A low price lock-in for airfares
November 12, 2006
It’s not enough to show the lowest airfare. To succeed in the online travel business, a supplier needs to persuade you that you really don’t need to go anywhere else to check the competition. People don’t just want bargains; they also don’t want to waste time comparison shopping.
Farecast has just introduced a new feature called FareGuard. According to VentureBeat, once you spot a low price which Farecast thinks will drop lower, it lets you lock into any subsequent price drops.
Once you buy the Fare Guard, you have seven days to buy the actual ticket. If the price does drop, you get your savings (Farecast sends you the difference). If it goes up, unexpectedly, Farecast lets you buy at the original price — so you win either way.
As the article implies, it shows a remarkable amount of confidence in the product.