Price alerts for airfare - worthwhile?
Let's say I'm buying a roundtrip ticket between Austin TX and Boston MA. I have a few websites where I'll scour for a good fare, and, inevitably, a pop-up window will appear, asking:
Create a price alert for fares between Austin and Boston?
In the past, I have generally dismissed this window, figuring that, as time inches closer to my departure date, fares usually go up, not down, as the less expensive seats are taken one-by-one. However, lately I've been wondering: Am I shooting myself in the foot by ignoring these prompts and buying whatever fare I can find while I'm looking?
Just to provide a bit more context: I usually am purchasing domestic flights within the continental U.S., and I usually shop three or four months prior to my planned departure dates. I usually have little to no flexibility in the dates that I travel.
Has anyone had repeated luck signing up for these alerts and then being notified of a true bargain fare? Or is this just a way to get my email address for future spam?
Best Answer
This is purely from a sample size of one but I signed up to Google flight alerts 87 days ago for flights between Manchester (UK) and various airports in the Alps. It seems that for in this case, the price of the route has fluctuated, with a general increase. I can say I haven't received any additional spam from Google, and they already had my email address for other purposes anyway.
It should though be noted that any of these services will only show a change in prices after they have happened. If you receive one saying the price has gone up, it's too late. And you'll have to guess weather or not it will continue to go up, or go back down again.
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How do I get notifications when flight prices drop?
Here's how you do it. Go to your Watchlist in your profile, and select \u201cCreate a Price Alert.\u201d You'll get a drop-down menu with an option to search for flights or hotels. You'll have three options: Exact Dates, Flexible Dates, or Top 25 Cities (more on this one below).Do flight prices go up if you keep looking at them?
However, airlines say prices change not because of a consumer's search history on a website, or their cookies, but because of inventory updates or glitches on the website, FareCompare's Rick Seaney said in an email.Is there an app that notifies you of cheap flights?
Skyscanner. Skyscanner has a free flight app that is compatible with both Apple and Android devices and provides pricing alerts when a good deal becomes available. The app is easy to use and allows you to set alerts for specific dates or routes.What is the best day to look at flight prices?
Skyscanner finds that the best flight deals are on Saturday. If you want to get the cheapest fares, book your trip as soon as possible, try booking them between 3 p.m. and 6 p.m. when airfare prices are still lower. Price would have to go up for the airline to sell more of their cheap tickets.TRAVEL TIPS: How to Find Cheap Flights Using Price Alerts
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Answer 2
I finally decided to use price alerts to see what would happen. I get alerts when the price goes up or down. More often they go up, but they occasionally go down. In rare cases, they go down significantly, but that bargain fare typically lasts only a day or so.
Just today I got an alert informing me that a flight I had inquired about dropped over $100, from $400 to $300. I've concluded that it may be worthwhile to sign up for an alert and wait for a price drop, but you are taking a chance if you do, because more often prices go up than down. That said, a temporary dip in prices does happen more than I presumed it would, so the alerts can be quite useful.
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