Thursday, January 10, 2008

Fare Compare

Rick Seaney says:

Consider that the airlines’ “product”, a flight, is a perishable commodity that airlines are required (by their shareholders) to maximize profit on.

And, to maximize profit, airlines have to know quite a bit about their customers: they gather data about passenger habits and get special insight through loyalty programs, plus they amass information on a daily basis by monitoring airfare purchases.

If only passengers knew as much about the airlines! That’s why most air travel shoppers don’t so much “find” great airfare deals, as “stumble upon” them. Call it luck, or call it shopping in the right place at the right time.

Reality Check

Here’s the deal: 100% of all air travelers want the cheapest airfare - unfortunately only about 10% will get the best deal on a particular flight. The other 90% are going to get a relatively worse set of deals (usually about 7-price point groups ranging from low to high).

Savvy airfare shoppers (those who wind up in the coveted 10% “cheapskate group”) have learned to use a combination of technology and insight (call it, education). And that’s what FareCompare.com does: we level the playing field with airlines so that our travelers get unparalleled technology, and “insider” insight (or education) to help them always make the best air travel purchasing decision.

Take a Deep Breath

Most airfare shoppers are impatient; they don’t take the time to use technology and educate themselves in order to find the cheapest deal.

And, to be honest I don’t blame them - everyone is busy and it’s difficult to get people to change their ways - but we will continue to educate and innovate to make this process as simple as possible - because this has become my work life’s mission.

Now, an “Insider” International Airfare Trick!

For those that have read this far, time to get to the meat and potatoes of today’s lesson:

Today I received a Free Airfare Email Alert; I’d set it up so I would be notified about great deals from Dallas to Europe, and the Email Alert informed me of several excellent deals to Spain, including one from Dallas to Malaga. (There were so many good deals, it had to be a big airfare sale, and, it was most likely on American, which is based in Dallas and has a lot of international routes–this is where education comes in).

No comments: