Tips on Using Farecast to Decide on when to Buy Airline Tickets

Are you planning a trip that involves buying airline tickets? If you said yes then I have an essential website for you. Farecast.com. This site is like having a crystal ball that can tell you when to buy or when not to buy airline tickets. It also can show you price histories and much more.

Its official title says it's the only website to offer airfare prediction. Why this has been around longer we'll never know, but if your a flyer who has some time before you purchase, this website is a must. The interface is simple. You pick your departure airport and and destination and Farecast will tell you to buy if prices are predicted to go up and Farecast will also tell you to wait if prices are predicted to fall in the future.

For example, I live near RDU, Raleigh Durham International airport, so I chose a flight I've been on before, RDU to LAS (Las Vegas). Farecast quickly brought up a prediction of Wait based on the fact that fares should drop over $50 over the next seven days. Farecast gives you a confidence rating based on past predictions of the market you searched which is listed in percents. Mine was 78% confidence, which is OK, but not a such fire choice, but good enough to wait a bit. It also shows a history chart from past 90 days of the fares from RDU to LAS which is accurate. Another great feature it has is that it lists the current fares and links over the websites where you can buy the tickets. Farecast uses travel websites like Orbitz.com and also pulls fares directly from the airline's websites.

Farecast came from a University of Washington research project that was developed over a few years to the current site. Farecast uses data mining and simulation models to make its predictions.

With fares constantly moving up and down in different markets, Farecast is my new best friend for air travel. You no longer have to "fly blind" as the website says. You have a friend on the inside. Farecast can potentially save you money on your next airfare. It's worth a shot, right?