Travel

#Hopper s airfare prediction app offers real-time alerts

Hopper's new app alerts you when you should buy that flight you want.

By Jessica Plautz 2015-01-28 05:29:03 UTC

There is a lot of advice about when to buy a flight, but the "best price" for any given route can be elusive. Few people have the time or patience — or, let's face it, luck — to watch an airfare constantly and buy it at its lowest point.

To address that issue, travel data company Hopper released a mobile app Wednesday that will notify users as soon as a preferable price is available on a desired flight.

"A lot of the flight alert products others are offering are almost a daily digest," Patrick Surry, chief data scientist at Hopper, told Mashable. He says that a digest could be too slow to get to customers when a great price is available. "The real-time side of it is really important."

Hopper is offering the flight alert service as the mobile app only. Surry said mobile makes sense for alerts because they are time sensitive.

According to the company, consumers spend an average of two weeks comparison shopping, but end up spending about 5% more than they would have if they had purchased a flight when they started looking.

The app includes a color-coded calendar showing users the cheaper days to fly, a price prediction for desired travel dates, prices at nearby airports, and of course the real-time alerts.

"We've brought together all these pieces in one place," said Surry. "What day should I go, where should I fly to, when should I buy the ticket, how much should I pay. What we're trying to do is make that painless for the consumer. they're trying to solve all those problems themselves."

The price during the first search is the best about a third of the time. according to the company.

While Hopper is far from the only company offering alerts on airfares, the simplicity of the app makes it stand out.

Hopper's fare alert app is available in the App Store .

To comparison shop on the alert providers that want to help solve comparison shopping, travelers should also check out Airfare Watchdog. Smarter Travel. FareCompare. KAYAK. and Orbitz and Expedia .

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