Farecast.com Lanuches FareGuard, Allowing Travelers to Reserve Flights without Paying

Farecast.com, the airfare price prediction website I recently wrote about, is now releasing Fare Guard. Fare Guard is a service that allows customers to “hold” the lowest airfare for their trip without purchasing a ticket. Why? According to the press release, “Customers have told us that a huge pain point they have when shopping for airfare is getting burned by price increases,” said Hugh Crean, Farecast’s president and chief executive officer. “Now, with the launch of Fare Guard, consumers are protected when they decide to buy later and we are putting our money where our mouth is by backing up our predictions.” Way to bring it, Farecast, but I still hope you expand to smaller cities.

How does it work? First you purchase Fare Guard for your selected fare. You will receive daily emails for 1 week (7 days) to help you track the lowest fare. Yuck, more email. You then book the ticket within 7 days from any airline at any price. Then you redeem the difference between the “guarded” price and the lowest fare on the day you booked. Farecast sends you a check for the difference. It’s like cash money in your pocket.

I’m not seeing the angel how they’re turning a profit on this. If the fare goes up significantly, it seems like it would be counterproductive to the company. Check it out yourself at Farecast.com.

From now until February 1, 2007, Fare Guard will be available for $3.00 per ticket. It might be worth a shot for that price. Thereafter, the price will jump to $9.95. Well worth the cabbage if you find a great deal.

If anyone tries it and it works fabulously, I’d love to hear about it.