FareCast

I love playing the airfare game. Before I book a flight, I check out StudentUniverse, Kayak, Priceline, Expedia, and any other search site I stumble across to ensure that I am getting the best deal available. Now, my game has gotten even more fun.

A relatively new (free) service called Farecast helps travelers predict whether the price of airline tickets are going to drop, rise, or stay the same in the coming weeks and months.

While it is not good for booking last minute travel, it is very helpful for booking trips far in advance. For example, this summer I will be working in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, and I know I need to book a flight out there on June 6. When I looked at flights in December, the price of a round trip ticket from Atlanta was $650. Farecast told me to wait to buy my fare, and sent me weekly emails with their predictions. Sure enough, the price dropped significantly and farecast urged me to buy my ticket when the price hit $320. Just by being patient and utilizing new technology I saved $300.

Farecast definitely helps travelers play the airfare guessing game and come out on top. They have a very high success rate and their site is very easy to navigate. The only down side: it does not have tracking information for smaller U.S. airports.