Airfare 2.0
April 20, 2006 7:30 AM   Subscribe

Yahoo has launched a sweet new airfare site. Not only does it do the expected fare comparison across several airlines, but it incorporates a highly-configurable, AJAX-based interface to let you filter results in real time. [via]
posted by mkultra (28 comments total)
 
Hmmm, disappointing. SHIFT + PBJ does nothing.
posted by nylon at 7:34 AM on April 20, 2006


This is exactly like Kayak.com but less good.
posted by rxrfrx at 7:39 AM on April 20, 2006


Google replacement in 5... 4... 3... 2......
posted by NotMyselfRightNow at 7:59 AM on April 20, 2006


The most awesome feature is the ability to select regional airports near me. The best part is that it often offered to book flights where I departed from a cost-saving regional airport, but returned to my major airport. So it will be additionally exciting when I get home knowing that I saved a few bucks and that my wife has to drive me to fucking Providence to get my car.

Thanks for nothing, Yahoo!
posted by Mayor Curley at 8:03 AM on April 20, 2006


With Yahoo's new service, it offers discounts on gulag fares.
posted by Mean Mr. Bucket at 8:04 AM on April 20, 2006


Are you vacationing in Alabama this year, Mayor Curley?
posted by Mean Mr. Bucket at 8:05 AM on April 20, 2006


The best price I got for a NYC-to-Oslo search was $80 more than Yahoo Travel and $240 more than Expedia. I'm not very impressed.
posted by Songdog at 8:08 AM on April 20, 2006


I tried Kayak too. It beat Yahoo Farechase by $40, but Expedia and Yahoo Travel each did better. I like the AJAXified sites, but I'm going to go with whichever one gets me the best results, thank you very much.
posted by Songdog at 8:12 AM on April 20, 2006


Damn it. Kayak actually did worse than everybody. I apparently can't remember fares for more than five minutes. OK, that's three comments, I'm out.
posted by Songdog at 8:14 AM on April 20, 2006


I usually check Orbitz first using the super-flexible dates feature (I am planning on taking a trip of X days during a certain time frame) to find the generally cheapest days to fly, then plug those into Kayak. Sometimes I get a lower fare, and sometimes Orbitz is still the cheapest.
posted by rxrfrx at 8:15 AM on April 20, 2006


Never seen Kayak before- looks pretty good, though the busybusy UI could use a little work.
posted by mkultra at 8:41 AM on April 20, 2006


Are you vacationing in Alabama this year, Mayor Curley?

I'll see you at IncestFest '06! I'll have a couple of extra pillowcases if anyone needs to borrow one.
posted by Mayor Curley at 8:48 AM on April 20, 2006


Hmmm, disappointing. SHIFT + PBJ does nothing.

Wins in the first comment! Perfect.
posted by davejay at 9:03 AM on April 20, 2006


Okay, that's just weird -- trying to go from LA to Chicago, it offers me prices leaving from one airport, and returning to a different airport. How annoying. Perhaps there should be a switch for pruning between leave/return at different airports, leave/return at same airport, and leave/return only at airports I select?

Still, found a really good fare for the trip...
posted by davejay at 9:05 AM on April 20, 2006


I remember talk about some newfangled airfare site that would plot the prices over a given time so you could pick the best dates. Guess that never went live?
posted by muckster at 9:25 AM on April 20, 2006


Hmmm, disappointing. SHIFT + PBJ does nothing.

Am I the only one who doesn't get this?
posted by mkultra at 9:34 AM on April 20, 2006


No. It must be a Joke 2.0
posted by grahamwell at 9:43 AM on April 20, 2006


Am I the only one who doesn't get this?

It's a reference to this thread.
posted by 27 at 9:45 AM on April 20, 2006


I usually check Orbitz first using the super-flexible dates feature (I am planning on taking a trip of X days during a certain time frame) to find the generally cheapest days to fly, then plug those into Kayak. Sometimes I get a lower fare, and sometimes Orbitz is still the cheapest.

I wish I could do that, but you can't do the "nearby airports" option with the "±n days" option. Since I have four different airports that I can reasonably get to, that's kind of a problem. Also the fact that Orbitz's JavaScripts make Firefox hang.
posted by oaf at 10:33 AM on April 20, 2006


Nearby airports! Lame. The airport in Philadelphia is nearby to New York City? Stupid.
posted by Mo Nickels at 10:44 AM on April 20, 2006


Hrm. Minneapolis to Hong Kong, departing May 4 and returning May 12. Yahoo! - $2665, three stops. United.com - $946.67, one stop.

And this saves me money and time how?
posted by nathan_teske at 10:48 AM on April 20, 2006


Where's the site that finds me the busiest flights so there's a good chance they ask me to take a later flight for compensation? Seriously, I almost made $200 and a free plane flight a month ago on a full flight that was overbooked to take a flight three hours later, unfortunately I just ended up on a full flight.
posted by Jawn at 10:50 AM on April 20, 2006


Kayak actually does suck. You can frequently find better fares on Expedia, Travelocity, Priceline, etc. I'm not sure why they're getting so much hype, given how useless the service is - must be the AJAX.
posted by etoile at 11:34 AM on April 20, 2006


So does Kayak actually screen scrape airline sites, like it appears? That would explain the lack of realtime prices.
posted by smackfu at 12:14 PM on April 20, 2006


newfangled airfare site that would plot the prices over a given time so you could pick the best dates ... Guess that never went live?

You can do that directly from the ITA website within a 30-day period (ITA provides pricing software for many major airlines). Orbitz will also let you do this but is kind of annoying otherwise.

I'd love for something even more flexible for price optimization, but doubtful that we'll ever see it...
posted by whatzit at 12:29 PM on April 20, 2006


I remember talk about some newfangled airfare site that would plot the prices over a given time so you could pick the best dates. Guess that never went live?

I believe you're thinking of flyspy. It's still in closed development.
posted by junesix at 1:17 PM on April 20, 2006


or you may be thinking of SkyScanner which works and is great.
posted by silence at 4:40 PM on April 20, 2006


For my planned trip to Vancouver from Seoul this summer, the cheapest price found (at the Yahoo thing as well as all of the others mentioned in this thread and places like Orbitz) is around twice what I can get by opening up the local newspaper.

I'm not impressed.
posted by stavrosthewonderchicken at 7:09 PM on April 20, 2006


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