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Similarly, the article mentions that Google Flights is now more closely competing with Hopper, a mobile app for finding flights. Hopper already offers this pric

Similarly, the article mentions that Google Flights is now more closely competing with Hopper, a mobile app for finding flights. Hopper already offers this price prediction service, and it is powered by Sabre's price prediction API: https://developer.sabre.com/docs/read/rest_apis/air/intelligence/low_fare_forecast https://developer.sabre.com/docs/read/rest_apis/air/intellig... Disclosure: I own another competing flight search tool, https://concorde.io https://concorde.io

lavezzi 10y ago
Well from what I have seen this only says when prices are going up, not down - so it's not that close.
- jmarbach 10y ago
  From the first sentence of the API docs: > The Low Fare Forecast (beta) API forecasts whether the lowest published fare will rise, fall or stay the same within the next 7 days.
lavezzi 10y ago
Well from what I have seen this only says when prices are going up, not down - so it's not that close.
leesalminen 10y ago
That link to Sabre documentation isn't half bad. I was expecting a flaming mess of docs.
- JamilD 10y ago
  Sabre's REST APIs are actually pretty great; they're well-documented and fairly easy to use. The SOAP APIs [0], which contain the real meat (inventory details, PNR lookup, etc) are another story… [0] https://developer.sabre.com/docs/read/SOAP_APIs https://developer.sabre.com/docs/read/SOAP_APIs
dzhiurgis 10y ago
I can recommend Hopper, it did save my parents few hundred dollars. I've waited out a week to get cheaper flights to from Japan to NZ. Still was a rip-off though - one way cost more than a return layover flights to Eastern Europe.
tssva 10y ago
My issue with Hopper, now I know it is a Sabre limitation, has always been that I can't get predictions based upon more fine grained criteria. For instance knowing that the lowest published fare for a particular departure and return date is going to rise or lower doesn't help me when I am only interested in flights that leave or return between specific times on those days. When I have used Hopper I have not found there is necessarily any strong correlation between shifts in the lowest published fare and other fares. Even if assume the other fares and the lowest published fare do track there is still an issue. Hopper doesn't/can't track or predict seat availability, so when Hopper gives me a notification that I should continue to wait because prices should fall I can't have any faith that the number of seats I require will be available when they do. This is especially a problem for me because when I fly I am usually purchasing tickets for multiple people. Given these limitations I find Hopper almost useless for my needs. I would love an app that would allow me to enter a departure date and time window, return date and time window and the number of passengers then provide feedback regarding both future price direction and seat availability. I'm not holding my breath.

lavezzi 10y ago

Well from what I have seen this only says when prices are going up, not down - so it's not that close.

jmarbach 10y ago
From the first sentence of the API docs: > The Low Fare Forecast (beta) API forecasts whether the lowest published fare will rise, fall or stay the same within the next 7 days.

lavezzi 10y ago

Well from what I have seen this only says when prices are going up, not down - so it's not that close.

leesalminen 10y ago

That link to Sabre documentation isn't half bad. I was expecting a flaming mess of docs.

JamilD 10y ago
Sabre's REST APIs are actually pretty great; they're well-documented and fairly easy to use. The SOAP APIs [0], which contain the real meat (inventory details, PNR lookup, etc) are another story… [0] https://developer.sabre.com/docs/read/SOAP_APIs https://developer.sabre.com/docs/read/SOAP_APIs

dzhiurgis 10y ago

I can recommend Hopper, it did save my parents few hundred dollars. I've waited out a week to get cheaper flights to from Japan to NZ. Still was a rip-off though - one way cost more than a return layover flights to Eastern Europe.

tssva 10y ago

My issue with Hopper, now I know it is a Sabre limitation, has always been that I can't get predictions based upon more fine grained criteria. For instance knowing that the lowest published fare for a particular departure and return date is going to rise or lower doesn't help me when I am only interested in flights that leave or return between specific times on those days. When I have used Hopper I have not found there is necessarily any strong correlation between shifts in the lowest published fare and other fares. Even if assume the other fares and the lowest published fare do track there is still an issue. Hopper doesn't/can't track or predict seat availability, so when Hopper gives me a notification that I should continue to wait because prices should fall I can't have any faith that the number of seats I require will be available when they do. This is especially a problem for me because when I fly I am usually purchasing tickets for multiple people. Given these limitations I find Hopper almost useless for my needs. I would love an app that would allow me to enter a departure date and time window, return date and time window and the number of passengers then provide feedback regarding both future price direction and seat availability. I'm not holding my breath.