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ResourceShelfPLUS is Compiled & Edited By Gary Price, MLIS Gary Price Library & Internet Research Consulting gary@ resourceshelf.com Gary's Bio Read the Latest ResourceShelf Posts 
Read the Latest ResourceShelf Posts |
Friday, June 09, 2006
Early Look at Farecast By Dan Giancaterino, MLIS ResourceShelf Contributing Editor The beta currently has 2 limitations: (a) departures are either Boston or Seattle, and (b) flights are roundtrip only. Now my quick hits on the service: + Fare Prediction arrows are easy to read and color-coded: red (price increase $50+, buy now), orange (price increase <$50, buy now), blue (price stable, buy), and green (price drop, wait). HOWEVER, the help text doesn't explain which price ranges trigger red or orange arrows; this is only my extrapolation. It may also be a function of price and confidence. + Fare History graph is limited to 90 days' worth of data. Examples: If you are looking for a flight departing today, the graph goes back 89 days; for flights on July 15 (36 days from now), the graph only goes back 53 days. + Hover your cursor over the graph to see the low price for a specific day. + Select Times (grid) shows the lowest prices for the departure and return flights for individual time periods (Pre-Dawn: 12a-6a, Early AM: 6a-9a, etc.) The Farecast Labs page shows that they are considering adding Fare Predictions and Fare Histories for each time period. Cool! + Fare Predictions/Histories are only available for trips between 2-8 nights long and for trips within 90 days. + Doesn't include Southwest (no surprise there.) + At this time, doesn't include non-US carriers or destinations. For example, Boston to Toronto or Montreal on Air Canada even if the ticket is purchased as a United Airlines ticket via the Star Alliance code share. |