time to get them out to you….
I’m in Seattle, so I’d appreciate an invite!
Would love to get an invitation. I’m shopping for fares from Seattle to LGW/LHR right now at this very moment! 🙂 Thanks!
Hi, John,
I would love an invite! Thanks, and thanks for your great blog…
Greetings,
Love an invite! Thanks muchly, particularly now that it’s 150 emails tiring your hands.
I’d really appreciate an invite, thanks!
Won’t bother counting up the comments, but I fly into and out of Boston and would love an invite. Thanks!
I would like an invite as well (if there are still any left). Thanks for the great info!
Looks like the comment count thus far is 102. Would love to get the (probably) 103rd invite, if you can get that far. Thanks John..
–Naveen
I would also love an invite! By the way, it also reminds me of FlySpy, though I know I’m not the first to point that out.
If you still have any invites left, I would love one. If not, thanks for the information anyway.
J
John, thanks for the info. If you have any left (or receive any more), I would love an invite.
Best,
Carol
John, as I’m about to purchase tix for a >$1000 flight, an invite would be very helpful. Thanks for sharing the news about this service!
I would enjoy an invite if you happen to have one to spare.
The idea of this simply blows me away in terms of coincidence. I was literally talking about how a site should be created to do this almost 8 hours ago when my girlfriend bought a ticket for this evening to fly to Canada (personal reasons). The price difference from buying it the day of versus buying it in the past was astounding to me simply based upon the product (the seat) and its supposed worth. The upping of the price only leads one to beleive the companies are feeding off desperation, which is always sad in my mind, but supply and demand I guess. Anyway, I have gotten off topic.
Thanks for the post. Interesting idea.
Hi, John, I’d appreciate an invite, if you have an extra lying around. samwaltzjunk (at) mail (dot) com.
would appreciate an invite as i live in Seattle.
John, I’d really like an invite to find out the best time to take my girl to Thailand!
Thanks.
I’m doing lots of travel to Boston at the moment. This would be super handy…
I would love to check this out! Thanks for the great post!
curious ? http://www.random-ad.com
Hey John,
I’d love to have an invite if you got any left. Sounds like a great service.
Han
I would also like an invite! Sounds very interesting…
hi, thanks for the great post!
Will someone please check SEA-ORD, or SEA-MDW and tell me when the best fares are?
Or if there’s an invite left, I’ll take one of those instead, and check for someone else.
Thanks again
hi, thanks for the great post!
Will someone please check SEA-ORD, or SEA-MDW and tell me when the best fares are?
Or if there’s an invite left, I’ll take one of those instead, and check for someone else.
Thanks again
This is very useful. Could I have an invite, please? Thanks.
sounds greast would love to check it out please ….my email is jb939@hotmail.com
John, I would also take an invite please. druidbros/gmail.com.
I travael 100K miles per year and would kill for this service! thanks!
any more invites left? thx for turning us on to this! electro_alchemy/hotmail.com
Ooh… I travel to BOS often enough…
darkdark//gmail.com
thanks!
Just read this, I hope you have one invite left I very much need this. Thanks a million
John
wouldn’t mind an invite if there are still enough.
email:
hubert-battellemedia AT uma DOT litech DOT org
I know I’m way to late for this but I would like a invite, please, if there are any left.
I’ve got all 25 invites left. If you need an invite, just ask me. easton AT knowmoremedia DOT com
I live in Boston and would appreciate an invite to the Farecast Beta. If you have any left, please send one to:
blind_copy_list AT yahoo D0T com
Thanks!
I would appreciate one of those precious invites, please, and I would expect to use it this month.
invite please
I’d love to try out the Farecast Beta — I fly out of Boston all the time.
I’ve already passed out five – y’all are ravenous! 20 invites left.
I’d love an invite, thanks.
I’m off to Logan almost as often as I use the T–an invite would be much appreciated!
If you have any invites left, I’d love to grab one. Thank you, “c0ldlimit AT gmail DOT com”
If any invites are left, I’d be v interested in checking Farecast out.
Thanks
Would very much appreciate one of the invitations, if possible. Thank you.
I’ve already passed out five – y’all are ravenous! 20 invites left. Oh, wait – 19 left.
One please!
I live in Boston and travel frequently; I’d love an invite if there are any left. Thanks so much.
If there is room, add me please!
If any invites are still available, I’d love to try this
if possible, id love a chance for an invite,
thanks
Great article. I love the idea and concept. And its something I used to think Expedia and family did. Do you have any more invites? If so, I’d love to try it. Thanks!