If you travel a lot by air like I do, then this website may be a good one for you to bookmark: Farecast.com. This website captures historical data on flights and hotels and gives you long term historical prices as well as an airfare forecast with corresponding confidence levels. I travel frequently to Raleigh, NC so I gave Farecast a test run. For a math/data junkie like myself, this is nirvana.
According to my test with Phoenix to Raleigh, NC Farecast tells me that with a 77% confidence level that I should buy and that fares are steady or rising. The historical chart also shows a 70 day chart for the fare and if its correct, right now is a good time to buy this fare.
With as much travel as I do, this website will likely end up being the new first website I visit when booking travel. Score one for Farecast.com. Sorry Travelocity you have been voted off the island. This is a perfect example of how innovation changes the ball game and user behavior. If you provide users a good experience with useful content, they will come back to your site and tell their friends and business partners about it as I am doing now!
