Traveling is fun; planning a trip is not, especially during
the summer peak season. Every detail of a trip can take hours to be decided
upon and can leave you with a headache. And this frustration starts with the
first step of any trip: Buying an airline ticket.
By Meital Goldberg, NoCamels
The cost of any plane ticket will fluctuate from the moment
the flight becomes available until the flight takes off, but most people don’t
bother to find out if the fare has changed. According to FairFly, an
Israeli mobile and Web app dedicated to helping you find the best possible fare after you’ve booked, 88 percent of people don’t check the cost of flights once the ticket
has been bought.
Many people have heard the trick that buying a ticket on a
Tuesday afternoon for a trip in six weeks’ time will get them the best fare;
another rumor says booking exactly five months in advance will do the trick.
But, unfortunately, there is no magic bullet.
$100 billion in overpayment
Overall, people overpay roughly $100 billion a year because
they don’t check the prices after they booked an airline ticket, according to a
2015 report by Business Insider. Fortunately, the founders of FairFly were aware of
the situation and decided to find a way to help people save money.
Using FairFly is a simple process. Once you’ve booked your
flight, you need to send a copy of your itinerary to the FairFly team at trips@fairfly.com. They will immediately put your flight
into the system and start scanning for lower fares. You can add as many flights
as you want.
If FairFly finds a better deal – which will save you money
even after you add the airline’s rebooking charge – you’ll receive an alert on
your smartphone (Android or iOS) that will allow you to view the suggested
flight. If you accept the new flight, a FairFly team member will call you to
take care of the switch online – only with your permission. Then, you get
to enjoy the extra cash for your trip.
Be warned, though, that the app only scans for one ticket at
a time. If you you’ve booked for multiple passengers, you might end up being on
separate flights even though FairFly tries its hardest to keep you together,
according to the company.
The app itself is free; there’s no charge if FairFly can’t
find a better deal. The startup only makes money when you save money.
Tracking your booked flight around the clock is also free. If you end up saving,
a 9 percent fee will be charged when FairFly rebooks your trip, based on
your savings. In other words, the 9 percent will be taken out of the difference
between your original flight price and the rebooking price.
Founded in Israel in 2013 by Uri Levine (the co-founder of
popular navigation app Waze), along
with Gili Lichtman, Aviel Tov and Ami Goldenberg, FairFly has so far raised $2
million from venture capital firm Blumberg Capital, Emery Capital, and Levine
himself, whose company Waze was sold to Google three years ago for $1.3
billion.
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