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’d like also an invite for farchase.. if it’s possible.
Thank you
Radu
Very interesting. I ran across your blog through BoingBoing.net. If you have any invites left, I would appreciate one.
Thanks!
This sounds right up my alley. If you have any left, an invite please.
Ohh Ohh, I’m a boston flyer too. If you have any left I’d love to try that out. If not, thx for the tip on the cool site, this has been a huge headache for me lately. I was just lamenting how backwards this sales model is. No where else can you fluctuate prices so amazingly and with such seeming lack of reason.
Why do we stand for this? why can it happen? Well, I think it all leads back to the facts that 1) Airlines have very little idea what their doing; which leads to them needing subsidies to keep in the air which leads to 2) they get a lot of money from uncle sam to stay afloat, so they can get things so crucial like a pricing model wrong.
I’m sure there are other reasons, but like you said, I’m glad to see that some one has figured out how to shift that power back to us.
Thanks – Adam
(FLY (@) Monkeyserver (dot) com
I’d love an invite, if there are any more left….
Hey! If you have another invite…. 🙂
goatpox (at) frontiernet.net
Sorry to further burden you, but I would really like to give it a try. Thanks for distributing this!
I’d love an invite if you still have one!
Id sure like to try this out also, seeing that I travel for my company multiple times a year…
You don’t need aggregators to get a good price on a car. You just need phone numbers. The manufacturer’s web site produced the phone numbers and I did the rest.
I bought a new car last year from a dealer who was 400 miles from where I live. He had exactly the car I wanted (make/model/color/features). There were two cars that exactly fit my specifications in California and I was able to get the dealers to compete for my business. I got 10% off msrp and some extra features I didn’t want tossed in.
Without the web, I never would have been able to find those dealers.
I’d love an invite – thanks!
I would like to try too if there’s still room….
I’ve got 16 invites left. John, you can send some email addresses my way if you’re out of invites.
I am a Seattle-based United 1K flier and would love to be a beta user.
Many thinks for the tip on this much needed technology.
I’d like an invite, please. I’ve got a trip I’m taking in August, and I’ve been putting off buying my ticket!
This would be great for me living in Boston. If you’ve got an extra invite I’d sure take it.
I’d be interested in an invite, since I’m based in BOS.
would love an invite. thanks, great blog and great article!
I’d love an invite. Thanks!
I’d love an invite if you’ve got a spare.
Thanks!
I’d also like an invite.
Thanks,
Wow, i would love an invite too! Thanks!!
Congrats on a super fine idea! I did wonder how to get around some of that airline pricing, know I can know!
Please invite me as I fly out of boston.
Thanks
If you have any invites left, I’d love to get one.
Would appreciate an invite.
thanks
I assume that you are out of invites, but in case you aren’t, I would be interested.
Thanks.
Being based in Boston, I would like an invite . Thanks and keep up the great work on this blog!
I would love an invite! Thanks, this is a fantastic idea.
If you still have any invites, I’d like one.
Sounds like a great idea. I would love an invite to such a great service.
It’s to obad that SouthWest doesn’t seem to like to participate with the same sort of data brokerages that the rest of the companies work with
Would love an invite, if there are any left!
if there are any inites left, i’d appreciate one.. thanks.
Any invites left? If so I’ll take one — and thank you!
– tm
any left? gwendolina (a) gmail…or if someone can find out when oakland-portland’s gonna be cheaper…
I too would love an invite, if there are any left. I am always looking for ways to cheat the airlines since they cheat us so much…
I would also appreciate an invite if there are any remaining (I am a different Ben than the one two above me). Thanks.
I’ve got about 15 Farecast invites left, folks. Email me: easton AT knowmoremedia DOT com.
If any invites are left, I use BOS and would like to try this out.
Please send me an invite — I’m in Seattle and fly quite a lot!
Thanks
Would love an invite. Thank you, sir.
I signed up for the private beta – I hope they add the dallas market soon, and then bring me on! That would really make my year as I’m planning to do a lot of air travel during Q4.
Hello Sir – I would like to try this beta edition.
Thank you!
This could be fantastic for the family. One invite, please! And thank you for breaking the news.
More information to the consumer, this sounds great!
I’d love an invite if you still have any.
I would love an invite if you still have any. Thanks a ton!
Hi John,
I’m a sometime backpacker that doesn’t use mileage cards. Can’t get miles on Kenya Airways, unfortunately.
If you got any invites left, I’d truly appreciate one, but either way, thanks so much for the heads up.
Cheers, Nate
Would love to try it out if you’ve got any invites left.
Would love an invite if you’ve got any left. Thanks for the head’s up!
Any left! Man would this be useful!
Greets!
An invitation for me please. I need to travel a lot this summer, and would love to put it through its paces.