Anyone who did travel researches online knows how fast airfares can fluactuate. Early researches showed that ticket prices can change for as many as six to seven times a day, depending on factors like prices of flights from different airline companies and on seat availability on the flight. This has inspired entrepreneurs to start companies helping consumers make economical decisions based on researches by these companies. The companies includes FareCompar, Kayak and Farecast.

FareCompare keep tracks of airline sales and promotions that fits a consumer's requirement. Kayak shows the best airline ticket prices researches by Kayak users every two-day.

Farecast is different from these companies because they use sophisticated programs to keep track of enormous data sets of around 165 to 175 billion airfares around the country. Their data keep track of the trends in airfare prices and determine how the prices vary according to college graduations, seasonal changes, etc. Despite using programs to extract all these information, human also play a vital role in these data analysis. Although the programs show graphs and sample plots, Farecast require their engineers to decrypt the data using human eye and the ability to decrypt the collection of plots and graphs. A computer might miss a subtle trend or variable but a human will catch it in the graphic display. The information collected from the price data are used to predict future flights patterns. What you have to do is to submit your trip information at Farecast's website and it will show you if it's a good time to buy your airfare.

Farecast has a new feature which filters the same pricing data in a way that is similar to popular flight searches, such as last-minute weekend trips. It is called Farecast Deals. It lets you know whether the air ticket price for a deal will rise and when it will go down again.

Until now, Farecast has gained a lot of positive attention from analysts and bloggers. As it continues to gather more data for its own predictions, the confidence level will rise as well. The company will expand and offer deals on hotel booking and car rentals, because the price inventories of these industries is similar to those of the airlines.