The age of internet has brought about many innovations in the field of technology that has made our lives more efficient. Imagine yourself sitting at home in your pyjamas and with just a few clicks or taps on your computer or smartphone device, you can easily find the best prices for flights for your holiday trip. If you haven’t heard of fare alerts, now is the time to get benefitted with this service and keep yourself up-to-date with changes in airfares and grab the best deal.
In this blog, we will give you an in-depth review of what are fare alerts, how these work and also, how to create them.
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What is a Fare Alert?
A fare alert is basically an online service that tracks prices of flights and/or flight routes and notifies consumers about such deals via e-mails, newsletters, feeds and push notifications.
This service can fetch and provide information on fluctuations in prices of flights through various sources quickly and with accuracy.
Usually, airline carriers provide this opt-in service on their websites and mobile apps to customers. Another example of such service is Google Flights, which keeps track of flight prices and helps you compare and find the best prices for flights online.
In addition to airline carriers, there are now third-party online travel agencies (OTAs) and few other companies that render such services to consumers.
How Does Fare Alert Service Function?
The functioning of an online fare alert service operated by an entity generally relies on gathering information from different sources, such as airline carriers, and several other third-party services, like aggregators. The information is then made available to individuals as an online search feature that fetches the enquired information and displays them on the person’s screen. This tool also comes handy at comparing prices of flights or flight routes.
In the case of executing search capabilities, the service or tool will look for multiple flights that operate on the same route, gathers details and airfares from the databases of airline carriers and other sources, then delivers the results to you.
Thus, the use of artificial intelligence (AI), algorithms and aggregators primarily make such services possible and thus, easily available to consumers.
Do You Pay Fees for Using the Service?
The good thing about this service or tool is that you can sign up for free and also, cancel the service any time you want. You don’t have to pay for using the service.
It is just an option that is offered to all, and anybody looking for best flight deals can use this online tool to find the latest prices quickly.
How to Set Up Price Alerts for Flights?
You don’t require any sophisticated software program to get started with using a flight price alert service. As mentioned already, it is a free service or tool and there are several websites that let you find and compare fares for flights and flight routes in less than a minute.
Also, the process of creating price alerts and getting notified may vary among these providers. So, it is suggested that you choose what fits you best, i.e., an airline carrier, an online travel agency or perhaps, other websites that offer this service.
Airline Carrier
When you book a flight with an airline carrier, you will also be offered the option to sign up for fare alerts, newsletter and other services. You can sign up for fare alerts with the airline carrier using your e-mail address and start receiving notifications whenever there is a rise or drop in prices of the flight or route.
You can also use the airliner’s mobile app and use their services to get informed regularly on changes in flight prices.
Online Travel Agency (OTA)
Another way to use this service is by signing up for price alerts of flights through an online travel agency’s website. At present, there are several online travel companies that allow you to search for flights, flight routes and prices and compare them.
For example, Skyscanner is a popular flight-search engine and a travel company whose services you can use to get informed about the best price deals on flights. You can get information on their website or use their mobile app.
A few other online travel companies that offer fare alert services include the following:
- Cleartrip
- Google Flights
- Kayak
- Liligo
- Momondo
Providing your e-mail address only during sign up should be just fine with using the service from these providers.
Other Third-Party Entities
Aside from airline carriers and online travel agencies, there are other online services that allow you to find flight prices and get notified via e-mail, etc. Their process of gathering and delivering information is more or less the same as that of various online travel companies.
Conclusion
Using an online fare alert service from any provider will easily help you find cheap prices for flights. Also, you can stay informed if there are changes in the prices, so you can plan your trip the way you find it best and affordable.
